Caribbean diaries (2) - Miami, Panama City and San Salvador

Caribbean diaries (1) - Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique

Miami

Fort Lauderdale from the air

Miami was a base for us when I was in the Caribbean and I flew in and out from there many times (6 times at last count). So I got to see it lot more from the top than on the ground 😁. And it looked just like I had imagined. The skyline while landing in Miami was always enchanting. A mix of the high rises in the city, with sun and waves all around it. And while landing at places nearby, like Fort Lauderdale, you can see the retirement houses lining the coast, with their huge houses, swimming pools and palm trees all around. The whole coast is densely populated, with lots of buildings and palm trees lining it for tens of kilometres. Also once when I was landing, we also flew over a long stretch of swamps all the way to Miami, which made for pretty pictures. So from the top, it was definitely a different experience every time.

Miami downtown from the air

The airport experience though was never great. There were always long queues for immigration, lot of confusion and very rude staff every time. There was a lack of clear directions in the airport, especially when taking connecting flights between terminals. Immigration took forever, with the attendants very rude to you if you do anything out of the ordinary, like take out your phone! And the US flights are quite low in service anyways. The whole experience just leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. And it made me decide to avoid connecting through US airports as much as I can.

During my stay in the Caribbean, I twice stayed there for a night between flights (once in Fort Lauderdale and once in Miami), and once spent a whole weekend in Miami. My first night there was spent in Hyatt House hotel in Fort Lauderdale which was quite a disappointment. The hotel was very downmarket and full of very random and scary people. It barely had any facilities or eating options. I tried walking to the nearby mall but the sidewalk was closed. So I decided to order in the food and what came was so American - a lot of food! Overall my experience wasn't great and I would never recommend the hotel to anyone. But the drive there from Miami had been quite refreshing, with palm trees and holiday homes everywhere, and a nice relaxed vibe to the air. So clearly, there was something better in the offing in Miami.

Retirement communities

So I turned up there again, for a weekend, when we stayed in Miami and ended up doing nothing much really 😀. We were staying in a huge airbnb in one of the gated communities in the city and it was an amazing experience. Staying in a 7-8 bedroom house with multiple living places and its own pool was definitely a unique experience. We walked around the area a bit and got to see some of the huge luxurious houses around which were interesting.

The whole vibe of the city was so relaxed and it was raining the whole weekend. So we ended up just doing indoor stuff at a slow Floridan pace. Our first outing was a brunch in the warm weather at Morgans which was a nice start to the day. And we spent the rest of the day shopping at the Sawgrass shopping mall.  We spent some time walking in the Design District and Birknell, both of which seemed fun to explore. They were full of graffiti and street paintings everywhere. The city felt spotlessly clean, well lighted and quite posh. In the evening we went for dinner to Beaker and Gray and called it an early night.

The next day also, the weather wasn't too great. So we spent the rest of the day lounging in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, with a view of the waterfront. And so the weekend was done, without having done anything much. As expected, the ubers as is everything in the US were huge. But surprisingly, most of the drivers did not speak English which felt a bit of a surprise as we were in the US! But I guess, Miami is a lot more spanish as compared to the rest of the country.

Swamplands?

My last night in Miami was when I had missed a flight and ended up staying 24 hours in the city. I stayed at the W hotel in the city centre with a beautiful view outside of a river and a nice park. But the world cup was going on at that time and I ended up spending the whole day inside itself. So inspite of having spent so much time in Miami, I still haven't explored much of what it has to offer outdoors. And even after having been to Miami 4 times, I haven't managed to visit the South Beach yet! Maybe I need to go on another trip to Miami then?


Panama City

Boats moving towards Panama Canal

I barely spent 24 hours in Panama City but it somehow left an impression on me. A good one, one which makes me want to visit it again. The first view I have of Panama is of flying in and seeing the country from the air. When land slowly comes into view, and you can see hundreds of ships making its way into the Panama Canal. And then, we saw lot of beaches with high rises and resorts next to it, followed by vast lands of rainforests and then we landed in Panama City. As soon as we started driving through the city, I experienced a kind of richness which was missing in all the other places I had visited in the Caribbean.

