HarPiyTravel

When Travel Is Life !

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Harmit, Piyush, and Aayansh chase, The golden light where highways bend. A shutter captures nature’s smile, On wild trails that never end.
  • Everything To Know About Seven Falls, Colorado

    Everything To Know About Seven Falls, Colorado

    In continuation to our Colorado series, the day before we visited Garden of the Gods, we covered another famous attraction in Colorado Springs – Seven Falls.

    Seven Falls sounded promising when we first heard about it and it lived up to our expectations. It’s a privately owned attraction, opened to public since 1880, formed naturally in attractive South Cheyenne Canyon.

    Canyon

    We left for the Norris Penrose Event Center in the morning, our pickup point for the park. They don’t have parking space (only bike parking) at the park, so complimentary shuttle services are provided to the tourists from Norris Penrose Event Center. We reached at Norris Center which was bit difficult to find (poor GPS), parked our car in parking lot and waited for the shuttle. There was a long queue of tourists, all waiting for the shuttle. When the shuttle arrived, it got full soon and we were still behind in the queue (more wait, No please !). To our luck, somehow two seats were still unoccupied and people before us were in big groups so we were asked to board.

    Park is about 4 miles from the Norris Center, so it didn’t take much time to reach there. At the entrance, again there was a long queue for tickets (wished this could have been done in center itself) in which we spent close to 1.5 hour (cap is recommended, there is no shade). Ticket price is 16$ per adult and they also have Tram facility (costing 2$ per adult) to reach the Fall which is about 1 mile walk from there. We wanted to opt for Tram after standing for so long, but didn’t have patience to be in another line for it(not to talk about their frequency ) ,so we decided to walk.

    Walk was actually a good option, as the place is surrounded by beautiful rock formations and creative structures giving opportunity for photography. We reached at the fall after taking enough time in the observation of surrounding. Seven Falls ,as name suggests , is a water stream falling down from height of 181 feet, forming 7 waterfalls, each with it’s unique name. It’s the only waterfall in Colorado, featured in Nat Geo’s list of international waterfalls.

    Seven Falls From Observatory

    To watch the falls from close, one has to climb the staircase having 224 stairs 🙂 . So basically it would be nice physical activity, considering your walk from entrance and stairs and there is more to it.

    Stairs

    Those who don’t want to or can’t climb the stairs, have the option to watch the fall from an observatory just opposite to the Falls. Check out the observatory in below picture :-

    Observatory

    Many preferred to stay at bottom and as can be seen in pictures, stairs were narrow, allowing only two person (1 ascending and 1 descending) at a time. There was a point in middle, kind of observation point, wide enough to allow many people to stand (also benches to sit), from where pictures can be taken and falls can be observed from close. Below video is taken from the same point :-

    Seven Falls from Stairs

    Waterfall

    There were many who chose to return from that point itself. We continued our climbing, which was fun. We will highly recommend to take stairs, as once on top, you will feel thrilled for sure.

    Towards Light

    Progress

    There are 2 trails, once you reach at the top. Beside watching the fall from top, hiking is a good option. We hiked a trail for few minutes ( didn’t complete it, so as to return on time ) and then returned to the view point.

    After coming down the stairs, we thought of checking view from observation center as well. There is a small tunnel, through which one has to take elevator to reach at Observatory. We used elevator to reach the center (stairs are available too) and spent some time there. From the observation point, whole area can be viewed and captured through camera.

    Tunnel To Observatory

    Restaurant

    We decided to head back to our hotel and before that checked the gift shop, which was actually pricey, also didn’t find anything attractive either. We bought two ice-creams from there and started walking (1 mile) towards the entrance. Queues were not yet done with us 😀 , now one more long queue for the shuttle. We waited in the queue for long and were very much tired. After 2 shuttles, our turn came and we were like dead in the bus. Shuttle dropped us at the Norris center and we drove back to our hotel. It was a good and tiring trip, took our whole day 🙂

    Memory

    Points to Consider :-

    1. Park is open all days except Tuesday and Wednesday.
    2. Be prepared for long, long queues.
    3. No parking at the park, except bikes.
    4. Shuttle is the only option, available from Norris center.
    5. Keep in mind, more time would be invested due to lines for shuttles, tickets and trams.
    6. Bring water

    Activities to do :-

    • Hiking trails
    • Walking
    • Zip-lining (yes, it’s available, but at our time it was closed due to some reasons)
    • Dining

    Leave you comments and questions and let me know if you like this post.

