American continents - between Pacific and Atlantic oceans

Just completed, 3 continent voyages with 35 days of travel, covering 7 countries, changing 12 time zones, using 7 SIM cards and 6 unique currencies with a team of passionate travelers. 

Travel itinerary was something like this, which went as per plan.  

Melbourne ->> Hawaii ->> Los Angeles->> Las Vegas ->> Mexico City ->> Cancún ->> San Jose ->> Manual Antonio ->> La Fortuna ->> Monteverde ->> Bogota ->> Lima ->> Cusco ->> Machu Picchu ->> Panama ->> San Francisco->> Papeete ->> Auckland->> Melbourne 

I am taking this opportunity to write a few highlights from our month-long travel around North, Central and South America and the experiences we had.  

1. Without any doubt, Machu Picchu was best pick of this trip with its beautiful landscape and the history behind it. Well preserved, remote, spiritual, sustainable and the wildlife around, gave this place additional points to be at the top of any travel bucket list.  

2. Next on this list is Costa Rica with its diverse biodiversity, more than USA and Canada combined. Amazing birds, mammals, reptiles, snakes and what not. This country is a biodiversity hotspot (with more than 5% of our beloved planet). And don’t forget warm water to dip at Pacific Ocean at any given time. The most exciting part of Costa Rica were the wild adventures including white water rafting, crocodile, and birdwatching cruise (spotting Macaws, Toucans and more than 30 other diverse bird species), Arenal volcano hike, jungle night walk, cliff diving, surfing lessons at Manual Antonio, cloud forests walkthrough hanging bridges and many more to count. 

3. Another highlight was the French Polynesian islands at Papeete and Moorea with great wildlife to spot underwater and swim with Mantra Rays, Black tip sharks, turtles, colorful corals, fishes, and lot of other sea creatures. It was a thriving ecosystem of sea life underneath at these islands. 

4. Remotely located picturesque San Blas archipelago (group of islands) in the Caribbean Sea at Panama with amazing ocean colors and sea life with natural pools. Just blew our minds with scenery around.  

5. Panama Canal – an engineering marvel, built more than a century ago, and yet still functions so beautifully and perfectly- it has been a fortune cookie for Panama as a country, which has reaped benefits from the Canal and developed immensely due to its strategic location.  

6. Other special mentions on this list are the Wonder of World Chichen Itzá, which is still standing tall with glimpses of Mayan civilization, natural wonders of The Grand Canyon at USA, Hanauma bay (explored through snorkeling) at Hawaii, Hoover Dam at USA, Incan history at Cusco, Teotihuacan pyramids at Mexico and Cenotes (natural sink hole) at Cancun, Mexico 

Moorea island - French Polynesia 

Grand Canyon, USA 

Glamorous - Las Vegas 

Engineering marvel - Hoover Dam, USA 

Few words for cities we covered:  ​

1. Los Angeles – Fashion, Hollywood and Traffic  

2. Las Vegas – Glamorous and Flashy 

3. Mexico City – Spicy food, cable cars as public transport and Mexicans know how to party hard.  

4. Bogota – Mountainous on one side of city, history, street art/graffiti, coffee, pioneer of bus transport system

5. San Franisco – Waterfront and Golden Gate

6. Lima – Chaos, Waterfront and Spanish colonial touch

7. San Jose – IT companies’ hub at Central America.

8. Panama City – Layered architecture and culture with Spanish, French and American

Shaved Ice - Hawaii 

Historical Cusco - Peru

Golden Gate - San Francisco 

San Blas Islands - Panama

Lima, Peru 

Traditional Peruvians 

Venomous Snake - Costa Rica

Pacific Ocean - Costa Rica

White face monkey - Costa Rica

And awards we ranked as a team: 

1. Airlines – Air Tahiti Nui for services, food and entertainment on flight  

2. Hotel – Real Inn at Cancun for waterfront and huge swimming pool next to café.  

3. Beer – Modela with Michelada recipe (Spicy Mexican beer and tomato juice cocktail)

4. Food – Casado (Traditional Costa Rican food)

5. Coffee – Juan Valdez at Bogota

6. City – Mexico city for vibe

7. Airport – Mexico city NLP (new airport), big, clean and beautiful writings in rest rooms around Mexican history and culture.  

