How to enjoy America in a fortnight!
The best parts of USA are spread across the 4 corners, so we flew from one end to another, east to west, drove south to north and completed the circle of the top 20 things to do and places to see. The tini tiny flight and the innocent landscape when you step out of flagstaff airport feels like you entered Narnia. Virgin landscapes of california and not a tree cut from the hills, not one hill dynamited or cut down its center for mining stone, makes an Indian (who is used to seeing theft on the aravalis and smaller ranges cut up for marble and stone) very jealous. Now I know why they say you should go to america atleast once, mainly its the untouched natural beauty available to the lens. Like its people the american nature is one that flaunts everything worthy of showing. Miles of horizon, equistrine ranches, an unexplicable featherlake highway with not a soul for hours on end and a bevy of lakes flanking the sides. Nuts for 3$ at timesquare, a spicy chicken stick in 'Pikes Place' that we found sweet- definition of spicy in america is actually like the sweet-sour of India, there is no real spice anywhere. $1 for a banana, which when you convert to Indian rupees is 65bucks, which can buy you a dozen. I never got more scared of a banana, i mean if there is anyone that got an image-lift and a hike in self-worth after entering the USA it is the freaking banana. Poor mans food across south-east asia, the american banana tries its best to make you feel small... no pun intended LOL. Tillamook is another favourite moment, with seals bobbing their heads, there is a multitude of fish shops and fishing boats, no chaos like in India, so it was a very silent fish market actually, and one of the fisherwomen, (a very swanky well dressed one) actually looked at me and said.. atleast some one with a real camera.. im sick of the phones!! The sea-gulls and the local fare at the diner on the sea, quaint little place it was and the only thing that stopped us from feeling like we were in a movie is that no men with guns came in or out of any quaint highway diner, shack or motel.
Ask a man who has to honk at 4 buffalloes, 6 beggars and 40 autowalas driving between two lanes everyday of his life, what it feels like to drive non-stop for 14 hours without honking or someone coming in the way. Atlast I discovered why every Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani want to become a taxi driver in america... for a few moments even I contemplated it. Its like driving in a dream. We covered the distance between Mumbai to Delhi in the time we cover Delhi to Shimla... man these guys have infrastucture. But we can never dream of replicating it in India because here after every 50 feet we have a religous structure. USA has the advantage of being a new and a young country. Their towns are like geometric drawings... but since we got 8000 years of heritage and everything has been built on what was already built 300 years ago, arranged according to what was going on 3000 years ago, we will look at the USA and give the buddy you are born in the mobile phone age smile that we get from our grandads.
America is on a construction spree, what is with the high rises, not one not two ... a sea of high rises, the most picturesque view of what brick, mortar, glass and architecture can create struck me like a lightning, when we reached the State Empires Building peak. The queues were long, the view was great and the realisation that you are looking upon the hub of world's most powerful economy was long lasting. New yorks metro network is stunning and some nuances really do remind me of Mumbai. specially people comuting to and fro to work, only thing missing is the hawkers and the singing in the trains. Confusing yet interesting, we did the uptown-downtown bit a couple of times. The central park was as pretty as it looks in the sitcoms but some part of it was not as magical as we imagined it to be. Naigara falls also looks more magnanimus in images, or maybe the over crowded boat just killed the magic. Yosemite was pristine and we were welcomed with a snowfall, rain and a rainbow all between 5-7 am making it the most eventful sunrise of our lives. Maybe I will have a seperate post for vegas, which by the way i loved not for the casinos or the ladies, but for the buffet spread at the bellagio, their chef is the undisputed lamb, pork, beef and prawn star! So after indulging in multiple culinary orgasms in the sin city we wallowed in planet hollywoods pool the entire morning before continuing on the circle round uncle sam's kingdom.
come walk thru the memory lane with my prized possessions...
the concrete jungle that awed us... now i know why bill gates calls it windows
the luminicent arrow that shows the aspirations of a country thats bullish about getting ahead and upward!
Mount Dana greets us as we enter Yosemite, the snow, the rain, the rainbow... what a welcome performance
timesquare's narrow strip of sky leaks through the neons
Yosemite valley from the vantage point...
the credit for this lovely pic goes to my wifes bladder, i would have never entered this station had she not gone searching for a ladies loo... :D
seattles couture junctions all lined up on the way to Pike's Place and the waterfront
the endless horizon we spoke about and every hill is intact
the other side of the fence... how an Indian feels after 15 days in USA ... LOL
i remember this moment 6000 feet above sea level... the approach to yosemite...
Pike's place loaded with tidbits of american culture
The water beckons you.. Viewpoint Above Manzanita, Neahkahnie Mountain, Oregon - USA
I cant believe that i saw this for real.. yosemite area ..
the colorado river from navajo bridge... its so enchanting... not like any other river you ever seen
i would like to believe this is a graphic design or illustration.... but its the reality... millions of square feet in my tiny lens
June lake in california... it was cold and romantic with a pair of birds mating beneath the sky...
the boat lake of central park... people, plans and dreams all set to sail round this spot...
Lee Vining is located on the southwest shore of Mono Lake.
The most beautiful sunrise I've seen in my life! - Lee Vining, California
Me and the selfie stick I bought for $10 and did not use even twice:-) - at the Times Square
My beautiful wife! ❤
@ The Fisherman's Reataurant & Bar at the waterfront in Seattle
Are you lonesome tonight? The beach "Seaside" - 3 mins walk from the motel we stayed in Oregon
Where the famous Tilamook cheese comes from Manzanita, Tillamook, Rockaway, Pacific City
The road that leads to June Lake.
Need i say more?
High Roller - 550-foot tall giant Ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip
Walking down Central Park :-)
Madison Avenue, Manhattan
NYC
NYC
NYC again
and again...
