How often you visit a place, and think about the beauty that scene exemplifies, and not think about the history that place has, or how that place came to be ? Not very often, right ?
We, as humans are quite inquisitive by nature. We see something, hear something, we always seem to marvel at the beauty of our amazing planet.

So writing about something which is actually hard to describe in words is truly a task for a newbie blogger like me, and I am sure the pictures I post here will not do justice to the pristine fall wilderness that Acadia is.

Acadia National Park is one of the most visited national parks around the fall time, clearly for a very valid reason, that is the fall colors. When fall sets in around September, the leaves change their color so beautifully, it mesmerizes your senses. I had the ultimate pleasure of capturing these scenes, but more importantly, I was lucky to have been just there looking at this piece of art with my eyes.

So here we were, a bunch of friends driving through the lush colorful mountain ranges in Maine, going towards Bar Harbor, which is a quaint little town just outside the national park. We had our travel plans in place, but we did not expect that the scenes would blow our minds off. The sunrise at the Cadillac Mountain summit, the crashing waves from the mighty Atlantic, the exquisite ice cream from the original CJ’s creamery, and everything in between.

There is this romantic vibe in that place, add a beautiful sunrise, and you get a perfect morning to spend it with your loved ones.

If you are into hiking, and climbing peaks, but don’t want something that will keep you panting, and gasping for breaths, then precipice trail is the hike you want. The fall color views there are stupendously gorgeous, with multitudes of color, and a body of water you can’t really put a boundary to.

What more do we need, some great company, some pristine views, and great food to enjoy Acadia.

I would suggest the following places to definitely visit while you are there:

1. Cadillac Mountain for their out of the world sunrise views.
2. Precipice trail for the breathtaking fall color views.
3. Park loop road for all photogenic spots in the park
4. Jordan pond for some soul searching.
5. CJ creamery for the best butter pecan chocolate ice cream.
6. Beal’s for the best lobster roll you can find in Maine, and last, but not the least
7. White mountains while driving back towards mainland suburban Boston area.

I have always been very fascinated with weird terrains of our beautiful planet. Anything that resonates with deserts, arid atmosphere, large stone monuments put up on the face of this Earth for hundreds, and thousands of miles. The lush green forests, and big oceans with miles of unending beaches never really attracted me. My friends don’t call me the “desert loving guy” for no reason. Be it the vastness of the Death Valley, or the amazingly cruel Arizona weather, I have, and will always be fond of desert lands.

This fascination made me plan this amazing trip with 2 of my brothers from another mothers, and we slated this as the trip of the year, probably because our ridiculous work schedule does not allow us to freely roam on this gorgeous rock filled with water, or as the aliens prefer, “Earth”. Well, jokes aside, we did plan a pretty dope travel itinerary for the 3 days we spent there.

So here goes for nothing:

Day 0:
We all landed pretty late on Friday evening, and were all very hungry to actually roam around the beautiful city of Phoenix, AZ. So we decided to skip the touristy stuff everyone does when they land, which is roam around in the city checking out the bar scene. I have never really understood the fascination with bars, and drinking out in the pubs, but hey, who am I to judge. I am that weird desert loving guy. So we just to our friend’s place and gorged on to some pretty slick South Indian delicacies, and crashed there.

Day 1:
Early morning at 700 hours we started the road trip, from Phoenix to Page, AZ. Page is a pretty small town which is usually only famous for the Lower Antelope Canyon, and the beautiful Glen Canyon National Park. So we had a lower antelope canyon tour booked with Dixie’s antelope tours. They are the absolute best in the business, and I would definitely recommend them. We had an absolute blast with our guide, Ronny, who preferred to be called Ron, and he was a hoot. After finishing up with the tour, we had our lunch, since we just had a bagel for breakfast.
We had lots of time before the sunset, and so we chilled around the recreation area, we went to this amazing overlook, called the “Wahweap Point”. It overlooks the remarkable canyon lands, and mountains on the shore of River Colorado. You can definitely spend 2 hours there contemplating the decisions you have made in life. But hey, wait a second before you go in deep with your thoughts, because I have a better place to do that,
the Horseshoe Bend. It is, if not the best place to ponder upon your thoughts, definitely in the top 5. The beauty of that marvel encapsulates you, and makes you forget you have a phone to update that story on Instagram, or check in on Facebook. It is the epitome of nature working its way to show us what it can actually do. Pure bliss !! And the sunset view there is to die for, I am not kidding, you can literally die if you do not take care of your balance, because it is steep, very steep.
After spending the entire day in Page, we decided to head to our hotel, which was in Kayenta, which was around 90 minutes drive.