8. Restaurant – Maxie at Las Vegas and La Casa De Tono at Mexico City.

Japanese Temple - Hawaii 

Do i need to say - where it is? 

Wonder of the World - Machu Picchu, Peru

Honolulu skyline - USA 

Wonder of the World - Chichen Itza, Mexico

Historical plaza - Bogota, Colombia 

Don’t forget lessons learnt from the trip: 

1. SIM card – Try using e-sim instead of procuring physical sim for each country.

2. Cash – Don’t carry too much cash. International travel card works efficiently in most of the big cities.

3. Bookings – Make bookings in advance specially during peak season. We missed on couple of activities due to delay in booking.

Special thanks  

1. Alberto - for showing us Mexico City and initial lessons on Spanish language. 

2. Jamie - who paved way for us to see Machu Picchu 

3. Pravin and Anushree - our ideal hosts at Los Angeles 

4. Rachit and Swati - showing us best of San Francisco in less than 12 hours.  

5. Leo, Cesar and Chamo – knowledgeable and sharing Costa Rican stories.  

6. Brendon - Grand Canyon tour guide and he was not 'that' guy. 

7. Alex - can’t have better guide than him to show beautiful life underneath water at French Polynesian islands with innovative ways of snorkeling.  

8. Sandra - our Mexican friend who introduced us to Alberto, pre-Spanish food and spicy beer. 

This was my share of experience, please do ask any travel advice for this part of planet. I am more than willing to share my experiences, information around local guides and travel plans (with rough estimate around budget).

Gracias and Pura Vida everyone for reading it and become part of journey with us, with mission of 50 countries by 2025 

#travelpassionison #50by2025 #australia #costarica 

Reef and Rainforests

Two world heritage sites - both are equally beautiful and diverse ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef, one of the youngest reefs, is only 10,000 years old and the second one is The Daintree Rainforest, which is the oldest in the world existing for more than 135 million years.

Just got opportunity to explore both during 7 days trip to Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia.

Here are few highlights to share. 

1. Scuba diving at Great Barrier Reef was like a dream come true after years of living in Australia. One dive was not enough, so went for another, which was better than the first. Loved colorful corals, fishes and life underneath. 

2. Snorkeling around Green Island at The Great Barrier Reef. It was an excellent experience swimming with seawater turtles. Also spotted manta rays, giant clamps, Maori wrasse, potato cod and shark to tick off the great 8 on the The Great Barrier Reef. 

3. Spotted more than 6 unique crocodiles during The Daintree River Cruise of varying ages and sizes. 

4. Daintree Rainforest walks were an amazing experience to die for; explored old rainforest trees, water bodies, ferns, colorful fruits and wildlife within the diverse ecosystem.

5. Places in Carins city such as esplanade, lagoon and night market were worth exploring to get a feel of the coastal town. Also, visited the northern towns of Palm cove, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and Mossman.

6. Crater lakes National park was an unknown territory and it gave an opportunity to explore fresh water turtles at Eacham lake.

7. Dips at Mossman gorge, swim hole at Cape Tribulation, Crater lakes and Millaa Millaa waterfalls were fantastic experiences during winter month. 

8. Having Crocodile burger was a challenge at Mason Cafe and at the end, it was worth giving it a try to discover new food on the plate. 

9. Staying in the Daintree rainforest (with access to beach) was a brilliant experience-which was not to miss as it rained for the entire night. 

10. And last but not the least is Kuranda Scenic railway and sky rail cable car. This was a first time experience with 45 mins cable car  hovering on the top of rainforests, rivers and waterfalls. The boardwalks provided a breathtaking view of Barron Falls.