The waterfront

And it turned out to be exactly that. Panama is quite rich and well developed as compared to most of its neighbouring countries. Most of it comes from the Panama Canal and its consistent stream of revenue, but over the years Panama has developed into a successful South American hub. A lot of the well educated people from around Central and South America come and work there, and its a nice melting pot of immigrants from across the continent.

A view of Panama city

The city felt very modern and lot safer than some of its neighbours. Again, I spent most of my time in the office and the hotel in the city centre which looked fab. The waterfront was full of people enjoying walks. There were malls, offices and apartments in highrises all next to the waterfront. And hills nearby behind the highrises. They all made for fascinating shots at sunset. There was the typical beach-ey feeling about the city, which felt relaxed and luxurious. And somehow I came back with the feeling that I want to spend more time there for sure one day.

My biggest surprise on the visit: Panama is a rich and well developed country, and a popular place for expats in Central and South America to come and work.


San Salvador

I spent two days in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador but again spent most of my time in the hotel and the office. I did get a good sense of the country though, based on the small visits I had outside and time I spent with some locals. The people in ELS are Mestizos and I could easily merge with them. In fact, many people spoke to me in Spanish when I was there 😀.

ELS is a poorer country as compared to Panama and very unsafe. We again had strict instructions to not go anywhere without security. I noticed lot of guards outside buildings walking around with armed guns, which clearly indicated that we hadn't got the wrong advice!

A view of San Salvador

There were lots of malls around. And the nice areas felt very nice. I went out to two malls for lunch and dinner and liked the vibe I noticed there. Good restaurants and people out in the warm weather enjoying the nice meals. Also the country felt a lot more conservative than what I had imagined all of Latin America to be like. In fact, there was something there which made it feel a lot like India - with its so many potholes and the difference between the rich and the poor.

As I said, I did not get to see much of the country. I had the option to go and see a volcano which was very near. However, I debated going there and decided against it after hearing how unsafe the city is. So I decided to leave instead for the airport, which again was a nice drive. I passed through lot of hills and green dense forests on the way to the airport. I did feel sad leaving without exploring the country, but maybe thats for another time 😀.

My biggest surprise on the visit: There was a volcano within 30 mins from the city of San Salvador.

Caribbean diaries (3) - Ocho Rios, Port Antonio (Jamaica)
Caribbean diaries (4) - Negril and Kingston (Jamaica)

Trinity National Park in California

This year, I had a 2 week stay-cation in California, in San Jose. I had travelled a lot earlier in summer, so was done with any more hectic travels plans. And so we went on an easy 5 day trip to Trinity National Park. We wanted to have a relaxed time as we had already visited all the tourist places nearby. And it turned out to be exactly as we wanted. Living close to nature, walking, boating, swimming in the lakes and just taking in the fresh air which we miss so much in the city. Slowly and slowly, I am warming up to relaxed vacations too...

Lake Lewiston near Trinity
national park

We decided on Trinity national park when we were looking for the closest large green areas close to San Jose. And Shashta and Trinity national parks fit the bill. They were huge, green and close enough. It was still a long drive to get there, took us half a day which got longer with the breaks we took in between. The drive there to be honest was quite average - most of the time we were on highways, with only non-descript towns on the sides. It was very hot everywhere and the grass was all yellow on all sides. So nothing much to admire. We stopped to have lunch at Priya's in the town of Redding, which again felt like a lacklustre town.

Once we got off the highway and into Trinity park area, the vegetation all around got a lot greener and the views interesting. Both sides we saw green and dense forests with some small lakes coming into view once in a while. We stopped at one of the larger lakes - Whiskeytown- which extended till forever. It was a nice stop and we saw some people enjoying water sports in the lake.

