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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

A Trip of Many Firsts!!!

I am back at last!!!! And what a trip it has been!!

This was a trip of many firsts.......

The first time my carefully laid plans were laid waste, all the tickets I had booked well in advance had to be booked all over again, and yet my trip went on as planned, with little or no changes at all!!!!

 This was the first time I was bitten by a scorpion,

The first time we were royally duped by our cab driver,

This was NOT the first time some completely unknown stranger came to our help in a way we never imagined, but certainly the first time we got to know them well, and could actually thank them for their timely help!


This was also the first time we spent an entire day and a half in a train without getting any sort of food except tea and cutlets.... and as Samhith is repeating behind my back.... Omelettes!

And oh yes, this was also my first visit to almost all the places I visited!!!!

After all this, need I say that my trip was memorable?

For those of you who are still in the dark about my destination, there were many....

We began our trip with a quick visit to Jaipur... my first visit to the Pink City..


We then went to Jammu and from there to Vaishnodevi, a trip I had been planning for years without any success, but a trip that turned out to be worth the long wait!!! We climbed the mountain, taking a leisurely seven hours to do so, and then stayed at Bhawan.. near the temple itself.. That was an experience we shall never forget... just imagine a place so cold in May that we had to use 5 blankets to keep ourselves warm!!!! And that was just the beginning!!! 

We headed over to Srinagar, where we spent a couple of days enjoying the view of snow clad mountains and getting to frolic in the snow at Gulmarg too!!!

It was then time to get back to Jammu, and then on to Amritsar, a place I had last visited about 30 years back!!!

After all this, we were too tired to proceed any further, and finally headed back home, our pockets empty, and mounds of unwashed clothes reminding us that we were back to our normal lives!!!

I have taken too many photographs to upload at one go, so it will take some time... Meanwhile,thanks to all of you who have left comments on my blog during my absence. I shall try to reply to each one of you as soon as I manage to sit on the comp for a few hours!

And before I forget, I had promised to send postcards to those who guessed my destination right... Unfortunately, few of you were adventurous enough to make wild guesses :D But I am in such a happy mood and have bought so many postcards that I would love to send all of you postcards anyway!! So, those of you who would like postcards from Jaipur, Srinagar or Amritsar, please drop me a mail at anushankarn(at)gmail(dot)com with your address and a postcard will be on its way!!

Comments

  1. Wow, you seem to have had one awesome trip. Waiting for details.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks a lot!! lots of details coming as soon as I manage to sit down and write :D

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  2. Looks like that was a super duper trip...Can't want to see the travelogue and pictures!!

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  3. Bitten by a scorpion!!?? Scary!
    Can't wait for future posts and photos :)

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    1. It was scary for a few moments, Ana, but thankfully it was a juvenile, and not really poisonous, so i got away lightly!! lots of posts coming up!

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  4. Congrats for the happy trip. We are planning to proceed to Srinagar in June. The scorpion bite should have been very painful.

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    1. Thanks PNS!!! I will be happy to give you any details you need about Srinagar... have a wonderful trip! the scorpion bite was painful, but not for long. thankfully it was a young one and not too poisonous.

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  5. Shall wait for your posts. Seems you enjoyed the trip a lot.

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  6. Wow, you sure seem to have a had a roller coaster trip... So many places.. well, i kinda knew it was Jammu... :-))

    welcome back and hope you get some rest before school and routine kicks in

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  7. Woah.. so many 1sts... hope the scorpion bite wasnt too bad, and you found medical help

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    1. all i can say that it turned out to be an interesting trip, Aarti!! and thankfully didnt need to go for medical help... it was a young one and didnt hurt too much!

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  8. sounds great to be the next script of a bollywood movie :)

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  9. u had a great trip

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