If....

" If you can meet with triumph and disaster
   And treat those two imposters just the same; "

Pandora revisited...

This may sound way too hackneyed but some sights in life cannot be described. They transcend all other experiences and leave you mentally exhausted. I had the pleasure of one such sight in the first week of July. And what I saw left me dumbfounded.  I will try to describe what I saw.

We went to the Hanakapi'ai water falls in the island of Kauai. These falls are some 4 miles from the north-west corner of the island (Kee's beach), where the highway ends. The only way to reach the falls is by following a narrow trail which overlooks the Pacific. The falls are part of the famous NaPali coast, which is gorgeous stretch of cliffs on the west coast of Kauai. This part of the island is among the wettest places in the world, and when it rains the trail gets immensely slippery. We trekked 8 (round-trip) miles on a rugged, slippery and treacherous terrain. I fell into the Hanakapi'ai stream a couple of times and was totally exhausted by the time I finished the trail but what we saw made up for everything. I am not exaggerating a bit but we got to see a most spectacular view that our senses will for ever behold. And like an icing on a cake, there is a pristine beach mid-way which reminds us the power and beauty of nature. Clear water, 12-foot waves smashing onto the rocks beside the summer-only beach and amazing views. 

We carried overweight backpacks, which was clearly a mistake. As we were not 'avid' hikers, we wanted to be on the safe side and carried lot of water. But if I have to redo the hike, I will certainly reduce the weight of backpack by half. These backpacks added to the strain a lot, and we felt the pain on our way back. You can leave behind camcorders (take a camera for sure), excessive snacks, excessive water, phones (I actually took the iPhone and it was in my bag when I fell into the stream. I got washed away and so did the phone, but it was wrapped in a towel. So, no prob.), heavy towels to name a few. I am stating the obvious but, lighter your backpack, easier your hike will be. But keep in mind that this trail is very strenuous. The 2-mile hike from Kee's beach to Hanakapiai beach (the deserted beach I mentioned above) is rated as 'moderately strenuous' and the 2-mile hike inland from the Hanakapiai beach to Hanakapiai falls is 'fairly strenuous'. And when it rains, the level of difficulty goes up a couple of notches. So, be prepared to rock and roll :). Check out the sample pic which shows the incline and nature of the hike. At times, the width of the passage becomes very narrow, less than 1/4th of that in the picture above, and right below (~1000ft) you see the Pacific. Waves striking the cliffs with all their vigor. That sound and view simply cannot be put into words. 

To the right you have this amazing ocean and to your left are the NaPali coast cliffs. As I mentioned above, it rains a lot in this part of the island and once the rain goes away, you'd see stunning views - a mixture of greenery and dewy like atmosphere. You need to see it to believe it. It took us 1.5 hours to reach Hanakapiai beach as we were busy with the views. Once at the beach, you feel blessed. Only a few get to see this beach and it is an absolute pleasure. Winter tide consumes this beach during the winter months. It felt great to lie down on the sand and stare at the same-colored sky and water. Incredible view. This whole trail is part of the bigger Kalalau Trail, which is a 11 mile 3-4 day trek. Once you reach Hanakapiai beach, the trail splits into two. You can choose to hike to Hanakapiai falls (which is 2 miles) or hike to Kalalau valley (which is a further 9 miles). You need special permission from DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) to continue to Kalalau valley from the Hanakapiai beach. Kalalau trail, by the way, is THE trail of the world. Verdant valleys, waterfalls, sea caves and gorgeous vistas and a deadly trail via Hanakoa valley to the Paradise. It is rated as 'extremely strenuous' and one wrong step - it is a long way down. 

So, coming back to the Hanakapiai falls. It is a 2-mile hike from Hanakapiai beach. You trek through a bamboo forest and need to cross the Hanakapiai stream as part of the trail. You can either walk through the stream (watch out for flash floods and/or strong currents) or boulder jump. I tried latter and fell into the stream and got washed away to some distance. While it was slightly painful and scary at that moment, it was fun and interesting afterwards. It is not something the happens every other day, right? Some 0.5 miles away from the waterfall, you get to see the falls. The first picture in this blog, is that view. Stunning. It felt like paradise. Middle of a forest, streams all over, birds chirping, and then this waterfall. This from Hawaii-guide:

It's unfortunate you cannot see the entire falls from within the valley. Estimates, based on topography, say that the Hanakapi'ai Falls may top 1600 foot in height. As noted above, only the bottom 410 feet of the falls are visible from the ground.

Here is an aerial view of the Hanakapiai valley.

Overall, it's been an incredible adventure for us. And I am happy to have made the decision to take up the hike. It was extremely tiring, especially on our way back from Hanakapiai beach to Kee's beach. We were completely exhausted and took 3 hours to hike 2 miles. In hindsight, we may have pushed ourselves a bit too much, but what we got in return far exceeded our effort. We got a glance of Paradise.

