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 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!
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!!