Niagara Falls - Nature's True Magnificience

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow!

I was always amazed to see how certain people have wishlists or bucket lists for life! So in order to join the bandwagon, after consulting a lot of people on what is in theirs, it was astonishing to figure out what it actually constituted for most people - Buying a swanky 3 BHK house, owning a sports car, retirement at 45, buying expensive diamond jewellery and visiting exotic locations.

When I actually sat down to write mine it was pretty simply put into two categories - Travel & Life. Under Life (since it is much smaller) is - Enough finances to pay the rent, grocery and other basic bills. Saving enough to see the world. Under Travel - It began with a Leh Ladakh trip, Goa with friends, Phuket to explore, Seeing Buda Castle in Hungary, Wandering the Rockies in North America, Visiting Tanah Lot in Bali, Wilderness across Hornblower cruise in Niagara Falls and Walking on Niagara on the Lake, Beaching in Konkan and sitting by the Canal in Amsterdam and it goes on and on. 

Little did I know that my Niagara dream will come true this September following a series of the most bizarre events.

Niagara Falls lies in between USA (New York) and Canada (Ontario). It is a massive waterfall with three dips - The American fall, The bridal Veil and the Horseshoe Falls. These three combine together to form the most magnificent and enormous waterfall in the World known for the buzzing activities around its natural splendor. Tons of icy blue waters flowing down at enormous force lends it a surreal appeal enhanced by the never-ending mist that surrounds the horseshoe falls. The verdant green colour of the water flowing over the Niagara Falls is a byproduct of the estimated 60 tonnes/minute of dissolved salts and "rock flour" (very finely ground rock) generated by the erosive force of the Niagara River itself. It is surely a breathtaking view as we could see from the top of Skylon Tower.

I arrived in Queen City District via a Go Bus from Hamilton around 1 PM on a beautiful September Saturday afternoon and after getting out of the terminal started walking towards the falls which are approx. a 2.5 Km walk and took about 30 minutes via the Valley way, which runs parallel to the Niagara Gorge and You can see the US on the other side of the cliff. There were beautifully tended house gardens on the way, full of flowers and creepers and I stopped at a lot of places to click insta pics. after walking for about 30-32 minutes we could see the falls from a distance and for a second I was completely mesmerized looking at its grandeur and allure. Since we have been traveling for a long time and the walk only added to our hunger, we stepped on to Clifton Hill and started our search for a satiating lunch. Casablanca seemed like the perfect place and we ordered Poutine (You start loving it), A veg appetizer platter, A black bean burger split into two and two large iced lattes. It was so refreshing and unexpected to find such a great taste at affordable prices. After our gastronomic pleasure was over, we again came down to the falls and purchased tickets for the Hornblower Cruise.

We had to walk a pathway to reach our cruise liner and were given rain ponchos to prevent the mist from drenching us. As soon as we boarded the cruise, we were at the sea level and from there looking at the falls showed us how massive it is, both in terms of the flow as well as the size. Slowly our boat started taking us towards all the three dips and as if in a trance we were just looking at the amazing yet enthralling beauty of water falling down in all its strength and force. We recorded a few videos which are too belittling for the grand falls, still will serve us memory pills a few years down the line. Till the time we were around the American Falls, we could still see the American side, waving and cheering at people who were at the railing of US side, however as soon as we approached the Horseshoe falls, we were completely blinded by the rain showers aka mist falling on us, gently yet invigoratingly and despite the poncho, I got drenched. It felt nice as if I've taken a dip in the holy waters of Varanasi instead of just standing near the banks. The cruise took about 25 minutes to finish off and dropped us at the deck from where we again came up to the Niagara Falls Park and from there after smoking a cigarette (I was cold & forgot to carry Vodka), we moved again to Clifton Hill. 

Here's the live video from Hornblower cruise :

All those who have been to London and have sat in the London eye might wanna skip the Niagara Skywheels. My advice is - Try it, especially during the evening when it is nearing sunset. You'll see the beautiful falls mist actually creating a semi-circular rainbow near the Rainbow bridge that connects US & Canada. Right next to the Skywheel is Tim Hortons. For all those who don't know - You've not been to North America If you don't find Timmy's  or Tim Hortons as a household name for all your Coffee, Bagel and WiFi cravings.

We enjoyed a couple of games at The Great Canadian Midway and also went to Guinness World Records Museum and Movieland Wax Museum. While we were walking along the entire Clifton Hill strip we saw a minion show and Oh boy! I love minions. My heart goes out to them so to freeze the moment I clicked a super fast click with them in tow.

By the time it was 8 PM we were super exhausted and started hunting for an AirB&B in the nearby area. To our disappointment, being a Saturday night, we didn't find a single room (Yeah, it is that famous and crowded) so the only option was to again catch a Go Bus and return to Hamilton where another adventure awaited us the next morning (details in a later blog for sure). 

