This city has a different vibe all together. Home to tech giants, this place is known for it’s food culture and amazing weather. You will see in a day the weather change from foggy to rainy to sunny. Lesson learnt, always be ready with layers of clothes.
The Golden Gate bridge looks pretty from all angles and if you are here in summer then you might be lucky to see whales as well. I am not kidding, I saw so many whales near this bridge once.
Golden Gate Bridge
Land’s end is a spot you must visit for it’s sunset and chill vibes. The beach is nice and the only thing you see from here is the Pacific ocean.
Land’s end
Pier 39 is a good spot to visit. From here you can also take the Alcatraz tour which takes you around the Alcatraz island in a ferry. Pier 39 also offers good food joints and gift shops in case you need to take some home. If you have ample amount of time then you can take a stroll around the pier and enjoy your time.
Half moon bay is an hour drive from SF. You will need an entire to enjoy this amazing drive next to the ocean.
Good places to eat:
Cafe Hollywood – 530 North Point St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Raavi – 533 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133
Viva Goa – 2420 Lombard St, San Francisco, CA 94123
Mitchell’s Ice Cream – 688 San Jose Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110
Cuisine of Nepal Restaurant – 3486 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110
We stayed in Sultanahmet which is the most convenient place to stay in Istanbul for tourists with lots of hotels to choose from that are walking distance from all important points.If you are in Turkey in December like we were, remember it rains any time of the day so be sure to carry an umbrella in your bag at all times. Plus it gets really cold so be sure to dress accordingly. Following is what all we did in Turkey:
Hagia Sofia
Can I just say, Istanbul is a dream place and a great way to begin the journey is to visit Hagia Sofia. It is an Ottoman period mosque which is now converted to a museum. There are several mosaics in the museum like Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus or mosaic of Alexander. The museum will transport you to a different period entirely. It truly stands for culture and history with it’s architecture, mosaics and significance.
The museum is closed on Monday and if you are living in Sultanahmet, I am sure it will be walking distance from your hotel.
Hagia Sofia
Inside Hagia Sofia
Blue Mosque
To enter Blue mosque women have to cover their hair and men have to be in full pants. Inside the mosque are intricate paintings and red carpet where men kneel during prayers. From outside you will see huge domes of Blue Mosque and it looks surreal. It is closed on Monday and because it is right in front of Hagia Sofia, you can plan your visit accordingly to visit the two together.
Inside Blue mosque
Blue Mosque
Topakapi Palace Museum
It served as a residence to the Ottoman sultan and now is converted to a huge museum. There are lot of small museums inside displaying clocks or libraries. You can again club this with Blue mosque since it is right next to it.
Grand Bazaar
This is one mile from Hagia Sofia and can be reached walking. You will find amazing carpet shops and spices in here. If you know how to haggle, you might find great carpets for cheap prices. The best part is shopkeepers are not pushy if you say no thanks they let you go. I really liked that and it gave me the space to explore shops. Unfortunately, clicking pictures inside shops is not allowed but I sneaked in some pictures from the outside. The Bazaar gets really crowded by afternoon and people smoke a lot inside which makes it really suffocating inside, so I suggest starting in early morning with less crowd. The disadvantage of starting early morning is that shopkeepers might sell you stuff for higher prize since you are the first customer.
Grand Bazaar
Eminonu & Galata Bridge
From Sultanahmet square you can reach Eminonu square by walking. Eminonu is local market place with lots of food options and shops to explore. A way of getting to Eminonu to Sultanahmet is to follow the T1 tram or ask around shopkeepers how to get to Galata Bridge.
Galata Bridge is right at the end of Eminonu and there are lot of eateries on the bridge which are expensive but the experience of eating next to the river matters more. hehe!
Galata Bridge
Take ferry to Asian side
For fun you can take ferry to Asian side, that is, Kadikoy. You will get the ticket to the ferry from Eminonu. Tickets are called Istanbulkart and are printed by a machine. One Istanbullkart with enough money is alright for two people. Ferry is every 35 minutes and it takes about 25 minutes to reach Kadikoy. Ferry is really comfortable with heaters and even a small eatery inside it.
