More advice

Some meetings are not very important in the course of World Domination, but you can never be certain. Today I met a strange character who was extremely pissed by the lack of information at the University of Waterloo. He went like "the buildings are after the names of people and have no information about the departments". He wasn't too wrong either. Actually all the engineering buildings (1-5) have multiple departments, and in some cases the departments are spread over more than one building. He wanted to reach the undergraduate admission office, and even with my help, it took us 30 minutes to reach the place, only to realize that the office was closed. Then he wanted to meet some of the profs, but it happened that they had all just left for some office party, leaving this old man fuming.

Despite the day getting wasted, he invited me for coffee as a sign of gratitude. And then he spoke of his life. He was originally from Pakistan, and he had a messed up life but still was quite successful. He got selected into too many things, and he didn't make the right decisions at the right time. A potential Harvard student ended up in Queen's University of Canada, studied economics, became a professor and remained single for the rest of his life (he dated many women during his age but never found anyone suitable). He had a lot of free advice for me, career advices - where all to apply for PhD, why I should consider IAS, and what are the possibilities that it would open up in the long run.... and then social advices - what I should do to date someone. In this regard he started off with "You must be having a girlfriend" - like that is the most obvious thing. On getting a no, he said "Either you are not trying or trying at the wrong places. Do you hang out anywhere with other students?" "Yes, sometimes in the grad house." He bluntly retorted "Wrong place. You should be going to the undergrad house." And he was like talk to the girls here, they are very open.. ask them out for a movie or something. I was like I am here for only three months. And he said, "How does it matter? You should enjoy the present..." All this coming from a guy two generations older than me... seemed kind of funny.

We talked of loads of other things... from the current social scenario in India, to the snobbish behaviour of many of the South Asian immigrants towards the newcomers, and about how he belonged more to Canada than to Pakistan. Before going back to Toronto, he left me with a thought: "You may be having the maximum freedom possible, but more than freedom you need to be well informed to make the right decisions...."

Home Link

A 25 route number GO Transit bus drops one right at Square One Mall in Mississauga. I had talked to Aunty the other day and kind of invited myself to their place. Sujit uncle picked me up from the front of Starbucks to take me to their home. They had been here for about 10 years and have become Canadians, well almost. They have 2 daughters -Sanjukta and Aditi. The family used to stay in Montreal for many years before shifting to their beautiful house here. All of them were well versed in French.

Sujit uncle started off with many scientific and technological discussions with me, and I was pleasantly surprised that he was up to date with most of the recent advances in modern physics. We had breakfast, and then set off for Niagara on the Lake. Aditi was busy with some exam preparations but even she decided to come along. After passing the wineries and reaching the Shaw Festival place, we stopped over from time to time to enjoy the beautiful scenes by the Niagara River. The other side of the river was USA. Houses on either sides of the river, had both the Canadian and US flag fluttering, as a mark of friendship. These areas are also historically famous for many of the American Independence Wars.

Mississauga (from Square One terminal) 

Mississauga has a huge Indian population, and so does Toronto (70% are immigrants). And Uncle had a lot to advice on my future in terms of immigrants' life in Canada. The gist of what I got from the conversation is that Canada being a capitalist country, money more than personal relations matter most in here. So even though Canada has a liberal immigrant policy, after the immigrants reach their land of promise, they really have to dig in hard to start a living. Making it big often remains a distant dream. There are examples of people with MBBS degrees from their native country who end up as cab drivers, since their degrees aren't recognized and the require to go through the same courses and more in Canada (which is extremely expensive) and often the alternative is easier. Another aspect of the capitalist approach is that no one has a comfort zone even when they are past their middle age. If you are not performing as good as you are expected to be, the company will not entertain you for long. Uncle claimed that his comrades and contemporaries back in India have much easier lives. Also the country has limited manual labour just like in most of the Western world. It means that being a highway truck driver can be a very lucrative job indeed. It also means that you won't have the regular domestic helps or chauffeurs or human services of any kind unless you are Bill Gates. 

After we returned, we had a grand dinner at their place. The starting off with with marinated fresh sweet corn (I swear to God, that was the best corn I have ever tasted), followed by a variety of dishes that ranged from Aunty's 'lou chingri' to Aditi's 'barbequed chicken' in the main course and finally brownies formed a wonderful meal. I had a great time with the family.

