Shirdi, Shanisighnaapur & Triumbkeshwar I got covered here…
This time we planned for Shirdi-Triumbkeshwar-Grishneshwar.
The day we landed in Shirdi, we went for auspicious sight of Sai baba.
Next day we started for Triumbkeshwar Jyotirling. Distance from Shirdi to Triumkeshwar, Nashik is approximately 120 KM, it took us around 2.5 hours to cover that distance. There is a lot of change in Triumbkeshwar since 2008, and we can see lots of crowd now as compared to the past. Had our time there with Triumbkeshwar Jyotirlinga and energy here is evident to anyone. After having our time in Triumbkeshwar, we started back to Shirdi.
Not to miss: There is a small village known as Anjaneri, as per mythology, Anjaneri is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. This is known as Anjaneri hills also, as it’s situated on top of a hill and have waterfalls and lakes around. Anjaneri hills hold a lot of historical and religious significance and unfortunately we missed to visit this place because of driver, who didn’t tell us about the same and once we came back to Shirdi, came to know about Anjaneri.
Next day was planned for Grishneshwar, Verul (Aurangabad), which is around 100 KM from Shirdi. However to our surprise, it just took 1.5 hours to reach here through Samruddha expressway, very much convenient to reach here. We had our time here and took blessings from Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga.
10 minutes away from Grishneshwar, there are Ellora caves, which is must to cover if you would want to see the magic of our past architects and would like to perceive the presence of Shankar-Vishnu and other Gods around. Ellora caves are multi-religious complex which had been made by cutting huge rocks. Want to know more about Ellora, please visit Archaeological Survey of India's website.
Again, this is something to experience and not just to read… Got lucky enough to cover 2 Jyotirlingas which are in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar-Mamleshwar & Mahakaleshwar. Omkareshwar-Mamleshwar are one Jyotirling, one is at right bank of Maa Narmada river, other is at the opposite bank.
If you would like to cover both Jyotirlingas, Omkareshwar (Mamleshwar) & Mahakaleshwar (Mahakaal), best thing to do is to stay somewhere in Indore city. Omkareshwar (Mamleshwar) is 78 kms southeast to Indore, Mahakaleshwar (Mahakaal) is around 55 kms North side of Indore. As both are in different directions, Indore tourism wins the battle. Also, who don’t want to stay in the cleanest city of India, they won this 6th time in a row this year (2023).
Journey to Omkareshwar (Mamleshwar) will become very pleasant in next one year as there are lots of road & bridge construction going on. Once you reach here, try to spend some time over Maa Narmada bank, do some boating… it’s amazing!
From Indore to Mahakaleshwar (Mahakaal), you will feel that the city, road, people are so much alive then any other corner of India… esp when we started from Indore at 1:30 AM, it was like a day time. We were astonished to see girls on scotty at that time, so many people going here and there… this is the second city which gave a “secure” feeling, first one for me to see this kind of environment was Bombay (Mumbai).
Once you will reach Mahakaleshwar (Mahakaal), Ujjain, you will feel electrifying. Goose bumps is a small thing to mention… anyways, experience it, don’t go by words.
So plan it accordingly… alternatively, if you just would like to visit Mahakaleshwar (Mahakaal), best is to stay in Ujjain only and later you can visit Indore city… upto Mahakaal what plans he has for you!!!
Few Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/M45nGQ8fYX4
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p1fRTAA9dsQ
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rM7kiXd4TdY
Ok, so this was something in the list since long and as soon as I touched Florida, plan was to get it executed ASAP… Chose Skydive Space Center as this the highest one to do a tandem skydiving (as they claim)… 18000 ft.
Checkout more details on their website here ...https://skydivespacecenter.com/
Would like to watch video? Here it is… https://youtu.be/v6EAmaons3k
This is how it’s been designed…
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia_Floy_Utah
Travel Date: 20th November 2015
The plan was to get back into the wanderer spirit again! And nothing can beat covering North America from Coast to coast, from Atlantic to Pacific Ocean (or vice-versa), 3400 miles, 11 states, all 4 time zones which exists here!
