New Zealand

Travel dates: Dec '10-Jan '11

Oftentimes New Zealand is combined with Australia or one of the Pacific Islands in a vacation itinerary, but we found that even 11 days aren't enough to do justice to the greenest country ever. It is definitely an outdoor traveler's paradise. We covered about 3/4 of the South Island and went to a few spots on the North Island during our stay.

Highlights: Queenstown, adrenaline pumping activities, Milford and Doubtful Sounds, Bay of Islands, Waitomo Caves and driving through the NZ flora

What we would do differently: Our experience with Wellington was very dissatisfactory. Perhaps it was because we went during the holidays? Anyway, if we were to do this itinerary over, we would have shortened our visit to this city by a day and flown to the South Island rather than taking the 3 hour long ferry. This would also have allowed us to check out the award winning wineries in Marlborough. We would also also have done some sort of glacial walking activity at Franz Josef Glacier. Another day could have been easily spent in Queenstown just to take in more of its quaintness. The Southern Scenic Route that we took from Te Anau to Dunedin wasn't any more scenic than other roads we had driven through already. The unique selling proposition of this scenic route is the scenic stops along the way, like McLean Falls, Purakanui Falls and Cathedral Caves (which are only accessible during low tides). You'll be able to enjoy those better if you rented an RV and drove at leisure, stopping to wait out the high tide if necessary. So I think we would rather have driven directly to Dunedin through the inland route, or even flown if it was economical. This would have given us more time to check out Dunedin, Penguin Place - a conservation reserve dedicated to saving the elusive yellow eyed Otago Penguins, and Moeraki Boulder Beach (pictured on the right).

We would also have booked a scuba diving excursion in the Bay of Islands or Tutukaka in advance had we known we couldn't do walk-ins on the day of, since most of them are day-long activities starting at 8am or 11am. In Waitomo, we would also have done the 7 hour long Lost World excursion instead of the 4 hour one that we did, because I strongly believe it would have enhanced our experience that much more (especially since I could see the cave's ceiling filled with glowworms in the next section - that was the path for the 7 hr tour. We had to turn back around since we were on the 4 hr one).

If we had more time: Another way to think of this is which places would we check out on our next visit to New Zealand. Starting from the North Island, I'd love to check out Cape Reinga where the waters from the Tasman Sea meet the Pacific Ocean, forming the starting point for the famous 90 mile beach. I'd also love to check out the Coromandel Peninsula and some of the awesome beaches around there. Tongariro National Park, where Mordor (Mount Doom) was shot, would be a great place to drive through. I would also want to spend a day near Lake Taupo, kayaking the waters of the lake and immersing myself in the Maori rock carvings (pictured on the left). The drive from Manukau to Napier is supposed to be very scenic too, highlights of which include the mural art in Katikati and New Zealand's longest wharf in Tolaga Bay.

In the South Island, I would spend a day in Nelson, kayaking through the waters of the Picton and Marlborough Sounds. I would also like to kayak in Abel Tasman National Park, as we didn't get to do it this time due to bad weather. Arthur's Pass National Park and Mt. Cook National Park seem to have great vistas of the surrounding areas "NZ Alps". I would also like to explore the Otago peninsula a little more (areas around Dunedin). Stewart Island, which is the southernmost point of New Zealand, has tours through Rakiura National Park where you can spot kiwis in the wild. I would also love to hike one of the tracks in Milford or Doubtful Sound, and if possible, check out Dusky Sound, which is the least accessible and the largest of the fjords in New Zealand. I would also love to do a Lord of the Rings Tour (LOTR) around Glenorchy, Wanaka and Queenstown. There are plenty of organizations that offer many different kinds of LOTR tours! I think it would take a good couple of months to thoroughly explore all of New Zealand!

Prices: The New Zealand dollar is not very cost effective, but is not as expensive as the Euro either when it comes to exchange rates with the US dollar (when we visited). Meals were not cheap, and the activities were a lot more expensive than if you were to do them elsewhere in the US (sky diving, scuba diving, white water rafting, etc.). I guess that's the price you pay for the view!

Transportation: It is very easy to get around in New Zealand. A US driver's license can allow you to rent a car that can take you everywhere in the country. You can even bring the car on the ferry from the North Island to the South, or better yet, just drop it off at the rental company center at the ferry terminal and pick one up at your destination ferry terminal, all allowed within the same contract (you will have to pay extra if you pick up from airports or ferry terminals though). Directions are very simple in this country - you can either get a GPS to help guide you, or go purely by the maps you find at the i-SITE centers (the ubiquitous informational visitor centers at every tourist city). I printed out directions from Google Maps for every leg of our journey before we left for New Zealand. Armed with those and the local maps, it was a piece of cake navigating.

You can also have the i-SITE representatives book a seat on coaches/buses to take you from one city to the other, or scenic train rides as well. If you're planning on taking the ferry between North and South Islands, be sure to buy your tickets in advance, especially if you're traveling during the peak summer season. There are two carriers: Interislander and Bluebridge. You can either buy from them directly, or from the many online travel agents who provide tickets at discounted prices.

Another popular mode of transportation is a camper van/recreation vehicle. These can be rented, and parked at the many holiday parks available all over the country, often times right inside the tourist spots. There are very clean showers, bathrooms and kitchens at these holiday parks which make this mode of transportation ideal, especially since you will be cutting down commute time from town centers to the tourist spot you're trying to get to.

Best time to visit/weather: You will have plenty to do any time you visit this country. Spring and Fall in New Zealand (which is Fall and Spring in the northern hemisphere respectively) will give you fewer tourists (although we found very few people in the South Island even during the peak Christmas and New Year holiday season) and lower prices everywhere, with a very moderate climate. Summer in NZ (winter in the northern hemisphere) is of course a great time to visit the beaches of North Island. The South Island was still slightly chilly in December when we went (temperature was in the 60s). Winter in NZ (summer in northern hemisphere) will allow you to enjoy great powder in Queenstown, which is known for its world class skiing.

