Showing posts with label Travelogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travelogue. Show all posts

Friday, November 7, 2008

Costa Rica Travelogue (Day 4-8)

Day 4: We took a break from all the adventures and saved this day for a bit of site seeing. We walked up to the rim of Poas, an active volcano crater. Although there was no rain that morning, the fog was too heavy for us to see the crater at all. We are told that the sight is something to behold. After the crater we went to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This is a walk through the Vara Blanca Cloud Forest and goes through 5 waterfalls. The entire walk is paved but wet, so easy for both adults and kids though the length and the climb can be tiring for adults.

Day 5: We headed south towards Dominical area (Pacific ocean side) where the mountains meet the ocean. The drive to the beach was long and tiring. We passed over the mountains as high as 13,000ft high. We stayed at an Inn called Necochea, a private home tucked up in the mountain and surrounded by the jungle with a nice gurgling stream right outside the kitchen. A short drive down, the stream ended in a nice swim hole where my husband loved going for a dip. It felt like a private stream with its own waterfall and a swim hole. We used to wake up to the sounds of howler monkeys and toucans.

Day 6: This was a rappelling day, over the Nauyaca (Baru) falls, a beautiful double-decker falls. Basically you get to the bottom of the fall by rappelling down and then hike to a small but beautiful swim hole. The rappelling was initially scary, especially when it is time to go over the edge of the cliff. But when I got down and looked up, I wished I could do it all over again. Our 7 year old was too young for this, but our 10 year old was able to rappel. Of the three activities (zip lining, whitewater rafting and rappelling), our 10 year loved zip lining, rafting and rappelling in that order. Because of his light body weight, rappelling was a bit of hard work for him and he had to be assisted by the guide who was rappelling alongside. Our 7 year old hiked down to the swim hole with one of the guides and waited for us. After rappelling, we hung out by the falls, our really fun guides (a family of three) had prepared a nice lunch for us that we ate right there for a very relaxing afternoon.





















Day 7, this day we had the option of going sea-kayaking, spending day at the beach or go whale watching. We chose to go whale watching. We saw two humpback whales, and few dolphins. Because of the rain the previous night, the water closer to the beach was very muddy so we chose not to snorkel, but in clear season, the water in the bay is supposedly very clear and supports a huge variety of fishes and beautiful snorkeling.

Day 8: This was our morning on the beach. The rocky coastline was lined with awesome beaches some of them with caves that people could paddle around in kayaks. We found a beach with two caves that connected the beach to the ocean creating a blow hole. These caves were perfect for body surfing or surf boarding. Such pristine beaches are what Costa Rica is all about, a place where the rainforests meet the ocean with nothing but a small slivers of sand in between...Costa Rica is Pura Vida.
Pura Vida: Pure Life





Monday, November 3, 2008

Costa Rica Travelogue (Day 1-3)



Our trip to Costa Rica was in the middle of August. Costa Rica promotes this time of the year as the “green” season, we all however call it the rainy season. As with most of our family trips, we used a small privately owned and locally operated company called Tico Tom Tours. Our main focus for this trip was to experience various adventure activities. We chose to skip visiting the northern pacific side of the country, where most of the major resorts are located. For lack of time, we could not go down south to Osa either, but hopefully our next trip to CR will include OSA. Our itinerary scheduled our activities in the mornings. Although it was the rainy season fortunately all our mornings were dry. Right around 2pm every day, it would start raining, at which point we used to stop for lunch and relax in our hotel. In the evenings we went out for dinner, rain or no rain. In fact, the rain created a very tropical ambiance. We had warm weather, pouring rain, nice dinner, all the while surrounded by the sounds of nature. If you are into nature & adventure tourism, Costa Rica is a good place to be during the rainy season.

On day 1, upon our arrival at Alajuela airport, we were met by our guide. We swallowed some dramamine and drove straight to the Arenal area. The drive from the airport is about 3 hours, so a morning or early afternoon arrival works best with our itin. We stayed at Arenal Resort, under the majestic presence of Arenal Volcano. The resort was about 3-4 star. The rooms were small but comfy; there was a swimming pool and a restaurant on the premises. Buffet breakfast was included. At night, from our bedroom we could see the smoke coming out the volcano. We had to take a short drive from the hotel to a lookout point, to see the lava pouring down its side. Since it was cloudy at the time we were there, we only got a brief glimpse of the lava. Nevertheless, Arenal area and the volcano are beautiful and a “must see”.

On Day 2, our big activity was zip lining through the rainforest. Zip lining constituted of 8 separate zips from one mountain to another to get to the bottom. Once we started, there was no turning back. Our 7 yr old was too young to zip (no harnesses for a small body. Hindsight, even if they did, I don’t think we would have felt comfortable with him ziping 8 times from one mountain to another). Our 10 yr old was able to zip with the guide. I fear we may have inadvertently created an extreme sports kid. He was scared but absolutely loved the thrill that came with it. After zip lining, we went for a short hike to La Fortuna falls and later that evening we dined and relaxed at Tabacon hotsprings. I confess, the day was a bit too hectic for the kids. Spending the eve relaxing in a hotspring was god sent and now I consider it a must do. It was drizzling while we were soaking, the outside air a bit cool but the water warmed by the lava was heavenly. We spent about an hour in the hot springs jumping from one pool to another. If we ever go back, I would without a doubt spend more than an hour there.



