by Roy -

The United States is a big place with a lot of ground to cover. So what is buzzing for travellers in the coming year? Here are our top 10 picks for US destinations that should be on your radar in 2012.

US Virgin Islands
In a year when travellers are likely to still be watching their wallets, the US Virgin Islands are our number one choice for an American tropical getaway. The US territory is eternally warm,  rimmed with white-sand beaches on turquoise water, and each of the islands has their own identity. If you want a break from the resorts, St John is nearly two-thirds lush national park, with tent cabins amid trees and hikes to secluded beaches. This sadly may be the last year for the Maho Bay Camps, a long-standing eco-resort that is the place to stay if you are watching your budget; or try the St John Inn which offers great value rooms with kitchenettes. For more action, the previously inaccessible Hassel Island, now part of Virgin Islands National Park on St Thomas, can be explored by snorkel or kayak, and the Captain Morgan Rum Distillery on St Croix will open its new visitor centre in the spring.

Hudson River Valley, New York

Any visitor to New York City should spend a day or two in the Hudson River Valley, a slice of rural Americana just north of the city. Its leafy drives, wineries and farm-to-table food options draw even spoiled-for-choice Manhattanites. A favourite spot to stay is former B-52s singer Kate Pierson’s Lazy Meadow, a renovated 1950s cabin complex near Woodstock.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Manoj Radhakrishnan, an engineer and a travel photographer & writer based in Pune

The destination for my thanksgiving trip was a foregone conclusion given the fact that my wife is spending (more out of circumstances than any personal choice) the initial period of our married life pursuing her studies in Hawai’i while my life continues in Southern California. Having to choose from the half a dozen travel friendly islands, I picked the largest one, for no particular reason, as our official post marriage vacation.

A telescope on top of Mauna KeaAfter a boring day long flight I along with my wife (who happened to join me during my layover in Oahu) spent rest of the first evening searching for a campsite at the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The park is located about 30 miles from Hilo, our landing point. Despite the new moon and the winter fog, we managed to finally locate the Kulanaokuaiki campground one of the two camp sites in the Park.

The following morning, to our great disappointment, we learnt that there was no lava flow in park, at least nothing that is reachable with a reasonable effort. The Puu Oo volcano, the most active one in the park, had gone flat for the past three months. Luckily, the news turned out to be the only disappointment for the entire trip. We decided to spend the rest of the day driving around and day hiking in the park.

Despite the lack of lava flow, the park still Waipio Valley had enough to keep us occupied and interested for the day. The Thurston lava tube, especially the last unlighted section, Pu’u Huluhulu crater hike, Holei sea arch and the breathtaking Halema’uma’u crater are all definitely worth a visit. Our day was however cut short by the evening winter fog which seem to arrive in these parts with an unfailing regularity cutting the visibility to a few feet. Luckily, we had an early start and hence weren’t too unhappy to retire early to our camp.

Our next day started with a picture perfect sunrise over Kilauea crater before we drove off to Hilo. We spent the morning travelling the beaten path: rainbow falls, peepee falls, peepeekeo scenic drive including the overpriced tourist trap of the tropical garden. The pick of the circuit was easily the stunning 420 ft Akaka falls, located about 15 mts N of Hilo. We had to rush through all these attractions in the morning in order to give us enough time to return to Hilo to join a tour group to go up Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in the Pacific. My altitude sickness and the state of the road had ruled out the possibility of us doing the trip all by ourselves.

 

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 241 user reviews.

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by Roy -

 

 

 

 

 

This article is written by Vikram Narayan

Aloha! and welcome to the paradise folks. It was a 32 hour air journey escaping the European winter and landing at the tropical pleasant temperate Hawaii. During the dead of the night when we landed, it looked not so different from Goa or rest of the Kerala country side. We reached our hotel which our company had booked for us and pretended to sleep to overcome the jet lag. The beach and the mountain facing resort, threw up all its grandeur as and when the dawn tore up the dusk. A picturesque view from the apartment balcony had such an embossing impression that the landscape looked as if it was artificial and painted. Hawaii is the southern most tip of US and lies in the same latitude of Nagpur. The Hawaii state is an archipelago with the biggest island called as Hawaii (Big Island). The capital of Hawaii state Honalulu is in a different island from that of the big island. The mean temperature is a warm 25 C with a variation of 3 C above and below. No torrential rainfalls or floods and no major recurring natural calamities makes Hawaii a paradise on the Earth.

Hawaii has a typical biodiversity which can rarely be come across. Some species of plants looks like the one which can be seen on some planet X as in the serial star trek. The sparrows look typically Indian except that they are soaked in some sort of turmeric color. The lizards have a weird colour of green and resemble more of a chameleon. The landscape is dotted with baniyan, coconut, gulmohar, peepul, neem, banana, palm, eucalyptus, cactus and a wide variety of flowers rich in both fragrance and color.

Hawaii was initially discovered by Polynesian sailors who arrived on ships a thousand years back. They seemed to be expert sailors and in the absence of magnetic compass and cartography, they relied on tide direction, flight of the birds, and knowledge of the stars to navigate their ship. They developed a typical language without a script and continues to be spoken till date. The first contact with the outside world happened when the British sailor Capt. Cook discovered the island for the rest of the world. Over the period of the next two centuries sly diplomacy and brute force the US successfully annexed Hawaii into the union and what happened later in the Pearl Harbor episode is well known in the history.

Todays Hawaiian population is typically German, Japanese, Swedish, Portuguese and the native Hawaiians. Unlike the rest of the states, this has the least Anglo Saxon influence. Its a thriving agricultural economy with commercial cultivation of coffee, exotic herbs and fruits. The islands depends on hydro electricity and solar power. It has a flourishing university and an array of energy research laboratories. All the civilization, people or the biodiversity in Hawaii is foreign and the only thing that is native is the lava.

Hawaii is an volcanic island having a large active volcano. The road dredging and agricultural activities are fraught with the risks, as it might lead to revelation of lava tubes and chambers. That apart Hawaii lives upto its hype. One square feet of land is around 3000 USD which is expensive by US standards, but Indians living in Mumbai or Bangalore consider this price very much affordable 😉

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 158 user reviews.

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