    Happy Reading !

  • 10 Activities Of Home Quarantine

    10 Activities Of Home Quarantine

    This Saturday, I completed my 14 days quarantine, that too with full honesty (even though there was no one to check on me). I have gone through it once before in India when I traveled from Delhi to Pune and have to follow 14 days compulsory home-quarantine . Both experiences were good but slightly different .

    First few days passed easily due to Jet-Lag, in trying to cover my sleep and preparing the mind for sudden time difference (tried not to sleep during day-time, thus it vanished fast). Rest of the days were passed in following activities :-

    Photography– Here photo opportunities were way lesser than in India. In India, my room was having the view of whole Pune city with highway, mountains and pond just in-front of me, while here just another community building facing my apartment. But still I tried to shoot as much as I could from my balcony – birds, trees, leaves, sun-set, buildings etc. Photography keeps me busy, gives relief to eyes and satisfaction to Soul 🙂

    Vibrant leaves

    Cooking – After being to my home-town for close to 5 months, that too without stepping a single foot into kitchen made me lazy. It seemed to be a heavy-lifting Job now, after that many months of gap. With no choice (didn’t preferred ordering food), after initial struggles, I was back to kitchen, 14 days of quarantine was enough time to get myself ready and finally I started enjoying cooking again.

    Chickpeas Curry

    My first concern was grocery. Got to know from my sister about Amazon grocery which I used thrice during the period. One can order grocery from Whole Foods via Amazon. Order should cost minimum 35$ to qualify for free delivery. Delivery date and time-slot can be chosen at the time of checkout and service is fast and good. They deliver in paper bags, totally sealed that seems to be safe.

    Bird-Watching – I filled the bird-feed and waited for the birds to notice. They took around one week to find it and now post discovery, coming in groups to feed on it. I really love observing them from my couch. Whenever I got the chance, clicked them. I used to keep my camera near to me, as they are very delicate, with just a small sound they fly like mad.

    Bird On Railing

    Brain Train – I am consistently using Elevate and Lumosity apps for daily brain workouts, both take around 15 mins to practice. Recently started Sudoku (used to play long time back) again, one puzzle per day. On some days, I filled 6-8 puzzles in a row. Best way to keep yourself busy.

    Learning – Those who follow the blog, might know, I have been learning Spanish language from Duolingo app since Feb. I continued the same here as well, 5 short exercise per day, nearly 20 mins. Learned various new words, read Spanish stories and lot more. Really good and highly recommended app.

    Reading – I love to read, actually crossed 100 books mark, this year, in “read” category on Goodreads, total tally is 118. Currently reading “Reckoning” by John Grisham. I used to start my day with Men’s health and one cup green tea. Books are like those friends who always accompany you.

    Blogging – In this period, I wrote 4 blogs that were very well received and created drafts for many others :). I read other bloggers’ work and did some improvements to my blogging site. Blogging is becoming a part of my life like rest of the activities and like everything, there is too much to learn.

    Entertainment– I watched few series on Netflix and some random videos on YouTube during this whole time. YouTube mainly during cooking and eating, while Netflix just before bed.

    Observation – Especially during evenings or early mornings, I used to sit in my balcony to observe the nature and my surroundings. Few times (when weather permitted) I worked outside (office work, blogging etc) too.

    Major change I found here from India is, here I didn’t notice much guys wearing masks and they are going for walking, running or for working out in Gyms unlike India. In short, if you don’t know about COVID, you can never tell that something is wrong by observing the people here. They are so chilled out, which is good in a way.

    Office – Last but not least, office-office. In the beginning, I made couch my sitting place with laptop in my lap, soon I found it uncomfortable (pain in back). So I setup my desk, actually my ping-pong table for the office work. It proved to be better than expected.

