(Travel) Trip to Vaishno Devi and five (of 9 Nava durga) devi temples in Himachal

Had a wonderful trip to Maata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu & Kashmir. And five devi temples in Himachal.

Few snaps: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150746111738356.502555.552993355&type=3

Itinerary: Jan 20, to Jan 29, 2012

Day 1 (Fri) - Day 3 (Sun): Started from Pune, Jhelum Express Train, reached Jammutavi on Day 3 around 10:30 am. Accommodation in a hotel near General Bus stand. Visited Gufha (cave), Maha kaali temple and Garden near the temple, Raghunath Temple, Ranbhireshwar Temple.

Day 4: Reached Khatra at 11:30 pm. Started trek to Maata Vaishno Devi shrine at 12:45 PM afternoon.

Day 5: Taken a HRTC bus to Kangra (Himachal) from Jammu at 3 PM. Reached kangra by 10 pm. Accommodation in J.K. Hotel.

Folks, strongly recommend not to take this J.K. Hotel. We realized on Day 7, late for us :(
Some news to note for you :)

Day 6: Hired a Local taxi (Indica) and visited Bajinath Temple, Chamunda Devi Temple, Dharamshala, Bhagsunath Temple. Explored the option of trekking to Triund hills; understood that time is not right due to soft snow. Returned to McLeod Gunj (also known as upper Dharamshala) and spent time in the market, then visited Tibetan Buddhist Monastery.

Day 7: HRTC bus - reached Bharwain (H.P.) around 12 PM noon, 3 kms from Chintpurni Devi temple. Hired a local taxi (Tata Sumo), visited chintpurni devi temple, Jwala mukhi devi temple and returned to Bharwain by 7 PM.

Taken a HRTC deluxe bus to Anand pur sahib, reached there by 10:30 PM. We got simple and nice accommodation, near Gurudwara, managed by Gurudwara.

Day 8 (Fri): Local bus to Naina Devi temple. Had to walk by steps for around 1 1/2 hr (3 small breaks in between). At the top, after the devi darshan, had an excellent view of Bhakra-nangal reservoir. Also observed the ropeway.

2 pm- Started to Bhakra dam, 2 hrs journey from naina devi temple; reached the dam around 4 PM. Spent some time there watching the view of the dam and the reservoir. Had very nice time with two small puppies roaming in the nearby area.

Left the dam around 5:30 pm to una, and from there to Anand pur Sahib. Visited Gurudwara and started to Amabala cantonment (Cantt) railway station by a Haryana Roadways bus.
This one of haryana transport is super fast and very aggressive. Reached the Cantt station by 11:30 pm.

Day 9: Used the sleeping bags and took rest in the waiting room of cantt station till 5:30 am. Boarded Jhelum express train to pune at 6 am.

Day 10: Reached pune by 2:30 pm.


Observations:-
1. HRTC - Himachal Road Transport Corporation buses and the staff are very good. On plain road they go quite slow; speed and control seems to be very good in ghat roads (hilly).

Haryana Roadways - Haryana State transport buses, very fast. If you like aggressive driving, yes, you will enjoy the drive. I enjoyed the journey from Anandpur Sahib to Ambala Cantt station.

2. Food: Most of the journey in Himachal is in Ghats, Rice with Dal makhni/Rajma was sufficient and no stomach aches or vomits.