Nasik—Trimbakeshwar

On 30th May 09 I and parul were to set out for Nasik, however since she couldn’t make it, I decided to go alone. I caught the 00.25 a.m. mahanagri express from Dadar and arrived Nasik at 4.25 a.m. the journey was supposed to be most interesting one as I was carrying only INR 320.00 and the account for which the ATM card I was carrying was out of funds. I asked my father to deposit some cash next day morning. I sat at the station for 15-20 minutes and proceeded to platform no.1.immediately outside the platform was the rickshaw and the bus stand. There were refreshment shops selling tea, vada pav which are open 24 hours. I was asked by the ticket conductor to catch the bus to CBS (Central Bus Stand) and immediately got the bus which was packet even in early morning. Damage: INR 10.00 and in 15 minutes arrived at CBS. At CBS there is a common toilet and paid one for using the service. The first bus for trimbakeshwar leaves at 5.15 a.m and goes from bus stand 1. There was a queue of people already standing and one need to really muscle to get inside the bus. Buses leave every 15 minutes for Trimbakeshwar and I caught the 5.30 a.m. bus. The scenic beauty was too good and one could see huge mountains on the left side of the raod. Toal damage: INR 20.00. At 6.00 a.m. I arrived at trimbakeshwar and as I got out of the bus, I couldn’t believe that it was such a good place. I could see mountains surrounding the place with clouds touching the mountains. There is a common toilet which I availed for INR 2.00 .It was not a great place, however being a budget traveler one needs to be prepared for every eventuality. I immediately proceeded towards the temple and after walking for 5 minutes arrived at the entrance of the temple. There was already queue with people standing since long and I became part of them which started at 6.30 a.m. and finally at 7.45 a.m. I got the darshan of jyotirling and one is not even allowed to stand even for a minute. There were lot of people doing parikrama of the temple and there is a holy water in the temple compound which is however open only to pundits of the temple. The place outside the temple was now buzzing with pilgrimages and one can find shops selling all sorts of things. I took breakfast at the nearby hotel of poha and tea. Total damage: INR 11.00. Towards the left side I walked straight and reached KUSHAWARTA--- a bathing place where there are waters of Godavari river and usually one takes a bath in the water before visiting jyotirling. One can't take a bath with soap since that’s not allowed and there are security people who keep watch on everyone. Immediately I proceeded to the bus stand and at 8.54 a.m. left for ANJANERI on the way to Nasik at a distance of 6.00 k.m from Trimbakeshwar. I asked the conductor to stop at anjani and immediately towards the right side there is a board which reads to Anjani—birthplace of Lord Hanuman. It’s a climb through the village and takes 30-40 minutes to reach the base of the mountain. There is a big mountain which is like a straight rock and can’t be climbed straight. There are steps which I took and was quite tiring since the temperature was almost 40-41. On the way I arrived at a small cave of Lord Buddha. I rested for 5 minutes and proceeded straight up and reached a flat plateau. There is a temple and a place to rest .the wind was so strong and was the windiest place I had ever visited. The view was exhilarating and I proceeded on and took the company of few local students who were also on the way up. Finally we arrived at the summit and walked for 5-10 minutes and arrived at this small temple on which it was written—birth place of hanuman. Immediately we proceeded back and reached the base at 12.00 p.m. at the base there is nothing to eat, however there is a local which sells lemon juice for INR 5.00. There is a place where I took rest and at around 2.30 p.m. proceeded to the main road. On the road I took lunch. Total damage INR 55.00. Usually one finds bus from anjani however I found it difficult since lot of the state buses didn’t stop. Finally I got the bus and arrived at CBS at 4.00 p.m. immediately outside the bus stand there are shared auto which takes to Ram ghat for INR 5.00/person. It took roughly 10-15 minutes to reach the ghat and the place was full with devotees who were bathing and offering deeps. The place is surrounded by market where locals come for shopping and near the ghat is old shiv temple worth a visit. Just outside the road is black Rama temple which is made of full black stone. Immediately next to this temple is the SITA gufa—where sita was supposed to be abducted .proceeding straight I came to a small temple which was Lakshman Rekha and then Hanuman Temple –8th meters. Its worth some time to spend at the ghat and watch people bathing of all ages and wakes of life. There is also boating facility available and aarti which takes place at 7.00 p.m. I proceeded to station and near the station there are small road side stalls which sell milk—full glass for INR 9.00 and half a glass for INR 5.00.

I enquired for my train to find that it was 10 hours late so I took general ticket and entered Amritsar express which arrived at 12.00 a.m. there was not a single place to sit and came standing till igatpuri. There I managed to find a place to sit and had slept for only an hour and arrived at Mumbai at 5.10 a.m.

Key Takeaway: Start early, visit Anjani, caves on the Mumbai Highway (I couldn’t).

For pictures follow the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30002962@N05/