Day 2:
After sleeping in for almost 4 hours, amazing, I know, we decided to have breakfast, and leave towards the ever awesome Monument Valley, but not before filling in the gas, cause car gets hungry too guys, cmon!! We had a tour planned in the evening for Monument Valley, and so we had the entire day to frolic around. So, we went on to drive to the Natural Bridges National Monument, which was the first ever National Monument in the ever elevated State of Utah. The drive there is fantastic, and there are multiple spots on the way where you can stop, and look behind to the gorgeous Monument Valley. There is one spot in particular though, which is called “The Forrest Gump Point”, which is of course dedicated to the movie Forrest Gump which was shot there. There are many many movies shot in the Valley, which you will be reminded about in the tour, if you decide to take on. So, back to the bridges, the Natural Bridges Monument is a set of 3 natural bridges, made by the river millions of years ago to make its way to Colorado, giving a distinct bridge like arch to the rocks, and our minds going berserk because we have not seen anything like this before. Trust me, there are atleast 20 to 30 spots in Utah, and Arizona, where you will go mad thinking how on Earth did this happen ? Pretty sweet views.
And, we are back at it, driving to what would be the most epic tour we had ever taken. The local Navajo tribe have been given this amazing opportunity to showcase their culture, and their lifestyle driving through the mind boggling valleys, and monuments so huge, you would not believe your eyes. The tour was supposed to be of 2 hours, but our awesome guide, “grand pa” Joe made sure we saw everything, right from the hundred foot stone monuments, to their local huts, which they call “Hogan”, to the wool weaving techniques, everything, and anything related to Navajo was shown to us, and it was the best experience I have had in my entire life. These people have been living there, and conserving our nature so beautifully, it is remarkable. So our tour took almost twice as what we had imagined, but it was all completely worth it. So if you go there, please take the Navajo Tribal Park tour, and the mystery valley tour.
The day ended with us driving back to Flagstaff, and staying there for the night.

Day 3:
The third day of this epic road trip began with the Grand Canyon National Park. Now I will be honest, after spending possibly the best 2 days looking at these amazing sandstones with red hues, the Grand Cayons can be a tad bit boring. But, I would still recommend everyone to take the Orange bus route there, from within the park, and visit the Yaki point, which is basically the north west tip off the South Rim. The view is pristine, and you will not regret spending $30 for the entry. The Grand Canyons are as beautiful as the valley, if not more. We spent only half a day there since we had our flights to catch, and so we left the park at around 430ish in the evening, and drove back to Phoenix where we, with a heavy heart bid adieu to Arizona, and the deserts.

It was indeed one of the best trips we had planned, and I would certainly recommend going there. Here are a few notes to take:

1. The time zone there is a bit tricky, if you are new. So, Phoenix follows the pacific time, and if we go to Kayenta, which is still in AZ follows Mountain time, so make sure you are well within the prescribed time zone when you start driving.
2. Fill up those gas tanks because that region has minimal fuel stations, and you do not want to get stuck in the middle of a freaking desert.
3. Stay hydrated. I know I am sounding like a tour guide, but trust me, you need it, especially during summers.
4. Drive an all wheel drive. This is not critical, but just in case.

I will be sharing more such itineraries as and when I travel, so please make sure you follow my blog.

Peace out !!
Ciao !!

I came to the States 6 years ago, with a dream. That dream was to learn as much as I can about a country, its people, its terrain, the culture, the food, everything. I have always been very inquisitive about stuff. What goes in the salsa, why do we call “sand” sand, and not anything else. These weird questions I had, and well, still have affect me in a way I can’t describe.

It gives me that unending feeling of constantly being in motion. So when I came here, I gathered all the information I could about this new land I was going to call home. The first thing I managed to know, was a terrain which was once under the big sea, and spanning millions of years of violent tectonic shifts, giving birth to the land you see before.

6 years later, I got to visit the very first thing I came to know about this awesome geographically rich land. The Navajo Tribal Park in Monument Valley located in Utah has been the crux of the great Indian movement. Thousands of years of civilization, spanning across 3 different States, covering a massive area in the mountains. I fell in love with this place the moment I took my first step out of the car.

The scene so mesmerizing, the vibe so culturally positive, the valley immediately caught my eyes. The Monument Valley, a rock formation which took millions of years to form, and just seconds to impress an explorer’s heart.

-Chai

Sitting in the comfort of my office chair, I wonder. I wonder what is it that keeps me running, what is it that keeps me motivated ?

The answer lies within me, as it will lie within all of you who ponder upon the age old question, what is my life’s purpose ?

People call us millenials, dreamers, non hard working young souls, who just want to roam around, eat good food, and drink lots of alcohol.

But there millenials like myself, who not only feel sinfully out of sync with the current funk, and just want to understand life as is.

Life has been given to us to live, not to spend.

Find your life’s purpose, and help others find theirs, love people, be kind, and always, always spread smiles around.

This will begin my tryst with writing, and I hope to encourage you guys, in any small way possible.

Cheers !!

Namaste !!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton