My First Long Trip with My Parents: A Spiritual Journey

This trip was incredibly special to me because it was my first time taking full responsibility and traveling alone with my parents. It was a journey full of firsts. It was their very first flight experience, and it was only my second time on an airplane. Honestly, we were all a mix of excitement, nervousness, and worry before the journey even began.

March 6: The Beginning and a Cute Airport Memory

Our journey started on March 6th. We took a cab from our home to the Mumbai airport, which cost us about ₹1,200. The flight tickets to Prayagraj for the three of us came to around ₹18,200.

The flight experience ended up being smooth and totally hassle-free, but there is one cute moment from the airport that will stay with me forever. My mom was so innocent and new to the whole process that after we dropped off our baggage, she walked straight up to the security check without standing in the line! A security personnel had to gently call her back since other people were waiting. It was a funny, sweet start to our adventure, and it eased a lot of our initial nervousness.

March 6: Arriving in Prayagraj and a Timely Detour

After landing safely in Prayagraj, we booked a cab to take us directly to our hotel. Our cab driver turned out to be a great local guide right from the start. He gave us a valuable tip: he suggested we visit the Triveni Sangam right then, before checking into our hotel. He mentioned that the last boat rides happen around 5:00 PM, and if we went to the hotel first, we would completely miss it.

He charged a bit extra for the detour, making the total cab fare around ₹1,000, but it was a brilliant decision. We paid ₹1,700 for a private boat ride, which allowed us to do our holy snan (dip) at the Sangam and visit the Bade Hanuman temple peacefully. After our pooja, we finally headed to our hotel, Atulyam Stays. The stay cost us about ₹4,740 for two nights. The hotel was okayish and budget-friendly. It was not a very high-end place and wasn't very close to the main Civil Lines area, but we just needed a place to rest.

March 7: The Magic and Rush of Varanasi

The next morning, we started our journey to Varanasi bright and early at 7:30 AM. We booked a round-trip cab for the day, which cost us ₹3,736 including tolls and parking. Our driver was very polite and drove safely. On the highway, we stopped for breakfast at a place called "Dhaba Special," spending around ₹465. If you are ever traveling from Prayagraj to Varanasi by road, I highly recommend this spot the food was damn good!

The driver dropped us near the Kal Bhairav Mandir. Walking through those famous, narrow Banarasi lanes is when it finally felt like a real, authentic trip. The queue for the temple was very lengthy and heavily crowded. The temple was scheduled to close at 1:00 PM, and after standing in line for about an hour, we were getting worried. Luckily, we got our darshan right at 12:50 PM!

From there, we walked over to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Because I had booked the Sugam Darshan tickets in advance for ₹900, we were able to skip the heavy crowds and get a very quick, peaceful darshan. It was a huge relief for my parents.

Later, we took a cycle rickshaw to Dashashwamedh Ghat. We actually sat on the ghat for about two hours just waiting for the evening Ganga Aarti to begin. Let me tell you, it was worth every minute of the wait. The aarti started around 6:30 PM, and it was a completely divine, spiritual experience.

After the aarti, we met up with our cab and headed back to Prayagraj. We loved the food so much that we stopped at Dhaba Special again for dinner on the way back, spending about ₹800. Looking back, I realized one major mistake in my planning here. Instead of driving all the way back to Prayagraj that night just to wake up and go to Ayodhya the next morning, we should have headed directly to Ayodhya from Varanasi. It would have saved us unnecessary travel time and energy.

March 8: Moving to Ayodhya and a Hotel Lesson

On the third morning, we had breakfast at our hotel and started our trip to Ayodhya with the same cab driver, which cost us ₹3,500 for the journey.

This time, we checked into Hotel Shree Radha Rani, paying around ₹3,370 for a two-night stay. Honestly, this hotel booking was my biggest mistake of the trip. I had booked it based on nice photos and good ratings online, but the reality was very different. The hotel was located far away from the Ram Mandir and Sarayu Ghat, deep in a village. The rooms were too small, there were mosquitoes in the bathroom, and there was nothing to explore outside. The only saving grace was the food. Over our stay, we spent about ₹2,500 on their meals, and they served simple, home-like food which we were really missing by that point.

After a good 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, we booked an e-rickshaw for ₹400 round-trip and went to Sarayu Ghat, also known as Ram Ki Paidi. We took a holy snan and attended the evening aarti. Just like in Varanasi, it was deeply peaceful. We headed back to our room afterward. Since it was the India vs New Zealand T20 World Cup final, we just relaxed, ate some snacks, and watched the match together.

