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.

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.

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!

A trip to Hawaiian paradise (Big Island)

For nearly an year I was longing to visit Hawaii. We almost planned a trip in last December but it never really worked out. A punctilious weekend plan helped me nail it this time. We went to the Big Island (Island name: Hawaii). For starters, there are 8 main islands (out of hundreds) in the state of Hawaii. The biggest one is Hawaii and is often called 'Big Island' to avoid any confusion with the state as a whole. Out of these 8 main islands, four are very famous for their uniqueness and outstanding natural values. Those four are Big Island (volcanoes, lush rainforests), Maui (outstanding beaches), Oahu (Outstanding beaches, Pearl harbor), Kauai (Lush rainforests). Check out this wikipedia link for more details.

It is extremely difficult to explore each of these islands completely (let alone all the islands). So, this weekend we focussed only on the Big Island. A map of the island is included in this link.

The best thing I liked about the Big Island is the natural diversity it has. There are 13 climate zones on Planet Earth and Big Island has 11 of them. The eleven climate zones in Hawaii are - Tropical continuously wet, Tropical winter dry, Tropical summer dry, Tropical monsoon, Hot semi-desert, Hot desert, Continuously wet warm temperate, Summer dry warm temperate, Summer dry cool temperate, Cold continental climates, Periglacial climate. The only climate zones it does not have are Arctic and Saharan. It has the world's largest volcano, Mauna Loa, which by the way is much taller than Mount. Everest when measured from the ocean floor. Big Island is known for - volcanoes, beaches, snow-covered mountaintops and rainforests. And all within 150-200 mile drive :)

The island has lot of Vog (Volcanic Smog), which is formed by chemical reactions between sulfur dioxide emissions from the volcano and oxygen, water or sunlight. Also, sulfur dioxide emission during rain leads to the formation of Sulphuric Acid (H20 + SO2) and results in Acid rains. That is the reason for the arid parts south west of Mauna Loa.

We travelled to Kona (Airport: KOA) and stayed at Waikoloa Beach Marriott. The hotel was excellent. It was on the oceanfront and had excellent amenities. Except for the night, we were on the beach throughout - sunset, sunrise, breakfast. I was in the water, neckdeep, for over two hours and was just enjoying the view. That evening was more like a breezy night on the terrace top or under a tree in India. There were many coconut trees and we sat for an hour or so under one of them and were glazing at the clear skies. Nostalgic. The next morning we set out on our longest road trip. Here is the map of our drive.


View Larger Map


We drove along the west coast and then a cross-island drive through forests to the east coast. It was a very scenic drive interspersed with clouds. We had to drive through clouds :). Hilo is another major town on the west coast. Some 15 miles before Hilo, we visited Akaka waterfalls. The scene was reminiscent of screensavers and desktop wallpapers we normally see. Just fantastic. Then we headed to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park which was some 40 miles southwest of Hilo.

And about the Volcanoes National Park, I am sure no words can match the sight it offered. It had fossils of nature's fury - Solidified Lava. We visited the Lava tube, Chain of craters and Steam vents. We got to see the actual site of 1974 volcanic eruption and the havoc it created. Many trees that were uprooted lie in the Lava, lifeless. It was one hell of a sight. And then we headed to the Steam vents and the Kilauea caldera. Kilauea is an active volcano. It was emitting harmful sulfur dioxide fumes. We couldn't go any further as the park authorities blocked certain trails owing to safety concerns. Nonetheless, it was a GREAT sight. We were lost for words and kept staring at the crater. Check out the Halemaumau Crater which is in the Kilauea caldera.

Overwhelmed with what we saw in the day, we headed back to Kona in the same route. We decided not to encircle the island because that meant we had to pass through some arid parts which we did not prefer. We had enough of arid climate back home.

Kona to Hawaii National Volcanoes Park was around 125 miles and including the ride to the airport, I drove some 270 miles on that eventful day - by far the longest I ever drove in a day.

