[harishnayak]

Soon we started walking back towards our hotel. We were so tired that we just wanted to hit the sack.

Soon we were in 2-3 groups depending on the speed and the level of sleepiness. The descent generally takes anywhere b/w 3-5 hours depending on the health/tiredness of the individuals.

I took about 3 hours and was dead tired..so finally hit the bed at around 3:00 am

[ashthedivx]

Pardon me, but didn't you took the bath before darshans in the "Banganga" ??

One has to take the bath before the "Darshans", It not refreshes you but also use let off all the tireness of the journey and re-fill the energy for the holy darshan.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by ashthedivx

Pardon me, but didn't you took the bath before darshans in the "Banganga" ??

One has to take the bath before the "Darshans", It not refreshes you but also use let off all the tireness of the journey and re-fill the energy for the holy darshan.

No we didn't as we were running out of time. BTW Banganga is where the track starts where they generally do the Mundan ceremony for kids.

People generally take bath from the springs near the Mandir. I've taken bath there a couple of times and the water is as chilly as it can get. I agree it's really refreshing

[aargee]

@Harish - Where's the remaining part? We're awaiting for you to return home.

[harishnayak]

We woke up in the morning at around 11:00 am and decided to drive back at around 12:00 noon ( anyways we had to check out of the hotel ).

One interesting thing that i forgot to mention all this while for the people who're planning to do this trip by road is "PARKING" problems at KATRA during high tourist season. The time that we reached ie around 3:30 am ws the time when all the parkings were full and out hotel parking could not be accessed due to some construction work. Now there was a open parking pretty far from our hotel where i enquired if it's safe or not and some people said its safe so i took the risk and parked it there.

There were few Dhabas there and i could also see some cars with regn numbers like MH and GJ left there so parked my car too. I removed the stereo mouth , car documents etc and there was literally nothing in the car except the car itself .

Anyways we had breakfast at a very famous and old fast food joint called JEWELS and did a last PRANAM to MATA



Last view and PRANAM

JEWELS - The famous fast food outlet where we had our breakfast

Team ready to depart..the last pic together

[NutsNBolts]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

Banganga is where the track starts where they generally do the Mundan ceremony for kids.

People generally take bath from the springs near the Mandir. I've taken bath there a couple of times and the water is as chilly as it can get. I agree it's really refreshing

Baan Ganga actually starts from inside the cave. As the story goes, when Bhairon was dying inside the cave, out of thirst, he asked for water. Mata Vaishno Devi struck an arrow into ground and a spring sprouted from there, hence the name Baan Ganga. It flows all the way down to Katra before becoming a tributary.

Earlier when the pilgrims were allowed from inside the cave (not from the present route), you could walk in the cold water and step onto a monolithic rock (supposed to be Bhairon's torso). You can also see some formations in the rock that look like a tiger's pug mark and are called accordingly (sher ka panja). Nowadays, because of heavy rush, you have to follow the alternate route to save the cave from ecological disaster.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by NutsNBolts

Baan Ganga actually starts from inside the cave. As the story goes, when Bhairon was dying inside the cave, out of thirst, he asked for water. Mata Vaishno Devi struck an arrow into ground and a spring sprouted from there, hence the name Baan Ganga. It flows all the way down to Katra before becoming a tributary.

Earlier when the pilgrims were allowed from inside the cave (not from the present route), you could walk in the cold water and step onto a monolithic rock (supposed to be Bhairon's torso). You can also see some formations in the rock that look like a tiger's pug mark and are called accordingly (sher ka panja). Nowadays, because of heavy rush, you have to follow the alternate route to save the cave from ecological disaster.

I didn't know this story although i've been through the original cave only once and that was the best time of my life.

Thanks for the enlightenment

[harishnayak]

Starting at 12 meant that we would be reaching Delhi around 2:00 am in the morning but we were in no hurry considering the fact that we wanted to drive safe and enjoy the journey back home too.

We took the same route back and clicked lots of pictures on the way back..some for memories and some interesting ones.

Presenting few of them here.

[harishnayak]

Here are few more pictures from the way back

[MX6]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

He He..why do you say that? That's me taking rest .

That's the true essence of holidays! Relaxation of the body, mind and soul!

[harishnayak]

So Here comes the final leg of our journey with a nice long drive back home with food again from HAVELI on the way back.

Also managed to get a pics when the Tripmeter clocked 999.9 kms before clicking to 0 again.

Reached Delhi around 2:30 am safely after a nice holy road trip...and ready for the next one soon.

Hope everyone enjoyed this TL.

[blue_pulsar]

I really enjoyed reading the travelogue. Excellent Harish!

I had one question though. Why Alto and not the Spark? Spark would have made the trip more comfortable right? It has a nice engine and rear passengers would be more comfortable.

[aargee]

Harish - Tks for sharing the trip; could you throw some light on your exhaust pls?

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MX6

That's the true essence of holidays! Relaxation of the body, mind and soul!

You bet it is and that's exactly what i was doing

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

I really enjoyed reading the travelogue. Excellent Harish!

I had one question though. Why Alto and not the Spark? Spark would have made the trip more comfortable right? It has a nice engine and rear passengers would be more comfortable.

Thanks for reading the TL..appreciate your time. Well Spark was definitely the first preference however the service was due for spark and the replacement of clutch plates were also due so i decided to take my Alto. Last time i did go to Vaishno Devi in my Spark only with my wife and did the entire trip in little over 48 hours..we literally slept in the car due to a tight schedule with only sat sun off. I'm attaching a few pics from that trip.

Originally Posted by aargee

Harish - Tks for sharing the trip; could you throw some light on your exhaust pls?

Sure , you can go through my ownership report and definetely ask me any other question if you have http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...very-page.html

[ashthedivx]

Thanks for reminding good old days