They would easily join the list of good times I have had in life. Three long months in the distant country of US were good and would remain memorable, but for the longing to return home and a few bitter confrontations.
I landed in California around 3 months back, 15th of March 2002. The next few months of stay in US was unplanned and I had no idea how it would be. I had never imagined that I would get to see some of the most beautiful places in the world.
On my journy towards Yosemite National Park, I found it tough to believe that such place existed in desert like California. Located in Sierra Nevada ranges, the majestic valley with huge rocks on both sides and a big number of waterfalls is a great sight. Cedars cover the valley where-ever there is some space available. It is tough to explain in words for the writing chanllenged 'me', but the pictures will soon follow in future posts. Hopefully they manage to speak their share of thousand words. :-)
It is the trip to Alaska a month down the line that made the best part of the three months. Like I have written before, I have never seen any place so beautiful, and I am unlikely to find one in future. Besides the icy mountains and scenic nature, the civilized part of Alaska was equally enjoyable. The city of Anchorage is loaded with so many restaurants that in my 2 week long stay, despite eating out all the time, I hardly found myself eating at the same place again! Being a small and roomy city, it does not bring in the uncomfort that any other city would normally have. On the lighter side, pot holes, unmaintained streets, garbage everywhere and not so planned places make it look a bit like home. :-)
The town of San Francisco, which I visited 5-6 times during the whole stay is best described in one word as 'funny'!! The first thing to note are the streets themselves being a tourist spot. It is amusing to see streets built at as steep as prabably 45 degrees. You better stay away from these places if you are a novice driver. Weather is a strange thing in the city. If you find it too foggy someplace, just try moving away to someother end of the city and you could end up in a sunny place. The whole place is built on hills and valleys and seashore which is probably why there is so much variation. Another great attraction of the town are huge bridges built across San Francisco bay. Will post pictures of the city soon....
Ah! It feels good to be in India again. I guess the best part of going far away is coming back. On the way back from Singapore to Bangalore, I could feel the joy of coming home and just could not wait to land and get out of the airport. The journey appeared to be eternal and looked like it will never end....
What I immediately noticed after boarding the Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore from San Francisco via Seoul was that the plane was crowded and filled to the last seat. There seemed to be still more people who are on their way to Korea to catch up with the world's largest sporting event. But the In-cheon airport at Seoul was completely haunted. There were hardly any people but for people who were arriving... Everyone was probably glued to the football matches at their homes or the stadiums. The flight out of Seoul to Singapore was indeed fairly empty. I recalled the coverage for soccer world cup in US and could not help laughing. They are more busy worrying why the country feels left out from one of the greatest event on earth and how it can be popularoized, rather than actually covering the event itself. The only times the news channels talked a few seconds about worldcup is when US would manage to win against a rival.
After a long wait at Singapore airport for the flight home, finally took a bumpy ride back to Bangalore. Bad weather and the plane were fighting all the way and the vibrations seemed to cause a bit of concern to some people in the plane. Indeed, it felt very good to touch down at Bangalore airport. It is great to be back, to look around and see a familiar environment, meet good old people and beyond everything, some room to stretch and be the way I feel like...
