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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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The Story of my Summer Trip.....

The Summer of 2015 was a memorable vacation. We set out on a trip which took us across the country, starting from Tadoba in Maharashtra to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, and finally, Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu. This was the trip I literally travelled all the way from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean! The trip lasted all through the month of May, but the resulting posts kept me occupied for the rest of the year. I completed the series just before the year ended, and here is a look at the whole journey.... first, through my attempt at Storifying the series.... and with links to all the individual posts... 





  • The Southern Jaunt


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  1. Aravind GJMay 29, 2015 at 9:32 PM

    Nice trip!! and good photos!!

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  2. NatalieGMay 31, 2015 at 7:09 AM

    There are so many great stories and snaps just in your condensed version! I'm looking forward to the detailed blog posts. As I was looking through your pictures there were a lot of dramatic skies with all the rain you encountered. I know it was probably dismaying to have to deal with the bad weather, but it made for some beautiful photo compositions. And your sister-in-law's gardens are absolutely gorgeous! :)

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    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarMay 31, 2015 at 9:01 AM

      Thank you so much, Natalie!!! and yes, the rains were actually welcome... we expected it to be burning hot, and the rains ensured that the weather was perfect!

      Delete
  3. R Niranjan DasMay 31, 2015 at 11:20 AM

    Wonderful teaser. Look forward to those lovely stories. :)

    ReplyDelete

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