I was 'back to Square One' at 8 pm (I was so itching to use that phrase) from where I boarded the GO bus back.

The two legendary falls

The first one was at the entrance of the Elora Gorge Conservation Area. Overjoyed at finding the route successfully, as I rode down a slope, I did not use the brakes. There was a left turn immediately after the slope. On a normal pitch road I would have still made it. But just at that corner, the pitch suddenly gave way to small loose stones and I jammed the brakes immediately. I skid. Some skid it was. Back wheel sliding sideways. A perfect drift by NFS standards. This continued for about 5 metres, and I continued to lose control till by a split second decision, I ejected myself from the bike pushing against it, so that I landed on my right shoulder on the tall grass and wet soil that cushioned my fall.... birds and stars.....After a second or two, I got up.. the backpack still on me.. the cycle front wheel was turned inwards, while the hind wheel was still rotating. My right knee had fallen on the small sharp stones though, and it started bleeeding profusely, but it had been subject to a lot worse torture during my childhood. Adarsh who was cycling right behind me said that it was like a movie scene and for quite some time, he was under the impression that I was pulling off a stunt.

 A close retake of the scene

 The Grand River flows through a deep gorge in this area forming many rapids as the one above. The place around has semi-dense forestry making it an ideal camping spot.

The poor telecom services in Canada in addition to my injury prevented us from getting in touch with the rest of the group who arrived by car. When we did, they had already done tubing, while we had already been around Elora Quarry Conservation Area, a swimming hole, where it was fun to see many people cliff-jump into the water.

Elora Quarry Conservation Area

 Adarsh and I went for tubing together. We wore our helmets and life jackets. We carried the tube to the launching area. There was a dangerous rapid right at the beginning. It was upto us to decide where we wanted to launch ourselves from, before the rapid or after. I asked a volunteer as to what is the worst that can happen if we go through the rapid. He said that we can get bruised. I glanced at my knee once and decided to take the risk.

Scene 1:  I told Adarsh how exactly to sit on the tube, and not to be afraid. We checked and properly tied each others' equipments. Adarsh saw the flow, got too frightened and was almost backing out. I reassured him. "Nothing's going to happen. It's very easy."

Scene 2: (5 minutes later) Adarsh comes out through the rapid unscathed and floats gently and peacefully downstream only to notice that I am standing on the right rocky bank, while my tube is slowly floating away towards the left bank. I started walking across the rocky bed of the river towards my tube, and walked past the floating Adarsh (a funny scene as I picture it again) telling him how I ended up in this state.

What happened in the interim 5 minutes was that I launched myself into the river. The first sub-rapid was easy; in the 2nd one, it almost tipped over, but I got over it without any mishaps. I was getting confident and was shouting "Yo.. yo.." Then came the 3rd sub-rapid. And halfway through it, my tube capsized. I was completely in the water for a moment. As soon as I came up to the surface, I checked my specs... still intact... and I desperately held on to the tube. So far I had been on the tube, but now the tube was on me, as I kept rolling over and about downstream by the fast moving water, absolutely out of control. I was trying to follow the advice... stay calm, do not resist the flow, try not to stand upright. I was hoping that the water would grow calm soon, and I would manage to get back on the tube. Just then I reached the 4th sub-rapid, and I got tossed about so vigourously that here I lost my hold of the tube. I was afraid that there were more rapids coming up, and I forgot that I was still wearing my helmet and life jacket. In the helpless state that I was in, completely at the mercy of the river, a thought of 'this is the end' crossed my mind and in a desperate attempt to save my life, I shouted out "Help, help" probably for the first time ever. As I fought to reach a side of the river, I saw an old woman holding out an oar from the bank. I accepted the help and reached the rocky bank. It took me a few seconds to get over the shock. I was bruised all over just as warned. But now, life saved, my mind switched to the 75 dollars deposit, I was to lose if I lost my tube. Thankfully I saw it gradually slowing down on the other bank...

After collecting it and continuing, the rest of the tubing was largely uneventful and boring. Initially I was enjoying the beautiful scenery, floating down a river with high cliffs on both sides but at places it became so slow that I got off, took the tube in my arms, walked down the river along the sides and relaunched in faster waters. The sitting on the tube was also not too comfortable. Neither was the life jacket. One more point of concern was when the tube was being pushed against rocky sided cliffs. The arms were in danger of getting badly scraped against them if anyone gets immersed into the natural beauty too much and thinks poetry.

