Californacation Part - 3 ( dont ask me where are parts 1 and 2 )

Trip Details: San Francisco

distance :

Denver- San Francisco - 950 miles/1529Kms

No of days: 3.5

Cost : $990 (Rs 44000)

Mode : Rental Car, Bus , Cable Train

Song : Cold Deserts - King of Leon

WARNING: ONLY FOR TYPICAL INDIAN TOURIST

SFO lies on the west coast of US. A little to the North.It is much cooler than LA.I spent almost 4 days in and around San Francisco (SFO). I had been there before but did not see much of it.

Weather: SFO is a windy and cloudy city ( as per many of my friends ). I was lucky all the 4 days were

sunny that too in winter!Sunny and winter is the greatest tourist combination, alwaysremember. Except mild showers the second day it was dry through out. It does not snow.Win ds...Yes it was windy a little bit.

City: City is just awesome. It has its own character. You will see lot of ethnic Chinese ( the settled here in late 1800's and were source of chea

p labor) , Mexicans ( California was a part of Mexico before the civil war) Indians ( tourists and white collared workers) ,Caucasians and general tourists. Landscape, well I think this is the most unique thing about SFO. This is a city built on the hills. Some roads cross more than 60 degrees! cycling or for that matter even walking can be a mountainous task ( ohh...It has to be mountainous rt?). Houses lining the streets are treat to your eyes. Colours will hit you. They are really beautiful. From the top of the mountains you can see the deep blue Bay. The golden gate bridge cannot escape your eyes.It has that shade of red which no one can describe ( Let me know if u know it! ). This city has a good amount of green cover. Golden Gate is a part of national Park and it is not to be missed. Link to the government website http://www.nps.gov/goga/index.htm

Transportation: I would say transportation is one of the good things here. Golden gate area is fully made for bikers liking. Though winds might just get u straight. See the weather before you venture. City buses ( BART...not a Simpson ) are equipped bike racks. You can rent the bikes from the Fisherman's Wharf. The local transport BART is known to be good.There are some weird electric buses with wires hanging. From airport there is a direct train ( or metro..a part of Bay Area Regional Transport ) link for their chick site http://www.bart.gov/. The most famous mode of transport is the Cable Car. You would wonder why is it named cable car? The cables run underground to pull the car. $5 per ride or free :).It has its areas of operation downtown to fisherman's wharf. You would need to rent car for going around the national park areas ITS CAL PPL.

The Trip: Its a personal choice what to see and what not to. I am a nature freak to some extent but I wanted to see the urban landscape. We rented a car from Budget with a GPS ( must!) at SFO. SFO airport is one of the biggest and filled with Chinese ppl. Stay, I would suggest find some cheap hotel in downtown area. We stayed at The Opel hotel on Van Ness Ave. It was close to almost all the city landmarks ( except the Airport ). Hotel is ok for $50 but parking cost us $25 per night. Parking is a headache in downtown area and costly! It cost us more than $120 to park. But if u act little intelligent unlike us you will save a lot!

Day 1(was just 1/2 a day) : Pier 39 : Its ia a pier lined with shops and people performing on the road. It is a place to be at DUSK. food..is mostly sea food.I had a crab sandwich which was unexpectedly good n expected costly. There are shops filled with magnet souvenir's.,California wines. There are good restaurants but Its upto your liking of sea food.Chowder is a very popular dish. You get a good view form the pier. You can see the Alcatraz island ,the Bay bridge etc. At sunset it looks amazing. You can also have a good look at the SFO downtown. There is a maritime museum there. Worth a visit if you have lots of spare time. The pier is a crowded place bustling with colours , people and fish! Public Parking is expensive $7 per hour ( max $35 per day). You can spend upto 3-4 hrs here.

Day 2 : Was partially sunny with little rains!

Alcatraz Island (The Rock): Do we need an introduction. This was the place where Al Capone was kept. Movies were made on it..The Rock (and the famous Kamayat with Neha dhupia n ajay Devgan). Its an Indian reserve now. It was a prison uptill 70's .Now converted to a tourist spot ( these Americans know how to do it! i.e. fleece!). Its a fairly walkable small island. You can see bay bridge, GGB and the city skyline and the dropping roads! Its a part of National Park area.It has been well maintained. It has to be traversed in a boat that starts from pier 33.

