LOON MOUNTAINS & CONWAY, NEW HAMPSHIRE

The desire to see the famous Fall colours of New Hampshire took us up North from Nashua,where we live. Fall is setting in and officially the first day of Autumn is  22nd September, yet as we are leaving this lovely place on 23rd September we were in a rush to see whatever we could before the onset of the full colors.

En route to Loon Mountains

On our way up north, we stopped at Loon Mountain. This is a place famous for skiing. There were the Gondola type ropeway and also the open chair type ropeway. We went in the closed gondolas and went up to the top of the mountain. The view all around was beautiful. One could only see thick forests all around.

The Lake

There was a lake too quite high up. The food at the cafe on top of the mountain was really good. Jamaican fare in the heart of North America, spicy and different was quite amazing! The sky was as blue as it possibly could be and the fluffy clouds made beautiful shadows on the hills. It was quite windy and cold.
Down the mountain, we saw bungee jumping, rock climbing and a zip wire too. Aaria my four year old grand daughter, is becoming quite interested in sporty things so she said that she wanted to do bungee jumping. To our surprise she went quite high and showed her independence by managing to stay for much over the time allotted to her.
After that we resumed our  journey onwards to Conway

Conway Railway Station

Conway is a small town which caters mainly to tourists. There are numerous hotels, eating places and outlet stores in the town. The shops on the main road are unique. Each shop seems to have a history and maintains the look of olden time neighborhood stores. There was a shop called " 5 cents & 10 cents" store, which was opened in 1900.

5Cents & 10 cent store

There was "Zeb's "which was full of goodies of all types.  There was an old Ford parked outside the shop and an old time petrol pump too. It was interesting to walk through the store and see the stuff that had been maintained so well. Old Coca cola iceboxes and bottles too added to the charm of the place.

Old coke bottles in an ice box

The town has a lovely Conway Scenic Railroad.The destination is only the scenic view around the mountains. The trains are maintained beautifully. The magical part was the steam engine which was hauling the train.  I went several years back and re lived the memories of long forgotten train journeys of my childhood when as a school girl I would travel on trains hauled by steam engines! The billowing smoke, the coal dust, the wonderful whistle of the engine made me feel nostalgic. We took great pleasure in telling Aaria that this was a chhuk,chuk gadi.

The steam engine

A steam engine hauls the train at a slower speed, and the smoke reminds you of a bygone era when pollution was not the upper most thought on any one's mind.

The Dining Car

We took the 1330 hours Dining Car Chocorua train. Dining on the rails in America is a tradition dating back to the mid 19th century when railrods across the country started offering meals on the train as an alternative to the road houses that were located at their stops.The charm, the experience on the Dining car was memorable.
I love retro.  I love to remember days that just went away even before they started.

Interesting stuff!

Conway has an old world charm. There are quaint little shops with unique names, and unique features. There are no big chain stores on that main stretch. People walk as though automobiles do not exist. Parking is easy and without charge. Shops sell goods which one does not see any longer in huge chain stores.
This vacation  was a memorable, beautiful return to the past.

Fall setting in.

Fall colours for which we had set out were scant. We were therefore happy to spot any patch of red, orange or yellow. The road, the national forest, the river flowing by made this place even more enchanting.

On the way back we went past the huge Lake Winnipesaukee. This and the name of the river are original names given by the original inhabitants of this place, the American Indians. Early settlers called  this area  Pequawket and the river nearby was called Saco. The nearest Indian village in this area was the Abenaki Indian Village.

A WONDERFUL WONDER OF THE WORLD-NIAGARA

THE MIGHTY NIAGARA

The fierce, fast beautiful waters of the Niagara seem to be in a rush to reach their fall. It is an immense body of water which is just rushing and gushing and then with a thunderous roar falling. It is an experience to see the place. There is a lot of mist which rises at the fall. It is nature at it's best performance. The sound and the effect of the mist actually waits for no applause. The onlookers keep looking with awe.

I and my family went to the Niagara Falls together. It was awesome. The view from the American side they say is not as awesome as the view from the Canadian side. I have my own theory. I am sure it is more beautiful from Canada as all that one can see is the immense water body and the lovely falls. From the American side we look at hotels, buildings and modern architecture!

The enchanting beauty of the Niagara has to be seen and experienced. After all it is a wonder of the World for a reason! There are actually three water falls. The Rainbow also called the American falls, The Bridal Veil, and The Horseshoe.

MAID OF THE MIST

 The ride on the "Maid of the Mist" is lovely. Going almost down to the bottom of the massive Horse shoe falls  is delightful. The full force of the water falling at great speed is a sight which one actually cannot see. The eyes simply close with the force of water on your face.The thrill of getting drenched under the falls is an experience that one is not likely to forget in a life time. 

HURRICANE DECK

One can also get drenched at the Hurricane deck at the Cave of the Winds. One walks very close to the falls at this place. The thrill and happiness one experiences is unbelievable. Almost everyone was laughing, trying to drink the water and get the full powerful shower. The absolute fun and screaming and delirious shouts of glee from every person on the deck has to be seen to be believed. It is the advent of the joy of childhood and getting drenched in the rain as if there was a cloud burst! The thrill and happiness one experiences is unbelievable. 

The force of the water does not seem scary even though one is witness to the mighty roar, the fast speed and the momentum of water coming down. That may be so because although the water is very close one is well protected with railings.

THE FIRE ENGINE

As though watching the Niagara had not been adventure enough,when we came back to the Hotel where we were staying, a fire alarm went off and all of us had to go down the stairs. We had small children and 6 flight of steps to take. We hurriedly left the room, taking care to quickly pick up the mobile, the laptop and wallets! Two huge fire engines and an ambulance were soon there. The firemen ran out with their hose and were dressed perfectly to fight the fire. However they soon came back and what we saw after that was absolutely hilarious. There were some tourists getting themselves photographed with the firemen! 