    Office Setup

    Are you also undergoing home-quarantine or just trying to be in-home as much as possible. Share your ideas how you spend time these days. Happy to hear back 🙂

    Happy Reading !

  • Happy Photography Day

    Happy Photography Day

    I still remember the day, when I actually took interest in Photography. Before that, I had reputation of a bad photographer who simply clicks the button without thinking about the subject ( Lol ! they were not wrong ). Thus I used to be the last person in family, to be called for taking photos 🙂

    How it started ? So basically we were planning trip for Colorado back in 2018, when Harmit asked to buy a camera. I was reluctant and told her that our iPhones would be more than sufficient for the business, why we actually need a camera ? She persuaded me by describing the capabilities of camera which a phone simply can’t have.

    After doing some research we purchased (from Walmart) Canon PowerShot SX530 HS : a digital camera with awesome zoom lens. I learned a lot from it with trial and error. That Colorado trip was amazing and we were happy to made that decision. I still own that camera, but it’s no longer in use.

    There is an app for photographers – GuruShots which I will cover in details someday. To be precise, it’s kind of social media for photographers where one can enter competitions, see others’ works and vote for good pictures. I have to give credit to the community to bring out best from me. I am still active there.

    On my last birthday in October, Harmit gifted me, Sony Alpha 6500 : a mirror-less camera (complete kit from Amazon) with amazing capabilities. I am still exploring it and having a good time with it.

    I took numerous pictures with both of them and to be noted, i never delete any of my photo. Each photo is like a child for me, bad or good, plays a part in the ongoing journey. I am still a learner who has long way to go…

    On this Photography Day, I wish all fellow photographers with some of my favorite pictures (3 colored , 3 b&w) :-

    Niagara Falls

    Patterns

    Sun-Set & Deer

    In Thoughts

    Alignment

    Macro World

    Tell me which picture you liked most. Would love to see your work too. Hoping to see similar posts (Don’t forget to tag me) from the community.

    Happy Photography Day !!!

  • Away For 5 months, This Is What Happened

    Away For 5 months, This Is What Happened

    Being away from home for close to 5 months was not that bad actually. I went to India (Native country) in Feb end for 3 weeks, my return was on 21st March but plans don’t always work. Due to COVID-19, Indian government announced public curfew on 22nd March and nationwide lock-down on 24th March which affected my flights. After that, lock-down continued to extend. I got the golden opportunity to spend quality time with my family along with improving my skills.

    Now since International travel has resumed, I was able to return to U.S. after 5 months. Travel experience was better than expected.

    What do you expect after being away for months ? Don’t know, something horrific might unfold. When I entered my community, there was a feeling of relief (finally safely back !) that can’t be described in words. I rushed to my apartment with full mind makeup , ready for rats, spiders, dust, water leakage (happened earlier once) or any other loss but thankfully everything was in place, no surprises there. Good that i have renter’s insurance.

    But there were other items which were messy or in horrible conditions, it took me some time to take care of them 🙂

    Refrigerator – As I hoped, this was really messy. Even though I had left very few items before leaving for India, whatever was there got completely spoiled (fungi everywhere). A Sweet potato made the vegetable-tray brownish with its juice and rest of the fridge was too dirty to describe. I cleaned it same day with soap water and threw almost everything.

    Spoiled Vegetables

    Vegetable Tray

    Cleaning Done !

    Plants – It was really heartbreaking to see my plants in dead state. Money Plant was worst with lifeless bent leaves peeping out of the pot and Poinsettia was as dead as expected (nothing left, no leaves). Only survivor was Snake Plant which should be admired for managing without water for 5 Months ! Most of its leaves were intact with couple of them as yellowish and few bent. I gave it water quickly in adequate amount and cut those yellow leaves. It’s recovering now.

    Snake Plant

    Money Plant

    Utensils – OMG ! Worst of all were utensils. While leaving for India, I didn’t get chance to wash them (biggest mistake 😦 ) as I was in rush. Now they were totally dried up with fungi inside many of those. I didn’t even took those pictures 😐, my wife suggested me to dip them in soap water for few hours and then wash with warm water. I did the same, discarded few of them and cleaned rest.