Doubtful and Milford Sounds are known to get rain constantly through the year. So expect sudden thunder storms when you visit them, and go prepared for one of the windiest cruise rides ever in Doubtful Sound.

Milford or Doubtful? I think any tourist who is strapped for time asks this question wondering where his/her time is better spent. I have to say (like everybody else) that each of these sounds has its own personality. Milford is shorter (cruise times are around 2 hours), has more dramatic vistas and has a wonderful drive leading up to the sound (2 hour drive each way, with many gorgeous vista points along the way). Doubtful Sound is farther away and harder to reach. So you have to first get on a ferry to go across Lake Manapouri, then jump on a coach/bus that takes you through the winding roads to the Sound, and then you board the cruise boat that takes you on a tour over the Sound. I found Doubtful Sound to be extremely raw when it came to nature - it was pure wilderness. It is much deeper and longer, and I would have definitely liked to have kayaked here. Since it takes so long to get there, it makes more sense to do the overnight cruise, where you kayak the first day, stay overnight on the boat enjoying the silence and bird sounds, and then you come back the next day after exploring more nooks of the Sound. I am very glad we saw both of these during our trip. I do have to warn you that the Doubtful Sound cruise is quite expensive, especially if you want to do the overnight kayak + cruise option!

Milford Sound (top) and Doubtful Sound (bottom)

Cuisine: To our surprise, we found Indian restaurants to be a dime a dozen all over in New Zealand, right along with Italian trattorias. There were many Chinese, Japanese and Korean restaurants too, but it was mostly American food (burgers, sandwiches and pies) that was found everywhere. They had some really good desserts everywhere we went too. There was no problem finding vegetarian food anywhere. However on longer drives, especially in the South Island, you won't find many eateries along the way except for a few in larger towns.

Stay: New Zealand is the most eco-friendly country I've been to. You can find bed and breakfasts that take you into the heart of the woods, or clean hostels right by the beach. Or you can drive your campervan/RV right into any tourist spot and make that your cave for the night. However if you're planning to visit during the peak summer season (December-January), then you better book your accommodation at least 3 months in advance.

People: The Kiwis (people of New Zealand) are very friendly and have an amazingly quirky sense of humor! Many of our activities were enjoyable largely because of their jovial attitude!

Wine Tasting: New Zealand's climate, very similar to California's, is very suitable for growing grapes that make beautiful Rieslings, Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs. The two famous areas that have wineries are Marlborough (near Nelson/Blenheim), and the Otago Valley near Queenstown. There are many other pockets that grow grapes all over the country as well. We visited some wineries in Martinborough (North Island) as well as some in Otago Valley (South Island).

Visa: US citizens don't need a visa, but Indian citizens do. It's $95 per application, and a family can file together in one application. More information can be found here.

West Coast Road Trip

Travel Dates: Last 4-5 days of November 2010

The West Coast of the United States, from California up to Washington, has an amazing coastline that renders itself for a very scenic road trip. The best time to do this drive would either be in the summer, or mid-fall when the fall colors are at their peak. Make sure you take along jackets and layered clothing as well as swim suits and sunblock, for you'll encounter weather as diverse as the landscape and culture.

Here are some suggestions on routes and pit stops you can take along your journey up/down the coast.

View West Coast Road Trip in a larger map

• Starting from San Diego, head up north along Hwy 5 through Los Angeles/Orange County to the scenic Pacific Coast Hwy 1
• Ventura and Oxnard areas are the starting point of many kayaking + camping combo tours on the Channel Islands. It's a great experience, especially in the summer. We had a good time with South Wind Kayaks.

• Santa Barbara area produces some great wines if you'd like to go wine tasting. The Los Olivos Prominade has 20 different tasting rooms, and more actual wineries you can drive to easily in the area. Some good places to eat in Santa Barbara are WoodStocks Pizza, Silvergreens (good salads), The Palace Grill (great cajun food, delicious whiskey breadpudding souffle) and Pascucci's (good pastas).
• Slightly up north from Santa Barbara is the small Dutch village of Solvang. It looks and feels just like a Dutch village - quaint and nice for a short stroll.
• Continuing north, you'll get to Pismo Beach which has huge sand dunes that you can go ATV'ing on while soaking up the view of the Pacific ocean. It's great fun for the whole family!

• After getting a workout on the sanddunes, head to the many mineral springs in the San Luis Obispo area. Many are free or have a small fee to use the springs which will leave your skin feeling nice the next day, like Sycamore Springs or Avila Springs
• After soaking in the rejuvenating springs, head on over to Palazzo Giusepe's for good upscale Italian food, or to Firestone's Grill for some sandwiches.
• From there, mosey onwards on Hwy 1 towards Morro Bay and San Simeon to check out the opulence of the infamous Hearst Castle

• Make your way north entering the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, where you can find more hot springs and a serene nature reserve apt for camping and biking in Big Sur.
• The artistic cultures of coastal towns of Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay have lots of activities going at any given time. Spend some leisurely time in these towns without the pressure of what to do next for a while
• From the San Francisco Bay Area, take Highway 101 (North) to the Scenic Hwy 1 (you can take a small detour through the famous vineyards of Napa Valley here before joining the rest of the trip too).

• Take Hwy 128 towards Mendocino and Fort Bragg to check out the quaint oceanside towns before joining Hwy 101 again.
• If there is still plenty of daylight, check out Avenue of the Giants along the way as you head north towards Eureka. Else, get yourself a nice log cabin and spend the night amidst the awesome giant redwoods in Avenue of the Giants.

DETOUR: Drive through Klamath National Forest to join Hwy 5 and continue driving towards Crater Lake National Park for a night or two of camping (take OR 234 E and then OR 62 E towards Crater Lake). Rejoin Hwy 101 for the rest of the route, or continue on Hwy 5 north towards Portland, Oregon)

• Drive through Redwood National Park (stopping to hike a few trails if you'd like)
• Go past Crescent City (not a great town to linger around in), crossing the California-Oregon border and spend a night in Brookings. The Best Western right on the beach is a great place to stay ($119 per night). There is also a farmers' market on Saturdays in the Harbor Village if you're interested in tasting some local food.


