Las Vegas Trip (Oct 16, 2009 - Oct 18, 2009)

Introduction
This was an amazing weekend trip that we took when in US.

16th Oct 09 (Day 1 - rather night)

6PM - I took a flight from Chicago to Las Vegas and my husband took a flight from San Jose to Las Vegas. We reached around 7pm in evening. The view from the flight was awesome. We could actually see the whole of strip lighted up. We took a cab from airport to Planet Hollywood hotel where we had booked ourselves. The checkin was quick and we landed in the room which had a nice view to the city and the rock hills.

8PM - 2PM - We started to plan on the activities that we will be doing. We decided to have a walk around the hotel and see where we land. Well to our surprise few feet outside the hotel we found an entry to Miracle Mile that has more than 140 stores and restaurants. So we thought lets spend the night walking there. And it was amazing to walk through the area. We had coffee and sandwich at Fourth Earl of Sandwich. It was wonderful.We returned to hotel at about 2 in the night after a looong walk.

17th Oct 09 (Day 2 )
7AM - 11AM - We started the day by buying tickets for evening show and then headed towards roller coaster ride. We thought of walking to the ride rather than take a cab. So we walked towards the ride through the MGM Grand hotel. Once there we had to wait for our turn. I am generally scared of heights and cannot even attempt a Giant Wheel but still went ahead and sat in the roller coaster. Well it was wonderful for my husband and aweful for me (i almost fainted, i could not even scream out my fear!!) but at the end of the day the experience was memorable :) We got the snap from the roller coaster guy.

11AM - 2PM - Once done we went to MGM Grand, had subs (as we didnt take breakfast due to ride). After this we went took the tram to Mandalay Bay to see the Shark Reef Aquarium. This was very very beautiful. There is also a man made beach out here. After this we went back to the hotel.

4PM-7PM - In evening we set out on foot to take a tour of Las Vegas. 

Just did window shopping. We took a train to Wynn hotel where the show - Le Reve was starting at 7pm.

7PM - 11PM - The show was wonderful. It was for 3 hrs and we were out at 10pm. From there we took cab to Bellagio.

11PM - 1PM - We were there to see the famous Musical Fountains. At around 12 the show started and it was an amazing sight. A must see for anybody visiting Las Vegas. We got to see the same piece twice and the atmosphere was electrifying. With this we ended the perfect day.

18th Oct 09 (Day 3)
We planned to have a breakfast in hotel and then head for our respective flights by lunch.

Summary
The trip was short though highly adventurous and most of the things we did and saw were unique and new to us. If we get another chance we will try to go to Grand Canyon and Stratosphere that we missed out in this visit.

Jaipur Trip (Mar 27, 2009 - Mar 29, 2009)

Introduction

In the month of March last year we travelled to the City of Palaces in Western India - Jaipur. The trip was 2night and 3day stay at Hotel Trident.

22nd Mar 09 (Day 1)

8AM - We took a flight from Hyderabad - Jaipur and landed by 10AM

10AM - A car was already there from hotel to pick us up. We decided to look through few places before proceeding to hotel:

- City Palace

- Hawa Mahal

- Jantar Mantar

It took us almost 2.5 to 3 hours to cover these places.

1230PM-2PM - We stopped at a restaurant to treat ourselves to local cuisine and then headed to the Hotel Trident. We were received very warmly and shown to our room. This was pretty comfortable with balcony opening to the garden. We rested a while and then planned to continue with our tour.

3PM - 7PM - We started on a visit to Nahargard Fort. On way we were shown a spot where a scene of the Rang De Basanti was shot.

End of the day - With dinner at room.

28th Mar 09 (Day 2)

9AM - Had breakfast in restaurant.

930AM - 930PM - Our cab arrived and we started for a tour of Jaipur. We visited

1. Amer Fort (Had Elephant Ride :) )

2. Jaigarh Fort

3. Gomukh Ram temple (on way to Chokhi Dhani)

4. Chokhi Dhani (Had amazing time there, excellent food)

29th Mar 09 (Day 3)

9AM - Had breakfast in restaurant.

930AM - 1230PM - As we were leaving by afternoon we thought of spending the morning in buying few souvenirs.

4PM - Took flight back to Hyderabad.

Summary

The vacation was almost a whirlwind as we rushed from one place to the other and tried to cover as many spots in 2 days as possible. It was exciting and Forts were very enchanting with their history and architecture.