These were my favorites from Reef and Rainforest trip, which was around 2800 kms from Melbourne. 

And now the plan is underway for the next adventure!!

#travelpassionison #onelifefortravel #vikramtraveldiary 

#keeptravelling #50by2025 

Keep exploring - Our world and roots

Finally, here is my blog after planning and executing 35 days tour, which touched below countries, continents, weather regions and time zones.

 

1.       Philippines (Southeast Asia – Tropical)

2.       UAE (Middle East – Desert)

3.       Kuwait (Middle East – Desert)

4.       Egypt (Africa – Desert and Semi-Arid)

5.       Turkey (Asia/Europe – Temperate)

6.       Greece (Europe – Temperate)

7.       Singapore (Southeast Asia – Tropical)

8.       Thailand (Southeast Asia – Tropical)

 

And here are best experiences to share from this wonderful trip.

 

1.       First time scuba dive at Boracay island, Philippines. One of the best experiences ever after discovering underwater life and touching ocean bed.

2.       First time use of prescription glasses for swimming and snorkelling and used GoPro camera to capture underwater beauty.  

3.       Helmet diving at Boracay Island, Philippines. It was something never heard before for non-swimmers to enjoy marine life in open ocean.

4.       Kayaking, ATV (All-terrain vehicle) and pedal boat was new additions to experience during island tour at Boracay.

5.       Experience of climbing highest man-made building in the world, Burj Khalifa at Dubai with 828 m. It was marvellous engineering effort to create this building and vision behind it.

6.       Grand mosque at Abu Dhabi is another mention from modern monuments visited. Salute to design thinking behind this mosque.

7.       Visited last remaining ancient wonders of the world- Pyramids at Giza. Tried to capture as much knowledge behind creation of these huge structures, which are standing tall from last 5000+ years.

8.       Visited second biggest temple in world, Karnak temple at Luxor, Egypt. Second biggest after Angkor Wat, which I visited in 2017. Really impressed with Karnak and Luxor temple. No words are enough to write beauty and history hidden in these temple complexes.

9.       Sailing (Felucca boat) on Nile River at Egypt, which is also longest river with 6,650 kms in the world.  

10.   Hot air balloon experience to understand Egyptian civilisation and hidden beauty over valley of kings and temples at Luxor.

11.   Hagia Sofia (Church in 360 A.D, mosque in 1453 and then museum in 1935 and finally mosque again from 2020) and Blue Mosque at Istanbul are must places to visit. Spent hours to understand architecture, engineering, design, and artwork on walls.  

12.   Cappadocia – This was the surprise package of the trip. What a place it is with rock formations, underground cities, fairy chimneys, snow-capped mountains, canyons and what not.

13.   Acropolis at Greece is layered history and tried more than 10 locations to capture beauty of this place.  

14.   Greek islands – Mykonos and Santorini, what should I say about these islands, which are just amazing with white-washed buildings, blue dome churches, beaches (red, black, white and what not) and as said world’s best sunsets.  

15.   First time experience of driving on right hand side of road and it worked after first 30 mins of initial hiccup. And now I am ready to take any road trips in North America or Europe in near future.

16.   Last but not the least, visit to Bangkok Grand Palace, Wat Arun, Floating market, and Thai massage was perfect way to complete holidays with bang.

 

And now it is time for few lows:

 

1.       Cairo and Giza as cities need big time transformation, seems they are stand still with approach of 1950’s and full of corruption and chaos all over.

2.       Visiting Greek islands in winters can be let down for few with no tourist season and lot of shops/cafes/experiences etc. are closed

3.       No hot air balloon at Cappadocia for 6 consecutive days due to local weather conditions and end-up without this experience.

4.       Lack of consistent security process around different airports, which led to frustration and waste of time and energy.  

