National Parks of US (1) : Grand Canyon

This year, we did a driving trip to three US National Parks, Grand Canyon in Arizona and Bryce and Zion in Utah. The first park we visited was Grand Canyon. We drove there from Vegas, the drive was about 5 hours and my first experience with the desert landscape of South West US. It's an enchanting drive, the view on both side of the road looks just out of a painting. As you drive through this region, the landscape is mostly bare but still changes constantly.

You drive through vastlands with small bushy vegetation and then high mountains with high cliffs and rocks and then canyons with rivers meandering through them. The colours, the features, the contours of land changes constantly. Its tough to put it in words, the many shapes and colours you see on the drive.

On the way, you pass by many casinos too as gambling is legal in Nevada. You also get to see a glimpse of the other side of US, the mid-west and the southerners, who are quite different from the Americans in the north-east US definitely. The roads here are all well maintained, you can drive at good speeds (and cruise too!) and there are many patches in between where there are no cars and no people for miles at a go.

On the way to the Grand Canyon from Vegas is the Powell Dam and Lake Mead area. The lake looks like an emerald blue drop against the yellow and brown hungry looking land all around. I think there are a couple of activities to do here, but since we did not stop there, am not sure.

Anyways once in Grand Canyon, we stayed in one of the lodges on the south rim of the canyon, Yuvapai Lodge. There are 4 more lodges inside the park, and the other four overlook the canyon; so if you ever plan to go there, do book a room at one of those lodges. Its definitely worth it, staying right on top of the canyon, though it does require you to book way in advance.

The first evening we reached the park, we walked along the rim on the canyon, called the rim trail. It passes by all the lodges and is just a flat trail moving along the rim of the canyon giving views of the depths beneath. The first view of the canyon is mesmerizing, its like nothing else I had ever seen before.

The vastness and size of the canyon really amazes you. And its a photographers delight! The canyon from different angle looks even more view-worthy (though later on you can't distinguish between these views anymore:)!!). The Canyon looks ever more amazing during the sunset, with light falling on some of the peaks on the North rim bringing out many more bright colours as the sun sets.


We also saw some elk while in the park, eating away to glory unaware of all the crowds around them clicking pictures furiously!




The next morning we did a trail in the canyon, the Bright Angels trail. There are multiple points on the trail where you can stop and come back depending on how much time and energy you have. One negative point about the trails at the Canyon is that you go down first! So the first part is easy and then comes the tough part, coming back up!

Since we did not have much time, we trekked till after the 1.5 mile restplace (upto 2 miles). It was a good trek, slightly strenuous but we did descend a lot into the canyon. It looks a little different looking up, than looking down:). It was quite hot though, so is advisable to carry lots of water.

On the way back up, we also saw some cave paintings, apparently pre-historic men used to stay here!






If you have time, you should definitely go down into the canyon till you can see the river up close. Also if you have a couple of days, you can definitely do a trek to the Phantom Ranch which is just next to the river and is 9 hours one way. And if you have even more time than that, you can even trek from the North Rim to the South Rim, crossing the canyon. We met a group of people who had done just that, they had been trekking for 5 days. Surely something to look to do someday!!

After the trek, we just took the shuttle bus to look at the viewpoints while on the way to Hermits rest. We stopped at Powell, Hopi, Abyss, Pima viewpoints, each providing a different view of the canyon. The best of course was Hopi point, which provides a very expansive view of the Canyon, from east to west showing how the Colorado meanders through the Canyon. The Colorado water was brown currently but I guess when its blue, it must look divine; sapphire blue flowing water in the middle of the red and brown stone all around.

The colours in the canyon are truly amazing; the different layers of stone in the canyon are all from different periods of the earth's history, they all have a different structure and different colour. The Canyon is huge, the distance between the two opposite ends of the canyon being almost 10 miles! And the depth is about 1.6 miles! Its truly scary to look down, you don't even know how down it goes.

The Park has a couple of good eating places too. The Canyon Cafe at Yuvapai opens at 6, which is helpful for trekkers starting early to avoid the heat while trekking. The El Tovar restaurant has a rustic feel about it, made of wood, with a native American theme and giving a complete panoramic view of the Canyon outside the window. The Arizona Room at Bright Angels Lodge also offers decent South-west American food and a good view.

There is lot of stuff to do in the Park other than the treks. On the East side of the park, you can drive on the Desert Drive to see the other end of the canyon. There are activities conducted across the park to keep people busy. The amphitheater plays movies of the Canyon; there are native american programmes held at the Lodges; there is white water rafting conducted on the Colorado river; you can even take a helicopter tour of the Canyon. Basically, enough to keep you engaged while in the Park:).

I loved my experience at the Grand Canyon, because its so different than anything else I have seen. It makes me wonder how something so amazing could have been molded by nature. There are loads of explanations given but I still find it unimaginable.

I also wonder how the first person to stumble on it would have felt? The Canyon comes about so suddenly, you are passing through normal green forests and suddenly there is this fall before you. Not a small one, but one extending to 10 miles and 1.6 miles deep, with various shades of colours visible across the mountains. What a bewitching sight that would have been, what a feeling!

For people planning to visit it, just one point. I don't think there is that much to 'see' here, as after a point the canyon starts looking the same. The best way to enjoy the park is to trek there, go down and see the canyon from below. That is when you will feel a part of the park, rather than just visiting and clicking pictures!

Sentosa Islanding

One weekend while in Singapore, (and after 2 earlier visits here), I decided finally to go to the only touristy thing to do in Singapore (other than shopping that is!!) and went to Sentosa Island. Even though most of my friends advised me that its not really a place worth visiting,  I still thought of giving it a try. To be honest, I wasn't disappointed. I thought it was a fun place to go to, if you have spare time while in Singapore. Its easy to reach, you can take a cab or just take the MRT and then the monorail to the island.

