Month: February 2021

#wontEatWillTravel – Zion National Park

Venue: Zion National Park, Utah
Duration: 1 or 2 days
Best time to visit: Summer and early autumn
Accommodation: I recommend that you stay at the lodges inside of the national park. We stayed at Page, AZ. If you plan to visit Bryce Canyon as well, I would recommend staying at BnB/hotels right outside/between the two national parks.
Entrance Fees: $35

This day trip was impromptu. The original plan was Las Vegas, NV –> Page, AZ –> Horseshoe bend, AZ –> Lake Powell, AZ –> Monument Valley, AZ. We did not realize that the way to Page would go via Utah. After entering Utah we checked the maps for proximity to Zion national park (out of curiosity). We were only 30 miles away. So, all roads led to Zion.

Zion national park looks very different in summer vs winter. In summers you have to take the NPS shuttle to go around. In winter, you can use your car. We left Vegas after check-out and had lost a significant amount of daylight already. Our time in Zion was going to be limited. We decided to drive down the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and limit it to one hike for the day.

The Zion Canyon Scenic drive begins at the Zion visitor center and ends at the Temple of Sinawawa (The Narrows). Popular hikes/points like Angels Landing and Observation point are along the scenic drive. The drive looked very different in the winter. Hundreds walked along the scenic road instead of driving. The fall colors looked magnificent. There was a chill in the air. Wildlife roamed free on the roads and obstructed traffic for the most part. It was lovely! We drove to the Temple of Sinawawa and hiked to the Narrows. After sunset, we returned with phone torches on.

Though we could not cover Zion extensively on this trip, here are a few must-visit places –
Canyon Overlook Trail: This 1-mile round trip hike offers one of the best views of the canyon.
Riverside Trail: This 2.2 miles roundtrip is a beautiful walk alongside the Virginia river.
Angels Landing: It is the most popular and thrilling hike that might require training. A section of the hike requires chain-assisted rock climbing!
Weeping Rock: It is a short hike with a mostly paved way. As the name suggests, it is a huge rock dripping with water.
Emerald Pool Trail: This 1.5-3 miles hike connects the lower and upper Emerald pools.
Hidden Canyon Trail: This strenuous 3-mile hike is similar to Angels landing with steep trails and chain-assisted climbing.
Observation Point: This 8-mile long strenuous hike offers jaw-dropping views of Zion national park.
The Narrows: I’ve had a chance to hike the narrows in the summer. This trail goes through the river into the red canyon. The water gets deeper as you proceed. You can use a pair of shorts to do this hike or rent the equipment.

I recommend staying inside the national park if possible. That would save a lot of daylight. Catching the sunrise and sunset would make the trip perfect.

We left for Page, AZ, soon after the hike. As it turned darker, the moonlight reflected off the snow. We stopped in the middle of nowhere for some stargazing. We reached Page for dinner. A few pictures from the day –

  • Look at the light!
  • Love!
  • The landscape does not cease to surprise you
  • The one with the airplane trail
  • Across the road
  • Right by the car
  • The title picture!
  • Hi baby!
  • Right by me…
  • Stud couple.
  • Yanda Kartavya Aahey!
  • Kulkarni kids.

Of Autobots and Alien invasion – Part 1

Venue: Somewhere on earth
Time: Early morning

The following happens to you when you binge-watch Transformers and alien invasion movies before bed.

Scene 1:

It was dawn. The golden hour looked perfect. The room was pretty basic – a wooden bed, table lined with a white tablecloth, chair, and my husband, N, sleeping beside me. I look at my fancy watch for the time – 6:00 AM. This is weird because I have grown out of any kind of accessory, and wearing a watch overnight seems unlikely. I woke up and walked toward the bedroom door.

I was on the first floor. The house was made of black rocks – more like a wada. The pillars were beautifully carved like the ones in temples. All the rooms were connected by a corridor that overlooked the chowk/courtyard. Our courtyard had tulsi, a bunch of other herbs, and two Autobots (of course). Let’s call them Bee and Dragon for now. They looked comfortable. Surprisingly, my dream-self felt that herbs and alien-transformers in the courtyard were normal. Weird. As I descended the stairs, I saw my in-laws. Excellent life choice to have everyone under the (same) roof guarded by the transformers!

Scene 2:

All the family members gathered in the courtyard. N and I had been entrusted with the responsibility to go out and buy supplies (for the foreseeable future) that day. Okay, this means going out all the time was not routine. It was not related to the pandemic.

We walked on a surreal landscape. The road was more like a vast ground lined by dense forests on both sides. A fleet of jets continued to land at a distance. The sky was lined with huge spheres made from hexagonal glass-like structures. Fancy but scary. They were the extra-terrestrial beings about to attack earth. Apparently, our town/city was at the center of the attack. Fun. The month-long supplies, transformers in the courtyard, and the unending queue of fighter jets made sense then. A war was about to begin.

I panicked. I frantically started checking my phone and smartwatch for any ’emergency’ warnings from the government. I begged N to return home. He said he would go ahead and buy the supplies all by himself, and I could return home if I was scared. I was so proud of him at that moment! So brave! There were no emergency warnings yet – we still had enough time to get things done. We got all the supplies.

Scene 3:

The sun had set. The war was about to begin. The vulnerable population – population older than 60 and younger than 18, differently-abled, and a few war-volunteers had been transported to safe bunkers. I was amazed by the technological advancements we had – 

  1. Smartwatch – Everyone wore a watch that was almost imbibed in their body and connected to the pulse. The smartwatch was a fit-bit, phone, communication device, and teleportation device. If you were hurt and needed medical help, you could simply teleport yourself to the nearest designated medical bunker. You would then be transported to your assigned bunker, where you would reside till the end of the war – months, years, or decades.
  2. Bunkers – The bunkers were of different kinds – medical bunkers, temporary holding bunkers, permanent bunkers, etc. The permanent bunkers were in deep seas for safety reasons! Of course, there was a central bunker that would co-ordinate with all bunkers for better/worse. All bunkers were equipped with technology and supplies to last for a few years. Bunkers were used only in catastrophic events.
  3. Ammunition – Civilians fought alongside the Autobots and super soldiers of the earth! You could buy the arsenal at random auto-repair shops. Had the earth become so vulnerable to attacks from the outer world that auto-repair stores sold weapons of mass destruction? We went to an auto repair shop to buy more bullets! There is a sentence that I never thought I would ever write/say/think about in my life. The salesman tried to sell us deadlier weapons with a sales pitch. I was in a shady auto repair shop at midnight, in the middle of a forest, where my husband was testing his new gun. What had I gotten myself into, even if it were in my dreams! 

I heard loud thumping noises. The war had started. I opened my eyes. It was N. He was thumping his keyboard. The laptop had ceased working. 

This is it. The aliens are coming, and they have taken over a scientist’s laptop, to begin with. 

More to come.