 

And let’s close with few awards from trip:

1.       Beer – Red Horse beer from Philippines (After trying more than 20 local beers)

2.       Airport – Singapore and Istanbul (IST)

3.       Food – Street food (Falafel) opposite to Luxor temple, Mango Ice flakes at Boracay (You can’t miss this) and Fish wrap sandwich at Istanbul (near Bosphorous river)    

4.       Airlines – Kuwait airlines (for relaxing seats and entertainment) and Turkish airlines (for food)

5.       City – Istanbul (what a blend of East and West). Vibrant vibes never end in this beautiful city.

6.       Surprise landscape – Cappadocia region with never seen landscape in past

7.       Wine – Tursan from Cappadocia region, Turkey

8.       Hotel – Elaia Luxury Apartments, Mykonos with 3 level apartment and view of whole city and sunset

9.       Hosts – Roshik, Priyanka, Haritha, Anivas, Neha and special mention to Bruno.

 

That was summary from 18 pages of handwritten notes, documented during trip and hopefully I did justice to my personal travel diary.

 

Till next trip – Sayonara

 

  

Plan A or Plan B

Plan A or Plan B – Does not matter

COVID is still not allowing anyone in Australia to make travel plans with ease. After few attempts, made Plan A (Visit Flinders and Eyre Peninsula in South Australia), Plan B (Coastal Trip of NSW) and then Plan C (within Victoria) for Christmas and New Year break. But finally ended-up with blend of Plan B and C with ACT included for 18 days road trip with unlimited fun and travel caravan of 17 folks and 4 SUV cars.

Here is day wise plan with highlights from each day.

Day 1 Lakes Entrance  – Fabulous place for hiring your own boat for sailing in lake. Beautiful sunset at Lakes Entrance lookout (next to hotel) and nearby Raymond Island for spotting Koala population.

Day 2 Eden and Merimbula  – Whale watching at Eden, if you are going in season (Aug to Nov), otherwise go for Oyster farming and sea food experience. Don’t miss out on boardwalk near lake and swim at Merimbula beach.

Day 3 Narooma and Coastal towns – For spotting seals and Australia Rock. Beautiful warm beaches. lagoons, rivers and small coastal towns (Tathra, Bermagui and so on). First time I was able to spot String Ray in open waters at Bermagui.   

Day 4 Jervis Bay and Kiama – White sand beaches are the highlight of Jervis Bay. Hyams beach at Jervis Bay is one the best in Australia with white sand. Go for Dolphin or whale watching trip from Huskisson beach. Kiama is good stop over on the way to Sydney for natural wonder of blowholes (if you are lucky to see it). Fun Fact – Jervis Bay belong to ACT and you need to cross border within NSW.

Day 5 Sydney – Getting wet with kids at Darling Harbour fountains, followed by long walk and ferry upto Sydney Opera/Harbour Bridge via Luna Park

Day 6 Hunter Valley – Wine Tasting at Saddlers Creek Winery and then Cheese Tasting. One of the cherished experience by adults during trip with beautiful red, white, rose and dessert wine tasting. Kuri kuri for more than 60 murals to be found on the streets of town.     

Day 7 Port Stephens – Sand Boarding at Anna Bay followed by swim at Birubi beach was the highlight of trip

Day 8 Port Macquarie – Beautiful lighthouse and then coastal walk from Town Beach to other beaches via Flynn Beach. Don’t miss out the break wall with beautiful work on rocks, which was one of the highlight of Port Macquarie. Able to spot dolphins in open ocean from lighthouse at Port Macquarie. Another great place at Port was Rainforest walk at Sea Acres with 1.3 kms of loop track.

Day 9 Coffs Harbour – Banana Plantations, Forest Pier(Sealy lookout), spotting spiders in the wild, Dutch village (Clog Bran) and then Mutton-bird island reserve were the highlights here. And last but not the least – don’t miss out on beautiful Botanical Gardens and swim at lagoons along Hastings River.

Day 10 Byron Bay (most eastern part of main land Australia) – Celebrated Mithun’s birthday at Stone and Wood Brewery, which was fantastic experience. And swam at main beach with fishes was another highlight. From Byron Bay, return journey started with following coastal route till Sydney and then inland route after Sydney.