Varun and me immediately got into action when we were discussing the plan what to do from November 21st to November 29th, as there was Thanksgiving holiday and we just had to take 4 days off.
We made a plan from 20th November to 28th November 2015, 8 days and 9 nights. On 21st November night, we reached San Francisco and stayed overnight in a hotel. Next day was dedicated to cover Golden Gate bridge and for the same, we opted out cycle route. It was from Downtown San Francisco to Golden Gate and coming back. We hired cycles and the route was beautiful, something to talk about. It was mostly the beach area and you are just few feets away from the sea. The way they made this is commendable and a walk/cycle to remember. Took few good shots and ended up journey by 3:00 PM, to and fro (overall ~26 miles). Rest was downtown area, dinner in the night with an old friend who lives in SFO.
Second day was the start of the judgement day. 22nd November, morning 9:10 AM, the famous Califormia Zyper arrived at Emeriville station and we boarded the train. It all started with a good scenic view and it got enhanced bit by bit.
After a journey of 33 hours (not considering the time zone change), we reached Denver at 6:45 PM. Took a walk till our hotel and rest for the night. We choose to stay for 2 nights in Denver and it was worth. Fell in love with Colorado, mountains, the scenic view, the red rocks, the ampitheater and lot other things. I talked about my friend David here on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq3PVlXCh4A
On 25th at 7:10 PM, we started our journey from Denver to Chicago. We reached Chicago next day at 2:50 PM. Went into the hotel and was happy seeing State Bank of India office just adjacent to the hotel.
Took rest and in the evening, went out in Chicago downtown. Next day explored the city, watched "Creed" in theater, however missed a view of the city from John Hancock Tower due to weather. Its a true architectural city, with some lovely places.
On 27th at 9:30 PM, we took our last train, from Chicago to New york. California Zyper covers till Chicago and from here, we had to get into Lake Shore Limited. This was a normal rail and was not double decker like California Zyper. Lake shore cross Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and then enters New York state. The train finally reached New York Penn Station at 6:30 PM on 28th November. This was an epic journey where we have covered Pacific and Atlantic ocean by train.
Few pictures from inside the train, the people...
If well planned, you can do this trip in less then $250 (only train fare), but as we have not made the plans in advance, we had to stick with dates and fare prices. For 1 person, it took $350 train fare from California to New York. Food, stays in between were extra.
Over all, this journey can't be mentioned in the words but one has to live it. There are few things which I liked the most, and the top is Colorado. You will feel like you belong here, mountain man! People are not too commercialized here and down to earth, most of them are musicians (Thanks to John Denver).
However, my advice would be, just don't get excited by looking into the picture or by reading the blog. It takes lots of patience to cover this kind of journey, the time, and courage to squeeze into chair seats when you want to sleep :) (California Zyper was not too bad and had enough space). But, its all fun if you like wandering, knowing new people, exploring and testing yourself! Its really is! All the people I met and talked during my train journey are now so embedded in my memories that I can recall them anytime. I met Professors, I met ranch keepers, I met students, I met artists, the cook... all those people are part of my memories now... nothing can get it away! So be ready and if get time and opportunity, experience it... :)
Things to remember:
You can make your own itinerary, i.e. where to halt, which city to explore (Salt Lake/Denver/Chicago). There are two ways to do this. Either take a train pass for a 15-day, in which you can get 8 train rides, which means you can hop-on and off from the train 8 times, can see 8 cities. However if you have specific cities to halt like how we did, you have to prepare your own itinerary and have to book different tickets. For example, we booked tickets for California Zyper from SFO to Denver, then from Denver to Chicago, then from Chicago to NYC a different ticket was there for Lake Shore Limited.
About California Zyper
*It is having a Sightseer Lounge car
*Restaurant inside (great food)
*Good and supportive staff