As soon as u get down from the boat they will give you a brief introduction and a history. Then you can start on your own. They have a short film ( made by Discovery channel) .Then you walk to the main prison. They have an Audio tour. It is self guided and good! available in Chinese,Spanish ,French and of course English! The tour gives you brief history. quite fascinating!After the tour you can go around the island , buy souvenirs or go back! Boats take you back to 33 every 1/2 Hr. I would advise you to book online and print tickets. The rides get overbooked often .It should not cost you more than $23 from official site http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/

Mill Valley: Its a small Scenic place just close to the Golden Gate .Nothing much to see but the

beauty is just astounding. Roads are clean but have to watchout for the cyclists cycling at a higher speed on the way. You ll have to cross the GGB and take highway 1. I could still see fall colours in winters.There are small caffes where you can have snacks n stuff. Worth visiting if you have some spare time.

Muir Woods: Pronounced as Mee Urr woods. Is a good place to hike, Its a part of NPS.Getting here was a bit tricky but do follow CA-1 and i guess ppl(cyclists) will be there to guide you. We can see the simply astounding tall red wood trees and Sequeras. Trees are more than 400 years are there so watch out for elefants..;). Some are older than 1000 years old. There is a $5 entry fee and you ll get a brochure with the trails map.There are different beautiful trails some short ,some looong.There are trails more than 6 miles long so bring in good shoes.Some times it rains during winters so dress accordingly.If you have visited northern India's forests then it might not amaze you after all !!

http://www.nps.gov/muwo/planyourvisit/hours.htm, All your FAQ's will get answered here. Remember! in winters park closes at 5.

Stinson Beach: It is about 10-15 miles from The Muir woods .The road is extremely scenic.

We pass through good huge woods and the beach front. The road speaks for it self. There are speed limits so watch out for the speed limits! and also the bloody cyclists ( if you are not one! ). There is a small village ( mind it! its a califonia village ! ) where you can park your car. The beach is just ad joining the parking (It closes at six in winters).The beach is huge,clean with golden sands. There is a bistro on the beach. Its not too crowded. Worth a visit. It has a rock formation at the end of the beach can walk upto that if you wish. Dont try the cold pacific ocean! There are also other beaches like Muir Beach. I would suggest follow this road till the END! which is not too far.

Fort Barry: I went there alone at night. Was quite an experience. It is very close to GGB about 5-6 miles i guess. In the night no body is present, winds are cold and all you can hear is swish of flowing winds and lashing waves. Its a place to visit! But safety I donno! you could get mugged alone .I went there against everyone alone to take fotographs in night mode! but the winds ruined them. it was a full moons day.You can see the whole of SFO in night. What a view! I again went there at day time. I guess the day ended there ;)

Day 3: Was Sunny!

The Crooked Street: The crooked street aka the Lombard street is supposed to be the crookedest street in the world. Its is a really pricey piece of real estate which I would not like to buy as people flock there day and night and continously take fotographs with little room for privacy. Plus Parking is really a headache at wierd angles! You get a good view of the blue bay from the top of this street. Neat houses are lined on the side of this street. This street seems to be purposefully made crooked but the angles are for real. Anyways it wont take you more than 15-20 mins to see it! Just park you car 2-3 blocks around the street and take a cable car to the downtown or fishermas wharf.you will save a lot of money in parking plus you get to ride the world famous cable train. The cable train has a one way ticket of $5 or 2-way of $11 quite wierd! People hang from the sides of the train unsafely like in India so gives you a homely feeling. If you get down in between you can forget to pay ! :P ! 3-4 peope operate the cable train ! I know the last man is a brakeman and pulls the brake when the roads r too steep!

The Downtown : The Downtown is awesome like most of the downtown's. It has huge

boulevards and the cable trains operate there to the fisherman's wharf. There is very less of parking space so forget taking your car there! It is lined with shops with famous brands like victoria's secret ( she might just reveal it one day.I am waiting for long! ),Gucci, Prada, Diesel etc. It is a good place to roam around .It also has a huge Macy's store. I have these brands going, everywhere you go!

The Golden Gate Bridge (GGB): This is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of SFO. It has that weird color of road which in background of blue coloured bay looks very striking! You have to take the highway 101 and cross the bridge to the Vista point exit. The Vista point is very crowded! always! and you ll be lucky to find the parking! We were ! The bridge is very beautiful .you can walk only at one side of the bridge the other is strictly for cycles. It is very windy there but it was a good sunny day .You can see Alcatraz island! Walk till the end of the bridge, till other end its about 1.7 miles (4.3Kms).Do Walk! dont commit the mistakes that I did ! View is very good from the centre of the bridge. If your light weight (highly unlike Americans who suffer from gigantassism) do hold the rails! There are other points from where you can clearly see the whole bridge. We have to go to the road for Fort Barry to see the whole bridge! I would suggest get a bike from fisherman's wharf and cycle to the GGB! IT IS A MUST!!!!! if you are fit ! Haan It has a $6 oneway toll so kep change ready!

