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As the pilot started to approach Jackson airport, he made an announcement to look out of right side windows to view the beautiful Tetons. All I could see were silhouette images of the Tetons. They were all covered in thick smoke that had enveloped the whole region for many weeks. Smoke was still billowing out of a few forest fires that were raging near Jackson. The smoke was evident the next day as I drove north towards the Yellowstone national park. Visibility inside the park was only a few hundred yards. The burning smell was everywhere. It seems that forest fires are a common occurrence in the park and surrounding area. All I could hope for was some rain to settle the particulate matter down and clear the landscape. Apart from the smoke, the landscape was ... read more

The final leg of my first Switzerland trip was going to last less than a couple of days, a chunk of which was taken by this train ride I did from Interlaken to the Lake Geneva town of Montreux. I took the Golden Pass train from Interlaken to Zweisimmen. I had already traveled on this train from Lucerne to Interlaken. These scenic train rides do give you a passing glimpse of the majestic Swiss country side. From Zweisimmen I had the VIP seat reservation to Montreux. That meant one of the 4 front seats in the first car in the train. Nice. I reached Interlaken train station from my base in Murren after taking a cable car ride to Lauterbrunnen and a train from there. I did not know the Golden Pass departure time from Interlaken ... read more

Ah Switzerland in summer! A land of lush green hills, beautiful turquoise lakes, snow covered Alps, umpteen waterfalls, melting glaciers, cute looking villages, cows with bells, chocolates, mountain trains, cable cars, gondolas and picture-perfect postcard scenery all around. And of course clouds and some rain too! After spending a little over 5 days in Paris, I took the TGV to Bern. It was about 4 hrs journey. TGV holds the world record for the fastest train. But the TGV I took did not run with any record breaking speed. It was a smooth ride though. My passport got checked a couple of times in the train before the train crossed the France-Switzerland border. At Bern station, I roamed around with my luggage for some time trying to orient myself. The language changed from French in Paris ... read more

Nov 1, 2008 Utah's byway 12 is a stretch of scenic road between Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef national park. It is considered one of the most scenic byways in USA. After leaving Bryce, I continued the drive on byway 12. The rock landscape around me continued to change. The weather was nice and there was very little traffic on the road. There must have been a stretch of about 15 minutes or so during which I did not encounter a single vehicle on that road! I saw a turn for Kodachrome state park but did not take the turn. Not much time for any side trips. Later I saw a sign for Burr trail. I had read about this road in tripadvisor.com forums and had heard that it is gorgeous. I was willing to take ... read more

Nature's rock art takes another unique form in Zion national park. Zion seems to have an aura that is ethereal. If this park were in India, I bet it would have become a place of worship with the devout seeing God in every towering monolith in the park! It is the most visited park in Utah. High colorful towers of rock with vegetation on the floor. Fall was nearly at its peak during the time I visited the park. Yellow is the most visible fall color with some spots of red. The park has a shuttle system which ferries tourists from the nearby Springdale town and from the visitor center to all the points of interest in the park. I arrived at the east entrance of the park just before sunrise. This was after taking about ... read more