Itenary:
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Day1 - 10th July 2009
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8.30 PM - start from Race course road - ITDC office by VOLVO A/C bus.[ but it started late as one family arrived late].
11.00PM - some place near Kolar.
2.15 AM - reach tirupathi.[Guide joins here]
2.20AM - stand in Q for the Rs. 50 darshan(idiots, they could have come up with some arrangement with TTD, to get the photo
and tag in bangalore only, as it is in association with AP tourism development).
My god, the counter opened @ 4.30 am.
I struggled a lot as I had a 2 yr kid and my wife had migrane bcos of lack of sleep.
we sat on the road for 2 hrs standing for 3 hrs, it is a terrifying experience.
7.00 am - after standing in Q for 5 hrs [oh!] we got the Rs.50 darshan ticket.
7.30 am - reach the’Vasavi’ lodge. Guide gives you 1hr 30 mins as our darshan time was 9.00 am.
8.00 am - breakfast in the adjoining hotel as there are no hotels around [ food is excellent here, VEG off course.]
9.00 am- we were ready @ 9am but others came late and we started to Tirumala after that[here one more hiccup, one family kept
all the darshan tickets in the room itself.then the guide asked the family head aot go in an auto and get the the tkts and
come directly to Tirumala, Guide was in firng mode now! - naturally].
11.50 am - reached Tirumala, guide asks people for Tonsure to get down near the parking lot [you have to tell him early
otherwise you are in soup]. I had 2 tonsures, me and my kid.
11.55am - Guide went inside the Tonsure hall, brought a guy in white and white. this guy was awesome, a real professoinal,
within 3 mins my kid’s head was tonsured, next 3 mins my head was tonsured, no scratches neither on my head or on my kids
head [ I got new blades with me and gave one to another gentleman who cam with us as he did not have one]. that guy demaned
Rs. 30 for each tonsure, I gave Rs.100 [2 tonsures] for the job he did.
12.15 PM - deposit your mobiles/ cameras/ chappals in the shops the guide shows. [offcourse for a charge - Rs .10 for
mobile, i do not know how much for camera.]
12.20 pm - started to stand in the Rs.50’Q’.[one advice, carry water bottle, some juice packets with you as the place is
quite humid]. It was free pushing and pulling from now on, but this time till I entered the mandapam it was quite
smooth(!). once we entered the mantapam pushing was totally free [ people who have kids, hold on to them tightly,
better to carry them on your shoulders].
3.45 pm - darshan of Lord Venkateswara, it was awesome, I & my family got Divya Darshan, at that moment I felt all the
pushing we had faced, all the pain we had from the morning was worth every minute. My heart felt light and I felt my
problems have evaporated in a minute, at the time of darshan. I said thank you Mr.Lord Venkateswara and we came out.
Collected the 4 ladoos [ they donot give more].
4.15 PM - came to the place we started [ one sad thing, one family lost their kid and they were searching their kid with
moistened eyes, guys be careful when you have kids with you].
4.20 PM - Guide gives us the ticket for the return journey, started the return journey.
6.50 PM - Bus stops near’Vasavi’ lodge. into room in next 10 mins.
started sleeping like dead logs.
5.00 AM - straight to kalahasti . shiva darshan. [guide does not show the Badala Lingam, one of our co-passengers,
told us after we came out of there].
8.00 AM - nice food in AP tourism hotel.
9.45 am - Thiruchanur [ Padmavathy ] temple, here the tickets are available @ Rs.10, Rs.40. For Rs.40, you get 2 laddoos
free. but the guide bought only Rs.10 tickets as there was a big Q for laddoo.[ the sad part was he lied to us that the Rs.40
tickets were sold off]. This was a big mistake, as people were dangerously pushing each other in the Rs.10 Q and Rs.40 Q was
smooth. I/ my wife had to carry my kid through out as we were afraid to make our kid walk bcos of the dangerous crowd.
12.00 noon - Alamelu Mangapuram temple, good peaceful darshan.
3.00 PM - Palamaner, Chittor - lunch . good lunch in the hotel.
7.20 PM - Race course road ITDC office., caught auto to Vijayanagar, nice auto driver, were discussing politics( I know very little kannada)
8.00 PM - reached home.
overall I feel that ITDC package was good considering the fact that I had visited the temples which I had never visited in my life till now.
But I could not forgive the Guide for his act as we all had keart in our mouth for nearly 30 mins bcos of the crowd in thiruchaanoor.
next time I will plan my travel and not take this tour package.
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