    Balcony – It was not that bad except bird and I believe, squirrel poops. Since bird feed was empty, no more visitors there. I had to clean the balcony to make it usable. Filled the bird-feed in hope of their arrivals but till now hard luck (just single bird till now).

    Bird Feed Full Again !

    Mails – I was expecting mails to flood on my face when I open the mail-box, but to my surprise it was empty. I reported this to my community manager and she asked me to wait for a day till she speaks to UPS guy. Next day one UPS guy came and handed over a carton full of mails to me (They kept all mails in Post Office as my mailbox was full). Now comes the most boring task of sorting. There were bills, promotional mails, PETA letters, insurance offers, credit card offers, debt collector notices, some government survey notices, Men’s health and other magazines and lot more. It took me more than 1 hour to sort them and then next 1/2 hour to take appropriate actions 🙂

    Car – Oh my darling ! Missed you a lot. After arranging home in livable state, I went to the garage to check on her. As expected, her battery was dead and she was lifeless like a dead bird. I called roadside assistance to tow it to nearest Subaru dealer for the service. Subaru has good reputation in serving the customers, servicing was fast. I took a Lyft to the dealership to get it, it was great to drive again 😊

    Rest of the things were just fine with toilet and basin having dirt marks, little dirt on furniture and non-functioning Aroma Diffuser due to clogging (water dried and clogged it, had to clean).

    Learnings :-

    • Never leave unwashed utensils behind
    • Try to finish fruits, vegetables, dairy before travel
    • Do some arrangements for plants while away from home
    • Be in touch with your property manager
    • Bring some ready-made food with you to avoid cooking for few days post arrival

    Have you ever had similar experience, please share. Eager to hear back from you 😊

    PEACE !

  • Domestic Travel In U.S. During COVID-19

    Domestic Travel In U.S. During COVID-19

    I left previous post Travel to U.S. in COVID-19 till baggage claim at Newark Airport. Just to give context, I traveled from India to US (BOM-EWR) on Aug 8 with Air India, my final destination being Omaha, Nebraska. I had earlier booked domestic flight through Expedia from EWR to OMA with nearly 4.5 hours of gap between international and domestic flights. So in short, trip was not yet completed 😊 domestic was pending.

    Clouds

    In continuation to that, once I collected my baggage from the belt, I moved towards the connecting flights section which was just right to the baggage claim. Rest of the passengers exited through gates or accompanied me.

    A lady officer checked my boarding pass and asked me to proceed. Two guys were ahead of me and they were stopped by two officers from Agriculture Department. I was in impression that everyone has to follow the same (wasn’t aware about this department) so followed them without being asked 😞

    Don’t do anything special unless asked

    Once my turn came, lady officer inquired about food items (rice, seeds etc.) I was carrying. I told her about lentils and dry snacks I brought. My bags were scanned and inspected (checked-in bag) by the lady officer. This situation was completely avoidable but I put my head into it unknowingly. She was actually very nice, she didn’t removed all items from bag (Officer next to her was removing all items from bag) but simply checked everything by lifting them and once satisfied packed the bag neatly. I was good to go.

    Once inside terminal, I went to Delta flight counter for checking-in my bag and get boarding pass. Airport was almost deserted so everything was quick. I had to pay 30$ for the bag.

    Next was Security, no waiting line (it was like a dream especially in Newark). An Officer checked the boarding pass and ID (passport) and wished safe flight. Security checking was as usual requiring empty pockets, shoes removal, electronics out, food items in tray, no water etc. Needless to mention, it was quick.

    I reached at the gate and my next flight (DEL 4637) was at 12:30 pm, so I had around 3 hours to pass. I called my sister and we talked for nearly 1 hour. Atmosphere was cold out there, I badly needed a coffee.

    I called my wife while sitting on those picnic benches (newly installed i believe) at airport. She reminded me of the food (poori & aaloo) I brought with me. I noticed a lady sipping coffee sitting opposite to me and wondered from where she got that. Once I finished the food, I asked her about the coffee shop. Shop was just at the entrance of gate, I thanked her and bought black coffee from the shop.

