THERE ARE MORE WAYS YOU CAN REACH VAISHNO DEVI SHRINE THAN YOU CAN REACH HOME

So need is the mother of innovations is what we hear often, however, if you ever want to see this cliched come to life, do go for a trek to Vaishno Devi. When I visited Vaishno Devi it became rainy cloudy and cold so helicopters weren't operational so I won't be mentioning them.

1. By Foot

It is the most common means

pros

you can move at your own pace

best for young and overly energetic people

you can take as many pics on the way

no added expense

you can choose your own stops to rest

cons
tiering af
horses on the way keep on irritating
when it rains you gotta walk on horse poop and pee because the path gets covered in that shit
trek becomes longer
not recommended if you are going with kids

(stairs)

+ there are a lot of sets of stairs on the way which you can take, if comfortable, to shorten your route and escape horses. some sets are small (60-70 steps) while others are hella big.

(barefoot)

++ Vaishno Devi is like voluntary hajj for Hindus around the world. so people in the number of thousands and hundreds flock to this place and wish. sometimes these wishes are realised and people in order to extend thanks to the goddess walk up to the shrine bare foot.

the path is well built so barefoot thingy is really problematic
 if you have the guts and willpower to brave the elements
 and horse poop & pee.

2.On Horses

They are well the second most popular choice as they cut down on effort and time at reasonable rates.

pros

saves time

saves effort

saves you from walking on poop and pee when it rains

cons

sometimes they run even while going downhill

your hip and lower back may hurt a lot

cold wind will blow on your face

ghoda and ghodi will never go without each other.
if ghodi gets ahead Ghoda will run up to her
and won't even think a bit about you.

3.Pitthu

If you are a kiddo then you have an additional option of hiring a person to carry you on his back to certain distances, or all the way up. When I went to Vaishno Devi 15 years back, my momma told me that they hired Pitthu for me and my cousin as well.

a kiddo making memories

note: these headbands are not free

4.Sitting Idle

(Palki)

so this one is my favourite. It is basically an alternative to the helicopter but is 4x more expensive.

pros

ride like a bawse

you can continuously be on social media and flaunt your swag

take the pleasure of sightseeing 

0 like zero physical effort

reach relatively earlier than walkers but later than horses

cons

expensive

sitting in a single position for long may not be cool

things can get scary on stairs(yeah the palkiwalas take stairs idk why)

(battery cars)

source: electric cars in vaishno devi - YouTube

These are available only for the second half of the journey. But will take ya to the destination in no time.

Conclusion:

It does not matter how but why you wanna go to Vaishno Devi

kids have an extra option than adults.

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All the pics (except one) are clicked by me. So I won't mind if you wanna appreciate them.

Thanks