As I sat on the first floor of Go Bus for Hamilton, I looked at the falls for one last time and something in my heart told me that the memories made today will be with me forever. A long time ago I read it somewhere and it couldn't be truer - Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times! And as for the Bucket list - tick offs continue and so do the destinations !!!

Budapest - Breathtaking Beauty of History

Budapest is the capital of Hungary and one of Eastern Europe’s largest cities. Budapest- the name is a conjunction of two separate parts of the city, the hilly terrain of Buda and the flat regions of Pest, dissected by the beautiful Danube River. Its 19th-century Chain Bridge connects the hilly Buda district with flat Pest. A funicular runs up Castle Hill to Buda’s Old Town, where the Budapest History Museum traces city life from Roman times onward. Trinity Square is home to 13th-century Matthias Church and the turrets of the Fishermen’s Bastion, which offer sweeping views.

It is the perfect blend of hundreds of years of history wrapped in modernity, which makes Budapest the ultimate Alpha global city of the EU. Budapest is cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. 

Above -  Matthias Church

It has around 80 geothermal springs, the world's largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building along with various buildings which breathes heavily on Art nouveau, Communist and Jewish heritage, Classical music and numerous traditional coffee houses, Budapest is the breathing, thriving city that truly amalgamates past eras with aplomb.

I visited this beautiful city in June 2016 and suffice to say, fell deeply in love with it. Since my flight landed quite late in the day, after a short nap the first place I visited was the Danube promenade and view of Buda castle amidst all its glory, golden lights reflecting its beautiful silhouette in the dark waters and that was when I knew I had come to just the right city for my birthday. 

After watching the castle for about half an hour, I took a walk on the promenade and came across, Shoes on the Danube bank, a memorial created to honor the Jews who were killed during WWII. The Jews were taken to the bank of the river and were asked to remove their shoes, so when shot their bodies fell in the water and carried away. This place has a high significance in the holocaust and it brought back memories of the famous movie, Schindler’s List to my mind. To ease off, I went to a very famous family run restaurant called Rosenstein, which has a very cozy feel as the owner is also the chef and he really gave me some good wine to seal my first day. 

Day two was about exploring the magnificent Castle District – The Old town where the commoners once lived and the Royal Palace (The Buda Castle). The Castle district is located in Castle hill which is a kilometer long plateau housing some of Budapest’s most important monuments, museums, and medieval architecture forms including a Unesco World Heritage site. 

The Buda Castle is an imposing structure that overlooks the city. The castle has had a tumultuous history that reflects the ups and downs of Hungary's fortunes. The castle was originally built by King Bela IV, however was reconstructed as late as 1950, post WWII. It consists of 6 wings named from A-F, arranged around the Lion Courtyard. The statue of Prince Eugene welcomes you further south, honoring the man who liberated Hungary from the Turks. To the west of the main dome is the endearing Matthias fountain and towards the south most is the Budapest History Museum. It took me almost 4-5 hours to finish wandering aroun the castle, dipped with history and bygone eras at every corner. To provide my body with the much needed fuel of food, I turned to one of the best restaurants in the vicinity, Csalogany 26, which has décor matching the Spartan era, fingerlickin meat and non-veg dishes made of the local ingredients and all this right in your budget.

Above - Statue of Prince Eugene

Located around 15-20 minutes away from the castle is the Building of the Hungarian Parliament. The main building got completed in 1902 and has an amalgamation of various architectural styles like neo Gothic, neo Roman and neo Baroque that gives it a very eclectic appearance, beautiful and culturally fused. I was in a guided tour of the parliament so visited the North wing which has the Golden Staircase; the Domed Hall, where the Crown of St Stephen, the nation’s most important national icon, is on display; the Grand Staircase and its wonderful landing; Loge Hall; and Congress Hall, where the House of Lords of the one-time bicameral assembly sat until 1944. The building has 691 rooms in all however we got to see a selected few; nonetheless they were enough to keep our eyes feel pleasantly tinted and our hearts full of awe and inspiration. The tour lasted for about an hour and thus we moved to another place demanding attention from afar, the Basilica of St Stephen. 

Basilica of St Stephen is a neoclassical structure built over a period of 45-50 years and got completed in 1905. It is named after Stephen, the first king of Hungary. It is the largest church in Budapest. It is said that the basilica is the house to the mummified right hand of King Stephen. It has a beautiful, large dome of washed turquoise color while the rest of the building is powder off white in color that lends a certain old world charm to the entire structure. 

