Hello friends! How are you all doing? Here I am back with my
next part of the blog. Hope you all will enjoy it. So, continuing with the
yatra.
As I was feeling hungry I decided to enter the food court.
The time by now was 3.15. Once, I entered in shockingly found nothing, other
than Chole bature, which having at 3.15am would be a blunder, and Rajma Chawal,
everything else was finished! Hard luck. Of course, there was chai. Gave a
thought for a minute or so, and then decided to give it a miss and start descending,
as dawn would be breaking shortly. So accordingly I started descending. Now,
when you are tired, your tummy is empty, even 1km would look like 100 miles,
still “leke prabhu ka nam” started the descend, Initially for the first 2kms I
was super charged, and completed it within 30mins. Now as I had mentioned in my
previous blog, that it was cold, by now, the temperature has dipped further,
which made me shiver, even after being covered with a light jacket. Now, after
45mins into the journey, I decided to take a pit stop for few mins. By now, my
legs were aching, and telling dude, take a break! So sat on an empty bench.
Till now my legs were aching. Now my body joined the party. By the time I rose
from the bench, I was not in a state to walk. Somehow, I pushed myself and kept
walking. As time passed by I was getting tired and feeling more drowsy. Soon, I
was approaching the half way mark, i.e. Himkoti. Looked up the sky, and could
see the steady transformation from night to morning. It was now Dawn. The birds
started chirping as they woke up from their slumber and was getting ready to
face the challenges of life for one more day. The color of the dawning sky
filled with mists, with shivers due to the early morning chill felt mystic.
Though tired, but still felt the freshness of the morning. Truly the nature is
so beautiful; one just needs a point of view to see it, to feel it.
Now continuing with my journey, by 5.30 I reached Himkoti,
the half way mark. This time dint take any rest, as I made up my mind that I
would dump myself only after reaching my hotel, or else I would reach back to
Katra! Now tried getting down via stairs. However all were not well kept, but
the flights of steps were too many in numbers. Still this helped to speed up my
journey. By 7.30 I was at the banks of river Ban Ganga, i.e. the “dwar”. And
then took the same path to return back to my hotel. By the time I reached my
hotel it was around 8.10/8.15, summing up a total journey of 14hrs! OMG! Once
in the hotel I was warmly welcomed at the reception, took my keys, and went
straight to my room. Just as I was unlocking my room, came across the boy whom
I met the previous evening. Told him to send me a cup of chai and some
biscuits, as I needed them badly. In the mean time I unpacked my bag and took
out my clothes. Once the chai and biscuits were served, I went in and freshened
up myself, took a long required bath. Once all done, I had the chai and called
the boy to clear the room and also handed him over mataji’s Prasad to distribute
among the employees of the hotel, and told him not to disturb me until I look
for him. And then I hit the bed, time by my watch was 9! Next thing that I
remember was when I woke up it was 6.30pm and I was hungry. However woke up and
turned on the TV, though there was nothing much to be watched. This was the
longest and the best sleep I had for months. Don’t know it was because of the
tiredness, or the mental peace which I got after the darshan. Once I woke up I
was feeling stress free, tension free, filled with freshness and lots of
energy. Went out and took a stroll around the Katra town. It’s basically a
small city, and would not have existed had there been no Vaishno Devi Mandir.
It’s just a pilgrimage town consisting of hotels and dharamshalas (dorms). As I
was strolling came across the market and found that most of the shops were
dealing with memorabilia and dry fruits. So went in a shop, and took dry fruits
each type around 500g, of course after tasting them all. The price was pretty
reasonable, compared to other parts of India. Then went into another shop to buy memorabilia
for gifting my friends and family. Once all my shopping was over, thought of
having an early dinner, and retiring on the bed. Looked around and found a
decent food joint. Time by my watch was 8pm. Went in and ordered aloo parantha
and paneer. The paranthas at the shop were awesome and finger licking. Had a
wholesome meal after more than 30hrs. Once my tummy filled and bills being
cleared, I went to my hotel and told them at the reception that I would like to
clear my bills, as next day I would be checking out. Once all my bills were
cleared went into my room, watched TV for a while, before calling it for a day.
Next morning woke up early and did my daily chores, packed
my bag, as it was time for me to say alvida to Katra. But before leaving I
still had about 3-4hrs to spare. So what best can you do on the last day of
stay? Simple, go to terrace and feel the essence of the place. It would surely
mesmerize you. Once on the roof top, looked around took some parting shots of
the town, and also the chopper which were making rounds. It really felt nice,
and as the time for my check out was nearing, though it was a veg and dry city,
I really felt bad to leave the place, as at back of my mind I knew that it’s
time to call an end to trip, and get back to the regular life, where you have
to run with time, and deal with all the worries of life.
Soon it was 12pm and my time to check out. In the next hour I
bid bye to the hotel and the staff, who were undoubtedly very hospitable
people. Soon I was back to the bus terminus, where the bus was waiting, and
after half an hour so the set off on the winding path taking the gradual
descend all the way to Jammu city. With heavy heart bid the final bye to Katra.
By the next two and half hours we were back to Jammu city. Took an auto and
reached Jammu Tawi Station for my Rajdhani, which was slated to depart around
5pm! The train ride was comfortable and by next morning I was back to NDLS.
And hence my journey came to an end. Though short, was the
most adventurous. And as life moves on, so does the next plan for the next
trip. But till then asta la vista. Take care!
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Banjara_the nomadic