View of Galata Bridge from the other side of ferryView of Sultanahmet from ferry
Points to remember:
You can buy a Museum pass which will be useful to enter Hagia Sofia and Topakapi Palace.
Grand Bazaar – Sunday closed
Topakapi Palace – Tuesday closed
Hagia Sofia & Blue Mosque – Monday closed
Maximum people do not speak English so download Google translator
There are hardly any veggie options so I survived on bread and cheese
Definitely try the rice pudding in Hafiz Mustafa
Fly to Kusadasi to go to Ephesus
To visit Ephesus you can fly down to Izmir or even Kusadasi. We stayed in Kusadasi from where Ephesus is a one hour drive. Ephesus is an ancient Greek city built in 10th century. You will find ruins of the city now and it’s all so beautiful to see.
Ephesus
You can book the tour with New Goreme tours (http://www.newgoreme.com/). In this tour Virgin Mary’s house is included ,as well as a beautiful carpet shop. We made the mistake of not buying a carpet in this shop because we were not aware that we would we taken here. If you own a house and are ready to spend 500$ on a carpet then definitely buy a beautiful hand made carpet here.
EphesusEphesus
What to do in Cappadocia
We booked a tour with new Goreme tours ( http://www.newgoreme.com/). I totally recommend them because the guide was really nice, the bus was comfortable and all the spots he took us to were great. In the same tour even House of Virgin Mary & temple of Artemis were included. We did not visit Pamukkale due to lack of time but I would recommend if you have time then plan a trip with new Goreme tours. The best part is all the drivers & guides are on time and they are all so sweet and helpful.
Stay in a cave hotel
We stayed in Ottoman Cave suites which we researched was a great hotel to watch hot air balloons from in the morning. The breakfast was delicious with fresh omelette and lots cheese and veggie options. The cave room was surprisingly really huge and very hot even when it was freezing outside.
Cave Suites
Ride hot air balloon
Due to bad weather, both the days we stayed here, the balloon ride got cancelled. Unfortunately, we did not get to click the amazing pictures people put up on Instagram nor experience the balloon ride. But no regrets, we loved staying the cave and explore the town.
Take the red or the green tour with New Goreme tours
We took the the red tour with them and the guide was very sweet and he made the tour really comfortable. You can find more information on the website : http://www.newgoreme.com/
Though there is lot of driving around from one spot to another in this tour but overall it was really fun.
Pigeon valleyCappadocia
Open Air Museum
Though this is included in the red tour, we decided to do it on our own because it was just one mile walking from our hotel. In the museum there are churches inside caves and paintings depicting the life of Jesus. Sine taking pictures are not allowed inside the cave, I can’t show how amazing it was but I can definitely say that from outside it looks like just a huge rock outside but when you enter the cave you will be mesmerized by the biblical paintings.
Though this is included in the red tour, we decided to do it on our own because it was just one mile walking from our hotel. In the museum there are churches inside caves and paintings depicting the life of Jesus. Sine taking pictures are not allowed inside the cave, I can’t show how amazing it was but I can definitely say that from outside it looks like just a huge rock outside but when you enter the cave you will be mesmerized by the biblical paintings.
Open Air Museum
What an incredible place Turkey has been, not only the place beautiful but even the people are so good at heart. Also, do not forget to experiment with the food and tea.
Few things to try are rice pudding, Apple tea, Turkish tea, pomegranate juice, Turkish coffee, cheese, Turkish pizza , Turkish delights
This is post is a throwback post to the time I went to Rajasthan. To visit Thar desert, you have to either fly or drive to Jaisalmer, a city full of old forts and one hour from the desert. My parents and I drove to Jaisalmer from Delhi.
Before I jump on to how beautiful Thar desert is, I also want to mention that Jaisalmer has lots to offer too because of the beautiful forts and the small colorful alleys. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures to show but you will be transported to a different era.
View of Jaisalemer from a fort.
Thar Desert is an hours drive from Jaisalmer. There are a lot of camping options that you can choose from. You can book online or find all the details in Jaisalmer. You can either take the entire package which includes a fully set up tent, pick up and drop from Jaisalmer, food and a traditional dance or just take the food and entertainment package. The tents have toilets, heaters and clean beds. In case you decide to stay the night, there will be bonfire and an opportunity to do some star gazing.