At one spot I saw a fly-fisherman. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_fishing) I parked myself there and chatted with him for a while. He said that the commotion was too much for him catch much fish. I said I was sorry for adding to the disturbance. He said "It's fine. The water belongs to everybody" and I added "Even to the fish"

Fly Fisherman

We all went to the Quarry swimming hole again. Rohit was in the mood. He swam around in the water, and then decided to cliff jump into it, which he pulled off very easily, twice. I was tempted to do the same, but restricted myself, thinking that I still have to bike back some 40 kilometres and couldn't risk exhausting myself further.

Finally when I returned to CLV, I was all battered and bruised, but I had made myself proud. 135 kms in 2 days on cycle; 90 in a single day, and that too 60 kilometres of them after the fall. It was a great experience. There were roller coaster like slopes both down and up (mostly in that order) and we did the Neo thing, pretending to be on motorbikes, bending completely down to reduce air resistance and moment of inertia. At the bottom of the slopes we went up to speeds of 50 kmph. There weren't any cars coming on either side of the road, so we took it over completely. There were beautiful scenes of farmlands and the play of colours of the setting sun. It made me stop over and over again as I took photographs, putting our target of reaching home by 10:25 pm in jeopardy. Adarsh was setting and keeping track of the targets and we were pretending to play games and commentating ourselves... " 12 kilometres left, 25 mins to cover it.. can they make it?"... "They are running out of health points too"  Finally we raced upto an average of 25-30 kmph for the last few kilometres but still missed our target by 3 minutes.

The 3rd Attempt

 The old

The new

This time we finally concluded that there is no village as such, but their tools and handicrafts and Mennonite lifestyle are accessible to the tourists mostly through shops around the area of St.Jacobs.

Keerthi was overjoyed at the options for shopping: stones, artwork, glasswork, handicrafts, ornaments and clothes on sale. Beside the Grand river, there was once a mill, which has been converted into a shopping arcade cum museum. There was a quilt gallery, a maple museum, and  some random collection of items on electricity, old hardware and Canadian history. The find of the day was an ancient piece of Omega watch, round, mechanism visible and requires winding a spring for running. It can be worn around a neck, but should rather be showcased.

At a rail gallery, we saw a model of the area showing the train line nearby going through a tunnel. I was very enthusiastic to walk though a train tunnel.... reminded me of Ruskin Bond's story, but as we walked along the tracks for some distance we realized that the tunnel just served the purpose of beautification of the model (and there wasn't one in reality). We walked back and further along the tracks, and reached a bridge over the river. Built in old times, on metallic piers and girders. The gap between the rail tracks were wide enough for a leg to slip through if careless. There were no railings at the sides. The water was not too clear, but there were large fishes right below the water surface. I kind of liked the place, and sat on the warm rails for some time wondering what would happen if a train chugs in onto the bridge, but nothing of the sort happened.

 Bull frogs. They place themselves at regular intervals along water bodies and make a hell of a sound every now and then

The Mennonite Church at St. Jacobs

After a grand lunch in dinner time, we proceeded to the last of the Covered Bridges of Ontario. We didn't realize that it would be so far off.  The bridge disappointed me somewhat because the setting had changed over the years, from being surrounded by farmlands a hundred years ago to posh condos in the present day. We sat in the grass by the Grand River and chatted for a long time. Finally at 9.15pm, Keerthi wondered if we could stay over somewhere nearby and continue to Elora Gorge the next day as planned. However, in a battle of 'less impracticality', this plan lost out, and we had to cycle back 23 kilometres in the dark. After 1.5 hours of cycling, the Columbia Lake Village lights were finally visible above the horizon, like a mothership to which two scouts were returning. Keerthi was overjoyed at having made it finally. But she exhausted herself so much, that she couldn't accompany us the next day even on car.

"These Canadians are crazy"

Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins reached the finals of the Stanley Cup. The final is a 7 match affair. Ice hockey games can be very rough, and people are allowed to crash into each other, (or even break each others' bones). Fights break out every now and then and it is not strictly prohibited. And this cup is supposed to be the equivalent to the EPL if not more in terms of importance to the Canadians. After the first 2 finals Canucks led 2-0. At the end of 6 games, Boston pulled it back to 3-3. Now everything rested on the 7th game. Of course, we didn't know all this when we went to East Side Mario's for dinner. Some of us were talking to each other about which are the teams playing, and the look that we got from other people around in the restaurant... as if there couldn't have been a more unpardonable crime than our ignorance.