There are multiple things to do there: sound and light shows, water activities, beach, resorts, theme parks etc. We just ended up going to the Universal Studios and what a fun day we had. For one, we were lucky that someone gave us the express pass which allowed us to go ahead of the line in each rides. Though surprisingly for a Sunday, there wasn't much crowd. Anyways we walked around, did most of the rides and it was fun. The Egypt based rides and the dinosaur rides were very enjoyable. The rollar coaster rides were also pretty scary! Plus there was the kids Disney section which was again the Disney castle along with some cartoon characters walking around, Here are some pictures of the park.

While coming back from the island, we took the cable car (themed on angry birds) which gave a lighted view of the city. Singapore does have a dazzling skyline at night, which I did not know earlier.  Anyways we had a great day, fun and enjoyable. I would definitely suggest going to Sentosa if you ever land up in Singapore. Its almost like a full day hi-fi mela, good for spending a long day outside.

A Balinese weekend

A couple of weeks back, I did a quick weekend trip to Bali, mostly because the tickets were cheap but also because it was a place I had enjoyed a lot the last time around and could see myself visit again. And of course, the fact that it has visa on arrival for Indians was a big factor! This trip was a bit different than the last one though, as it was to a more resort-ey part of Bali unlike the last time which had a more cultural flavour to it.

The moment I landed in Bali, even on a late Friday night, I felt a kind of calmness and purity in the air, and the feel of a slow pace of life in a different world altogether; and that is when I realized what it was that had drawn me to Bali again! It was this feeling of a different slow world, away from the city life we all live in and the feeling, that yes life can be like this too...

Anyways, so I was there for 2 days and stayed in Nusa Dua which is essentially the 'manicured lawns' kind of resort area of Bali, at a place called Kind Villa Bintang which though not the most upscale resorts around, was a very nice quiet beach hotel.

The pool at the resort looked sublime at night with the sound of the sea and the twinkling lights everywhere. The restaurant next to the pool had a good menu plus was open 24 hours, so quite comfortable and convenient.

The first day, I had a very laid back relaxed day. I went to the local shopping area called 'the Bali Collection' which has a western mall-like feeling, with shops selling tourist ware. Its good if you are really craving for a western experience, else I would definitely suggest not to spend time shopping at such kind of places when in Bali. The stuff is overpriced and the environ very touristy. Anyways since I was there, I had lunch at a place called 'the lounge' just because it was playing hindi music (even though it wasn't serving Indian food!)!

In the evening, I walked along the beach next to the hotel, which was not that great actually. The beach has lot of wild weeds scattered all along which during the low tide looked even worse. There are lot of water sports happening there though which is good. In the evening, I took a walk along the road crossing all the resorts on one side and cafes and restaurants and spas on the other. The highlight of the day for me was the visit to the spa: costs vary from exorbitant to dirt cheap! And you can totally pamper yourself by getting the Balinese massage which is very relaxing. An interesting thing I noticed was that it was not just tourists who were all massage crazy; looks like the locals also come in for massages regularly. Its just part of their daily life, which was a surprise to me.

The next day I took a tour of two of the famous temples on the Island, Tanah Lot and Uluwatu. Tanah Lot is a small temple on a rock in the sea, it has a great location and looks even better at sunset when most people visit it. I however went there during the day but it was graceful nevertheless; the small temple perched on top of a huge rock with water all around. The grounds all around are green and have cliffs overlooking the water making it a nice spot to spend some time (minus the crowds that is!)

One thing I was surprised about though, was there was an entry fee to go to the temple which feels very unlike a place of worship. I however got a 50% discount because for some reason, they thought I was a native Indonesian! And a letdown I felt was that you are not allowed to enter the temple unless you are a Hindu (which worked for me) and dressed in the traditional Balinese dress. I would have loved to spend some time there, just feeling the calm and quiet inside.

The other temple I visited was Uluwatu, at another strategic location on a cliff with green waters meters below lashing at the mountains. Its another calm and serene location except that again the temple is closed to outsiders and you can just see it from the outside which though interesting lacks the same charm as entering and praying inside the temple. Also you need to beware of monkeys here as they are said to be pretty aggressive.



I ended my stay at Bali with a lunch at the Intercontinental at Jimbaran beach. The beach was vast with good yellow sand, would suggest staying somewhere here rather than in Nusa Dua as its a lot better if you care about the water. Had lunch at the resort which was too pricey. But otherwise the resort looked rather luxurious and a fun place to hangout at!

What had struck me most about Bali the last time and even on this trip was the people on this little island; helpful, simple, mostly smiling and ready to help; and most of them understand English very well too which is good. They look very cute wearing the traditional dress and love conversing with Indians, talking about Hinduism and Hindi movies too! And although, this time around I did see an increase in commercialization here, I felt Bali still retains its old-world charm(and I just hope it doesn't get lost anytime)!


You see the Balinese culture all around you, whether it is the dances or the temples in each village of the stone structures everywhere. If you are fond of history and culture, this is definitely the place to go. So much to explore and learn and enjoy! I was also amazed by the different kinds of flowers all along the island, its really beautiful.

The weather this time of the year was quite warm, so I would suggest sleeping during the hot afternoons or at least staying indoors and venturing out only in the mornings or evenings. Tourism is still quite cheap here which makes it easy to do a wide variety of activities. I had a great time again here and wouldn't mind coming again, to explore more about this very different island which has a lot of variety to offer.