Our resort was next to Lewiston lake and the last town we crossed was the town of Lewiston. It was barely a town, with some 5-6 houses and a few shops, a petrol station and grocery store. We should have stopped there to shop as it closed soon after we reached our cabins. And we were left with no way to buy regular groceries 😆.

We were staying in small cabins at Lakeview Terrace Resort, located on the banks of Lake Lewiston. The resort had a lot of these individual cabins of different sizes, all spaced out along a side of the hill amid trees. Some of the cabins get views of the lake also from in between the trees. There was also a swimming pool but overall the whole place was quite rustic and had minimum facilities. To be honest, our first impression of the resort felt a bit underwhelming, but as we settled into our cabin, we realised it was perfect. There was a kitchen, a living area and multiple bedrooms. The rooms were simple but well stocked.

Each of the cabins also had a huge outside seating area with barbeque options and a few benches, to cook outside but also sit and relax away from everything. It was so natural that deer and small birds would just come by the cabin as if on their daily stroll. The sleep we got there everyday was one of the best in a long time, it was so calm and quiet, it felt amazing.

The owners of the cabins were new, and even though they did not know much about the area around, they helped with whatever they could. They were also very comfortable and casual, running around their children in the resort. Felt so charming and non business-like 😊.

So when we reached, we realised we couldn't really cook anything as we hadn't bought the food stuff that was required. So we had a simple meal and called it a day soon enough, after taking a walk along the lake and back.

The weather was hot during the days and only the evenings were cooler and more tolerable. So we planned our days like that for the next few days. We went out to Lewiston lake or nearby to Trinity park, but tried to be out in the mornings, take a break and sleep in the hot afternoons and then go out for walks or some activity again in the evenings.

Cooper Budge trail

We spent one whole day and one evening around the Lewiston lake itself. One of the evenings, we just drove 5 mins from our resort to a small little trail called Cooper Budge which went through the forests all along the lake . It was a long and well marked trail, surrounded by green trees on both sides. The path was quite wide and easy enough to walk through. Sometimes it went near the lake and sometimes a bit far. We walked there for a couple of hours. The water in the lake was too cold though to go into, even though it was warmer outside. Apparently there are two layers of water, at different temperatures. The water on top is warmer, but under it is cold as its the water released from the Trinity lake through the dam at the other end. Anyways it didn't seem like the lake could have been a popular swimming area.

One of the days, we spent on Lewiston lake. We had seen people in boats fishing there everyday. There is a marina along the road from our resort which is full of small trailer houses which felt like holiday cabins. They also had rental boats there and we took one of the patio boats which was a huge one and can seat up to 6 people. So we spent the next 4 hours floating on the lake, first boating till one end towards the dam, then all the way with the engine shut, downstream to the other dam. And then back to the marina. It was quite a long lake and you could easily be on it for hours, admiring the peace and beauty around.

Lewiston lake

The water was sometimes blue, sometimes brown and sometimes green. It was very clear everywhere and at some places near the middle, was so shallow that it was dangerous to take the patio boat there. It was so clear that you could even see the rocks at the bottom and the fish swimming around. And all around, it was all very green and silent. There were trees of all shades all along the hills and their reflections in the water looked amazingly stunning in the sun.

Lewiston lake

There were loads of people fishing on the lake. And some were boating. For us, it was as lazy a day as it could get. My dad swam in the water even though it was a mix of hot and cold water. And the cold was very cold. Anyways, we kept drifting along in the boat, played cards, slept and essentially just lived on the boat for 4 hours 😊.

Lake in Trinity Park

One of the other days, we went to Trinity park which was right next to where we were. We were going for a trail to Sonnars lake based on directions given by our owner but it was a bit of a fail. But the day was still fun. We drove a long way and stopped at our first lake on the way, which was a smaller one but with warmer water. My dad swam there and we sat on its bank snacking in the sun. It had got too hot in the afternoon, so we were trying to spend our time under the shade as much as possible.