• Put your sunblock on and get ready for some great beaches next. First up, Pistol River Beach - a mixture of fine sand and washed up tree branches that create artistic sculptures on the very pretty beach.
• Further north, take a lunch break at Gold Beach after you've worked up some appetite hiking some of the many trails available right off the highway
• For some good old fun, try sand boarding or ATV'ing on the sand dunes that line up Florence's horizon. Then head east on Hwy 126 to join Hwy 5, heading north towards Portland, Oregon.
• You can easily spend an entire weekend in Portland doing a myriad of activities. It's a very lively town with eclectic people and very diverse cuisines and culture. The farmers' market on Saturdays is a great way to sample local art, food and culture. Portland's amazing food scene will have you yearning for more days in the city just to sample dishes from the numerous food carts, the infamous Voodoo donuts, and excellent restaurants like the Farm Cafe, Apizza Scholls and Santeria. Stay at The Viewpoint Inn, where they shot "Twilight", but also a beautiful place to have lunch/dinner if you can get reservations. It overlooks part of the Columbia River Gorge and is near the Lewis & Clark historic trail. Hiking trails with amazing vistas (like around Multnomah Falls) are abundant in and around Portland, so definitely take some time to lose yourself in nature's quietness.
• Make your way north on Hwy 5 for a relatively short drive towards Seattle. Amidst hanging out at Pike's Market Place, the waterfront wharf area, Space Needle, Snoqualmie Falls, the Troll under the bridge, Mt. Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park, you will have plenty of activities to occupy you over a long weekend!

Delicacies at Piroshky Piroshky, Pike Place, Seattle

If you're not tired from driving yet, you can choose to cross the US-Canada border from here to visit Vancouver as well, which has more sights to see and activities to do! Happy journey, drive safely and remember to buckle up!

For another perspective, here is an article on Jetsetter that talks about spending 72 hours off Highway 1, and a collection of sights crowdsourced by the travel magazine AFAR!

Many thanks to Cindy L and Kathleen M for contributing to this itinerary.

Yellowstone National Park

Travel Dates: Last weekend of July 2010

Yellowstone is the first national park in the United States after President Woodrow Wilson established the National Park services. It has long been a draw and we had been meaning to go for a long time. The weekend was the perfect opportunity to getaway. We decided to fly to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then drive to the South Entrance, making our way around the rest of the park in 2 days. However, we didn't get to the park until 4pm on Saturday, which left us with only 4 hours to explore before sunset. We had to be back in Salt Lake City by 9pm on Sunday, which meant we had to leave the park by 3pm at the latest.

In summary, 1 day and 1 night are not enough to enjoy and explore this 2.2 million acre park. Ideally, two full days and one night (hopefully camping) would be enough to hit the highlights without rushing, and give a chance to take a couple of short hikes as well.

Prices: The entrance fee for one vehicle is $25 and is valid for 7 consecutive days. This fee allows entrance for both the Grand Teton National Park as well as Yellowstone National Park. Motorcyclists have to pay $20, and bicyclists $12.

Transportation: We chose to fly to Salt Lake City on Friday night, stay the night there, then drove for 6.5 hours in our rental car to the South Entrance of Yellowstone on Saturday. We got lunch at Jackson Hole, and continued the roadtrip through Grand Teton National Park to the South Entrance. We exited the park via the West Entrance, driving down Idaho into Salt Lake City (5.5 hours). We flew out of Salt Lake City on Monday morning.

You could choose to fly into Jackson Hole airport, which should cut down your driving time to just 1.5 hours from there to the South Entrance, but I can't imagine those flights being cheap. Also the airport is only open seasonally, as are all entrances to Yellowstone except the north ones.

If you have a couple of families going, it might be worth it to drive from the San Francisco Bay Area to Yellowstone (16 hours).

Weather/Best time to visit: August-September or mid May-June before the summer crowds gather. Beware that most of the entrances to the park are closed before mid-May and after mid-September. There may also be construction happening on some of the internal roads, so do pay attention to the newsletter handed out by the ranger along with the park map when you first enter the park. During construction, the roads are typically closed between 10pm and 8am.

When we went, it was in the upper 70s and lower 80s (Fahrenheit). It was not too hot when you were driving with your windows down, but was when you were hiking.

Stay: You can choose to camp, but be sure to book campsites well in advance. The same goes for the many lodges within the park that are operated by Xanterra. If you want to take a chance, call the lodges the day before or the day of for any cancellations...and you might just get lucky! This website lets you browse through the lodges' availability and book them as well.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone, where prices for everything seem to be exorbitant!

Navigating the park: This is the high level map of the park

We went counter clock-wise, entering from the south, going straight towards Old Faithful, and then up towards Madison and Norris. We cut through to Canyon and went down to Lake, for Hayden Valley (that stretch between Canyon and Lake) is where you can see hundreds of bison grazing in the morning. Then we went back up to Canyon and further up towards Tower Falls/Tower-Roosevelt area. We made a left towards Mammoth, then down to Norris and Madison, and exited the park via the West Entrance.

Highlights of the park: Definitely don't miss the Old Faithful. The geyser erupts approximately every 90 minutes, and if you have to wait, you can "hike" around the Upper Geyser Basin that the Old Faithful is part of. Don't miss the Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin. The Fountain Paint Pot and Artists Paintpots in the Lower Geyser Basin and Norris Geyser Basin accordingly are different and interesting, with bubbling mud and murky sulfur ditches. Definitely hang out in the park till after dusk/sunset for many animals come out to graze then. I've heard bears come out around 4 or 5pm, and we saw many elk and bison around 8pm.

The mud volcano and Sulphur Caldron in the Hayden Valley are nothing spectacular. However the Artist Point in Canyon Village has great vistas of Upper and Lower Falls, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The road to Tower-Roosevelt, and then onwards to Mammoth Hot Springs through the northern parts of the park have intriguing and varied rock formations along the canyon amidst vast fields full of yellow, purple and pink wild flowers.

