Day 1

Journey Begins

June 18, 2010

After the arduous Ooty-Wayanad trip the previous week, majority of the people weren’t excited about the prospect of yet another trip. And so this time only 5 of us went . Besides the usual Saxena, Gujar and myself, this time we also had Patade and Bisen. Santosh accompanied us only till Shringeri.

Friday, 4 PM, Shringeri (Chikmaglur district)

Santosh enjoying views from our Rs 50 room's balcony

It was raining slightly when we reached Shringeri. Most of the lodges, etc are managed by the Ashram trust and are clean and spacious. We immediately booked a room & were surprised to find that the rent was just Rs 50 for 24 hrs. The views outside the rooms were just fantastic with fields, forest all around and the Tunga river flowing at a distance.

Bisen posing at the ashram lodge's balcony as if it's Taj or Oberoi

After getting fresh we visited the Ashram and the thousand year old Sharda temple. 

Infront Sharda temple

 

Shankaracharya's residence

On the banks of river Tunga

 We also visited the current Shankaracharya’s residence and meeting hall across the river. 

After taking Prasad(rice, sambhar and jaggery sweet) at the ashram’s Bhojanshala, we went back to our room and relaxed. The weather was awesome with intermittent drizzling and cool wind. But we didn’t forget to play cards even at a holy place like Shringeri. The card sessions extended late into the night and eventually we all dozed off one after another.

2 beds and 5 grownups. I was sleeping between Santosh and Bisen and was crushed very badly. None of us were ready to take the trouble and ask the manager for extra bedding. Resultantly all of us slept on the same bed in miserable condition. Nonetheless, it was fun.

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