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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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Memories of 2013 - Travel Vignettes - Coorg

Our trip to Coorg was on a sudden impulse. Three short days were nowhere near enough to do justice to the beauty or the heritage of the region. The first image that comes to mind, when I now look back on those three blissful days is this....





Samhith swimming in the Cauvery at Bhagamandala. It was meant to be a short halt, on the way back from Tala Cauvery, but the cool waters and the lack of crowds encouraged us to spend a lot more time than we intended. Later, we spent more time on the banks of the Cauvery, this time at the Dubare elephant camp.


If we were stunned by the amazingly beautiful and elaborate paintings at the Monasteries in Bylakuppe...



We were equally fascinated by the ruined fort at Madikeri.


We had been trying to visit Coorg for all of 11 years. We actually made the bookings twice, and had to cancel each time, for some reason or the other. That we broke the jinx this year, only makes me happier, though the duration of the trip made it impossible for us to do anything off the beaten track. Yet, it was  great trip to start off the year with! 

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Location: Kodagu, Karnataka, India

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  1. UnknownDecember 21, 2013 at 2:32 PM

    Nice photos Anuradha. Loved the post.

    Check out my photographs on City and Architecture, hope you will like them!
    URL: http://picsonia.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-bit-of-city-and-architecture.html

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