Day 3, we headed to the Sarapiqui river for whitewater rafting. It is a class II (mostly) & III river. This activity was perfect for both our kids. Because it was the “green” season, the river was full and the water level perfect for rafting. The flow was brisk but not too fast for the kids. We barely had to paddle and both the kids got a chance to sit up front in the raft for the thrill. It was great! We stopped half way through the river for a swim and to eat watermelons. After rafting we headed towards the Central Valley.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Gangtok and Darjeeling (Part II)



The drive to Darjeeling was lush, and heavenly. The local farmers had set up roadside stalls every few hundred yards loaded with fresh produce. My father, who was travelling with us, was in absolute heaven. He would stop our car every few kilometers and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables from these farmers. Instead of munching on chips and crackers we drove around in the car, munching on carrots and cucumbers and any other fresh vegetable my father could get his hands on laced with chaat masala (spice powder) and lemon juice.
The city of Darjeeling was much more of a tourist center and bigger than Gangtok. The area is surrounded by glorious tea estates, the neat rows of tea plants covering the entire hills giving a very majestic feel.

The tea gardens are a sight to cherish. Being in Darjeeling, you realize how aptly the area was coined as “Queen of the Hills” by the British. We used our car for a day’s worth of sightseeing which included Tensing Mountaineering Institute, Pagoda, Zoo, Tibetan Refugee Center and a few other focal points. Within the town itself, we walked just about everywhere. The walk to Chowrastha, and from there up the hill to the Mahakal Temple makes for a nice walk.

For people who want to experience an Indian monsoon, Darjeeling is a perfect place to be. I loved curling up with a book, sipping chai and munching on pakodas, quaint tea sandwiches and indian-chinese noodles. And when the rain let up, we would go out for nice walking tours within the city. All Indians who grew up in India will know exactly what I am talking about. I think you have to be an Indian at heart to cherish the monsoon. For all others, without a nice book or a large group of friends to keep the entertainment going, the constant rain can get very tiring as it did for my kids.

For anyone planning a future visit to Darjeeling and Gangtok, my advice, go to Darjeeling first and then to Gangtok. A visit to a tea plantation is a must especially if you like to drink tea. Only a few tea plantations are open to public. If you are planning to buy Darjeeling tea, go to any large retailer in town and smell the various tea leaves, ask the retailer to explain the various harvesting seasons and their influence on the flavor, sample the one you like the most and then buy.

Gangtok and Darjeeling (Part I)

Last year, during our summer visit to India, we decided to spend a week in Gangtok (Sikkim) and Darjeeling (West Bengal) in the cooler Northeastern states.

From Delhi we flew into Bagdogra via Deccan Air. For those who have not yet experienced India, watch out for that concept of lines. The concept of “waiting in line” along with the concept of personal space is almost nonexistent. It exists but only in the minds of visitors from abroad. Deccan Air had first come first seating. Never mind how many people had been patiently waiting in line, but when the gates opened, all those who had not been in the line, shoved and pushed and nudged and got inside the waiting craft. Naïve us who had the poor foresight to actually wait in line and were so busy being aghast at being shoved around, were the last few to board the aircraft. The flight itself turned out to be very comfortable, with freindly crew and actually landed on time.

At Bagdogra, we rented a 4X4 to Gangtok, medicated ourselves with Dramamine and started our trip. The drive from Bagdogra to Gangtok was approx 5 hour long, very winding and incredibly scenic. The drive was dotted by villages and little hamlets the entire way. Many times along the way we stopped for a breather, some hot Chai and Momos (dumplings). You can’t skip them momos.


At first glance, Gangtok was a really small and overcrowded town. The hills were covered by concrete buildings seemingly built haphazardly upon each other, the roads pretty steep and full of cars. The fumes from the cars constantly driving in low gear really got to us. There was not much to see within the town other than the local market but once we got beyond the town, the natural beauty was breathtaking. The Buddhist monasteries, the terraced rice fields, and the rivers overflowing with clear water were incredibly beautiful.

The people were warm, friendly, and always eager to strike up a conversation. Since we were in Gangtok for only two days, and that too in the middle of the monsoon season, we did not venture into the smaller (but highly recommended) towns of Pelling and Yuksom. And for the same reason, we did not even attempt to go for whitewater rafting or hiking. Our only regret is that, it was too cloudy the entire duration of our stay that we did not get to see the Kanchenjunga; the 3rd highest peak in the world.




Our most talked about incident involves our visit to the Rumtek Monastery. While at the monastery, we went to see the monks-in-training’s meditation and classroom area, and in the process we became friendly with a few young monks there. These monks invited us for chai and being tea lovers we readily accepted. The monastery kitchen was closed so I am not sure how they managed to make tea but their version of chai included boiling water with milk and ghee (clarified butter) in equal parts. No matter how much sugar we added, the tea was absolutely unpalatable. Our fear of being rude was so great that we kept on sipping (more like licking) it for almost an hour. We kept waiting for the monks to leave the room so we could discuss our predicament. That one hour was a lesson in the art of body language communication. After about an hour, when we could not take the taste or the smell of “monastery tea” anymore, we excused ourselves and insisted on washing the teacups (so they would not see all the tea we were throwing away) put some money in their donation box and left. I don’t think any of us enjoyed our food that day, even the hot and savory momos did nothing for our ruined palates.