Traditional dance and song.
Oh! I forgot the camel ride! You can all also include a camel ride in your package if interested.
Camel ride
Try and take the sunset package because it’s an unforgettable sight to see the sun set over the sand dunes. Remember the temperature drops fast in the desert and it will get really cold after sunset.
Sunset in Thar Desert
We stayed till sunset and our package included food and entertainment. The food was delicious with a variety of Rajasthani dishes like Rajasthani Kadi, Dal Bati Churma etc. I will always remember this trip because it was more than what I expected and something really different. I hope everyone gets to experience this once in their lifetime. Happy traveling!!!
Great place for solo traveling. I have listed out some bus numbers and tourist spots that a solo travel can do on their own. Vancouver is safe for women and I was very happy I did it on my own.
Granville Island : To go to this Island take the 50 number bus from Granville Street. It is a great place to hang out and relax. This island offers great food and definitely visit the Granville island tea company. The tea company offers the best tea and ask for Masala Chai and you will not be disappointed. The weather was windy and cloudy, so a nice cup of tea was really great next to the bay.
View from Granville Island
Denman St : Take bus number 6 from Davie St which is perpendicular to Granville st. Get down at Denman St and cross the road you will reach the beautiful bay with all the laughing statues as well.
Robson St: This street has amazing energy. It is filled with branded shops like Aldo, Roots, Banana Republic etc. You can have great fun shopping here or just strolling the streets get a good vibe.
Gastown: This amazing street has cheap gift shops and a Steam clock which goes off every hour. It’s a beautiful street at night but if you are solo traveler I would suggest to be here during the day. There are lot of cafes here but I wasn’t too impressed with the coffee or the food.
Steam Clock in Gastown
Canada Place: It is near the Coal Harbour and can be reached by bus. Lot of tours start from here and you get free shuttle for Capilano Bridge. You get a different view of the bay with a great walking pathway. If you are here in the Autumn, you will be lucky to see fall colors.
Coal Harbour
Capilano Suspension Bridge: I took the sea bus and then a bus to Capilano suspension bridge. But there are lot of free shuttles starting from Canada Place. This park has a suspension bridge hanging from a great height. It also has decks at great height overlooking a river and lot of tree top bridges.
Tree top
Suspension Bridge
Sea to sky : Best is to take the Landsea tours (https://vancouvertours.com/ ) to get to this spot. The tour company will show you three more spots : Shannon falls, Horseshoe bay and Britannia Mine Museum. The bus is comfortable , the guide is very sweet and great spots will be covered in this tour.
Sea to sky deck
Stanley Park: Though I did not have time to do this park but I know it would have been worth it. It is the third largest park in North America. The best way is to bike the entire park.
Lions Gate Bridge: It can be seen from Stanley Park. You can take a bus which goes on the bridge. People from San Francisco will see a similarity between this bridge and Golden Gate Bridge that is because it was designed by the same person.
Good places to eat/drink – Granville Island Tea company for tea , Blenz Coffee , Cardero’s restaurant (great view of harbour and ask for the veggie burger which comes with a beet patty), Breka Bakery.
What to wear – Layers of clothing required since it can get cold anytime or it might rain anytime. Since I was here in October I was carrying a good winter jacket which can also be used when it rains because it rains quite often, lots of sweaters because when the sun comes out you might want to take off the jacket and be in one layer of sweater. Carry shoes that are good for rain like rain boots or sports shoes. It will be good to carry a small travel size moisturizer since your hand will get dry in the cold weather.
The Taj Mahal located in Agra city is an ivory-white marble mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Beauty of Taj Mahal cannot be described with words. It’s a structure that makes you wonder how can someone build something so beautiful. You feel so small in front of this magnificent monument. Taj Mahal stands next to the Yamuna river. They say that Shah Jahan cut each and every workers hand who built this monument so that they can never replicate something so beautiful again.
Taj Mahal
You can reach the Agra city easily by road from Delhi, the capital of India. Agra is also famous for it’s food.
Since it gets really hot in Agra and to enter Taj Mahal you have to take off your shoes, it is best to carry to socks because the marble gets really hot and your feet can burn.
At each end of Taj Mahal are red sandstones building that face each other and were probably used as a guest house.