Day 11 Nambucca Heads– Hidden Gem on the coast. Find out more on google about this place.

Day 12 Port Stephens – This time, it was time for walk on Fingal Spit followed by time bound walk upto historical lighthouse. Highlight yet was spotting playing dolphins at river near Tea Gardens.

Day 13 Hunter Valley – Amazing Christmas lights and rides. One of the biggest ever seen so for.

Day 14 Newcastle – Swim at Ocean Baths and then visit to Fort.

Day 15 and 16 Sydney – Manly Beach, Vietnamese market at Cabarmatta, New Year’s Eve Firework, Northern Beaches (Palm, Avalon etc. with lighthouse walk)

Day 17 Canberra – War Memorial, Parliament, Telstra Tower, Mt. Ainslie look out and Royal Australian Mint with experience of how to make your own Australian coins.

Day 18 Albury and Melbourne – Murray River (longest river of Australia) followed by Dam visit on Lake Hume.

And list of my top 10 experiences from this trip:  

1. Raymond island (near lakes entrance) for Koala spotting in the wild (both the times I have been there, we spotted more than 15 koalas each time)
2. Anna Bay for Sand boarding (must-visit place)
3. Wine tasting and Christmas Lights at Hunter Valley
4. Dolphin spotting at Port Macquarie Light House, Tea Gardens and then Byron Bay
5. Seal spotting at Narooma
6. Swim at white sand Hyams beach, Merimbula, Byron Bay (with fishes) and Manly Beach
7. Banana Plantations at Coffs Harbour
8. Coastal Walk at Port Macquarie (9 kms between town and beaches)
9. New Year’s Eve Fireworks at Sydney Harbour
10. Craft beer experience at Stone & Wood Brewery, Byron Bay

 And then few memories to retain for lifetime  

• Trip with 17 folks – biggest group ever with 18 Days on road
• Consumed more than 120 beers and 4 scotch bottles during 18 days between 3 boys
• Making Chai near Kiama Blow Hole and having with Gujarati Nashto
• Jumping at Hyams Beach and then Tathra Beach
• Looking for coffee all the time (Coles Express kept me alive)
• Dinner at Shruti’s place with Sandeep and Shiven
• Cooking food for all on BBQ and small gas stove
• Spotting Gecko (Lizard) at Flynns beach, Spiders/Eels at Coffs Harbour, Dolphins at Tea Gardens, Seals at Narooma
• Sharing tea with Afghan friends and then buying fresh banana from farms at Coffs Harbour

In the nutshell, it was 4700 kms of coastal trip from Melbourne to Byron Bay – via Lakes Entrance, Merimbula, Jervis Bay, Sydney, Port Stephens, Hunter Valley, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour. Road trip covered 3 states with Victoria, NSW and ACT and touched border with QLD. Coastal drive route for first 13 days covered Sapphire Coast, South Coast, Centre Coast and North Coast of NSW with return journey via inland route of Canberra and Albury.

 

 

Finally, where was somewhere nowhere.

It was much needed break and travel at the end of 2020. This year was heavily impacted due to COVID-19, but atleast ended on high note for domestic travel in Australia.

Victoria was out of lockdown in Nov 20, and I booked coastal trip of Victoria and NSW at Australia. But COVID and fresh lockdown at NSW did not want me to continue with this plan and I changed it to somewhere elsewhere at last minute on 19^th Dec 2020. 

So, where was somewhere elsewhere – it was Kangaroo Island (KI) and road trip to South Australia.

