Month: March 2016

Where: Alaska

When: Mid June

Duration: 9 days

Activities: 26 Galcier Cruise; Northwest Fjords Cruise; Hiked to the Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield; River rafted and ATVed near Denali National park; Bus toured Denali National Park; Flight toured Denali Peak and landed on a a glacier; Kayaked in Valdez, Drove the Seward highway and much more!

Tips:
*Consider renting an RV (we did not). Hotels can be very expensive in summer. We ended up staying in hostels
*It is summer – but it can incredibly cold or really hot depending on where you are. So layer up.
*Drive, drive and drive. Every mile of any highway in Alaska is breathtaking!

I thought long and hard about how I would put into words the beauty that is Alaska. It is undoubtedly the most incredible place we’ve been to (Sorry Peru, you just got knocked down to 2nd place!) and nothing I say can ever do justice to the place.  So I decided to go with a photo story. And before we begin with that, here is a small clip from the most breathtaking part of our trip.

And the story begins… Continue reading “The last frontier” →

Where: Boston, MA

When: Mid November

Duration: 3 days

Activities: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Quincy Market; part of the Freedom Trail  – Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument; MIT Museum

Tips:
*Bundle up (learnt the hard way)
*Wear sensible shoes and prepare for a lot of walking

Boston was a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I had explored a city by myself (albeit only for a few hours), dined in a restaurant alone, uber’d a ride, heard the phrase “uber’d a ride” and walked a lot in the biting cold. I still clearly remember walking to the Isabella Stewart Museum from the hotel, wiping tears off my eyes and feeling the cold wind burn through my skin. Being from Chennai (India) and Houston, I always tend to think that the cold can’t hurt me as much as the heat. And every time I visit a cold place, I am proved wrong. Well, some people never learn! Continue reading “A lot of firsts and a few lessons in history” →

Where: Smoky Mountains National Park

When: Late August

Duration: 4 days

Activities: Auto toured the Cades Cove loop, Roaring Fork auto trail and part of the Blue Ridge parkway (visited the highest elevation point on the parkway); Hiked to Waterrock Knob, Clingmans Dome, Laurel Falls, Mt Le Conte via Alum Cave, Abrams Falls and Grotto Falls

Tips:
*Avoid the heavily crowded Gatlinburg during the peak season and long weekends
*Stay in a warm, cozy, secluded cabin
*Carry your own food if you have strict dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan etc.)

Unending mountain ranges, lush green leaves, dense forests, streaks of sunlight streaming through  treetops,  stone tunnels, and winding roads  following roaring rivers. Every turn of the road and every pullout revealed stunning scenery. Smoky Mountains was a wallpaper out of my 90s computer. Continue reading “A million shades of green” →