A full moon night is said to be the best time to view the Taj Mahal. Hopefully when I visit India next I’ll make another trip to this awe inspiring monument.
The best time to visit Hawaii I would say is December. All the islands are packed with people since parts of US are now snow-covered so people love to come here to soak up some sun.
In Hawaii, we did two islands – Kauai & Big Island. Both of them have their own charm and they are way different from each other.
Kauai
I would say this island is for people who love hiking and adventure. This is a small island also known as ‘Garden Island’ because of the tropical rain-forest and cascading waterfalls. It will take three or four days to cover the island. We stayed in one of the best hotels of Kauai and just loved it. The hotel was next to the beach and also has a restaurant with seating area right next to the beach. You can have your meal while watching the sunset or dig your feet in the sand while drinking a margarita. I completely recommend this hotel : https://www.kauaishoreshotel.com/
Things to do:
Napali Coast State Park : Breathtaking coast and the rain forest will blow your mind. This coast is the end on one side of Kauai. If you feel adventurous you could do what’s known as one of the most difficult trails, the Kalalau trail. It’s a 11 mile hike for the adventurous ones and do not fear heights. You cannot do the complete trail because you need permit to go beyond a 4 mile point. There are streams you might need to cross, there are elevation gains, the road is muddy and very slippery. My husband was covered completely in mud when he came back and was bruised as well. Definitely apply mosquito repellent because the rain forest will be filled with mosquitoes. The trail according to my husband gives a mixed feeling because you want to appreciate the beauty but the road is steep and muddy so it doesn’t give you time to think and you just want to keep hiking.
Napali Coast
Waimea Canyon: On the southwest side of Kauai are these canyons which kind of resemble the Grand Canyon but has it’s own beauty. You will see magnificent waterfalls and playful clouds. This place will make you feel like you are in Jurassic Park. Well that is also because Jurassic Park was shot in parts of Kauai.
Waimea Canyon
Moderate trail near the Waimea lookout
The road from Waimea Canyon lookout continues into the mountains and leads to KokeeState Park. There are numerous trails to traverse for beginners and experienced hikers.
We tried out to trails and that were moderate. Due to leg cramps we could not do the entire trail but the views were just out of this world.
View from Pihea trail
Start of Pihea Trail
Wailua Falls. Reachable by car
Great places to eat :
Kountry Kitchen (Best place for coconut sauce) , Kauai shore hotel restaurant, Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Company
Big Island
There are many points to see on the Big Island but your visit is not complete if you did not see the lava flow. It was the most spectacular view of our lifetime. We saw the lava flow up close from Kalapana viewing area(now destroyed by the lava in 2018). We biked from the last driving spot in Kalapana Viewing area for about 4 miles into the park. The road is muddy and surrounded by hardened lava. After about four miles, bikes are not allowed anymore and that’s the last stop. From this spot you need to start walking on the hardened lava towards the fresh lava if you see any in the distance.
It was so hot next to the lava that the camera could not click a stable picture
If you are lucky you would reach the fresh lava and get to view it up close. We almost walked for two hours to reach a spot where the lava was flowing out and beware it will be very hot. You need good shoes for this trek because the ground starts getting really hot and you never know when you can start feeling the lava flow underneath you.
Other attractions on Big Island are :
Hawaii National Park. Last point of the island
ʻAkaka Falls State Park. Lookout for fresh coconut water near the park.
Hawaii Luau is something you can’t miss. There is great food, dancing and entertainment. Good way to end an adventurous holiday is to just enjoy a dance night out.
Excited to visit the other islands of Hawaii next time.
One of the best trip of my life and an unforgettable experience. Ladakh can not be disappointing and trust me you have to be there to know it. I went to Ladakh with my friends.
Best way is to go to Delhi and take a flight from Delhi to Leh. You will have to plan the trip in advance to book a decent hotel and due to weather condition
We stayed in a hotel named The Leh Chen (http://www.lehchen.in/). Great rooms with good views.
View from our room
It will take a day to get acclimated to the altitude and might have to take a motion sickness pill everyday just in case. The places to visit in Leh are :
Shanti Stupa: It is a Tibetan structure on a hill which is 11,841 feet above sea level. It’s a great place for people looking for peace or want to observe the city from a height or just meditate.