It was only the next day, when I saw the newspapers, that I realized how important it was:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/16/vancouver-canucks-fans-riot-stanley-cup

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/jun/16/vancouver-riots-ice-hockey-defeat#/?picture=375828430&index=0

Firstly, I never thought something like this is possible in Canada. However losing and then ransacking your own country, is kind of self-destructive and inexplicable. In other words, "These Canadians are crazy".

Hidden Gem - Fathom Five Marine National Park

I thought I had done snorkelling before. I remember 3 minutes of utter discomfort in the marine national park of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, after which I discarded my tube (which was forcing me upright) and the snorkel (whose mouth piece was too salty) and explored the beautiful coral reefs by myself without any equipment. Only when I entered the Diver's Den did I realize what snorkelling is really like. There were nine pieces that we put on us - 4 pieces of wetsuit, gloves, glasses and most importantly the snorkel and fins.

We went by a launch to the first site. Shitikant and I left the boat straight away. It was difficult to start with. Firstly you should not breathe through your nose, only through the mouth. And of course the water was so very cold. 7 degrees C only. However, we had been frightened so much before the plunge with talks about brain freeze and Canadians calling the water too chilly to get into, that it didn't feel so cold after all. Still, from time to time, I felt my extremities going absolutely numb.

 I just paddled my legs and I was staring into the water face just below the surface. It didn't seem like I had moved much, but when I tried to look out of the water towards the boat, I realized that I was already about 50  metres from the boat. Such is the power of the fins. Moving is easy, but stopping at a point in an upright position is tricky. I discovered the trick pretty fast that to stop somewhere I should just turn around and face the direction from which I had been coming. Though I didn't see much in my first venture other than the hull of a ship and some wood lying around, I was elated as I gained confidence in moving around freely along the surface of the water.

The next diving spot was in the Big Tub Harbour. I felt at ease exploring in the water. The binocular glasses helped immensely. About 100 metres from our launch, there was a shipwreck which was just about immersed in the water. It was the Sweepstakes, an archaic schooner. It sunk in 1885. The hull is still infact making it a great picture. The feeling was great as we floated over the ancient structure almost from the sets of Pirates of the Caribbean,with the difference that this was a real ship. We moved along its length casually scanning it completely. I was absolutely enthralled by the experience.

We had fish and chips for the second time here (the one at Craigie's on the first day was better). At 1.30 pm, we boarded the Heron Cruise and went on a guided tour around the islands of Fathom Five National park, around the Otter Islands till we reached Flowerpot Island. On the way, we saw the rock faces on the forested islands having a bright tinge of amber. It is caused by a type of fungus.

We had about 2 hours on the Flowerpot Island. The island gets its name from the pillar-like structures that border its south-west coast. It is caused by dolomite rocks that have been eroded to different extents at different heights based on the water level, which at one point of time completely submerged these structures. We hiked around the western side of the island, spent some time around these majestic formations, walked through the forest making our own trail. There were many fallen trees as the soil is too soft and the roots are superficial allowing strong winds to uproot them. I waited for the crowd to disperse and the sun to come out for the sake of photography. Thankfully both conditions were satisfied after some time.

At 4.45 we returned by a vessel which was more of a hovercraft. We enjoyed the ride, fast though it was, chatting up with a funny old guy who assisted the engine-driver.

All of us were happy having spent the best weekend in Canada so far. Well, almost all. Except for Bob. He got his name from the nice old lady at Diver's Den. When she asked his name, and she couldn't pronounce Srinivasan, she said "I will call you Bob". Tragedy followed him everywhere, even to the water, where he lost his fin while trying to snorkel. He was the subject of ridicule wherever he went, mostly because of his "How do I care" or "Why should I care" attitude throughout the trip. And in the most lethargic way, he says "What the hell...". He used the phrase more number of times than Amrish Puri said "Mogambo khush hua" in Mr. India. Such was his expressions even when the old guy on the boat back from Flowerpot Island asked him how did he find the island. So for the rest of the journey, in between conversing with me and Vishnu, whenever there was a pause, he would turn to Bob and say ".... and you don't care about it anyway..." He also has a thing for all drinkable stuff, be it milk or alcohol. All in all, we had a lot of fun around him, and so even if he has any complaints, none of us do.