A RAINBOW!

Living in that moment of fun is a delightful memory forever!

Now for some trivia.
Niagara falls can be seen both from the US side as well as the Canadian side. The nearest town in USA is Buffalo and on the Canadian side is Toronto.
Niagara falls are not the tallest falls. There are about 500 falls taller than this, but it is the combination of height and volume of water that makes Niagara so exquisitely beautiful. In fact the Angel falls in Venezuela is the tallest, it is about 3212 feet.
Almost 6 million cubic feet of water go over the crest-line of the falls every minute. The crest-line of the Horse shoe falls is about 2200 feet wide. The plunge pool is about 100 feet deep.
The crest-line of the American Falls is about 850 feet wide.
The fastest speed of the rapids is 68 miles per hour at the falls.
The Niagara River is a channel between the Great Lakes Erie and Ontario.

VIEW AT NIGHT

The Niagara falls are an amazing, beautiful,awesome sight! The roar of the water is powerful and yet soothing. The rising mist, the view and the beauty of the white water is an experience, which if experienced, will remain with you forever!

AN OUT OF THIS WORLD PLACE-RAWLA NARLAI

It was in the December of 2007 that my brother planned a trip to Narlai in Rajasthan. We were driving from Mumbai to Narlai. I had never heard of the place and so was wondering about what to expect.

Was I surprised? Wait , read and then decide for yourself.

We set out in the morning and went past a lot of towns and reached the beautiful highway in Gujarat, which evoked memories of highways of USA and motorways of UK. I was amazed to see this fast road, without bends and turns and a stretch of road where one could speed. Oh yes, we too can have good highways in India!

After speeding on  that road, we came back to terra firma with a thud and relaxed back in the security of bumpy roads, slow traffic, towns and villages by the roadside and the usual drive on the roads of my India with camel carts, scooters, cycles and tractors vying for space with trucks, lorries, buses and cars.

Soon there appeared a lovely fort on the horizon. We moved past and I realised that was not our destination. More bumpy roads were crossed, and then we slowly took more turns on almost kutchha roads and reached a sleepy little town, with few houses and a hillock. We had reached our destination! There was a huge gate and some walls in front of us. When the gates were opened, some nagadas(kettle drums) started beating and we were given a welcome fit for royalty. The gates transported us to another era in another world. From 20th century India we got transported to a mix of 16th and 21st century India.

A lovely palace stood infront of us. Beautiful green plants, flowers, small little water tanks with beautiful patterns, niches in the walls to hold lamps, wicker chairs, all emerged in front of me. Tired after our journey we waited to be shown our rooms. I was delighted with the thought that I was at last going to sleep in a palace where lived Ranis and Ranas and all those shoor- veer( brave) Rajpootana people, for whom honour came before everything else!

The garden

 To my dismay, we walked past the palace and crossed many doors and emerged from the last huge door into yet another world. There was a designer's swimming pool,  and colourful fluttering tents with wicker chairs in front of them. Oh my goodness...was I to live in a tent? Entering the tent I was delighted to see the comfortable beds, the comfortable chairs and beautiful linen! There was an attached bathroom but no door! Only a curtain was there, although the facilities inside were of 5 star quality. The swimming pool was designed by Raghvendra Rathore a famous designer and also a scion of the royal family of Mewar. The tiles on the bottom of the pool have been arranged in a paisley pattern and looked amazing.

The tent and the Swimming pool

There were no call bells in the rooms. I was wondering  how to manage to get some tea. I came out of my tent and saw an attendant standing a few feet away with is hands behind his back and eyes looking down. The moment I began to walk towards him he looked in my direction and waited for my instructions. He took my order for tea and left his post. I was later told that someone or the other would be waiting around always to obey our orders. Royalty?...Indeed!

There was no TV, no phone, no bell, nothing but beauty, farmabardaars(people to look after your needs),serenity and tranquility. This is what a holiday is all about. A place to detoxify your mind too! No news, no newspaper, no mobile phone! Sheer bliss, and a time to enjoy being just you with your own self

Rawla Narlai was an amazing out of this world place. It was a destination to remember.

Every day the food was served in style, on time and without calling out to a waiter. Everything worked like clockwork. The waiter would actually wait for your order, and come quietly to attend to your needs. They were like dumb waiters, with eyes down and mind alert.

The room

There is nothing much to do in Narlai except climb the hill and watch the sunset. Here again someone takes you up the hill on your little adventure, serves you tea on top of the hill and takes pictures of you .

On the last day of our stay we saw a performance of the famous kalbelia dancers. They dance on thaals( large plates), and there are a lot of acrobatics involved in the lovely dancing and  balancing acts. We heard beautiful folk songs sung about the valour and history of this part of Rajasthan. Every day the food was delicious and different.

As my brother had some friend living nearby, we visited that family. Once again we were transported into the 14th century. This was a joint family with a huge haveli. We went into the house and as our host walked into any room, the women of the house would immediately swirl their skirts and quickly sit down on the floor. It was sort of customary for the women never to face the men of the house. It was sort of purdah( hiding)I couldn't believe that this was hapenning in this time and date.

We went in the backyard of the house and saw that it was decorated with lights and tables were laid out for a feast. We ate splendid Rajasthani cuisine and listened to the folk music. Later we were invited inside by the women who showed us their beautiful jewellery and dresses. They all danced the ghoomar for us.

Rawla Narlai was like a world waiting to be discovered. It is amazing, unique and beautiful.

It was one of the most  delightful holidays that I have been to. The total experience was absolutely out of the world.

One can reach Rawla Narlai from Udaipur to experience what Mewar and its culture is all about!