Here are some useful links if you plan to visit the Big Island -

County eruption update
http://lavainfo.us/
http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/1/30/hours_change_for_Kilauea_volcano_viewing_are
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20091026_kilauea_sends_flow_over_road_but_stalls.html

Website about visiting Mauna Kea Observatories:
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/visiting.htm
Website about the Mauna Kea visitors station:
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/

Akaka Falls map:
http://www.bigisland.org/parks/223/akaka-falls-state-park
Rainbow Falls (in Hilo):
http://www.downtownhilo.com/Places/RainbowFallsBoilingPots/tabid/418/Default.aspx

Black Sand Beach:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punaluu_Beach


I tend to use the word 'paradise' very sparingly and I feel this Big Island deserves the word with absolutely no questions. I look forward to visiting other islands in the state of Hawaii. This visit had only made me more curious and bedazed.

Great app for travel enthusiasts!

Last week my boss shared an interesting app with me - Trip Case. If you are a travel enthusiast like me, you'd love it. In March 2009, I blogged about a similar app, Pocket Express, but Trip Case beats it downright. I've not come across a better travel app to date.

There are some inimitable features that make this app very useful. Push technology for flight status, dynamic flight information, alternate schedules and itinerary logs helps one to stay organized in travel. It also helps track car rental and hotel information, something which I haven't used at all. You can share your travel plans with friends or someone who'd be waiting at the airport to pick you up :). This will help when you have last minute delays as friends waiting at the airport will get push notifications about your flight status or can view the info online.

I tried it out last weekend and it was great. Once I entered my flight number and origin airport, all other fields such as arrival time, terminals, gates, weather etc were populated. It also displayed the carousel number for baggage claim. I loved this app and it is very useful for me. Strongly recommend.

Day out in Boston.

Boston has always been one of my favorite cities in the US and with my trip yesterday, my appreciation and bonding with this city grew further. I cannot pinpoint to what really makes me love this city. Some impressions have no reasons. The presence of Harvard and MIT contribute a lot to my impression. And yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit the revered Harvard University and have a glance at the marvellous MIT.

Firstly, the public transit was extraordinary. I did not have to rent a car. There was absolutely no necessity. Moreover, I read online that the parking rates are exorbitant and almost match the cost of taking a cab to your destination. Anyways, I did my research and carried the route map of MBTA's (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) subway routes. It was very helpful and of course, the fares were very cheap. I used MBTA subway to go to Harvard, downtown Boston and to City Point (Pleasure Bay).

Secondly, the climate was exhilarating. For someone coming from Phoenix, 65 F odd temperature is really cool. And the best part is, it was drizzling throughout. It has been ages since I spent nearly 5-6 hours in rain sporting an umbrella. It was a refreshing experience.

Thirdly, I loved the culture of the city. People with whom I've interacted were warm, friendly and courteous without any exceptions. Especially at Harvard University, I was very comfortable in navigating my way.

These three factors helped make my trip more comfortable. The reason I loved this trip though is because I got to visit Harvard. Harvard, Wharton, MIT and Stanford (in no particular order) are revered schools to me. I've been to Stanford last year as it is near to my place. But, I always wanted to visit Harvard Law and Harvard Business Schools. I made it yesterday. And I was mightily impressed with the ambience at HBS. It was serene, pristine and exquisite. It is a class act and truly represented its rank among B-Schools.

By the end of day, we were totally exhausted as we walked over 10 miles :). We mellowed down by evening and caught the flight back to hot hot Phoenix. I am guessing my next trip will be to Philadelphia. I'm eager to see how Wharton looks like.

Blog from Polska

This one straight from Poland.

Same time last week, I was at one of the most hip and happening places on this planet - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Now, I am at the other extreme. A serene, beautiful and historically prominent one. Krakow, Poland.

It was a blessing in disguise that I had this aviation conference at Poland. The timing couldn't get any better. I was very busy at work and was waiting for a good vacation or just a break. And then came along Krakow. And almost instantly, I was in love with Krakow. Amazing weather in this time of the year. Great crowds and legacy. We went to a salt mine yesterday. That was the oldest mine in the world. And it was nothing short of extraordinary.

You can never express how much a break like this means to you. Away from work and pressure. Nothing can reconcile it. Not money, Not work. The conference I went too also turned out to be very informative. So, overall it has been a pleasant trip and at a special time.