Fall Trip, 2010 -- Adirondack, NY

Went to see fall colors in the Adirondack.  It is very close to Lake Placid. Stayed at a cozy a little cabin by the lake -- Cochran's Cabins. If you are staying at these cabins you will need to take everything with you including food and comforters. 

We were a bunch of beginner hikers so decided to take a short trail -- Mt. Baker. The drive to the trail from the cabin is about 15 minutes. The hike lasted a couple of hours. We took one too many stops to admire the beauty.

Mt. Baker trail

Beginning of the trail

One of the many beautiful sceneries

...and another

The town of Lake Placid...

A day in the park

If you are ever in New York City during summers, don't miss an opportunity to visit Central Park! The most green spot in the a city of concrete jungle.

You can see so much of the city culture here. 

Walk around the park, explore the different bridges, fountains and of course the musicians!!

My favorite spot was Bethesda fountain. Yes this is the same fountain which is in a ton of movies. 

While I was walking around I saw this artist playing. I think this was her last song. These guys are really talented. I was pleasantly surprised :o)

Costa Rica

I went to Costa Rica with a girlfriend of mine - end of January 2010. When we were preparing for the trip, we struggled with quite a few things.

1. The most important question - Is it safe for 2 women to travel to Costa Rica?
2. We only had 5 to 6 days to plan the trip.
3. Considering there is so much to see there we struggled to create an itinerary that would cover most of the places.

Once we figured this out the rest was just pure adventure. I will be sharing the itinerary, places we stayed at and of course the activities. Our 5 day trip included Arenal, Monteverde, Montezuma and Son Jose. I give credit for this trip to my friend as she made the best travel plans for us!!

We went to Arenal, Monteverde, Montezuma and finally to San Jose.

Day 1,2: San JoseAirport  - Arenal la Fortuna.


Landed at San Jose (Juan Santamaría International Airport) in the afternoon. Once you land you  might want to get some local currency. Costa Rica is a very tourist friendly country and most places accept US Dollar however it will be nice to get $50 - $100 in local currency. You can get that the airport. 
Another thing we did after landing was get a sim card at the airport. Make sure you carry an unlocked phone so that you can use the sim. They cost around $20 and last for about a week. This is a cheaper option if you don't want to be on roaming. 


We were travelling from San Jose to Arenal. There are a bunch of options. The most economical that we found was using a shuttle by Interbus. You can take a local taxi outside the airport for $2 for the pick up spot for the shuttle. The pickup stop is a local restaurant and the food is delicious! The van ride is around 5 hours and it will drop you at your hotel.

Accommodation: Gran Arenal. Gran Arenal is about 1 mile away from La Fortuna. It is a nice quiet place with the view of the volcano. 

The owner of the place Luis is an amazing host. The rooms are very well maintained and they have a good outdoor breakfast everyday. If I ever go again, I will definitely stay there!

Activities: The first day we went for Canyoning and Rapple. Book your tours through Desafio, best in Arenal for adventure tours. In the evening we booked a tour for the volcano, again from Desafio. Unfortunately the mountain was covered with clouds so we couldn't get a good view. Ended the day by relaxing in the hot springs. There are quite a few options for the hot springs, Baldi being one of them where we went. Only regret we had that we could have spent more time at the hot springs :o)


Day 3: Montverde - cloud forest


The shortest way to go from Arenal to Monteverde is by taxi/boat/taxi. 

Activities: Monteverde has some amazing cloud forest and it has world's highest zip lines and hanging bridges. The zip lines and hanging gardens can be finished withing a couple of hours.

 After that you could take the night tour of the forest. It is a very different experience -  a bit scary because I am not used to such quiet surroundings :o)


Day 4,5: Montezuma - beach


The shuttle ride is around 5 hours to Montezuma. Montezuma was a whole new experience for us. Most of the tourist there are people who make a pit stop to earn money for their journey. You will meet very interesting poeple..

Accommodation: Stayed at El Jardin. It is more like a hostel. My experience was not that pleasant because the room had a stale smell. The best part was the hammock on the porch.. 


The first day just walked around the town, went to the beach. 

This place has some really cool cafes and restaurants with the view of the beach. 

This is one of the cafes. We had a nice coffee and empanadas :o) 


Activities: Snorkeling - Book a tour for snorkeling before you get to Montezuma because the tours fill out quickly. They are half a day activity with meal. They take you to a island on the motorboats. Word of advice: Apply layers of sun screen!! I got burnt!!

Also, there is a waterfall 20 minutes walking distance from the town. It is really pretty and you should try to get make a visit..

Day 6: San Jose - capital city


We took the smallest plane ever from Montezuma to San Jose. It was a scary ride! Just me, my friend, 2 pilots and a mechanic..


We barely had a couple of hours in the city so we went to downtown.. Make sure you go to Mercado, the arts & craft market. You can get great souvenirs.




Finally, don't forget to buy your coffee from the airport! I promise you won't be disappointed :o)




PS: I am a vegetarian and believe me there are plenty of options. More than you can find in some cities in US..