During those recession times, just two days before Obama taking oath as 44th president of USA, I landed into USA in Bellevue, Washington state near Seattle. On very first weekend break, a close friend (Samrat) planned a trip down south in Oregon state to visit waterfalls in Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is one of the many natural beauty sites which have been declared as National Scenic Area by US govt. I had no involvement in planning of this trip as I hardly researched anything this time before coming. Samrat being his enthusiastic self and shouldering responsibility of taking entourage of 16 folks including his and two other families hired one of the biggest personal passenger vehicle in US, a Ford 16 seater.

Ford 16-seater passenger vehicle

Farmers’ markets are a phenomenon in California. The goods on sale are very similar to the day shifting bazaars (a.k.a Som Bazaar, Mangal Bazaar, Budh bazaar and so on) in India. Freshest of the fresh vegetables, fruits, and even flowers can be bought from these markets. One such market was outside the Ferry Building, near Embarcadero, at San Francisco on a weekend in early May this year.

It was in one such Farmer’s markets where I relished the juiciest strawberries and stood in awe of the biggest orchids that I could ever have imagined. A friend once stated “U.S. mein sab bada hi bada hota hai.”
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Day 1

Day 2 and 3

Day 4: Exploring the island of Oahu.

Day 4 was a conducted bus tour by the Polynesian Adventure Tours booked through www.gotobus.com. This was to ensure there was no tension of getting lost, and no hassles of finding bus routes. We started with a brief visit to the Hanauma Bay (this was our 2nd visit during the trip). While leaving Hanauma Bay, I spotted something (of not much significance though) that I had last studied in grade 9th Biology. There roots were called prop roots, a kind of root that arises from the stem and penetrates the soil. Just some inconsequential observation.

Our second visit to the Hanauma Bay

Hawaii (Oahu Island) Part 1

Day 3: Hiking Diamond Head Crater, exploring Iolani Palace and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

On day 3, we decided to hike the Diamond Head Crater. We woke up promptly at 5 am, to skip the usual bathroom rush hour, and were out by 6 am, waiting for the bus that never arrived because it was a Saturday. After waiting for an hour, we took a cab and reached the trailhead. We did see why it is best to start hikes early, it can get extremely hot and uncomfortable even by 8 am. This is where we started from while the tiny structure at the top was where we had to reach.

Base of the trail head
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