Unperturbed by the disaster with the HOD, I proceeded to my 2nd grand trip to Sabrimala. (The first trip was exactly one year back) We (Me, Sujit and Addy) took a bus from here to Kollam (Sujit's homeground) at around 3 in the afternoon. We had to cover the whole 4 hour journey in a rickety KSRTC red bus. By the time we reached Sujit's place it was around 8 p.m. After taking bath and doing puja, we started our jeep trip towards Sabrimala. We were pretty sleepy after the bus journey and the heavy dinner, but found it hard to sleep in the jeep, as our heads kept hitting its sides.
So, after another 4 hours in another rickety automobile, we finally reached the banks of the Pamba river at 3 am. We took bath in the cold water of the Pamba river and started our barefoot journey to the top of the hill.
The trek to the top of the hill (where the temple is situated) is around 4KMs, but the steep ascent along with the rocks and pebbles really test your legs, your patience, your stamina and your endurance. We completed the whole trek in a matter of half an hour. A new world record for us.. :)
On reaching the top there was a long but fast moving queue for the darshan. After a bit of waiting and a bit of jumping the queue we reached the sacred 18 steps of Sabrimala. Out came the coconuts. We broke the coconuts at the start of the steps and climbed the steps into the main temple (which is made of gold). We prayed there for some time and got ourselves paysam, before proceeding downhill. That was tiring too. We reached the bottom of the hill at around 7 am.
The parking was a good 15KM away from the temple. So, we had to take a bus and then walk another 1 KM to reach the parking. The ride back to Sujit's home was again a bumpy one, in which, despite our best efforts, we couldn't sleep. We reached there at around 1 p.m, had lunch and slept like a rock (I didn't watch the match after Sachin got out.) . At 4 in the evening I was awakened and we started another leg of our journey: back to cochin. After another 4 hour long journey in a train we reached our home at 10 p.m. We had practically been travelling for over 24 hours without any rest.
But then the journey still hasn't ended for me. I leave for Delhi in another 5 hours from now....
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