Phenome-nadal

Ok, I will try not to sound like a Wikipedia article on Rafael Nadal. I will try. But what can you say about a player who at 24 has won 5 Roland Garros titles, second only to Bjorn Borg. Nadal did not drop a set in the 2010 French Open tournament. He did that in 2008 as well. Amazing control on the points. With his knees intact, he proved to be unbeatable.

Prior to this clay season, Nadal was in a title drought.11 months without a title. During this period he had many issues - his knees wearied down, he had an abdomen strain, his parents were divorced and the so-called critics wrote him off. Nadal has past his peak they said. And now that is history. Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid master events saw him dominate his opponents like never before. He beat Roger Federer in Madrid finals in straight sets. And that continued into Roland Garros. Straight sets was the buzz word. Soderling, with whom Nadal had a rather turbulent relation since their Wimbledon clash in 2007, was dismissed in straight sets as well. So much for a guy who handed Nadal his only defeat in Paris in 2009.

I am eager to see how Nadal performs in Queens that began this week and eventually in Wimbledon. He can stamp his authority on the game now that he just acquired the 'Red Slam'. I am the kind of guy who sympathizes with the grasshopper on some occasions. Though I fondly admire Roger Federer, I admire Nadal's spirit no less. Vamos Rafa!

Happy 'Dubai'ing! - April 2010

It's been nearly 50 days that I've blogged. And in this time, I've been to one of the world's fascinating cities - Dubai. It was an interesting journey from one desert city to another, Phoenix to Dubai. While the former is famous for its sunshine, valleys and growth the latter is known for gold and many 'largest-in-the-world' structures.

I loved the city overall and the climate there came as a surprise. Both Phoenix and Dubai are known for their notorious summers and I was lucky to be there during the last weeks of winter. I was busy during the day at the conference but skipped out in the evenings. I managed to visit Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Madinat Jumeriah, Burj-al-Arab, Burj Khalifa and old city - Deira. Those malls are not the regular run-of-the-mill malls we come across. Dubai Mall is supposedly the largest mall in the world and Mall of Emirates' claim to fame is its indoor ski slope. I have not been to Ski Dubai but have been to the mall. Trust me, it was awesome! Of all, I loved Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world. I was lucky to get tickets to go atop the building. I went to the 124th floor (that's where the observation deck is) and was still looking up at a 36 odd floors. Awesome view. And the ride in the elevator lasted mere 45 seconds. Another cool thing was the view of they city and in particular the huge musical water fountains at the base of the building. The water fountains looked like tiny white circles. Check out the pictures.

 I've also been to Deira, the old city of Dubai.  It was reminiscent of patha basthi - old city of Hyderabad, India. This area had tons of gold shops and I managed to purchase a couple of items on my own :). On the same day, I managed to take the Jumeirah shuttle to Madinat Jumeriah and got to see Burj-al-Arab. Burj-al-Arab is dubbed to be the world's only 7-star hotel and it stands on a man-made island. It is worth all its hype. I fondly remember the tennis match that Agassi and Federer played on the hotel's helipad, 200m above ground. I felt a bit bad leaving when I was leaving Dubai. I felt I still had a lot to explore and above that, I had to forgo a 'desert experience' event at the conference as I had some 'gold' promises to keep :).
 

 But I think I will visit the city again. And this time, I will aim on spending my time more leisurely. Some of the 'to-do' items include, visiting Burj-al-Arab during the day, visiting the Wild Wadi Park, Ski Dubai and Burj Khalifa again. I did notice many of the sky scrappers were vacant - a reflection of today's economy in general and Dubai's in specific. I was lucky to have stayed at Jumeriah Emirates Hotel. The towers comprise of two equilateral triangles and are a tourist destination themselves. I would rate this hotel real high. Wonderful experience. Overall, it was a great trip - one that helped me recharge myself.

Migrated to Windows 7 ... finally!!

Today (20 March, 2010) is the National day of Unplugging. If you are unsure about what this means - it is a day to encourage people who are addicted to technology to practise abstinence towards all gadgets (for a day, that is). Ironically, I made a big switch from Windows Vista to Windows 7 today. Though I have been using Vista Ultimate since late 2007, I haven't really liked it. There were instances where I abhorred this operating system. I installed Ubuntu linux on my laptop in early 2009 and have been using Ubuntu and Vista in a 70-30 ratio.

I wanted to buy a new laptop but did not want to get rid of my ThinkPad. So, I decided to get rid of my operating system and my dual-boot option, which slowly became a minor nuisance. All it took was a stroll to Staples store. I bought a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade CD and the installation took 20 minutes. This is my first blog using Windows 7. Connecting to the network etc, was a breeze.

At the outset, I liked the look and feel of the OS. Till today, Windows to me was all about style and nothing much about substance. But looks like Microsoft turned the corner with Windows 7. They seemed to have worked on both style and substance. And as a result, Windows 7 looks to be a good blend of both as opposed to Windows Vista which was a hero in style and a zero in substance.

Anyways..my first impression is pretty good about Windows 7. Hope it stays that way!

