The Redwoods and the Sequoias: Our visit to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

The California trees "redwoods" are actually two distinct species:

1. Sometimes called simply the "big trees," giant sequoias (sequoiadendron giganteum) grow only in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains toward the state's eastern border. The most massive living things, they can reach 280 feet tall and 23 feet across. The largest rise a little over 300 feet and spread almost 30 feet across. The oldest have been around over 3,000 years

2. Coastal redwoods (sequoia sempervivens) are the tallest living things on our planet, growing 300-350 feet tall and 16-18 feet across, with record specimens soaring 360 feet. They are the primary tree in the redwood forests that grow from near the California coast from the northern border down to Big Sur.

One of the best places to see Sequoias is the Sequoia National Park, CA. We visited the park in mid-May. The weather was perfect except for the unexpected snowfall! We woke up on the last day of our 2-night trip to white grounds and blocked roads. We stayed at Wuksachi Village and lodge inside the park - a nice, clean lodge but expensive in spring through summer.

Places we visited in Sequoia Park:
1. Tunnel rock.
2. Crystal Caves: Ask for tickets right at entrance. There are no tickets available once you reach the caves which is almost 14miles from the gate.
3. General Sherman Tree: The largest tree (by volume) on Earth - 2000-2300 years old - 36.5 feet diameter at the base.
4. Morro Rock: A steep hike with stairs. Beautiful at the top.
5. Crescent Meadow Loop: Nice peaceful walk from tunnel log to the meadow.
6. Hospital rock: The creek/river down there is beautiful.

The park has sequoia tree which fell down almost 100 years ago with diameter around 22 feet and more than 2000 years old.
The Kings Canyon National Park which borders the Sequoia park is a must visit. Full of rocky mountains and waterfalls, it is a beautiful place. Map at the entrance should be good enough for guidance. The Grizzly falls and Rushing River are not to be missed.

As it snowed on Sunday - the day when we were to go to Kings Canyon from within the Sequoia park and since the roads were blocked, we could not make it to Kings Canyon through the park. Sequoia is at a higher elevation than Kings Canyon. So, we decided to get out of the park, coming to a lower elevation, and then drive through the outer periphery of the park and we made it to Kings canyon! Though it was a single-lane road and very winding, but it was well worth it. The route was quite scenic which it is from the inside of the park as well.

Yellowstone - Heaven on Earth

Link to pictures: Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Yellowstone National Park offers one of the best views of nature - in fact I would say, it is the ooh-la-la of the BEST. With beautiful hot sulphur springs erupting from the ground and snow-clad mountains in the background, the park takes away your breath for a moment (actually for several moments!). The park which stretches over three states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, lies on a volcano. My trip to yellowstone with our friends on Memorial Day weekend was a very memorable trip. The park opens on that weekend and then closes before thanksgiving weekend because of the extreme winter weather in that area.

In my opinion, Memorial day weekend is the best weekend to visit yellowstone as it gets really crowded there on other long weeeknds due to the summer-ish weather during that time. The roads inside the park are one-lane and when people spot wild-life while driving, they stop their cars/trucks on the way (as there are hardly any shoulders) to take pictures, causing the traffic to come to a halt.

It was amazing to see snow, sleet, hail, rain, sun at the same time in yellowstone. One mile, it would be snowing, the other mile it would be sunny and then the next mile one could see sleet. More than awesome! There were snow-covered mountains one side and dry mountains just opposite them. Lots of hot sulpur springs with steam coming out made it look heavenly. The park was so beautiful that I did not even want to blink!

We stayed at a hotel just outside the west entrance of the park. West yellowstone is a small town and the nearest entrance if you arrive from Utah. We flew from Sacramento to Salt Lake City and then drove to West Yellowstone. The drive is 6 hours which doesn't seem too bad as the view is scenic. There are not many gas stations or rest areas on the way. So, make sure to fill your gas tanks as you spot the gas stations. There are a few local airports around which are near to yellowstone but are quite expensive and there are not many flight options.

There are some lodges inside the park but they get booked really fast. We tried booking a couple of months before our trip but could not find a vacancy. Staying in a Best Western hotel just outside the park was not a bad option at all.

We started for the park next morning. The entrance fee for the park is valid for 7 days. Cell phone coverage inside the forest is not too good. Once you enter the park, you can see wild bisons on the road, walking in groups. Bears, deers and elks are other wildlife you can easily see in the park.

We spent 2 full days in the park. Recommended places inside the park are: Old Faithful, Mammoth springs and the Upper, Lower and Tower falls besides many other beautiful spots you see on the way. We also visited the north entrance of the park which is close to Livingstone - a small town.