If you're short on time, you can easily skip Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces as they have "dried up" over the years. Due to geothermal activity underneath, many of the gaps have clogged, preventing the scalding water to ooze out. No scalding water = no bacteria growth = no colorful calcite formations. You can also skip the Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin, which is labeled as the world's tallest geyser...except it hasn't erupted to its tallest potential since 2005!

Also be warned that if you're checking out Hayden Valley in the morning/evening, don't be in a hurry, for you're not going to get anywhere until the hundreds of bison are done crossing the street...and they take their time! You just have to wait patiently for them to pass, or till a ranger or a huge tourist coach bus come by to nudge these beasts along.

Resources/Links: These are the four sites I found quite useful in determining our visit to Yellowstone

• Wikitravel information on Yellowstone National Park
• Visit Yellowstone
• Lodges at Yellowstone
• Discover Yellowstone
• National Park Service site

Happy Camping!

Brazil Itinerary

We traveled to 4 places in 13 days (including travel time), as shown in the map below and outlined in the details below the map. We flew in and out of Brazil through Manaus, and we got to the 4 cities within Brazil using the Brazil Airpass on the domestic airlines 'TAM'.

Days 1-4: Rio de Janeiro (A)

• Surf and sand time along the beautiful adjacent beaches: Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana
• Hired a taxi to take us to Corcovado hill where the symbol of Brazil, the "Christo Redentor" statue is casting its shadow over the entire city. I wanted to take the train up the hill, but it worked out better to go in a taxi given our schedule.

• Walked around the energetic Santa Teresa neighborhood
• Went to Pão de Açúcar, also known as Sugar Loaf Mountain, to check out the gorgeous sunset and the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro
• Enjoyed and participated in the many street parades that where people were pre-partying before Carnaval officially started
• Partied all night (only one of the two nights of Carnaval) with the locals in sambódromo while watching many samba schools compete

Other options for activities in Rio that we did not get to (these are suggestions from Catia, a friend of my good friend Anjali Bhantia):

• Lots of great places to have coffee in Rio: Armazem do Cafe and Alessandro & Frederico, both in Ipanema, and cafes inside bookstores like Livraria da Travessa, in Ipanema, Livraria Argumento, in Leblon, Livraria Letras e Espressões in Ipanema and Leblon
• If you want an interesting view of the famous Copacabana beach, you could go to the Forte de Copacabana, a former military fort, now a museum open to the public which has a restaurant and a great view of the beach. These military forts usually have great views of the city and are very safe places to hang around. There is also one with a steep way on the other side of the Copacabana beach called Forte do Leme but it is not as interesting
• There are also good hiking areas but you should always use the assistance of guides. The most famous one is the Pedra da Gavea hiking. There are specialized companies which provide this kind of service


• Hang-gliding is a very popular activity where tourists glide from near the twin peaks of Leblon all the way down to the beach. Rio Turismo Radical and Just Fly Rio are two of many companies that offer this activity. There were lots of people selling these activities in front of the entrance to Sugar Loaf Mountain. If you are keen on doing this, buy tickets the day you get to Rio as they tend to sell out. The activity is also very weather-dependent.
• Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas - A large lagoon in the middle of South Zone, with great views to Corcovado and Ipanema and Leblon beaches; there are skating and jogging fields all around it
• Jardim Botanico - The Botanical Garden, planted up in the 1800s. It is both a park and a scientific laboratory. If you take the bus note that Jardim Botanico is also the name of a neighborhood so make sure you take the right one to the entrance. The admission is $4. The gardens are well kept and very lush. Not far from the cafe, first you hear swooshing sounds. Look up and you can see small monkeys swinging from tree to tree
• MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna (Museum of Modern Art) - The second most important contemporary art museum in Brazil, after MASP (downtown, next to Santos Dumont airport). Modernist architecture spreading over almost the sea
• Niteroi – island off of Rio coast, good contemporary art museum with a modern building, Itcoataria beach is good.
• Kayaking - The Bay of Guanabara is perfect for kayaking. Avid paddler and guide Simone Miranda Duarte (tel. 021/2541-6437 or 021/9954-9632) runs guided tours out of Praia Vermelha. Her rate is R$250 (US$105) per 4-hour trip, including equipment and English-speaking guide. This works out to R$125 (US$52) per person for two, R$63 (US$26) per person with four people, and R$50 (US$21) per person for a group of five. The guides at Rio Hiking (tel. 021/9721-0594; www.riohiking.com.br) also organize kayaking tours out of Praia Vermelha in Urca out and around some of the small islands. The fiberglass kayaks aren't quite up to North American quality, but it's nice to be on the water. Cost is R$155 (US$65) for a half-day tour, including transfers, refreshments, and English-speaking guide.
• Tijuca Park/Forest – The rainforest surrounding Corcovado hill. Lots of waterfalls, animals and greenery
• The towns around Rio with great beaches and nature are: Buzios, Parati/Paraty (it's halfway between Rio and São Paulo) and Ilha Grande (see the next bullet)
• Ilha Grande – a beautiful and lush island off the mainland in the region of Angra dos Reis, near Rio. Other islands in the region of Itacuruca are popular as well
• For diving, people usually go to Arraial do Cabo

Nightlife:

• Lapa is THE place. There are great samba and Brazilian music places there with lots of young people and great entertainment. Two of the most famous are: Carioca da Gema and Rio Scenarium.
• But there are other places in the same area where you can dance and see concerts of different styles such as Circo Voador, Fundacao Progresso and Teatro Odisseia.
• Usually during the summer, there are concerts and parties at night in the Sugar Loaf area. They are great, usually with famous Brazilian musicians and DJs and the place is fantastic, offering a great view of the city at night. The event is called Oi Noites Cariocas.
• Some of my friends usually go to a nightclub called 00 (zero, zero) in Gavea but I am not sure if it's really trendy this summer.
• There is also a place called Baixo Gavea where many young people hang around at night near the bars.
• Other places like this are Cobal do Leblon and again Lapa.

