Yeah, it's been long - but guess what - I have been busy, but this time, busy holidaying :). Holidaying in the far far west - the desert state of Arizona.
And here I come only to share with you the striking aspects of my vacation so far!

The summer months - May onwards - are dry and hot and when I say hot, I don't mean the pleasant English summer but the dry, dehydrating heat - If you are from Delhi or around and have experienced the months from April to August, you know exactly what I am talking about. Add to that the direct sun that is in your face for almost 15 hours a day - 7 days a week!
The skies are usually bright and clear with the occasional clouds over the distant southwestern mountain ranged that make for a breathtaking sight especially at sunsets.


What is also awe-inspiring are the huge cacti - tall and stately - they almost form the state emblem of AZ!


I have been in and around the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, Tempe and Chandler, and the best touristy thing that we did was a visit to Rawhide - an old time western town complete with cowboys, bounty hunters, and guns!


A promising fun package, Rawhide is the closest you can get to the authentic rustic and adventurous life in the 1880's. And here's their theme song for you to get the precise feel I wish to convey :)...



For more details on the attractions, see rawhide.com. And if you are anywhere around, you sure don't want to give this one a miss!

"...
Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'
Keep movin', movin', movin',
Though they're disapprovin',
Keep them doggies movin' Rawhide!
..."

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(Aside: The coincidental alliteration in the last two post titles is unintentional, though I think it makes for interesting captions :).)

This post is an ode (yet again :p) to the much hyped and self-advertised, though well deserved, holiday in California recently.

I have realized that I can never get enough of the sand and the sea (the sun can wait); though, ideally, my allegiance should lie with the hills considering my ancestry is rooted in the Kumaon hills of Uttaranchal. I think I was a born non-conformist :D.

I do not doubt the majestic grandeur of the Himalayan ranges – awe-inspiring, heavenly. And I’d dare not compare it with the blue of the luscious oceanic waters. But the fact of the matter remains that I love the sea and would rather spend a vacation at the beach than the hills.

(Wonder if this had anything to do with my falling in love with a South Indian living in a beach city *wink*).

I can spend a lifetime gazing at the waves – how, at the horizon, waves form a huge, all-devouring monster only to come crashing down at the coast – how the timid waves also make their way through the mayhem to reach the shore – how all the waves recede leaving shells behind while keeping the marine secrets to themselves.

The infinite and eternal quality of the ocean is exalting and intimidating in the same breath. I don’t know if I am secure at the shingle or am losing out on so much that’s happening somewhere in the mystic waters. My life – all these years – where do they stand in contrast to the might of the blue abundance? A drop in the ocean, they say; what worth is nothing but a drop?

It is in the pelagic solitude that I have found both - greatly soothing peace and the deepest of turbulence within.

Leaving you with some images (and emotions, if you can find them) that I have captured at the various “sun-sand-sea” vacations…

(P.S. The only flip side of such a vacation is the awful tan we Indians get – While the rest of the world turns pretty shades of pink and peach, we become brown and black – Am at present under the influence of a reasonably strong sun tan and am doing my best to get rid of it. Will try doing a post if and when I am successful and pass on the tips and tricks!)

Phuket easily qualifies as the best beach holiday destination I have ever had. The colors so rich, the sun so warm, the sand so magnificent. I have a soft corner for white sands.

In India, no better haven for those smitten by the waters than Goa. Mumbai is hardly okay. Chennai is dirty. I have heard the Andamans, Trivandrum and Kerela are beautiful – these are still on my must-see!

California beaches are a lot of fun.

A dockyard at the shore makes a picturesque sight too!

The sea at its sinister best…I am sold to the concept of piers…

Undeniably, the best moments at the beach are the sunrises and the sunsets.

The rich hues pacify the frayed nerves and rejuvenate the senses dulled by the monotony of everyday life.

There’s a long list of places I must go to satiate the water person in me (though I must admit I am not a water sports person – so no snorkeling etc for me) – Hawaii, Miami, Andamans...

Which ones make it to your list?

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Las Vegas has been on my list of must dos since a long time now, so when finally Vish and I got down to making the trip, I was super kicked!

Road trips are always fun in the US thanks to the wonderful infrastructure that provides for basic amenities that human beings would require on a travel – food and restrooms!

As we left balmy coastal California for one of largest deserts – Mojave in California, and of course Nevada itself - the change in scenery was prominent. The elegant palm trees gave way to stunted shrubs, cacti and prickles, as I learnt, white cotton wool over a blue spread covering the barren mountains also make a picturesque site.

After a 5 hour drive, the fabulous city of Vegas welcomed us. There was an unmistakable sense of excitement and abandoned gaiety (no pun intended) in the air. So I was at THE Entertainment Capital of the World – true to its word, the sin city offers everything it promises – glamour, glitz, gaming, fine dining and a truly high end shopping experience.

The Venetian is undoubtedly the classiest and the most happening (and Vish will add the most expensive :)) hotel I have ever stayed at. Everything about the hotel was awe-inspiring – beautifully done up scaffolding, the Grand Canal, the Gondola, Madame Tussauds, casinos – It took us a couple of hours just here!

I will not get into details of what the attractions at The Strip are – just about everything is available on the Internet and trust me when I say that all what they show in the movies – The Hangover, What happens in Vegas, and the many others IS absolutely true :D.

Vegas is, in many ways, the embodiment of what the big American dream means to most outsiders – fast money, instant gratification, an oasis in the middle of a desert, convenient morality, enabling anonymity – the chimera of the Midas touch.

It also, at multiple levels, exposes the shallowness of a whole civilization of people that most of us – across the world – represent. Short lived relationships, compromised solutions to problems we don’t even try to understand, complicated sensibilities, the rat race to own it all, the enchantment of the blinding neon lights fading into obliviousness in the reality of the day, the urge to risk it all in a gamble and the obsession to not let go, the irony of doing whatever it takes to get inside a limo and then rolling up the darkened window to avoid recognition.

We have learnt societal and political diplomacy – aren’t, so very often, our smiles and polite nothings as fake as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty that adorn the Las Vegas boulevard?

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