Hidden Gem - Bruce Peninsula National Park

There are some places which in certain situations offer a rare serenity that remains so evasive otherwise and forces the cliche 'lull before the storm' out of you. Sauble Beach at 12 noon on the 11th of June was one such place. It is the world's 2nd longest freshwater beach (The first being in the same state too - Wasaga beach in Ontario). But it was the huge waveless calm expanse of the water and its colour that made it so awesome. It changed hues like actors change clothes in Bollywood songs. When we reached there, it was a shade of light blue and blended perfectly with the sky obscuring the horizon. We saw it white, green, and then black during our 45 minutes on the beach. Towards the end, a storm was developing on Lake Huron, and we could see some dark columns descending from the sky to the water, like premature tornadoes. It started raining and we went back to the car to go further into the Bruce Peninsula.

Tobermory is a place in west Ontario, not many Canadians are aware of. The place offers such pristine beauty for the nature lover, that I was left dumbstruck when we reached the Indian head cove (to the north of Marr and Cyprus Lakes). The water was crystal clear, the water bed clearly visible to a long distance from the shore.

On one side of the Bruce Peninsula is Lake Huron. The land gradually slopes into the water in that direction. The side we were currently in is in the Georgian Bay side, and this has a very rough coastline due to crustal faulting. There were cliffs of dolomite (a form of limestone) running the entire length of the coast. It also made the coast possible and challenging to hike at the same time. I laid my faith completely on the rocks and used the clefts and niches typical of dolomite to climb them. The discoveries we made of caves, grottos, and untraversed vertical cliffs along the coast thrilled us to the core. I found some orchids typical to this national park. However another creature I was looking for was the crayfish which we didn't come across.

We reached a cliff peak from where the water was visible vertically below... about 45 metres. All of us independently had the same thoughts in our mind - "How would it be to jump directly below into the water?" However, thankfully no one was crazy enough to try risking their lives like that. This point is called the Halfway Rock Point, and it forms an end of the 800km long Bruce Trail whose other end is the Niagara Falls.
Shitikanth grew very macho at times and tried to pull off something impossible, hurting himself in the process, thankfully not too seriously, as he fell with a dull thud on his chest on the rocky floor of a cave. In a grotto that we reached a few minutes later, a part of the wall under the water level had an opening into the bay, making it a natural marvel, as blue light was bursting into the cave from that opening. It was something comparable to the lagoon in 127 Hours.

We walked on along a flatter, but rocky shoreline called the Boulder Beach, possibly formed by collapsed limestone structures, and after crossing it entered some forested area which was actually an overhanging cliff from where we got another good view of the bay. Then we started returning along the Marr lake Trail.

Marr Lake

On hiking back to where the car was parked, we came across a group of four young people whose car had broken down, who had very little money with them and were very hungry. We offered to get them dropped at Tobermory in our car, while we waited. Shaun, (the 'Chinese driver guy', the name stored in Vishnu's mobile) was a bit iffy about the arrangement, and while we waited for the car to come back, we tried to think of worst possibilities and tried to form suspicions on the group. The car returned in a short while putting to rest all the negative theories.
Finally when we returned to Tobermory, it was 10 pm. But Tobermory is a village, and everything closes by 9 pm. By the mercy of the lady hotel manager, we got a breakfast for dinner. Then we returned to our deluxe cottage, opened our bottles of wines, and spreading ourselves on the recliner chairs (like at Chandler's and Joey's - Vishnu and I taking up their places) we watched Joker's antics in The Dark Knight.