• Melt - 47 Rua Rita Ludolf Leblon - Restaurant and lounge bar popular with the Carioca high society. Inspired by New York lounge bars, it's dark and relaxed with soft sofas and cushions to Melt‚ into - so to speak. The cosmopolitan menu in the open-plan dining area combines Tex-Mex with Thai delights and apart from regular cocktails in the lunge bar the Caiparoskas are top notch - there are tasty Belgian beers to get the juices flowing too. The atmosphere heats up later on with sounds from samba to techno and trip-hop and you'll want to get close to some of the lovelies who spin their tails on the dance floor.
• Academia de Cachaca - 26 Rua Conde de Bernadotte Leblon, A laid-back yet up-market Leblon classic specialising in North East Brazilian food and great cocktails all built from the traditional Brazilian spirit of cachaca. There are at least 500 varieties of the potion to choose from - served up either straight, as traditional Caiparinhas, or as colourful fruity concoctions by barmen who are quite clearly pass masters. Try the passion-fruit Caiparinha with real fruit floating inside - best sipped while snacking on something like a manioc croquette with cream cheese. Our kind of academy!
• Bar d’Hotel - 696 Avenida Delfim Moreira Marina Hotel, Sexy, star-filled hangout for the beautiful people with a beautiful view of the ocean - not that much use is made of it. And why stare at the ocean when glamorous customers in various stages of designer undress are also on view? Food is fancy, finessed Italian fare, the menu appearing on a chalk board ferried over by a dashing waiter, but the cocktails are the real draw. Potent, inventive creations such as the Sake Caipirinha and a champagne cocktail with a lemon sorbet mixer proving particularly popular

Click here for her list of Vegetarian friendly restaurants in Rio.

Day 5: Foz do Iguaçu (B)

• We spent half a day checking out the Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls

Days 6,7: Salvador (C)

• Crazy night of Carnaval in its rawest state!
• Igreja de Sao Francisco - The famous San Francisco church
• Forte de Sao Marcelo - A fort along the picturesque beach
• The Historic Lighthouse
• Capoeira performance by the locals. Capoeira originated in Salvador!

Days 8-12: Manaus (D)

• Meeting of the Waters - where water from two rivers (Rio Negro and Rio Solimões) don't mix as their constituencies are very different
• Navigated the pitch darkness in kayaks to spot caimans
• Explored the flooded forest ecosystem in kayaks while following howler monkeys and looking for sloths
• Pink dolphin spotting
• Spear fishing and Piranha fishing
• Witnessed a gorgeous Amazonian sunset and moonrise at Lake Mira, which is just a section of stagnant water amidst a tributary
• Hiked within the rainforest and camping in the jungle on hammocks
• Visited a local family and 'harvested' branches of açaí, and helped make delicious açaí juice freshly crushed and sieved in front of us
• All of the above was part of an all-inclusive package deal we found through Amazon Riders
• Teatro Amazonas - the ornate opera house located in Manaus
• My lunch at an all vegetarian restaurant, Casa da Pomonha, right next to Teatro Amazonas
• The tangy and spicy tacacá soup at the central plaza that made your tongue go numb for a few minutes

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Vegetarian Friendly Restaurant Recommendations in Rio de Janeiro:

Zaza Bistro Tropical

Rua Joana Angelica 40, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Phone: 21-2247-9101

Saturday and Sunday for lunch only. (Expensive, but worth it. Snazzy)

Celeiro

R. Dias Ferreira 199, Leblon, tel 2274-7843

Site: Celeiro

Comment: Ambitious with over 40 different salads and a strong organic profile, only open for lunch. (lots of good reviews!)

Associação Macrobiotica

Praça Mahatma Ghandi 2 nr 104, Centro, tel 2220-7585

Comment: Macrobiotic, vegan-friendly

Health's

R. Senador Dantas 84 Store G, Centro, tel 2240-5388

Comment: Lacto, juice bar, salad bar

Metamorfose

R. Santa Luzia 405 nr 207, Centro, tel 2262-6306

Comment: Macrobiotic, closed Sunday

Reino Vegetal

R. Luiz de Camões 98, Centro, tel 2221-7416

Restaurante Tempeh

R. Primeiro de Março 24, Centro, tel 2232-8007

Comment: Vegan, buffet, salad-bar

Restaurante Vegetariano Beterraba

R. da Alfândega 25, Centro, tel 2253-7460

Type of Food: Vegan

Universo Organico

R. Conde de Bernadote 26, Leblon, tel 2274-8983

Comment: Raw, vegan, organic, juice bar, organic natural foods market and raw food restaurant. (reviews look really good!)

Vegan Vegan

R. Voluntários da Pátria 402, Botafogo tel 2286-7088

Comment: Yes, vegan. (reviews look good!)

Empório Saúde

R. Visconde de Pirajá, Ipanema, tel 2522-1494

Comment: Vegetarian

Gávea Integral

R. Marquês de São Vicente 75, Gávea, tel 2512-2283

Green

R. do Carmo 38, Centro, tel 2252-5356

Comment: One of the first vegetarian restaurants in Rio.

Le Cafè Vert

R. Barão de Jaguaripe 182, Ipanema, tel 2522-0669

Sabor Saúde

R. da Quitanda 21, Centro, tel 2252-6041

Verde Vício

R. Buenos Aires 22, Centro, tel 2233-9602

Restaurante Vegetariano Beterraba (Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurant)

Rua da Alfândega, 25 A - Centro, Rio De Janeiro

55-21-2253-7460

Type: Vegan-friendly, Brazilian, Not 100% Vegetarian (looks good!)

Bistrô do Paço

Praça Quinze 48, Centro, Rio de Janeiro 021/2262-3613

A good option for a light lunch, the daily buffet of salads (R$14 per person) includes carrot salad with oranges, potatoes, and apples. You also can try an onion, cheese, or spinach quiche.