People there did not seem to be very tourist-oriented as most restaurants and shops were closed on Sunday evening of the long weekend. The roosevelt arch/gate at the entrance was beautiful. On the 3rd day of our trip, we started our way back via Grand Tetons. Grand Tetons is another park which is connected to Yellowstone park. It is a must visit. There is no separate entrance fee for Grand Teton if you exit from Yellowstone. The same entrance fee is valid for Grand Tetons as well. Grand Tetons is another breath-taking park. There were such beautiful views on the way from Yellowstone to Grand Tetons that we had to stop after almost every mile for the views.

If you visit Grand Tetons,then you must go to the restaurants inside the park. The views from this building/lodge (which has 2-3 restaurants, coffee shops, conference centers etc.) are breath taking. The eating place inside the building has gorgeous views. The ambiance is awesome and the food is good. It is not too expensive either - a must visit. This place falls in the state of Wyoming.

On the way back from Grand Tetons to Utah is a town called Jackson Hole. It is a small relaxing town. I am glad we stopped here for a while. The way back from Grand Teton to Salt Lake city is again a scenic drive, passing through the large potato farms of Idaho. The 5-hour drive was a very scenic drive.

If you get to Salt Lake city early and have time there, then you should visit the Salt Lake park. It has a $5 entrance and is almost 40 minutes drive from the airport but is well worth it. It is a beautiful place.

Yellowstone-Grand Teton is a must visit. I have yet to read about any park better than this one. Visit it and you'll fall in love with it!
Link to pictures: Yellowstone and Grand Teton

London - Our travel in 2008-2009

I had thought that having lived in London for almost a year in 2005 would make things easy for us in December 2008 - January 2009 and they did except for the unclear tourist visa formalities for London. We were planning to stop in London on our way back to US from India. Our 5-day trip was more than awesome and memorable.

For Indian citizens living in the US, the visa is a 6 month tourist visa for which the papers have to be sent to the Embassy in Los Angeles. They have a real quick service and the visa is stamped in less than a week. They ask for the fingerprints and stuff which is quite a rigorous process. The best link for visa to UK:> Visa for UK
The visa fee per person is around $138 from US and approx 80 pounds from India.
Though different sites might confuse you, but if you are an Indian citizen living in the US, you do need this UK tourist visa. If you are in transit to UK and would be at the airport for more than 6 hours, then you need to apply for the Transit visa.


Once you are done with the visa issues, London is a beautiful place to go as a tourist. The excellent transport system makes it very easy for the tourist. If you are going for less than a week, then buying a Day Pass for the Tubes would be the best, else the Weekly pass. Get a pass and you can travel whole day on the trains and buses for the zones you buy the pass.

London is divided into 4 main zones - Zone 1 and 2 being the most visited tourist zones. With all the main museums in Kensington, the GMT in Greenwich, the Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, Harods Mall, the night life in Picaddily Circus, Oxford Circus, Covent Garden, St. Paul's cathedral, Waterloo, Victoria Station, Trafalgar Sq., Parliament Houses and Big Ben, London Eye, Madam Tussads' Museum, lying in Zone 1 and 2, it makes easy and less time consuming to travel between the famous spots. Easy transport access to nearby places like Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton, Bournemoth, Isle of Wite, Scotland etc. makes the trip even more fun! These places are much worth a visit.
Another good thing about London is that you get a lot of vegetarian food, which is much unlike US. As Mexican food is to US, Italian food is to London. The weather is too good in Summers and spring with really long days.
All said above, London just rocks!
Below was our itinerary:

Day 1: Landed in London late evening on New Year's eve. Went to London Bridge for New Year's fireworks.

Day 2: Parliament Square, Big Ben, London Eye, Buckingam Palace, St, James Park, Trafalgar Square (Watched the new year's parade), National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square, National Science Museum, National History museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Apple Market in Covent, Picadilly Circus.

Day 3: Oxford (in bus, easily available from Stratford station through Megabus and various other operators). Visited the City Center, Oxford Science Museum, Radcliffe Camera (Had food at local restaurant: The Kings Arms - Was great), Back to London and a visit to Picadilly Circus again.

Day 4: Liverpool street station (for my old memories since my office was near Liverpool Station back in 2005), Greenwich, Royal Observatory@Greenwich, Local Market@Greenwich, Canary Wharf, One Canada Square@canary Wharf, the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Millenium Bridge.

Day 5: Hyde Park. Flight back to the US from Heathrow.