...the ides of March...

This phrase may not mean a lot to many, but it sure does mean a lot to me. It is from William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar'. 'Beware the ides of March...' the Soothsayer warns Caesar. Caesar all but dismisses the warning. The play was part of our English class in 1994-95. That year, my teacher, my classroom everything is clearly etched in my mind. I liked this play so much that at that time I knew most of the dialogs and soliloquies by heart. My favorite is 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen...lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him...'.

I liked this play for several reasons. Firstly, I like the way Caesar is portrayed as an all-powerful and egoist emperor. Mark Antony aptly says When Caesar says "do this", it is performed! I also liked Caesar's quote - Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. The characters of Antony and Brutus command great respect though I felt bad when Brutus turns tables on Caesar. Et tu Brute! While Antony is portrayed as a noble and devoted follower of Caesar, Brutus is portrayed as a stoic and devoted citizen of Rome. Mark Antony's aforementioned speech is my all-time favorite. The way in which he stirs the crowd to mutiny is very convincing and gripping. Cassius is shrewdness personified. The way Brutus asks Cassius - Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius - is very interesting.

It is a nice day to remember Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. You can find the play here.

Kaua'i - Pandora on Earth!

'Absolute beauty!' is how I would describe the island of Kaua'i. If Big Island was all about diverse climate and volcanoes, Kaua'i was all about forests and beaches. That is a splendid combination. Mountainous forests beside magnificent beaches!!! The island is aptly known as 'Garden Isle', but I'd call it Earth's Pandora. Aloha!

I was on the island for only about 33 hours but other than the 7 hours I was indoors, I enjoyed every moment of the remaining time on the beaches and in the wild. I've been to the Pacific coast several times in the past - San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Hilo and Waikoloa but have never seen the ocean as ferocious as it was in Kaua'i. Only when I got back from the island, I happened to see some forums that mentioned about few visitors who drowned. Though it was disappointing to read about their demise, apparently, they are to be blamed for being in-cognizant about the dangers an ocean poses. I came across a sentence in one of the forums that sums up this issue - 'Kaua'i is wild. Respect it!'.

We flew to Lihue, the only international airport on the island. Our resort was about five miles north of the airport. It started to drizzle as we boarded our rental car. And due to this rain, we missed our hotel's entrance a couple of times before I finally nailed it. And by around 5 PM, the rain had stopped completely and we were out on the beach. Amazing views. We could feel the power of the waves splashing onto the rocks on the beach. We didn't do much on the island except watching the Pacific and the mountains on the island. But we got so involved watching these two that we lost track of time and could not visit the southern shore. No worries though. We had our eyes full and what'smore, we will go there again to complete our unfinished business.

Amidst all this beauty, the icing on the cake was something else. A scenic and wonderful Hindu temple (of Lord Shiva), bang in the middle of the Pacific. Can you beat that? We had no clue that a Hindu temple existed there. We were visiting the Kilauea Wildlife Refuge when we ran into this American security personnel who told us about the Hindu temple. For a moment, I did not take him seriously. We had a chat about Arizona and Phoenix, etc. and then he came up with the temple story. We were taken by surprise, but still went on with our initial plan of driving by the northern shore. After the wildlife refuge, we caught up with Hanalei valley lookout and then proceeded to Hanalei and Lumahai beaches, which were easily the best beaches I've ever been to. Amazing views of the nature. The road ends at Kee'e beach, one of the most dangerous yet exquisite beaches known for its reefs. It is one of the best beaches for snorkeling. We have had our eyes full by then. It is at Kee's beach that the famous 'Na Pali' coast begins. 'Pali' means cliff and this coast sure has the most scenic cliffs on this planet. (That's what I've been told and saw in pictures, because I haven't been to this coast. Avatar movie apparently filmed some stuff on this island.) This coast is not accessible by road. You need to either hike a trecherous trail, take a catamaran or a raft tour, or a helicopter tour. Both time and tide worked against us and we had to save Na Pali coast ride for another day. At Kee'e and elsewhere, though we had plans to get into the water, we were lost in the sights of the beaches that we did not even consider getting into the water. After strolling on the Kee'e beach, we were on our way back to visit the southern shore. There were two prominent places to visit on the south - Waimea Canyon, also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and Koke'E State Park.

And then it happened. By a stroke of luck, I changed my mind and decided against visiting the Waimea Canyon. Instead, I drove to the Hindu temple which is nearby the Opaekaa falls we saw in the morning. Thanks to iPhone, the American security personnel at Kilauea and a red signal at Kapaa. It was easily the best temple I've been to and on-par (and probably even better) than Tirumala & Kedarnath. The location of the temple sets it apart. We met a guruji who took us into the temple. I was in a screensaver mode throughout my stay at the temple. Absolute tranquil. We headed back to Kapaa and Lihue pondering over the twist in our trip and how successful it has been overall.

And deep in my mind, I knew I'd visit it again. I murmured to myself ... "I'll be back!". Mahalo!