Another lake on the way

There were a few more lakes on the way which were full of people. Some of them had water sports going on, and in some, people were fishing, surfboarding, boating etc.. We also drove a long way along the Trinity lake. It was a bigger lake and goes on forever. There were even waves in the lake, signifying how huge it was.

Non-veg plants on Sonnars trail

We passed by some towns - Trinity centre, Coffee creek - on the way which are full of people who stay here and are not just tourists, which I found surprising. But overall the park felt mostly empty with very few people. Our plan was to go on the Sonnars lake trailhead, all the way up to the lake in the mountains but we never reached it. I think we got on the right path but the road up to the trailhead wasn't great. So even though we drove for 30 mins, we never reached there and were worried about driving there. So we just walked a bit on the road and came back without ever finishing the trail.

Overall, this side of the forest was more green, denser and felt fresher than the Lewiston side. It had a different vegetation, of pine trees and cones were strewn everywhere. The height of the park also slowly increased, from 2500 ft to 3500 ft, which made the weather also cooler as we kept driving higher. Compared to the other days, it was more cloudy and hence a lot easier to be outside. Also interestingly, the mud in the park varied a lot - it was red sometimes, yellow due to sand and sometimes black.

River at Trinity Alps resort

While coming back, we stopped at one of the resorts - Trinity Alps resort - on the way which was next to a river and looked like a fun place to stay. It was greener, was at a height, had higher mountains around it and was cooler. Definitely a place to go to next time.

And then, it was time to get back to city life. We drove back most of the day to San Jose and the drive was boring as usual. We did stop at an outlet mall on the way - the Vaccaville outlet mall. And it was good to shop there, it was better than the Gilroys we went to near San Jose.

Overall, places Like Trinity National Park which are not on major tourist maps are great to visit without the stress of tick marking any places. There are very few people around, mostly locals and time slows down here - a watch has no place in these parts of the world. Its a place where people come in for fishing, and just while away the day. The weather was not ideal when we went there, it was hot during the day, cooler in morning and night. But overall, another very peaceful and relaxed time off, just being close to nature and being...

Exploring historical Malta

Valletta, capital of Malta

This summer, I spent three wonderful days in the island country of Malta. I was there for an office event but still got ample time to explore the island. And totally fell in love with what it had to offer. I had heard about Malta for years but was still pleasantly surprised by all there was to see and appreciate. Historic cities, pre-historic temples, Game of Throne locations, a beautiful deep blue sea and of course warm weather all year round to add the icing on the cake. I enjoyed my time there and can see myself coming back to explore it a bit more, given this time I didn’t get as much time as I would have wanted.

The country is made up of 3 main inhabited islands - the main one is Malta, the next being Gozo which is very sparsely populated and apparently has a very desolate Mars like landscape. And the smallest being Comino. Malta has a very hot weather throughout the year, with mild non-snow winters. And the landscape is very dry and yellow everywhere with rains occurring barely less than 14 days a year.

It has had a very complex and complicated history which has made it what it is now - a pleasure to explore and learn about. Malta has been overrun by different cultures over the years, from the Greeks to the Romans to the Spanish to the Arabs to the French and lastly the British. One of the key people who affected the course of its history were the Knights of the Order of St John (also known as the Knights of Malta). Each of these people have contributed to the architecture, culture and people on the island. An example of that is the Maltese language which has also turned out to be a mixture of different languages, 75% Arab with the rest being Italian and Latin words.

Marina in Portomaso area

We were staying away from the cultural areas though, in the Hilton hotel in the Portomaso resort area. The whole area was touristy with a lot of large resorts everywhere. Even though we were next to the sea, there weren’t really many beaches around. Right in front of the hotel was a marina with a lot of boats moored there plus a bit of water sports options around. The hotel was quite convenient and imposing, with 4 deep blue pools, all right next to the sea. The rooms were outstanding and I had a balcony looking over the marina. We also had the President of Malta come in to give a small speech while in the hotel. All in all, a good comfortable place to stay.