    Airport Bench

    Flight was destined for Minneapolis and from there, I had to catch connecting flight to Omaha. Boarding started on time and since there were few passengers, it got completed quickly. They took my cabin bag which had to be collected at Minneapolis.

    Mask Protection

    Flight was like 40% occupied and this time too I got window seat (seats beside and after me were unoccupied ). Soon after take-off , food packages were provided by air hostess which consisted of pretzels, chips and water bottle along with sanitizer and napkin.

    Snacks Bag

    At Minneapolis, layover was of 1 hour, just enough to reach at my next flight terminal. I was supposed to go to terminal G from terminal C. I got my cabin bag quickly (was first in the queue) and hurried towards the gate.

    Long Way To Go

    I reached 10-15 mins before boarding and it started on time (masks were also available for passengers at flight reception). This flight (DL 3515) too was less occupied (only 50-60%). Till now everything went smooth, but this is America and weather don’t go along most of the time. Due to poor weather conditions, we were asked to wait on runway for close to 1 hour. I solved many Sudoku puzzles during the time. We were provided the snacks meanwhile.

    Delta Snacks

    After getting nod from weather department or whoever it was, our plane took off. I went to sleep and don’t remember when we landed , actually a fellow passenger woke me up. How nice of him !

    Weather Impact

    Baggage claim didn’t took much time, I booked a Lyft (I prefer Lyft over Uber) which arrived on time (Driver wearing mask too). I reached home safely, overall it was a smooth trip without any hassle. Since there were announcements regarding 14 days volunteer self-quarantine, I am following the norms even though nobody is bothered about it 😊

    Few Observations :-

    • No PPE Kit
    • No strict enforcement of Quarantine
    • No temperature check at airport
    • Self imposed social distancing
    • Mandatory Masks (in Lyft too)
    • Partially occupied flights
    • Uncrowded Airports

    So overall ,air travel seems to be safe as long as proper precautions are being taken. Hope you find it helpful. Leave your comments below.

    PEACE !

  • Travel To U.S. In COVID-19

    Travel To U.S. In COVID-19

    My loyal readers must be aware that I was working from India, my native country since Feb this year. I went there for some work but got myself locked-down due to COVID. International travel was limited and only through Air India under Vande-Bharat Mission. Recently Indian government eased up travel restrictions and allowed more frequency of flights between India and other countries including U.S.

    I was keeping a close eye to this progress as I was keen to return to my work location. Once I got the news, I booked the ticket for best available flight, booking itself was a funny story which I will cover some other day 🙂 . For now, I am just sharing my travel experience.

    Flight – AI 191

    Source – Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)

    Airport Code – BOM

    Destination – Newark, New Jersey (U.S.)

    Airport Code – EWR

    Date – Aug 8

    Time – 1:30 AM

    Goodbye ! Love

    My wife and brother-in-law dropped me at Mumbai International Airport around 10 PM (heavy rain in Mumbai, still managed to reach 3 hour before) , airport was not crowded. There seemed to be no other flight operating other than mine. Outside the airport, there was a long queue of the travelers waiting for screening at the airport entrance. Before that, all passengers (including kids) have to fill 2 forms, each with duplicate sections.

    My wife got the forms from airline representative (standing near queue) and bade me farewell. I filled out the forms while keeping my place in the queue.

    Don’t forget to bring Pen

    Form 1 : Medical and Immigration form

    Basic information like name, address, mobile, passport, flight no., destination, arrival date, departure date, email and COVID questionnaire.

    Form 2 : Risk Undertaking form

    Basically says you understand the travel risk and in case of quarantine will bear the cost etc.

    Mask – N95

    Just before the airport entrance, 3 airline executives inspected passport and above forms. Another standing guy took my temperature reading and conveyed to them. They crossed my name in passenger-name list they were maintaining and wrote down the temperature reading on health form.

    Everything was normal (Thank God 😛 ), so I was asked to move ahead . Next was security counter where I was asked to uncover the mask, show ID (passport) and submit medical forms. Forms were returned to me after inspection and finally I stepped inside the airport. OMG 😱 , i can sense its gonna take long time.