Honest confession – Two days in this charming city and I already started loving architecture & history. In fact so much so that even when I slept the other day I saw these centuries old structures firmly standing in their beautiful and breath taking setting, bearing a testimony to the lives and struggles of a hundred generations that thrived before us. It’s like History that’s Alive. Like Frank Gehry puts is aptly, “Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” Budapest is truly a timeless city where time just stops so you breathe, see, soak and devour all the eclectic yet endearing things it has to offer!

Vengurla ... the Virgin haven of Konkan

Vengurla is around 15 km from Kudal and the first time I came to know about the place is when we were searching for a quaint, quiet beach option near Sawantwadi, on my way back from Tarkali (Boy! Tarkali deserves a post of it's own!). 

So coming back to Vengurla, the first time I visited it it was like fresh out of R.K.Narayan's Malgudi days except for the fact that instead of being a south Indian village it was a Maharashtrian one. Bowlekarwadi in Vengurla where is stayed is a small, sleepy, quaint village around 4 kms from the Math tehsil. The city of Vengurla which can be reached via own car or a hired auto from the village has a Jetty where you can smell the fresh fishes that are being captured by the local fishermen, a Lighthouse sitting atop a hill, an old government guest house overlooking the sea at one end and a beautiful chain of mountains on another, a beach with sapphire blue waters and pearl white sands and if you're lucky enough to be at the beach in the morning, you can spot thousands of sea gulls flirting with the waves as they come and touch the shore. Don't trust me, see the pics below.

It is this mesmerizing , untouched and unspoiled beauty of Vengurla which forced me to visit it again to kick start my New Year Travel ritual in 2017. I stayed in a Homestay called Dhuri Homestay. (Here's my Trip Advisor review of  Dhuri Homestays). This time my stay was even more exciting as I came to know of the cashew production in the area. There are 3-4 high capacity cashew factories which process raw nuts into the delicious snacks in a variety of flavors we get in the market. 

Fortunately, the owner of the home-stay has a cashew farm of his own so he took us to a little nature trail as we wanted to get the first hand feel of a village farm. at 8.30 a.m. just after having a cup of freshly brewed lemongrass tea, we headed to our cashew farm visit crossing a small area of human settlement filled with domesticated animals like cows, bullocks and dogs. After about 15 minutes of our walk we entered the paddy fields which had been reaped recently, so there were golden brown stubs of the paddy and chaff all spread across and in the morning light of the sun the entire area was glowing as if gold has been smeared on them. Since it is a little hilly, we could see sectional farming and glimpses of terrace farming. After crossing the beautiful paddy fields we entered a high slope where the area was densely covered by cashew trees all around. The ground was covered by leaves and there was a crisp noise of crushing as we stepped onto them. The cashew farm was cool, which was attributed to the closely planted trees with enormous branches and leaves that did not allow much light to come through. We reached here after walking for almost 20-25 minutes so sat on a wooden log and looked around the splendid fruits, pale pink in color that the trees bore. On our way back we had the typical maharashtrian breakfast of kanda poha, amboli and tea. 

Above - This is me at the Dhuri cashew farm.

Well most of you will be amazed that mobile network barely is functional near this place of my stay. So how I spend an entire day? Hmm, I begin my day with the sound of birds chirping outside my window pane and by looking outside at the lush green farms. Post breakfast I move to the lawns and read a book at leisurely pace, reflect on life and click pictures. Lunch is usually a delicious affair which requires a little sleep afterwards as I eat to my heart's content. Evenings are spend playing badminton, sitting by the beach, playing with the waves or just soaking in the vast natural beauty. Night is a starry affair with spotting countless constellations clearly visible in the night, with stars twinkling and sending us good dreams. I sometimes feel what a carefree life here is.

I have never been to a village prior to visiting this and if they say that a little hamlet is what we all deserve once in a while, I couldn't agree more. After all the famous African proverb says, "It takes a village to raise a child."

How to Reach?

Vengurla is situated in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, in the north of Goa. 

It is well connected by Mumbai and Goa via AC Deluxe and Non AC buses that run between Mumbai Goa Highway. 

Trains that run on the Konkan railway are the best suited. Kudal is the nearest station to reach Vengurla, situated around 17 kms from the city.

Food 

You must try the Konkani style fresh fish, kanda poha, Prawn curry, Amboli , Modaks , Sol kadi and cashew curry.

Robbers Cave

Doon Diaries : Part II

Isn't it surprising how much we don't know about people, places and things that have been with us? Sometimes the sheer knowledge baffles me, sometimes it evokes in me a level of inquisitiveness and for most times it leaves me inspired and awed.

You remember how in my previous post I talked about having spent my childhood in Dehradoon, still I had never heard of this place called Robbers cave in Guchchu pain area near Cantonment. When I was talking to a few localities near the resort, they told me to visit it as it was hardly a 5 minutes walk. I was game!