The resort town also looked charming from afar, with yellow stone architecture and small shops and alleyways everywhere giving it an old world feel. We however explored very limited places nearby and mostly did trips nearby to historical places which were much more stunning and impressive than the resort area.


Valletta

Valletta, across the Bay

The place we explored on our first day on the island was the capital city of Valletta. It was a 15 mins cab ride from the hotel and felt like from a different era altogether. The city is spread out on both sides of the bay and provided a magnificent view in yellow against the blue of the water. We started our walks at the Upper Barakka gardens which were on top of the hill, providing a nice picturesque setting of older yellow monuments and well laid out flower beds. The views over the Bay, the fort below and the opposite side from there were striking. It was all yellow around, made even brighter by the warmth and sun all around.

Streets of Valletta

We then walked down and through the town through random streets to explore it at our own pace. It was Football cup season, so we stopped for ice-cream and saw one of the matches at the local cafe. The weather was very very hot and the ice-cream was welcome. We walked past the main cathedral, old churches, nicely laid out gardens and around the fort wall (which we were unable to identify for a long time). The city felt similar to the location from the song from Tamasha - Matargashti and we almost felt like recording a video with us dancing to the same, but we desisted 😝. The city was very fascinating and I loved walking around just taking in the relaxed old world feel it offered. And it feels good to know that cities like these can still exist peacefully with the glass and steel that is taking over most of the world.

Valletta from across the Bay

One of the other days, we had our Gala finale dinner on one side of the bay, opposite the old city. It was the perfect picturesque setting with a panoramic view of the old city across the bay. When we started, the old city was glowing yellow which turned red by sunset and slowly turned blue when the lights came on. It was the perfect way to end a nice weekend dancing away till late night in the open, with the skyline of Valletta as the background. It was a night to remember and we totally enjoyed the experience.


Trip to Blue Grotto, Haqar Qim and Marsaxllokk

The second day we went on an organised tour to a couple of places in the south of the island. The drive across the island was quite fascinating as the guide shared lot of stories and random trivia about the island on the way. Which was definitely interesting to listen to as the island does have an interesting history given its strategic location between Europe and Africa. And, as usual, it was a bright sunny day because of which everything felt bright and enjoyable. Of course, at times it also got a bit hot to stay outside for too long. But we liked the variety offered in the tour. We also passed through many small and big villages on the way which gave us a good idea of different parts of the island. I particularly loved one of the village which had grand yellow houses, which looked more like summer villas than normal everyday houses.

Blue Grotto

Our first stop was the Blue Grotto which is an interesting rock arch formation with a backdrop of bright blue water all around. We stopped there for a bit and took a few photos. A local guy was also showcasing his pet falcon and her antics which were quite popular. There was also an option to take a boat down all the way to the Grotto but we did not the have time to do that, so left after just viewing it.

Hagar Qim ruins

Our next stop was the Hagar Qim which are the remains of pre-historic temples from 3400 BC. Apparently, there are lot of old temples discovered all the time on the island, including Neolithic temples which are buried deep inside, under layers of the earth. And each unearthing is a surprise. The people who built the Hagar Qim are said to have settled here as there was less risk of attacks given lack of any resources on the island. The ruins are still being excavated and their beliefs still to be understood. And from what has been found, it is assumed that they worshipped a goddess and believed in afterlife. The remains were a quick stop and what I found most interesting about the visit was how much of the carving and temple structure from five thousand years ago is still visible and in decently good shape.

Malsaxllokk

Our last stop of the tour after Hagar Qim was a local fishing village called Marsaxllokk. We stopped there for an hour or so exploring the shops and the places around. As usual the entire village was a picture in yellow stone. It was small and quaint, with narrow roads, impressive buildings and people going about their daily jobs. The typical fisherman boats moored there were all in bright colours providing a beautiful contrast to all the yellow and the perfect place for a photo shoot. There was a calm character to the village which is different to explain. We spent some time there walking by the local markets and churches while taking in the cool breeze from the sea, all making for a relaxed, warm and enjoyable day.