Leh Palace : Since it is on a hill top and needs to be reached by foot, I could not do it because I was short of breathe. While visiting Leh you have to remember that the place is on a high altitude and going out of breathe might be common first few days.
Thikse Monastery: A beautiful and peaceful monastery which is 18km south of Leh village. It was a wonderful experience just to be in the presence of positive vibes. It is good place to visit and spend some time exploring the monastery.
Thikse Monastery
Shopping in Leh : You can visit the Gol Market or Main market of Leh. Pick up some Buddha idols or eat at local restaurants. Momos are a must try here and the best way to get around the market by just walking and exploring.
Gol Market, Leh
Khardung La Pass: It is the highest motorable road in the world. We were stuck at one spot for three hours because it was snowing in the mountains. This turned out to be a great opportunity for us to click pictures.
Khardungla is 39km from Leh and the elevation is (wait for it!!!) 17,582ft. You have to take a motion sickness pill to be going to that kind of altitude. Also, due to the high altitude it gets really cold. The road is windy and you might get a little dizzy when you start gaining the altitude.
On the way to Khardungla Pass
It is literally an out of the world feeling when you reach the top. The pass goes to Nubhra Valley which is the next must do destination
Nubhra Valley: A place which has been compared to the moon in lonely planet, takes away your breathe. You start appreciating nature all the more when you are here.
Sand Dunes of Nubhra Valley
There are great camping sites here. If you are with a travel group, they will book the camps for you. If not you can look up some great camping sites and these sites will provide you with food, pre set up tents plus some tents have toilets inside. http://www.royaldeluxecamp.com/
Tents in our camping ground
Maitreya : When you are heading back from Nubhra Valley, stop by at Maitreya to admire the beauty of this 33metre tall peace statue.
Magnetic Hill: A gravity hill which is 30km from Leh. Some say it’s a myth, some say it is an optical illusion. They call it gravity defying phenomenon, thiugh we didn’t experiment anything there to be on the safer side.
Zanskar river: Definitely visit the confluence of Zanskar and Indus river. In the winters the river is frozen but in summers you can clearly see the difference shades of the river and the point where they meet.
Definitely go down to click some good pictures
There are stairs to go down to see the river up close. It is a nice quiet place to hangout for some time and click great pictures.
Pangong Lake: This lake is a five hour drive from Leh. Make sure to carry some water, some food if your travel guide hasn’t booked a place to eat and make sure to visit the washroom before leaving because there will be none on the way and because of traffic jams the journey can be extended. The lake is on high grassland and the elevation is 14,270 ft. The lake extends from India to China and the color of water will just mesmerize.
Pangong Tso
On the way to this lake you will see some beautiful scenery to just take your breathe away.
View from Changla Pass
This trip has a special place in my heart and hope it brings the same joy to you as it brings to me when I revisit all the pictures again.
This was a tiring trip. More tiring than Alaska or Florida trip too. May be because of the scorching sun or the hikes in the national parks. But, it was worth it!
Day 1 : We started from home early morning and reached Kingman,Arizona. It is an eight hour journey.
Day 2: We left for Petrified Forest National Park. It is named so because of the presence of petrified woods (special type of fossilized wood) in the park. We did the crystal forest trail which is an easy walk of 0.75 miles and you get to see the beautiful crystals in the petrified logs.
Petrified log
After completing this trail we drove into the park to explore this vast land filled with fossils and geological wonders. As we drove further into the park my excitement began. Next on our list was the Blue Mesa trail. This trail is a one mile loop with a steep grade in the beginning. The harsh sun made it a difficult trail. When you reach the bottom of the mesa, you find yourself surrounded by bluish and brown hills. You really don’t understand what to make of it because it’s so beautiful to see colors in a desert.
Day 3: We drove from Gallup, New Mexico where we spent the night to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. It has well-preserved archaeological sites from the Ancestral Pueblo people. I could not take up close pictures because the sites were closed due to some construction. This park has an interesting guided Balcony house tour which would take you inside the cliff house. We could not do it since we did not have so much time. This national park was a relief from the sun with a cool wind blowing. I wouldn’t recommend driving all the way to see this park but if you are on this side then do check it out. We stayed in Monticello, Utah for the night.
