This journey of mast contacts proved full of extreme hardships. Hellan and Elcha, by continually driving without rest, were completely spent. Both cars gave a lot of trouble, and repairing punctures and changing tires caused them much hardship.
Physically it was a terrible strain. At some places there was no drinking water. The heat was intense and strong winds raised a lot of dust. At times there was no place to rest, and sleep was to be had only in the open.
Before starting the trip, Baba had warned them, "You are coming under your own responsibility. I will not be responsible if you die on this tour — and none of your relatives should come weeping to me that you have died."
Although all the difficulties and troubles were bitter and hard, the sweet memories of the mast contacts were joyous and pleasant because Baba, for the most part, was exceptionally happy with his work with the masts, mastanis and saints.
Yet, as Eruch later wrote in an account of the journey, Baba was still upset about setbacks to his plans:
All along the tour, Baba was seen cheerful and happy. He appeared very satisfied with the mast and saint contacts that took place during these five days ...
Nevertheless, after returning to Dehra Dun from the short and strenuous mast trip, Baba remarked in the presence of most of his devotees of Dehra Dun that although he was completely satisfied with the work done in this tour, yet no number of such mast trips nor any amount of satisfaction derived thus could ever compensate what has been undone by things so trifling as failure to procure a station wagon and the consequent repercussions on the picture of work he had formulated and preplanned in all its details ... All his plans had been upset due to the setbacks he received in his important work ...
It would be impossible to satisfy the limited mind through explanations concerning things beyond the grasp and even beyond the reach of imagination of the human intellect ... Hence, Baba said, that however much he would like to explain about the setbacks, the disturbances and the upsets in his plans and work, one would never comprehend the meaning behind all this ...
Were not Zoroaster, Muhammad and Buddha opposed and persecuted by those who had prearranged and prepared themselves to foil their plans, disturb them in their God-ordained work and eventually harm them treacherously? Were these Avatars and Prophets false? If they were Truth Personified, all-knowing and all-powerful, then why could they not foresee the danger and avoid suffering untold hardships, humiliation, disappointments and setbacks in their work?