    In the Queue

    Once inside, there was another queue, we had to submit the medical forms at an Air India counter where a guy (probably medical officer) checked the passport and took one copy of medical form and gave stamped one back.

    Next was boarding pass. There was long queue but luckily all counters of Air India were open so it was moving quickly. I gave Risk form and passport to the lady at the counter and checked-in my baggage. She directed me to the gate and provided the boarding pass along with one copy of risk form.

    Boarding Pass – Queue

    Now comes the Security check. Boarding pass was required to be scanned to enter security check area. Security check was as usual (empty pockets, laptops, mobile, belt &shoes removal) ,not much difference except social distancing, that too self imposed.

    That was quick and now comes the most time consuming part – “Immigration”. Not sure why officers were taking that much time, my feet got numb standing for close to 45 mins in queue. One British fellow jokingly said about officer – “He is trying to be employee of the month”. Well said !

    Immigration Queue

    Everyone near me was holding file-folder for god knows what reasons. As I recall from my previous trips, we don’t need any specific documents other than Passport and boarding pass. This got me nervous (was trying to find out what’s in those files), but when my number came, all was smooth.

    Social distancing

    Questions asked by officer :-

    1. When you arrived in India ?
    2. What you do in U.S. ?
    3. Do you have valid VISA ? (I had to show him, he was unable to find)
    4. Are you going to same employer or different ?
    5. Where is Omaha, NE ?
    6. Which field are you in ?
    7. Since how long you have been working in U.S. ?
    8. Fill out your Mumbai address in Medical form (I mentioned my native place address, they wanted the address from you are coming from)

    Officer took the second copy of Medical form and stamped the passport. I reached at the gate and it was around 12:30 AM. During boarding, they checked the boarding pass and passport. One guy again checked the temperature and provided the PPE kit. My carry-on luggage was passed through a belt and full body scan was done by an executive.

    PPE Kit

    So finally I boarded the plane. I had chosen window-seat and as I mentioned before in Domestic Travel , middle seat passengers have to wear gowns, so I was relieved. Flight was almost 90% occupied, seat next to me was empty. There were food packages having 3 bottles of water, muffin, banana, chips, bread sandwich, fruit juice etc. ,available on each seat. Whole idea was to avoid any kind of service.

    Food Package

    Blankets and pillows were not provided, also TVs were non-operating (no headphones), charging port was working though. Journey was peaceful, spent mostly by playing Sudoku, reading (Reckoning by John Grisham) and sleeping.

    When we were close to Newark, two forms were provided and plane was sanitized.

    Form 1 : Custom

    Declaration of assets and valuable you are carrying

    Form 2 : Health Declaration

    Similar to previous form with info about your flight, seat no., passport, country, dob, COVID questionnaires etc.

    Flight reached on time and we were directed by airport staff towards immigration. Immigration was way quicker than expected, lines were short and moved fast.

    Good Morning ! Newark

    Immigration officer looked for the forms, passport and boarding pass and asked following questions :-

    1. What’s your Visa type ?
    2. What’s the location you are going to ?
    3. Show me the supporting documents of your visa (i797)

    I was asked to scan the right hand fingers and remove mask, glasses and cap to look into the camera. Once done, he stamped the passport and I was good to go.

    At the Baggage claim area, there was huge crowd since they merged two flights’ (Delhi-US, Mumbai- US) luggage on same belt. After long wait, I collected my baggage and re-entered the airport for my connecting flight. My next flight was for the Omaha which I will cover some other day. I don’t want to make this too boring for you 😊.

    If you have any question or doubt regarding the trip, leave comment below.

    PEACE !

  • Rainy August

    Rainy August

    As I hoped, August started on a high note. Since past two days we are receiving heavy rainfall, which cooled down the temperature considerably.

    It may sound great, but this resulted water logging issues in Mumbai who witnessed second highest rainfall on a day in August in a decade. Residents are advised to remain at home unless emergencies. This is also causing problems to COVID patients and medical staff due to disruption in various services.