Day 4: For breakfast we went to Peace tree cafe (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g57071-d1654543-Reviews-Peace_Tree_Juice_Cafe-Monticello_Utah.html) in Monticello. The reviews were great but I found the pancakes to be alright but the coffee was great.As we were now heading north, it had started getting a little chilly. Today we drove to the Canyonlands National Park. There are two entrances to this national park because it is so huge and you can only do one side of the park in one day .We entered from the southeast corner to the Needles District visitor center today. You will start seeing huge colorful hills made of Cedar Mesa stone.
After leaving this side of the park around 1 PM in the afternoon, we drove to Moab for lunch. This town is the most convenient place to stay if you are going to visit Canyonlands and Arches national park. We had lunch which was disappointing and headed straight to the other entrance of Canyonlands national park. We had to drive a lot today since the distance between the two entrances is 75 miles.
The second entrance is few miles from Moab. This park has difficult to easy hikes with great views of the canyons formed by the Colorado river. My husband could complete the Grand view point walk which gave him a 360 view of the canyons. I would rate this as a difficult walk since you walk along the edge of the canyon with high wind. I would not recommend this to someone afraid of heights.
We stayed in the park till the sunset. Standing at one place became a challenge since it was so windy and chilly. Though it was all worth it.
We spent the night in Moab because of it’s proximity to both the parks as I mentioned earlier.
Day 5 : Arches National Park is one of the most popular parks, so you should plan to enter the park early morning else there will be difficulty finding parking spots inside. It has more than 2000 naturally made arches. Every arch is different than the other and you feel so small if you stand below it. This is park is very windy and dusty. And if you stay till afternoon then you definitely need to stay hydrated since the sun can get harsh.
We only did some easy trails here which did not take lot of time. This park attracts most of the crowd because of it’s unique arches which cannot be found anywhere else.
We completed the park by afternoon because of time constraints and we had to drive all the way to Torrey, 152 miles from Arches.
Day 6: Torrey is 6 miles from Capitol Reef National Park and most convenient town to stay if you are visiting this park. I really wanted to stay in these cute cabins next to the canyons to see the night sky full of stars. But they were all booked due to high demand. This park had fewer visitors compared to Arches and thus ample parking. You need to stay hydrated here too because of the dry weather. Also, when visiting this park make sure to carry food (only available option for us was to carry a subway sandwich from the town.)
Unlike the Canyonlands park where you would see canyons from above, in Capitol reef you are inside the Canyons. We actually did walk through the canyons! It was a different experience entirely. There are lot of spots from where you can start your hike into the canyons. In the narrows you would come across different geological formations. The canyons look beautiful and scary at the same time though.
Narrow through a canyon
We completed the park in one day and took our time to explore. After exploring the canyons we left for our next destination and I must say the journey was really interesting because of the different landscapes and towns we saw on the Highway 12.
Highway 12 from a vista point
We stayed overnight in a small town an hour from our next national park. A good night sleep was definitely what we needed after a long day.
Day 7: I was excited for Bryce National Park because I had seen beautiful pictures of it in lot of blogs. The canyons here are red/orange in color and look better than they do in pictures. It gets chilly and windy inside the park. There are lot of easy to strenuous trails to do. We preferred the easy ones since we were really tired from our last hikes. There are certain points from where you can click the best pictures, one of them being the Rim trail.
This national park takes about half day to complete if you would not like to do the strenuous hikes.
Day 8: Zion National Park is very popular and attracts thousands of tourist. Unfortunately it was raining heavily on this day we could not enter the park early morning and had to wait out in a cafe. We had a brunch at Oscar’s cafe. It had great ratings and definitely served good food. After it stopped raining around 1PM we entered the park. This park has a parking problem and you might have to park outside. Carry lot of water and if possible a sandwich.
A hop on hop off bus takes you around the park. The famous Angel’s landing hike is in this park and you need to be an experienced hiker to be doing it. I preferred the easy one of course. We completed three moderate hikes here and because the weather was so favorable at the end of the day we were not so tired.
This park requires an entire day. It is very visitor friendly with lot of places to sit or relax It is really good for old people who want to just enjoy the nature.
