JOIN USKarthik Ramachandra, the co-founder of TripHobo, loves to travel and explore places. He shares his experiences about his recent trip to the US.
“I visited the United States for my brother’s graduation and that’s when I thought, why not make it a fun trip around the country with my family? So, instead of the clichéd tourist attractions one usually ends up visiting, we decided to make it slightly unusual and I must say, the experience was top-notch.
First on our bucket list was Los Angeles — the home of Hollywood. While the Hollywood fever took us by excitement, we re-lived our childhood days with the fun rides at Disneyland. After taking a tour of the plush celebrity homes on Beverly Hills, we headed over to Rodeo Drive. Elite speciality shops and designer boutiques that ask you to book your visit way ahead of time — it was a shopper’s paradise!
Concluding our affair with the film city, we headed to San Francisco. Hilly landscape surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, architectural marvels and an aura of poise; the city was inviting me since the first time I had a glimpse of its steep streets, winding lanes and the gigantic Golden Gate in movies.
Our car was driving through a tunnel and when it came out, I witnessed one of the most jaw-dropping sights of my life — The Golden Gate. Bright red, windy and captivating.
Driving on the bridge, we saw tons of people flipping coins in the air, which is considered as an open challenge to flip a coin and make it fit in one of the numerous grooves of the bridge.We hiked in Muir Woods National monument; redwood forest located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area spread over 500 acres.
While in San Francisco, how could we miss the Lombard Street? One of the most fun drives around the world, the winding street was definitely not meant for bad drivers! As a reward to my good driving, I treated myself to some world famous chocolate fudge at the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory, which was a great treat.
Driving further, Lake Tahoe was the next stop and we decided to do it the Hobo way—by a road trip. Lake Tahoe is a huge freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada. It is located along the border of Nevada and California. We went camping. The scenic lake is a perfect ground camp-site with very few tourists.
Las Vegas is always a good idea. We landed on the airport and there was a casino right inside the airport.
Delighted with the illuminated streets bustling with lively people, street shows happening at every corner and an ambience as light as air; we wanted to explore the city with a different perspective. So we started off with the hotel that we were staying in- ‘The Stratosphere’. It is the tallest free-standing observation deck in United States and yes, it was up in the clouds. There were adventure sports in the tower which I decided to give a try. I have done bungee jumping in Phuket on one of my trips but this was something unexplainable.
The ‘Insanity Ride’, the ‘Big Shot Ride’ and the ‘Sky Jump’ was super thrilling. You are literally suspended hundreds of meters above the ground in the air, now that’s the kind of adrenaline rush a hobo can like!
Las Vegas has a great cultural scene hidden in its otherwise kitschy exterior. We thoroughly enjoyed the magic show by David Copperfield who happens to be the greatest illusionist of the decade.
The US was enticing and with pack of memories and bunch of photographs, we ended our trip, only to start planning our next journey!”
(As told to Surupasree Sarmmah)