March 9: Darshan of Ram Lalla

We woke up early the next morning and first headed to Hanuman Garhi. There was a very long standing queue, but we successfully got our darshan. After that, we moved on to our main plan for the trip: the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir. We spent around ₹210 on local travel that day. We did not have any advance booking for Sugam Darshan this time, but the management was excellent. Even in the general public queue, we got a beautiful darshan of Ram Lalla in just about 30 minutes!

After the darshan, we explored the local market and then went back to Sarayu Ghat just to relax by the water. By the time we got back to the hotel, we didn't have any more plans. Since the hotel room was small and a bit boring, we decided to just watch the comedy movie Dhol on our phones and went to sleep early.

March 10: Fake Reviews and a Long Train Ride

We checked out of the hotel early around 12:00 PM the next day, and this is when I finally figured out how they had such good ratings online. The hotel manager asked to see my WhatsApp and actually tried to submit a positive review himself using my phone! I immediately stopped him and took my phone back. It was a solid lesson in double-checking online reviews.

Since we checked out early, we headed toward the Ayodhya Cantt station. Our cab driver asked if we wanted to see Guptar Ghat—the holy place where Lord Ram took Jal Samadhi. My father was very interested, and since we had plenty of time, we paid an extra ₹300 on top of our ₹500 station drop fare for the detour. It was a nice, quiet final stop in Ayodhya.

At the station, we waited for our Vande Bharat train to Delhi. The tickets cost us around ₹3,960, and we spent about ₹540 on train food. The journey lasted about 8 hours, and honestly, sitting in a chair car for that long was very hectic and uncomfortable for my parents. I highly suggest not booking a sitting chair car for any journey longer than 4 to 5 hours! We finally reached Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi around 11:30 PM and took a ₹256 cab to our new hotel.

March 11: Finding Peace and Bustle in Delhi

Our hotel in Delhi, Hotel All in Homes, cost about ₹4,600 for two nights. It was located right inside the crowded Main Bazaar area of Paharganj. However, out of all the places we stayed during this trip, this hotel was definitely the best. We were exhausted, so we went straight to sleep.

The next morning, we officially started our Delhi sightseeing, spending about ₹800 on various autos throughout the day. Our first stop was the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara. I must say, out of everything we saw on this week-long journey, this was easily the most peaceful place I visited. After soaking in the calm, we headed to the Red Fort. We bought the ₹105 entry tickets, but since it was quite hot outside, we just took a quick round and left early.

From there, we dived right into the famous Chandni Chowk. We ate the famous Aloo Ke Parathe at Paranthe Wali Gali, tried the famous Delhi Chole Kulche, and washed it all down with some thick lassi.

After a heavy lunch, we went back to the hotel for a much-needed afternoon nap. Later, my father had some business work in the Old Lajpat Rai Market, so we headed back to the Chandni Chowk area. We explored the massive electronics market there. Seeing such small shops doing incredibly big business was honestly very motivating for me. We wrapped up our time in Chandni Chowk with some good food at Haldiram's, spending around ₹1,000 total on food that day. To end the evening, we spent some relaxing time at India Gate before heading back to the hotel.

March 12-13: The Lotus Temple and Saying Goodbye

March 12th was our last day. Since our Rajdhani train back home was scheduled for the late afternoon, I asked the hotel manager for an extended stay. He was very generous and allowed us to keep the room until 3:00 PM for a minimal price of ₹770.

Because we had the extra time, we took a round-trip cab for ₹330 to visit the Lotus Temple in the morning. It is a wonderful meditation place—so silent, peaceful, and relaxing. We had some light snacks there, went back to the hotel, slept for an hour, and ordered some pizzas for about ₹650 for a quick lunch.

We finally checked out, caught an auto to the Nizamuddin Railway Station for ₹230, and boarded our Rajdhani train. The train tickets to Kalyan cost around ₹8,330. We ordered our dinner online for the train ride and got some much-needed sleep.

Finally, on the morning of March 13th around 11:00 AM, we took our last auto ride for ₹120 and arrived safely back home.

Final Thoughts

To sum it all up, this trip was long, a bit hectic, and we covered a massive amount of ground in just a week. It was a deeply spiritual journey. Looking back, my hotel selection could have been better in some places, and some parts of the itinerary could have been managed more efficiently. But at the end of the day, it was a really good trip. Navigating the crowds, the trains, and the completely new cities to give my parents this experience was a challenge, but seeing them so happy made every single second of it totally worth it.