Meanwhile

Things have been moving along nicely. Rohit and the girls (I can just as well say the girls) have taken up the charge of cooking to themselves. No one complains. Everyone's happy except for Rohit at times, because he is always looking for perfection and is often ceding some points to Madhavan. With his motherly attitude, and his slip of tongue over a failed expression having a failed explanation, Rohit got baptised as Baby Mom. When we asked the guy at the counter to write 'Baby Mom' on his birthday cake, one should have been there to see his puzzled expression.
Among the other inmates of 69 CLV, Vishnu and I have developed a good rapport, especially since we have common interests in food and travelling. I like discussing a spectra of stuff with him. Madhavan is the jester of the group. He identifies Indians as Tamils and rest of Indians. He says that he hates North Indians (from Andhra northwards) and he doesn't seem to have a choice in what he likes or hates. Somehow Rohit became his chief target, and he got no respite even on his birthday.
His birthday was a lot of fun though. The birthday card (which Rohit will hide forever), switching off the mains, the small muffin with a candle, the big surprise for the Baby Mom, the attack on the G (GPL etc), the denied request for the dance. In the evening, we went out for dinner at Fox and Fiddles. The food was good, but everyone pounced upon it like starved children. I managed to get myself high on 2 litres of beer. I was completely in my senses, but everyone around liked making fun of the small mistakes, which can happen even in a sober state (trying to open the door from the hinge side, calling someone by the wrong name, walking backwards etc)
The ladies of 65 (as referred to by a certain Srinivasan) add to the flavour of our group. Keerthi is soft-spoken, and a good listener. She has an eye for art. Supriya on the other hand is more exuberant and likes taking the initiative. She has an ear for guy-talk. Both of them somehow have a huge belief in the supernatural. They watch horror movies, but cover their eyes in the climax scenes.
Adarsh is Jai Anand*-V2.0..........."Rule kaun follow karega jab koi dekh nhi rha hai"....."Free mein mil rha hai, jitna ho sake utha le". Rishi Big-guy is the bluffmaster. I don't know him too well yet. Sundaram, one of the rare pure-bred nerds, likes his work much much more than anything else. He eats only Indian food (preferably South Indian) and is a strict teetotaler. He is intelligent and a nice guy to be around.

We often play games, either snooker and TT at the Community Centre, or indoor games like cards, pictionary, twister and mafia. Sometimes during weekends, we have some liquor alongside to add to the feel. Overall, life's good.  But time's moving very fast here. And I wish it slowed down.

*Jai Anand is the student from IITKgp, who was one of my intern partners in Australia 

Canoeing for Beginners

6 of us in 3 canoes took over the lake in the Laurel Creek Conservation Area. And we managed to do 2 hours without toppling. However, when I am around, how can others stay away from adventure.

Keerthi and I shared a canoe. The first misadventure was crashing into the dense foliage overhanging upon the water from an island as we tried to land there. We ducked into the canoe, thereby escaping scrapes. The second was getting our canoe stuck right on the cut tree trunk in the middle of the lake, and it took quite some time before we could make it move.

Afterwards, Keerthi put her hands in the water and was overjoyed at catching a fish. The fish turned out to be a leech and it was overjoyed too at getting an animal to suck blood from, without having to bargain for it. The unfortunate leech met its demise in my hands. And finally, while transferring my oar from one hand to the other, I somehow managed to harpoon it out of my hand into the water. Fortunately, it was wooden, and so stayed afloat, allowing me to collect it back.

In general, canoeing is kind of tricky, as it involves two people to row on the two sides of the boat with equal strength to make it go straight. This is true only in no wind, no flow condition. But such ideal situations are there only in school-level problems (I am reminded of 'Assume the cow to be spherical'). Not only were there winds and currents,  but they also changed direction with location and time. A trail of our canoe's route would have made a good maze. However gradually we got the hang of it, and I was quite impressed by Keerthi's efforts as she matched me stroke for stroke.

"Row, row, row your boat, 

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream."

Oar-A (read in Bengali :P)

Niagara

Summary:

1. Wine Tasting Tour - Vidal Ice Wine (aristocratic, but at least sweet)
2. Niagara Falls (          )
3. Maid of the Mist (It was like taking a mass shower on a big boat) and (         )
4. Ghost house (super flop - I ended up getting photographed with arms around ghosts like old-time buddies)
5. Hershey's Chocolate Outlet (getting reminded of friends back home)
6. Casino (Roulette table - started with $25; Maximum value reached- $100; ended with $50 - story of my life)
7. Cuban Cigar - shared by Vishnu and me (Supriya: Smells like firecrackers)
8. Illuminated Niagara Falls (          )

Empty brackets = speechless

It was raining torrentially demoralising us throughout the 4 hour drive. It stopped only when we reached Niagara. And as soon as were at the falls the sun came out, and produced a majestic arc across the Niagara river.

The bridge to the US. The falls being on their side they have poor viewing of it.

A mini Las Vegas