    What’s impacted :-

    • Local trains
    • All establishments and offices
    • Few highways (landslides)
    • Road traffic

    Rains in Maharashtra (especially Mumbai) is always challenging, it’s always too much as compared to other parts of India and due to poor drainage system, every year mumbaikers face the similar situations.

    Since I am in Pune which is not that worst and I don’t go outside too much, it’s good here. I hope, this downpour comes under control soon, so that everyone can enjoy the weather like me 🙂 .

    As usual, I worked with my camera to capture some beautiful shots (208 in total) during yesterday. Below are few, worth sharing, out of them :-

    First Flight – Pigeon trying to land successfully on the roof near my apartment from another one. Guess what ! He made it , LOL

    Malfunction – Poor guy, in the heavy downpour, scooty stopped working and he is trying hard to fix it. He is basically dragging it till he finds a shop or reach his destination.

    Forced Bath – She seems not to like being wet. Loved her wet feathers and looks 🙂

    Pinnacle – Sitting on top, feeling like King. This particular dude, loves to sit here, making me believe he is the leader of the flock or at least he thinks that way 🙂

    Mountain And The City – Scenic view of mountain with tall building trying to cover it. Notice the temple on top of mountain, would have loved to visit it, if not in COVID era.

    Polished Roads – Polished road and running traffic.

    Colorful Shopping – Shopping complex seems to be polished and colorful. Old but beautiful. This is the same complex, we generally go for daily needs.

    Cityview – City also seems to be cleaner after continuous rainfall. Whereas one side of road is packed, on the other side, there is single vehicle.

    Shutters – Another view of the Shopping Complex. Notice the shutters of various shops and a single lady on top left corner. Don’t know why but I loved this picture.

    Illumination – Highway illuminated by vehicle lights, creating lovely pattern

    While writing this blog, I can still hear the music of rain coming from the room’s window. Not sure how long it will continue, but one thing is sure, I will get more shots like this 🙂

    Hope you liked the post

    PEACE !

  • July Through My Lenses

    July Through My Lenses

    I came to Pune in first week of July, my readers must be aware of that. Though June was very hot, July proved to be way better in terms of temperature and climate. Monsoon arrived here and we had decent amount of showers throughout the month.

    As I mentioned in one of my post about being self quarantine for 14 days inside a room on 11th floor, got plenty of time to satisfy my photographic hunger. I always bid adios to the month by posting some nice photographs from it.

    But before that, listing the takeaways from July :-

    • 30 days streak of Duolingo (Spanish Learning)
    • 30 days streak of Lumosity (Brain Game)
    • 30 days streak of Elevate (Brain Game)
    • Meditation using Headspace
    • Group sessions of fitness using Adidas Training with my wife and brother-in-law
    • Card and Ludo games
    • No television
    • Less reading – 2 books only
    • Witnessed 3 Rainbows and Colors of sky
    • More photography

    So overall I am satisfied with how July proved to be. Now without wasting more words, here are some pictures taken during the month :-

    Live Frame

    Nature & City

    Traffic In Night

    Peaceful

    Rainbow Over City

    Silhouette

    Twin Flight

    Foggy Mountain

    City Back To Normal

    Towers

    Sunny City

    Reflection

    Looking Outside

    I hope August to bring similar opportunities and be a good month like July. My best wishes to all of you !

    Which one among these pictures is your favorite and why ? Curious to hear back 🙂

    PEACE !

  • Great Garden of the Gods

    Great Garden of the Gods

    In continuation of our Colorado series, today we will sneak peek into Garden of the Gods. When we first visited Colorado (RMNP) in year 2018, heard about this place and even thought of visiting, but due to limited time couldn’t go. In last year’s trip we finally covered it along with Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon and Pikes Peak. It was the last point of our Colorado trip.

    Red Rock

    Park, as the name suggests, is something you can’t miss, c’mon it’s GODS’ garden. As history goes, initially it used to be called as “Red Rock Corral”, but later on renamed to “Garden of the God” due to its wonderful rock formations. We went there twice, once in the evening of second-last day of trip and other on early-morning of last day. Our hotel “Quality Inn & Suites, Garden of the Gods” was less than 10 mins of drive from the attraction, that’s why it was last on our list.