Vegetariano Social Clube

Rua Conde de Bernadotte 26, Loja L, Leblon, Rio de Janeiro 021/2294-5200

Vegan restaurants are rare in Rio, and this is by far the most sophisticated. The small eatery has carefully prepared dishes free of any animal products that go much beyond brown rice or burdock. Sunday and Wed for traditional Brazilian food. Sunday is lunch only.

Doce Delícia

Ipanema, Rua Anibal de Mendonça, 55C

2259-0239

New Natural

Ipanema, Rua Barão da Torre, 173 (Good acai juice!)

2287-0301

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São Paulo

We did not visit São Paulo, but here are some recommendations from Catia and Anjali for what to check out and where to eat in this bustling city:

• There is a very interesting Japanese neighborhood, called Bairro da Liberdade with a huge Japanese colony (the largest concentration of Japanese people outside Japan)
• An interesting park (Ibirapuera)
• Sophisticated places to visit include the Jardins, Iguatemi, Oscar Freire Street, Iguatemi Shopping Mall, Cidade Jardim Shopping Mall, Daslu (uber chic mega store)
• There are also good art museums and a great nightlife with lots of different and excelent restaurants, clubs and bars
• As for day trips, people usually go to Guaruja and Ibatuba for the beach but I don't think these places are as great as the ones near Rio.

Vegetarian Friendly Restaurant Recommendations in São Paulo:

BioAlternativa

Alameda Santos, 2214, São Paulo (at Cerqueira Cesar, Jardins, Metro: Consolação, between Haddock Lobo St and Bela Cintra Vegetarian and organic restaurant. Menu features pilaf, veggiemeats, tofu, yaki soba noodles, banana curry, mushroom risotto, and more. Segunda a sexta das 12 às 15 horas, sábado das 12 às 22 horas, domingo das 12 às 16 horas.

Vegacy

Galeria Nova Augusta, Rua Augusta - 2077 - Loja 03

Cozinha vegetariana. Sao Paulo vegetarian restaurant, more like an eat-run-back-to-work kind of place. Friendly service. Maybe closes around 4pm.

Vegethus Restaurante Vegetariano

Rua Padre Machado, 51, São Paulo (at Rua Domingos de Moraes, próximo ao metro Santa Cruz, Via Mariana, Zona Sul)

Sao Paulo vegetarian restaurant. Mostly vegan with some organic options. Accept credit cards. Open daily for lunch. Segunda a sexta das 11:30 às 15 horas, domingo das 11:30 às 16 horas.

Fulo

Rua Haddock Lobo, 899, São Paulo

Fulô offers organic food and drinks in a charming setting. Open 11:30am-11:30pm.

Galleria Organica

rua Oscar Freire, 2273, São Paulo (at metro Sumarê)

Galleria Orgânica is an organic vegetarian restaurant using certified organic ingredients and featuring 5 types of organic wine and 1 Brasillian organic beer. Lunch is served Mon-Sat 11am-3pm with choice of either cooked or raw and includes a soup, salad, and dessert for R$16. The pizzeria features all-you-can-eat for R$25, and is open Thur-Sun 7pm-11pm. Fri-Sat nights features after hours pizza-lounge with dj spinning music.

Maha Mantra

Rua Fradique Coutinho, 766, São Paulo (at Vila Madalena)

New ownership since April 2008. Lassi, chutney, pakoda, poori, feijoada vegetariana, organic salads. Cash only. Closed Monday.

Cheiro Verde

Rua Peisoto Gomide, 1078, Jardim Paulista, São Paulo

A la carte menu dining. Open Mon-Fri 11:30-15:00, Sat-Sun 12:00-17:00.

Alcaparra

Av. Pompéia, 2544, São Paulo (at Sumarezinho)

Try the Shiitake strogonoff on Sundays. Segunda à sexta das 11:30 às 15:30 horas, sábado e domingo das 11 às 16 horas.

Ananta

Rua dos Buritis, 54, Loja 31 - Shopping Jabaquara

Brazilian, Juice bar

Anna Prem

Rua Muniz de Souza, 1170 (01534-001) (at front of Aclimação Park)

Lacto, Vegan-friendly, Organic, Indian, International, Juice bar, Delivery

Bistrô e Restaurante Natural. The restaurant occupies two levels of the house while the bistro is at front by the sidewalk. Features four daily options of combinations and 2 options of juice and dessert.

Casa do Natural

Rua Fradique Coutinho, 910, São Paulo (at Vila Madalena)

Also store selling lots of natural products. Almoço diariamente das 12 às 16 horas domingos e feriados cardápios especiais.

Casa Prema

Rua Diogo Moreira, 312, Pinheiros

Veggie buffet. Open Mon-Fri 11.30-15, Sat 11.30-15.30.

Cereal Brasil

Rua Rodésia, 242, Vila Madalena

Ovo, Lacto, Vegan-friendly, Brazilian, International, Buffet

Espaco Improprio

R. Dona Antônia de Queiróz, 40, Bela Vista

Vegan, Fast food, Salad bar, Juice bar, Brazilian

Espaço Impróprio is a vegan restaurant in Sao Paulo. Open Tue-Sun 10-23.

Frazao Vegetariano

Rua Chafic Maluf, 193, Brooklin

Ovo, Lacto, Vegan-friendly, Brazilian, Buffet, Juice bar

Gostoso Restaurante

Rua Frei Gaspar 71, Centro Santos, São Paulo

Simple place that's hidden. Look for the little sign inside the hall up the stairs. Approximately 10 reais for buffet that includes drink and dessert. Non smoking.

Recanto Vegetariano

Rua Florida, 1442, São Paulo (at Brooklim, a uma quadra da Av. Eng. Luís Carlos Berrini na praça Lions Monções)

Large buffet spread featuring salads, breads, fruits, and hot foods. Almoço das 11:30h às 15:00h.