Day 4: Sunny Again!

San José (Pron. Span. San Hozee ) : It is the silicon valley of the world. Costly place ! It is in south of SFO about 50 miles from it. You ll find tech biggies like Google, Yahoo, Oracle etc and lots and lots of Indians
Mystery spot: We went there in the morning. It is about 20-30 miles from San Jose. It is famous for the weird gravitational anomaly. Some weird stuff. Worth visiting once! For more information visit http://www.mysteryspot.com/. There is a hut at at angle and you feel a bit dizzy due to intense gravitational effect! Illusion of vision is also some stuff. Entry fee $5 parking $5

Santa Cruz: Again a small Cal Village! Amazing beach and a pier. lined with palm trees. The beach is clean and you ll find people dancing and playing ball ! The pier is huge and had is lined with shops and restaurants. You can see Sea Lions down the pier!

Conclusion: This city certainly has something unexplainable! It is the most colorful city in US that I have seen. Clean and good transportation Every thing is seen from everywhere! From Lombard street I could See GGB and alcatraz .From Alcatraz , the streets and GGB . From GGB the streets and Alcatraz!

The Eldora-do snow

Ski Trip to the Eldora mountain resort
Date: 01/24/2009
Cost :$230
Duration :One Day
Distance : 100 miles (total)
Location : Eldora Resorts, Nederland ,CO
Song: Lady -Modjo


I have received lots of comments on my English usage...lack of punctuation,hard to read,i write like writing an SMS etc....but let me justify..it is really difficult to keep on editing things...n trust me i m really lazy.I ll try hard to punctuate!
The scene: What a plan sir jee
I had since long planned to go to ski ,as I really like sports ( S !!).I was here in Denver ,in winter,just the right time to be for skiing. There was a decent snowfall this season. I had never skied before and was really looking forward to do this stuff.My room mates were also ready ,as one of them had to leave US.So we started the plan....The plan was to get up at 4AM catch a bus to the light rail by 5AM .The light rail would take us to the union station.from there catch a bus to boulder and from boulder catch another bus to Nederlands. So overall we had to change 4 buses .Waah !! google maps had misguided us fully..now i donno whom to trust!! We could have just gone to Downtown and caught the bus from dere. Anyways we had to reach there by 10:30AM anyhow , else we would not get the training .None of us had ever skied before but we were pretty much confidant that we would be able to achieve this task without much efforts ( He He ) after all skiing is wat? just two strips,two dandas n just push around yourself.
The previous night I had packed my bag and warned my roommates about the time we had to leave esp Mr Mayank . I knew he would never get up but miraculously everybody got up on time and we left our apartment fully covered with snow caps,gloves,sweaters,jackets and the most important thing CAMERA !! We caught bus no 11 to some light rail station.My roomie Akshay was bothered by a russian fellow who began singing "AWARA HUN ....." the raj kapoors song when he saw that we were Indians.By god !! why do Russians have such a low taste!!!We just gave him a smile. Next thing we did was to catch the light rail to Union Station in Downtown. We reached there in time.The Bus B to boulder was in just 5 minutes.We rushed but couldn't find the bus stop for bus B.When we found it after 10 Min's we had missed the bus :( .All my days of planning had gone waste.The next bus would be in another hour or so.we caught a cab.he charged us $75. We had no other option but to catch it!! The man pumped in the gas and we reached Boulder.From there we easily got a bus N to Nederlands.Lot of people had gathered there fully covered with hi-fundu suites n good jackets for skiing.We were there like "GAVARS" in jeans and jackets completely inappropriate for skiing.We started towards the Nederlands slowly .The fare was just $4.50 .As we climbed The snow was making its presence felt,more n more! Slowly the colours were fading to black and white ( Some poet here???).Finally we reached the Eldora mountain resorts.It had started to snow,just a slight drizzle. there was no traction at all .All the vehicles were slipping and going about everywhere.
The Resort : ...and ,Ski we will
The resort was kinda OK! it was a crowded place..lots of people there mostly teenagers with their skiing equipment.They had a lift to take people out to the top of the mountains.People were fast coming down. Lots of youngsters were also snow boarding...was fun to watch..trust me just to WATCH!!.