Day 9: From Zion we went traveled toward to Page, Arizona and spent a night there. The next morning we had two spots in our itinerary in Page. Page is famous for Horse shoe bend and Antelope Canyon. Both the spots can be done in a day. Antelope canyon requires booking and has to be done a week in advance. This place very dry and the sun literally burns the skin, hence a sunscreen and lot of water is required. I wouldn’t recommend Page in winters because of the unforgiving winds. This was my second time in Page.
Horseshoe BendAntelope Canyon
Day 10 : Full of driving to come back to California again and coming back to daily routine.
Hello! I am writing a blog after a long time. I have been traveling a lot and writing less. Let me introduce you to New Orleans. I would say the place can be defined like this : French architecture, musical, food and coffee. Let me break it down for you.
French Architecture – This city has a unique French architecture. Our hotel was in the midst of French Quarter. That’s an area you want to stay because all tourist destinations are walking distance. When you are there notice the galleries of the buildings.
Unique gallery
French Quarter is on the North side of Mississippi River. The river bank is walking distance from the Jackson Square park.
Music : You want to visit this square to see live street performances by musicians or art displays.
On Jackson Square
You will be amazed by this musicians who go unnoticed. They are talented and true to their music. I could spend hours listening to them. Also, they are performing on a hot afternoon, but that does not kill their will to play for their audience. When you walk around the French Quarter you will see various musicians show casing their talent and each one is expert in a different instrument.
In the above picture, his smile sums up the happiness he get s playing his violin and spreading his music.
Food: I don’t have any pictures of the food we ate, but let me tell you if you are an Indian like me and love spices, you will love this place. The restaurants never disappointed us. My husband loves seafood and he was in paradise here. A combination of seafood and spices and he was in heaven. On the other hand, I enjoyed the vegetarian options. I had vegetarian Po’ Boy and it’s delicious. I will not forget the taste. I did try veg pasta at a place and loved that too. Wherever we had food, we were never disappointed.
Coffee: I like to say I was having an affair with coffee here. So many choices , so many varieties. Wow! Now these people take their coffee seriously! So I had coffee at Spitfire coffee, Pj’s Coffee, CC’s Coffee, French Truck Coffee and Cafe Du Monde. I would rate Spitfire the best. I ended up buying coffee beans to take home.
New Orleans definitely offered variety. It was the culture that left a mark in my mind. With it’s music it will mesmerize you and the walk in French Quarter with coffee in one hand is merrymaking.
Yes you guessed it right , I went to Alaska once again. And no I don’t think going there the second time was a bad idea. I was possessed by the beauty of Alaska once again. It was early spring and end of winter. The rivers and lakes were frozen. Time had come to a stand still. I could see snow and ice sheets everywhere. The trees were buried under tons of snow. I was just enjoying the sight.
First day of our trip we landed at Fairbanks hoping to see the northern lights. After checking in to our hotel late evening , we decided to head out to chase the northern lights. Unfortunately our first day of chase was not fruitful. The second day was in Denali national park. Last time we saw Denali fully green with trees around and lot of tourists. This time, there were no tourists and everything around was frozen.
Comparing summer and spring. Same spot different season.
Denali national park during this time has no activity. The bus tours are closed , the hikes are limited and there are no animals around. But if you love to see this breath taking view, tons of snow and frozen river, then this place is not to be missed. After a short walk around this place we went headed back to Fairbanks. At night it started snowing because of which we could not see the northern lights again.
On the third day we had a train journey planned to Anchorage. The train takes eleven hours to reach Anchorage. I totally recommend the train because it takes you through the interior parts of Alaska. It slows down at some important points. Here are some spectacular views from the train.
A river seen from a bridge.
Approaching a platform. Photo taken from inside the train.
Well this was the view all the way till Anchorage. The train went through the mountains , onto a bridge , around a river. This journey will remain with me forever. The train ride is comfortable and Alaska rail road has done a great job at maintaining the train well. The food options in the train are very limited. You might want to carry food for yourself. We reached Anchorage late evening , checked into a hotel and called it a day.
There are great camping sites here. If you are with a travel group, they will book the camps for you. If not you can look up some great camping sites and these sites will provide you with food, pre set up tents plus some tents have toilets inside. 
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