Brazil

Travel Dates: February-March 2009

We had been wanting to go to Brazil for a long time, especially to witness the craze and see if there was any truth to all the stories we had heard about the infamous Carnaval. I also had lots of images of the rainforest and the mighty Amazon that all put together made the country quite mysterious and fascinating. What we didn't realize is Brazil is huge in terms of geography. Getting from one place to another, especially airfare and that too during Carnaval, was getting very expensive and long. After doing some research, we zeroed in on visiting Rio de Janeiro, Foz do Iguaçu (home to the famous Iguassu Falls), Salvador da Bahia, and Manaus (biggest city in the state of Amazonas and embarkation point to many a rainforest adventures). Salvador didn't live up to its hype for us, though it was a quaint little colonial town that was the entry point for a lot of Africans into the country who were brought in by the Portuguese as slaves.

If we had more time: We would have rather cut our rainforest adventure short to 2-3 days (we spent 4 days 3 nights there) and instead visited the azure oases and white sands within the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. The next time we come back to Brazil, we would also like to check out Chapada Diamantina National Park, Pantanal (the world's largest wetland), Paraty (the colonial town that's nestled between Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro), the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, and of course Rio de Janeiro. Rio is one of the most beautiful places we've been to in terms of diversity of nature as well as the people!

Prices: At the time, one Brazillian Reais/Real was worth around $0.40. Other than local foods at the hole-in-the-wall places or stalls along the streets, the food was not necessarily cheap. The fresh fruit juices, especially açaí berry smoothies were absolutely delicious and inexpensive! The bottled açaí stuff you get here doesn't even come close to the amazing goodness of the non-preserved real açaí in Brazil! Be prepared for everything to get exponentially expensive during Carnaval time.

Transportation: As mentioned above, you may not realize how huge Brazil is until you start researching transportation options for getting from one city to another. It took a 6-hour flight to get from Manaus (Amazon area) to Rio de Janeiro - the same amount of time it takes to fly coast-to-coast in the US! The best thing to do to avoid super expensive a la carte flight prices is to buy an airpass. We bought the Brazil Air Pass offered by the Brazillian airlines TAM. The idea is you use 1 coupon per leg of your flight, and you pay a certain amount based on how many "coupons" you need. We were visiting 4 places in Brazil, hence we got the first level pass, which allows 1-4 coupons/stops. It's in your best interest to find non-stop flights between the cities you want to go to so you don't have to spend coupons unnecessarily.

However, note that if there's an included stop-over at a city in your flight, then you don't have to spend your coupon over it. For example, we landed from the US into Manaus, then took a flight from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro, which was 1 coupon. However, it stopped at Brasilia en-route for a connecting flight and we didn't have to spend an extra coupon (1 for Manaus-Brasilia, and 1 more for Brasilia-Rio). When you call TAM to buy the air pass, be sure to have decided on which cities you want to visit and are flexible in terms of dates and even the sequence of your visit. We had to change the sequence of our visits to the cities based on the availability of the non-stop flights. It cost us $730 each for the airpass (which was cheaper than what the individual flights would have cost us all summed up!). If you buy the international airfare with TAM as well, you'll get a discount on the Brazil airpass. We only got a partial discount because we had already booked our international flights on Delta, which is a TAM partner.

Within Rio de Janeiro, we either took taxis, trams or the subway/metro to get to places. We took the bus to get to Iguassu Falls and back to our hostel/airport, and we took taxis around in Salvador. In Manaus, we got a package deal for the rainforest adventure which included all transfers, including to/from airport. More about that in just a bit.

Weather/Best time to visit: It was only hot and humid in Manaus (rainforest) when we went. The weather in Rio de Janeiro was actually in the pleasant mid-70's. It was warm (80's) and humid at both Iguassu Falls and Manaus, but not unbearably so. I suppose early winter in North America, which is late spring/early summer in the southern hemisphere, should be a pleasant time to visit Brazil as well.

Also, be sure to not visit Salvador on Ash Wednesday, which is the day after a week long celebration of Carnaval, when the place is almost dead. Everyone's recuperating from the hedonistic festivities and a lot of the popular spots (like churches, etc.) are also closed!

It was rainy season in the Amazon when we went, which proved advantageous to us because the forest floor was flooded and we were able to explore deeper on canoes rather than walking/hiking. It also made for extremely humid conditions with no breeze when you're within the forest - an almost suffocating situation when you're covered with bug spray, sleeping in hammocks stacked next to each other like sardines, with mosquito nets around each hammock. Take a well ventilated rain jacket with you for it can start pouring at any time as well!

Carnaval: The two biggest Carnavals in Brazil are in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. They're both quite different, and we went to both (kinda), so here's what you need to know for both.

In Rio, there are several Samba schools that compete with each other to be able to present their school's floats in the infamous carnaval parade in the Sambódromo. Sambódromo is actually a street on which the parades go by, but it's become somewhat akin to a stadium now with bleachers built on both sides for audience to view the parades from. Only around 14 Samba schools are chosen to participate in this 2 day long parade which starts at 9pm and ends at around 9am each day. The winning school that has the best theme and dancing and costumes gets the bragging rights till the next year's competition. Each school gets 1 hour 20 minutes to complete the parade down the street, showing their tricks and everything along the way. During the entire time a school is on, if you're in the bleachers sitting with its supporters, they will not sit down till the parade is finished! Brazilians know how to party, albeit on the bleachers! The judges are in the middle section, and of course the seats in those sections are more expensive than those in other sections. We also took the metro to the Sambódromo and walked with the crowd to where the entrances were.

The seats sell out up to a year in advance, and are MUCH cheaper if you know someone local there who can buy them for you. If you don't, like us, then just have a nice dinner the night you want to go, and arrive at the Sambódromo closer to midnight and bargain your way through buying the tickets from scalpers outside. Since the parade has already begun, the scalpers are willing to go lower on their asking price. Be careful, but also confident. I bargained in Spanish, and once we bought the tickets (which is an eletronic card key that you swipe to get through), one of us tried it out to see if it worked. Once it did, I paid the money in full (came out to $115 per person) and the rest of us went through as well without any hiccups!