We found the main office of the resort. We took all that was required and put all our bags and stuff like camera stand ( my roomies really appreciate my camera stand ) in a locker which cost us $2 . We went to the ticket office .We took a $99 package .It included a training session,unlimited usage of the lift , ski kit and a jacket (?? we still are not sure whether it was included or was just for rent , my friends think we stole them!!).We all were hungry like hell.We went up and had a full breakfast but we extended our time just a little bit,it was 10:35AM. We ran to another shack where we were supposed to get our ski equipment.As we reached they informed us that we wont get our lessons cuz we were late by 5 minutes !!! SHIT!!!! FU*K! what the hell..... We tried to reason with them but no use .We had no options..all my planning had gone waste. We decided we would see at people skiing and copy it! After all we were supposedly software engineers weren't we??

Skiing @ its worst
We went to get our ski equipment .We were given the ski boots...the ski boots .They hurt you so much! getting my foot in one was one of the most difficult things I have done in ....I donno some one's life ( not mine :) ). Boots are such that they don't let your ankle bend to prevent tearing of tendons while skiing.That makes walking in them more difficult than anything else I have walked in.Balancing yourself is itself a big task ,let alone skiing in them. It took me long to find my size boots .My size is apparently 10.5 US .... Now the time came to choose our skies.Choose was a good word..it was like kala akshar bhais barabar...we told them get us anything that is easy and we got one.They were Heeeeavy...holding them was a big task for me plus also the sticks to push you front ( I still m not sure what to call them!). We were all wearing jeans it was not appropriate as the molten snow would get in making us wet.We needed something water proof..which we did not have so we went out to ski FINALLY!
We were randomly trying our best to go forward with the help of sticks.If there was a slope of even 1 cm we would easily drift forward .Stopping was impossible. I tried all the shapes of my legs to stop it but ended up crashing every where! Skiing opposite to the slope was nearly impossible. We had to remove our skiies and walk upto the "SLOPE". Most of my room mates were trying their best. It is really scary when you just keep on going and not stopping.The only way to stop was to fall down and that really hurt my Vital organs! My elbows hurt really bad as I tried to push myself very hard as usual.Eventually we were able to slow down our skies.This increased my confidence a lot.We continued this for two hours or so.
The I had sudden urge to go to the top of the mountain and come down skiing. As many people were doing it and especially small children were doing it without any fear.We HAD to do it!
We stood in queue for the lift in our skies. It was like the chairs keep on coming and you have to jump on the chairs on your Ass! First I went in didn't realize what was in store for me at its end! Akshay was the next and mayank was third! The "Hill" was pretty tall. Hmm acrophobia at work??? no not at all !! I reached the top ,it was time to jump! I didn't realize the dangers of jumping. I jumped from the lift ,landed pretty much on my skies but could not stop it.I fell in a very bad manner , my ski's in one side ,me few meters away and worst part my Ass ! Both my roomies were intelligent enough to stop the lift and get down on their feet.
I was eager to go down the base of mountain skiing .Both of them flatly refused !! I was angry a little bit but it disappeared as soon as I saw the slope.I was insane even to think that we could go down without getting fatally hurt or hurting someone or some tree!!!! People were skiing with ease,It looked pretty easy but wasn't at all ,it required lot of practice I guess.Even skating a little bit would help.
We stood there looking like FOOLS .We did what best we could! we took each others photography ,after all we were Indians and had to keep up with our reputation. Soon we began to see repeated faces! people were coming again and again and going down and we were stuck like idiots ! I am sure they must be laughing at us. After some time we talked to the man in charge there.He called a snow mobile taxi for us .The snow mobile dropped each of us one by one to the base and charged us nothing :) ( alas something free ).
We tried skiing for a while but it had really had exhausted us all.We went to the shack there for the lunch ,we ate whatever crappy and costly food was available :(. Mayank had given up on skiing but we pulled him to ski.We "skied" till 4 PM, that was it ! all my bones were in tatters especially my feet after carrying 10kg every where. Removing boots was again a hell of a task ,it broke my remaining will power! I thought i was going to sleep well today :) .
We caught the same bus back ( BUS N) .The huge bus was skidding on its track that was a bit scary. We reached downtown by 7:30 PM .We ate at CHILLIES and went back to our good 'ol Dexter street.
Posthumously : :)
I would surely like to give it a try again ...I hope I ll come from the top of the mountain without making a NEWS in Denver post ( as the post sucks!!!!)