Its unfortunate than an entire family perished in the incident. Like you said, they themselves are to blame for taking on too much - you cant trek up and down a mountain and then drive long distance.
We have a similar mountain shrine in Kerala called Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Ayyappa. As far as I know, NOBODY drives their car to the base camp themselves. We always hire a driver or better still hire a cab - the climb down is extremely demanding on your legs, especially the calf muscles that tend to give way pretty soon. Since you use your calf muscles most when you drive, its suicidal to climb down a mountain and then drive.
I normally hire a room in the nearest hotel/lodge and sleep for a couple of hours if I feel tired - it may cost a few hundred bucks, but your life is obviously worth much more. While returning from Bangalore recently, I stopped at a wayside hotel in Gundlepet to sleep as the effects of the previous night's beer with Nitin and three long nights out with Psycho & gang were taking effect.
However, this is not advisable when you travel with family, as one doesnt know the antecedents of every hotel on the way...what do you do then? My friends up north say they wont stop for ANYTHING on the highway, as one never knows what might happen.
Last edited by Steeroid : 16th January 2006 at 00:25.
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