Above is a picture of Sambódromo's layout. The bleachers are divided into sectors, and the parade starts from Sector 1 and ends at the arch/Sector 13. Sectors 3, 5, and 7 are great for viewing the entire parade. Sector 9 is the tourist section with bilingual guides, which I don't think is worth it because you won't be able to hear them anyway. There's so much noise and dancing around you all the time! We were in Sector 5, across from the judges, so we got to see a lot of the schools' tricks (albeit the back view). We left at around 6am (competition/party was still going on) and found that the wait for taxis was at least 3 hours. We thought of taking the metro back, but found a lone taxi along the road and came back to the hotel in that (he charged us $30, which is 5x more expensive and he knew if we wouldn't pay, somebody else would).

In Salvador, the Carnaval is a lot more "raw". The parades go through actual streets and there are 3 or 4 different circuits. Makeshift bleachers are built on either side of the street and seats are sold to people. If you want to participate *in* the parade, you have to buy a t-shirt representing the group you want to participate with. The t-shirt costs as much as $100-500. The safest place, we were told, was to be within the group, for if you're a spectator outside, unless you're on the bleachers, you are guaranteed to be groped by everybody. There are no huge costumes or floats here - each group just has a big truck with lots of speakers on it. There's a singer who jumps to the top of the truck and starts singing karaoke style as the truck parades down the streets, and its "groupies" follow along behind.

Amazonian Rainforest Adventure: Having gone all the way out there, we were very keen on spending some quality time in the rainforest. After doing some online research, we chose Amazon Riders as the company to go with. We went with their "Anaconda 2" package deal, which was 4 days 3 nights of an all-inclusive adventure. Check out the link for details on what was covered in the package, but the highlights were staying in a jungle lodge (quite rustic, perhaps a 1 or 2 star), meeting other travelers like us, camping in the rainforest on hammocks, exploring the rainforest and listening to the howler monkeys, caiman spotting at night, pink dolphin spotting (they look like flying/swimming pigs!), "harvesting" açaí berries and making + consuming fresh açaí juice, and playing with a wild sloth! They also took great care to cook vegetarian meals first and separately from the non-vegetarian dishes, which was perfect too!

We had a very good experience with these guys. We had one English speaking guide and another local Brazilian guide who only spoke Portuguese and drank cachaça like it was water! They customize these packages for you, like if you wanted 3 days 2 nights instead, and they're also flexible. We didn't really want to spend another night camping in the rainforest as Nishant got sick, so we came back to the lodge the 3rd night. We paid $250 all inclusive, including a hotel night's stay the 4th night since our flight was on the 5th morning. In retrospect, I think we should have done a 3 day 2 night package and checked out Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in the extra 2.5 days we had!

Cuisine: Brazil is a very big meat eating country. There are churrascarias (Brazilian steak houses) everywhere, providing endless supply of meat selections on gigantic skewers brought to the table. Their national dish seems to be Feijoada, which is a black bean stew with a variety of pig parts. Simple tomato garlic spaghetti is served as a side almost everywhere, along with manioc flour (from the cassava/tapioca root) and a shot of cachaça (sugarcane liquor) to wash it all down. At the hostel we stayed near Iguassu Falls, the hostess made special vegetarian feijoada for my friend and me, which was pretty much like a black bean chili. Brazil has really tasty cheese breads called Pao de Queijo, and even more amazing fresh fruit juices, including soothing coconut water at all beaches! I could have lived off those entirely. It's a sin that the US doesn't have decent fresh fruit juices, and no, Jamba Juice does not even come close! Guarana is another fruit of the Amazons that is supposed to be an energy booster. Needless to say they would find a way to commercialize it in the form of an "energy drink". It tasted alright...quite a bit like the drink 'Inca Cola' from Peru, or Mountain Dew with a slight after-taste.

Salvador had more interesting flavors in its dishes due to the African influence. The dishes used a lot more palm oil and quite a lot of pimento oil (oil with spicy pimento peppers in them). One of my favorite dishes was Acarajé, which is lentils fried in palm oil (a little like larger falafels) cut in half and stuffed with cucumber salad, pimento oil and shrimp. I got the non-shrimp version of course, and was delicious!

If feijoada is their national dish, Caipirinha (pronounced as 'kai-pi-rinya') is their national drink, made out of the ubiquitous cachaça. It is quite refreshing actually :)

Vegetarian Acaraje with tamarind coconut dessert (left) and Feijoada (right)

Stay: We really wanted to stay at some of the quaint Posadas, or bed and breakfast places, but most of them were booked during Carnaval, and if not, they required a minimum of 7 day stay. Hence we ended up staying at chain hotels. We stayed at a very lovely hostel in Foz do Iguaçu called Hostel Natura. And of course in the Amazon rainforest, we stayed two nights in the jungle lodge, one night under the stars in the rainforest, and one night at a hotel.

Language/People: Portuguese is the language that's widely spoken throughout Brazil, but a majority of them also understand Spanish, which was a great help for us! I could read Portuguese and infer the meaning of phrases, however when I heard the language, it was impossible for me to follow! The people were all quite pleasant. We didn't have any bad encounters with anybody from the wrong side of the neighborhood as we were careful about where we went and went only to well lit areas with a lot of people. That being said, we didn't feel the least bit threatened or scared walking along the beaches of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana at night.

And I don't need to tell you that the people in Rio de Janeiro are just as beautiful as the city itself. We got so tired of seeing people with six-pack abs! And to our surprise, Brazilians really like Indians and all things Indian! They even have a soap opera called "Caminho das Indias" (translates to 'The Indian Way/Street') which has Brazilian stars speaking in Portuguese but the plot is entirely like a Bollywood movie! Watch a clip here :) We befriended a Brazilian girl on our way to Brazil and she said I looked like one of the actors on the show! :)

Visa Requirements: It costs $130 for US citizens to obtain a Brazilian visa! The Brazilian consulate in San Francisco was not shy in disclosing the reason, as it was stuck on posters all over their wall: They were just reciprocating the fees US has posed Brazilian citizens to enter the US! It's only $20 for Indian citizens. We got our visas in a week (we dropped off our passports and picked them up a week later).

The highlight of this trip was definitely Rio de Janeiro! But there's still so much to see...we will definitely be back!