Mdina

Mdina

The last place we explored on the Sunday was the tiny town of Mdina and I must say it was the best of the lot. It was a small little walled place, located on top of a hill and transported us to a completely different century. It was one of the popular locations for Game of Thrones’ shooting of the Kings Landing and totally makes you feel that you have time travelled to a different era of kings, maidens, knights and carriages. The entire town has only one grand entrance and is completely walled, it has an old style architecture, all in yellow stone and is a pleasure to amble through leisurely. It is an experience to be had which cannot easily be explained in words.

Square in Mdina

The place was built by the Arabs in the 1500s and hence the name. It is full of gardens, churches, small shops and cafes everywhere. There are narrow alleys and flower covered walls. And then there are small squares and large grand buildings. And carriages running through them - all providing a charm as if from a different century.

We also ran into a wedding at a local church, and spent some time just watching it happen! And surprisingly next to the church was a red telephone box from London. It was a surprise given how far we were from London, but clearly not from tourists 😜.

View of Malta

The view from the top of the areas outside is spectacular and worth seeing. You can easily see the island till very far, green fields and orchards, dotted with flowers everywhere. And you also realise then how densely the island is populated, with very limited empty spaces. We spent a few hours exploring the town and loved our time there. It was by far the best experience on the island and a definite recommend.


History and culture

Streets of Mdina

Malta is a religious country and the Christian churches hold sway here. There are 18 public holidays in a year and it rivals India on that count 😜. Each village has its own church and sometimes multiples of them. Plus each church holds its own feasts regularly. On the day of the feast, all the houses decorate their houses with flags on top and the church bursts fireworks to celebrate the day. In fact there is friendly rivalry and competition ongoing between the churches on who holds better feasts and has the best fireworks display. So as there are 365 such different churches, most days of the year, you can hear something going off in the sky, each display bigger than the previous 😁. We did notice one of the villages getting ready for the Feast of Madonna with all its houses decorated and flying flags on top of the houses to signify the upcoming day.

Also even though the island is Christian today, it earlier had a Muslim majority but they were all asked to convert when the Spanish took over. And apparently, most of them converted only externally, though they still follow their own religion through their traditions and culture.

The last ones to rule the country were the British. And they didn’t interfere with the language and religion as they very smartly had signed an agreement with the church. During their rule, Italian was the language of the intellectuals and English was the language of the sailors. And Maltese was the language of the locals. This is changing now though with English increasingly being spoken among the youth. Also in recent years, Malta has seen a lot of immigration from Africa which is affecting the cultural mix on the island. And because of new people coming in who can’t speak the language, Maltese is losing its popularity slowly and slowly.

There are not many rivers or mountains on the island or even industries or resources except maybe limestone quarries. The island is very densely populated and so the only resource it has is manpower. In recent years, therefore Malta has been used as a low cost location near Europe. And even though its in the EU, it is not a very rich country. Thankfully though the country still offers free childcare and healthcare. It gets a lot of subsidy from EU, plus Taiwan helped build some of its tunnels while then China gave it a harbour. Also, apparently, property prices have skyrocketed in recent years as there is no new land left for constructing new buildings. So only the existing places can be rebuilt.

Typical buildings

People on the island are very very friendly, especially the taxi drivers. They all gave us lot of tips on what to do on the island, plus chatted about it history. It also felt like the Maltese are very proud of their little quaint country, and rightfully so. We also thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

There is one scene which I always remember when I think of Malta - while landing at the island, I could see the island rising from the sea starting with white cliffs right next to the blue waters. And slowly lot of yellow stone buildings coming into view everywhere, some of them getting lighted slowly as the sun set. I think this is what Malta is, a stunning island with both history and natural beauty to offer. And this is the feeling I will always retain with me, of this warm island in the middle of nowhere, but it has everything, nature and culture…