Few highlights and summary of this road trip is as below:

1. Overall distance covered during this trip was 3800 kms in 12 days, with average of around 300 kms each day.
2. Best part of trip was Kangaroo Island at South Australia, which is third largest island in Australia after Tasmania and Melville Island (google it for more details).   
3. Worst part of trip was bursting of front tyre and stuck on road for more than 6 hrs. This incident put trip to KI at risk, as late-night ferry was the only option to reach on Christmas eve.
4. Best surprise of trip was Raymond Island, 40 kms from SALE town in Victoria was best place to spot Koalas on Eucalyptus trees. We spotted atleast 12-15 koala in 1-2 hrs of driving around island. Must do trip from Melbourne.
5. White cockatoos were following us from Gippsland to Kangaroo Island to almost everywhere in South Australia. Lot of good videos and photos were posted on Instagram to showcase this pretty bird. 
6. Warrnambool was first stop-over through Great Ocean Road (GOR) for South Australia trip and few sites were beyond expectations (not considering commercial GOR here). Colac Botanical Gardens, Port Campbell Scenic Look-out, Grotto and Bay of Islands were worth exploring on/off GOR.
7. In Warrnambool – it was Tower Lake Reserve, which need special mention for its short treks in this reserve.
8. Coastal towns of Victoria – Port Campbell, Port Ferry and Portland are worth for another weekend visit. Especially Port Ferry was beautiful town with river and beaches around. 
9. Coastal towns of South Australia – Port Macdonnell, Robe, Beachport and Kingston SE are beautiful towns and beaches worth exploring in South Australia. I have to cut short on these towns after tyre burst issue, which put me to alternative route via Naracoorte to fix my car first. And we found, there are Naracoorte caves on this route which are South Australia’s only destination as World Heritage Site.   
10. Kangaroo Island – Spent 3 days to enjoy ample beauty around at KI with sand-dunes, white sand beaches, Fur-seals, Flinders Chase National Park (remarkable rocks, admiral arch) Vivonne Bay Beach, Emu Bay Beach, Seal Conservation Park, KI Brewery, Kingscote Beach, American River Beach, Salt Lagoon (no tourists), Panneshaw Jetty, Frenchman Rocks, Little Sahara are worth visiting.
11. Downside at KI – Bushfires in Jan 2020, impacted almost 40% of trees and bushes. But nature is doing what it does best – recovering from worst.
12. Best Café experience – Cocktails at Mini De Lights Café at Emu Bay beach
13. Best Breakfast experience – The Original Pancake Kitchen at Adelaide
14. Best Lunch experience – Cherries straight from farm at Barossa Valley
15. Best Dinner experience – Indian temptations with Kebabs and Samosa Chaat was worth after 4 days of gap from spices
16. City experience - Adelaide CBD as it known as city of churches. Enjoyed Christmas tree at Victoria Square with lights and fountains. Visited old rental house at Norwood and client offices on Curry Street and Grenfell Street to revive memories. 
17. Winery Regions covered– Barossa, Adelaide Hills and Mclaren Vale. Best this time was Barossa with scenic drives, historical villages, whispering wall (for kids) and yummy fresh food from farms. 
18. River Experience – Murray River (longest in Australia) at Mannum with Four Knots Cruise, Rope diving and Swimming. It was fantastic experience to explore this beautiful river (almost 2500 kms starting from NSW and travelling up to SA via Victoria). River cruise was worth for exploring and spotting birds around this river. Black kite eagles, Pelicans, Parrots, White Cockatoos etc. were in abundance. Few beautiful shots are captured in DSLR (may be on FB/Instagram soon).
19. Village experience – Hahndorf (German village) for history, food, strawberry farms and coffee. Just 30 mins drive from Adelaide, worth half day visit.
20. Road trip back to Melbourne – Worth small stop overs for white kangaroos at Bordertown, Pink lake near Dimboola, Anzac bridge at Horsham, Town hall building at Ararat, Beautiful lake/garden at Stawell, Boardwalk at Nhill lake/swamp and so on. 
21. Milestone achieved – Mazda CX-9 crossed 100,000 kms on road now
22. Started writing travel diary from this trip – hand-written travel notes (if anybody can try to read my writing).

So, this was somewhere nowhere in 2020. Hopefully 2021 will bring more travel and experiences of exploring new countries, cities, beaches, mountains, reserves, lakes etc.

Wish everyone Happy new year 2021 and good luck travelers.