The Scenic Highway1 - California

I just love the route along Highway 1....Have been to a few places on highway 1 and would love to go on others (which I do not even know about)....Such scenic beauty - mind-blowing - the oceanic views are just awesome!!!
1. Mendocino
2. Pointe Reyes Light house/Bodega Bay
3. Monterey/Carmel/17-Mile Drive/Big Sur
4. Cambria
5. Mount Shasta (some drive from sacramento to Shasta includes highway 1)
6. Hearst Castle

The latest we went to was Monterey/Big Sur on the Labor Day weekend. We started from Sacramento at almost 10.30am and stopped at Santa Cruz Beach. It was a long long beach with so many people, mostly with kids. It had a casino too and rides for kids. We liked the beach - just that the parking there was tough and the traffic from San Jose to Santa Cruz was really slow.

We started from the beach at around 3pm for our next destination - Monterey. It was almost 70 miles from Santa Cruz and the drive was ok. We went to Monterey wharf and Monterey Beach. The Monterey downtown near the beach was a nice place - nice small shops. There was a Greek Festival going on - we enjoyed the music/dances in the festival and ofcourse the awesum Greek food. Did some Monterey shopping and then drove to our next stop - Carmel-by-the-sea. Carmel - a small town with a beautiful beach which is at the end of its downtown. We liked Carmel - enjoyed the sunset on the beach which made our evening! Next we drove back to Salinas - 20 miles from Carmel where we had our hotel reservation. Salinas again was not a very big city but had nice eateries and everything one can hope for. We went to a Thai restuarant there - Yangtse's Taste of Thai on the Main Street which had a nice ambience and very healthy food. Their service was worth praising.

Next day we started early after breakfast and straight away went to 17-Mile Drive. 17-Mile had a 10$ enterance fee. It went through a small town with narrow roads and lots of houses - they seemed to be costly houses. We were kind of amused - is this what we paid for? And then came the awesum view - the best oceanic view we have ever seen - the 17-mile drive. The beauty of the coast can just not be described - it was more than stunning!!...The coastal oceanic view stretches for 17 miles and thus the name. 17 Mile Drive, Carmel and Montery are quite close to each other. After spending some time in 17 Mile, we next drove to Big Sur. The drive from 17 Mile to Big Sur was mind blowing - just simply mind blowing. It was an all oceanic drive - everyone was driving slow - looking at the beauty around. Big Sur was almost 40 miles from there. We went to the Pfifer State Park - did some strenous hikes there. Most of the trails were closed there due to the fire in Big Sur last month which had taken days to extinguish. While on our back home, we again stopped by Carmel beach going past its downtown - enjoyed the sun there and drove back to Sacramento!

I would really recommend the 17-Mile drive and the drive from 17-Mile to Big Sur. It was worth every single money and time we spent!

A trip to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China in 2008

Before I forget about one of the most memorable trips I had, I thought to write it down - our trip to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. Hong Kong is a beautiful city with very disciplined people. There were no cops to be seen anywhere. It seems like I heard it correct that Hong Kong is almost a crime-free city. Thanks to our friend Adnan who made our trip memorable and so comfortable! We went to Hong Kong on our way back from India in early Jan 2008 and stayed at Adnan's apartment. Hong Kong is easily accessible by public transport (bus, train and ferry).

The rooms in hotels/apartments are very small in Hong Kong. Everything seemed small there in comparison to the US but enough for us. Another thing to notice was that we did not see a single obese person there.

This was our itinerary:

Day 1: Ferry cruise on the river at night (Saw the beautiful lighted Hong Kong), Clock Tower, Went to a famous restaurant: Water Park (Chicken chilli was awesome), Party District (a partying and clubbing strip)

Day 2: Cable car trip to Ngong Ping village (A must visit). It has a beautiful Buddhist Monastery; The Pacific Place Mall; Special Shopping market (on the road side, very crowded), Buddhish temple, Hong Kong Mall, Ended the day by going to a famous 5 star luxury restaurant: Hotel Peninsula (requires formal dress)

Day 3: Madam Tussads Wax museum, Peak Tram (You can see the peak of Hong Kong from here). Wax museum and Peak Tram is one same trip; Ferry ride, Watched the police parade outside the convention center, Had dimsum in the dimsum restaurant inside the Convention Center (Much recommended); Sea Food market; Hong Kong park; Visited a kind of hidden bar which is only for members and does not even have its name on the building: Heather Boa

Day 4: A day trip to Shenzhen, China. Since Shenzhen is on the border of HongKong and China, it is easily accesible by train from Hong Kong. Visa is available at the immigration services on the China border without much hassles (only long lines). Highly recommended for shopping with haggling; Back to HongKong - Maritime Square; Famous eating street: Wan Chai.

We flew by Cathay-Pacific. The airline was good, as far as I remember. It was a short 4-hour flight from India to Hong Kong. I would so love to visit Hong Kong again, some day but I am sure it'll be a different country every time we visit India:)