The Rio river was flowing in its musical rhythms and I was walking alongside it to reach a cave like structure where two three boys were clicking pictures. I walked near the cave entrance and witnessed the most beautiful river stream cave. It's divided into two parts of natural stone wall structure and the cold water from the waterfall located around 600 metres inside the cave supplements the pathway with sometimes calf length water stream.

As I went there at the fag end of winters the icy cold water up to my knee length folded trouser was enough to release the mist from my breaths. The sky was cloudy so about 20 metres into the cave and it was a little hazy with light partially coming in from the top of the stone walls. When my eyes adjusted to the light I could see floating small clouds of fog and mist in the air, sunlight hovering in through the creeks in the stones from above, the enthralling sound of water from the fall filling the air with its soothing music and tiny fishes and beautiful pebbles in the transparent water running under my foot. The whole experience of reaching the waterfall was ethereal as it was cold, dark, with water acting as the natural pathway and being surrounded by nothing else but tall, stone wall structures. It was the perfect misty moment for me where I realized nature flirts with us the best in the most dazzling ways ever.

For those who want to have a feel, I'm sure you've seen the pictures which should stand witness to this breathtaking beauty called Robbers cave. For now, it has robbed my heart for sure! Lemme know if it has cast a spell on you too :)

How to Reach?

Robbers Cave - Guchchu pani, Garhi cantt, Dehradoon, Uttrakhand 248014

Dehradoon is well connected by Air, Bus and Trains.

Air - Jolly Grant is the nearest airport which is 25 kms from the city centre. Air India, Indigo, Jet Airways have frequent flights connecting Dehradoon to the rest of India, major hubs being Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai etc.

Bus - Delhi ISBT has regular AC Deluxe and Non AC bus service to Dehradoon several times a day. It is also connected to Haridwar, Roorkee, Shimla, Allahabad, Jaipur and Rishikesh via various bus services.

Train - Dehradoon is one of the main railhead of northern railway and is connected via trains to all the major parts of the country. Shatabdi express that runs between Delhi and Dehradoon is one of the best options.

Doon Dairies

Part I 

Having spent a considerable part of my childhood in Dehradoon, it is needless to say that the old memories always call me back to the land of beautiful sun rises amidst thick blanket of clouds in grayish hues, the breeze sets the soul free to wander around and the dusk fills itself with thousands of colors to paint the sky in the most spectacular colors of purple, red and pink. Doon as people call it, is the perfect home to my wandering soul. Every time I look back at it or visit it, I feel a strong sense of a perfect nostalgia just like Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris where as you go back in time you find the past to be better than the present.

Below is the beautiful Doon valley for you to believe me!

This time around, instead of staying in the government's guest house, I explored a different option. As I was wanting to have a digital detox (yup, it's a thing and damn, it's addictive!) my options included far off home stays and places with no connectivity. i somehow find it easier to have the devil absent rather than abstain from it (in this context mobile signals, TV, Wifi) and so in my quest to find the haven for peaceful stay I stumbled around this beautiful place called Rio Resort. 

One look and got completely bowled over by it's view of the breathtakingly beautiful peaks of Mussorie whose lights kept twinkling like the stars in the night sky and felt as if a parallel universe of fireflies and lights have filled the sky over our heads. The Rio river flows alongside the resort and the sound of its soft water gushing through the pebbled stones adds a soothing vibration of music that calms the mind immediately. 

Above - Mussorie in the night, like my own galaxy of stars twinkling for me!

Below - The rippling Rio river gushing through the side of the resort in perfect harmony.

The decision to enjoy this virgin beauty of Doon was taken immediately as I sipped hot chocolate milk next to the swinging silver oaks of the high grass in the open yard next to the river. Here was Dehra, welcoming me with open arms into its cozy backyard of warm hospitality and glowing beauty all wrapped in one. 

John Keats has the emotion immortalized in his poem that says,

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever, its loveliness increases, it will never, pass into nothingness but still will keep, a bower quiet for us and a sleep ..."

And that my friends is Dehradoon for you, through my eyes!

How to Reach?

Rio Resort - Robbers Cave, Guchchu pani, Garhi cantt, Dehradoon, Uttrakhand 248014

Dehradoon is well connected by Air, Bus and Trains.

Air - Jolly Grant is the nearest airport which is 25 kms from the city centre. Air India, Indigo, Jet Airways have frequent flights connecting Dehradoon to the rest of India, major hubs being Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai etc.

Bus - Delhi ISBT has regular AC Deluxe and Non AC bus service to Dehradoon several times a day. It is also connected to Haridwar, Roorkee, Shimla, Allahabad, Jaipur and Rishikesh via various bus services.

Train - Dehradoon is one of the main railhead of northern railway and is connected via trains to all the major parts of the country. Shatabdi express that runs between Delhi and Dehradoon is one of the best options.