    3D Painting Inside Visitor Center

    On first day, we explored whole garden by ourselves, without guide. There are various formations , each having unique name, unique structure, that will wonder you. Structures are made up of limestone, sandstone and conglomerate and are the results of the uplift of Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak.

    “Namaste” (Binding hands) Rock

    Fish Rock

    Balanced Rock

    White Camel Rock

    Park entry is free, we firstly went to Visitor Center, gathered information about the recreational activities and available tours. They have Segway tour, bus tour, rock climbing, mountain biking and few other activities. At that time in evening, nothing was available so we booked next morning Segway tour and visited the park.

    What to expect in Visitor Center :-

    • Booking for personal or group tours at the counter
    • Information about the park, operational hours, it’s history and other facts
    • Short movie on the history of park, every 20 mins
    • Nice cafeteria with great view of park
    • Exhibit for Geology, Plants, Wildlife and Native Americans
    • Gift Shop

    Huge Formation

    There are nearly 20 miles of trails, it’s kind of paradise for the hikers. We also spotted cyclists and skaters in the park. Rock-climbing is also a popular activity here, but we couldn’t do that due to lack of time. Trust me, it’s a heaven for photographers and nature- lovers.

    Activities to do in park :-

    • Hiking
    • Cycling
    • Skating
    • Rock-Climbing
    • Segway
    • Photography

    Balance Rock – Back View

    Twin Rocks

    Bird On White Rock

    Classy Background

    Sitting On Rocks

    Nature V/S Human

    Inside Twin Tower

    After spending considerable amount of time, we returned to our hotel. It was great experience and we were looking forward to our next-morning Segway guided tour. We never tried Segways before so were very excited. We had dinner in Olive Garden (close to our hotel) and went to bed.

    Next morning, we got up on time, packed our stuff and checked-out from Hotel after having breakfast. We arrived on time for our tour and were the only ones (wow !) for the tour. Our guide told us normally park is crowded but since it was Monday, we got lucky.

    Ready for the Adventure

    In initial 30 minutes, he told us about safety and precautions to take while riding Segway and asked us to practice 2-3 rounds in parking area to get comfortable. See the practice video yourself, which was total fun.

    We covered whole park on our Segways , following our guide who gave us a lot of information about the rocks, their formation and their uniqueness. It was roughly one hour tour which was simply unforgettable. He showed us the Pikes Peak from one point and took our photo which is below (notice the snowy mountain in background) :-

    Pikes Peak View Behind

    Tour was fantastic and guide was too good. He was a local, told us so many things about Colorado Springs. We captured memory with him and started for Omaha.

    With our Guide

    It was a memorable trip, full of excitements. Colorado never disappoints !

    Let me know what you like most about the place and which of these formations are your favorite, if any ?

    PEACE !

  • Colorful Week

    Colorful Week

    To be very frank, I never thought of writing this particular post so soon, especially after moods. But I couldn’t resist, as since past two days climate is so beautiful, especially at evening time (I am not a morning person 🙂 ). Those brilliant-calm colors are still live in my brain.

    Most of you who have interest in Photography, might know, the best times to shoot are during Blue Hours and Golden Hours which occur twice a day.

    Blue Hour – Time before sunrise and after sunset

    – Variety of Cold colors especially blue, orange

    Golden Hour – Time after sunrise and before sunset

    – Variety of Warm colors especially red, yellow

    As I said earlier, past two days were very beautiful and I was ready with my Sony Alpha a6500 to take some nice shots. Here you go :-

    Day 1 – Golden Hour

    Day 1 – Blue Hour

    Day 2 – Golden Hour – Initial

    Day 2 – Golden Hour – Mid

    Day 2 – Golden Hour – Mix-Pink

    Day 2 – Golden Hour – Violet

    Nice thing about these pics is that they are without any kind of editing, just plain natural. Nature is so beautiful that sometimes it surprises us and make us say WOW !

    Which one out of these is your favorite? Leave your comment.

    PEACE !