Week 2 ~ Aug 26th 2006
I once went to an aquarium in Fisherman's Wharf (the aquarium of the bay) but was disappointed by its small size and not so great collection of sea creatures. I was remarking this to my acquaintance at the bus stop who suggested that I take a look at the aquarium in Monterey bay which he said was by far the largest aquarium in california and more importantly it housed sharks. Now who would miss the oppertunity to see a shark. I checked the bay guide and spotted a tour that offered visit to Monterey and carmel bays in a day
The tour was supposed to start from the same Hyatt residency (From where I had boarded the bus the previous week to NAPA) at around the same time. During the last trip to NAPA, I was the only tourist who was single and companionless but this time I could spot many others. Our driver was a heavily accented latino called Sylvio. We started the tour with a latino joke and travelled along highway 1. This is the most scenic route I have ever seen. It has mountains on one side and the ocean on the other with people surfing/fishing all along (who would want to surf/swim in such cold weather). Slyvio passed us photos of the elephant seals and gave us an insight on their attraction. The elephant seals have a trunk like an elephant and usually arrive at the bay during december to march for mating. They are harmless creatures. There is a light house by the bay which has since been abandoned. The elephant seals use the light house as their house
We arrived in Monterey around noon. The tour includes the optional aquarium visit and many decided to skip it. The aquarium had 2 decks and plenty to offer. I started with the jelly fish collections. The jelly fish are so amazing creatures in that they are too poisonous with regards to their shape and size. There were many collections on display and I was particularly fascinated with the transparent ones. Next was the shark section. I had a glimpse of the stinger rays and other ray sharks. The museum guide informed us that they had a white shark domesticated in display but had to release it as the shark began to show hunting instincts. The aquarium was indeed large and had plenty to offer. I never realised that I had been in for 2 hours
Our next stop was at the pebble beach and the famous 17 mile drive. Pebble beach in carmel is famous for daunting golf courses and picturesque houses. The residents are millionaires who had formed their own private property but have been gracious enough to allow tourists a peep. There are 3 main golf courses that are beautifully manicured. We stopped at the largest course to take snaps and stroll around the carmel bay. We also stopped over at the lone cypress over the bay. This tree is so lonely that you think of associating yourself with it. After all life is lonely.... I wanted to have a snap taken with the tree in the background and I asked a couple to help me. The man quipped "You want to take a photo with my wife?". We both lauged as his wife was blushing. He graciously clicked a few snaps.
At Carmel, one has to walk a long way to the beach as buses are not allowed along the trail. The beach was breathtaking with beautiful vistas of the moutains. I saw down in the cool sand and watched children play (How I missed the Beasant nagar beach in chennai. Those beach chats with my good friend Raam when we used to discuss anything and everything). After spending a few minutes, I trekked back. The climb was really punishing (The beach was down a cliff). I had to catch my breath and needed a chai latte to get my energy back.
We stopped at Gilroy on the way back. Slyvio informed us that Gilroy was famous for garlic and had garlic mixed in all its food. They even had garlic mixed in cakes. Our stop was at a farmer's market which had stacks of fresh fruits and garlic mixed eatables. Though I was curious, I stopped short of buying anything. Sylvio's accent was difficult to comprehend at times and I did wonder what language he was speaking. Slyvio took us through the Silicon valley and San jose on our return journey. He pointed out each major IT company (those we dream about working), its innards and the number of employees. He remarked he had learnt about them as he used to work there previously (as a charter bus driver for many of these companies). from IBM to Google to Yahoo and Oracle it was a gorgeous landscape. We arrived in San Francisco around 8:00 PM and I was too exhausted but content that I had a great day
The tour was supposed to start from the same Hyatt residency (From where I had boarded the bus the previous week to NAPA) at around the same time. During the last trip to NAPA, I was the only tourist who was single and companionless but this time I could spot many others. Our driver was a heavily accented latino called Sylvio. We started the tour with a latino joke and travelled along highway 1. This is the most scenic route I have ever seen. It has mountains on one side and the ocean on the other with people surfing/fishing all along (who would want to surf/swim in such cold weather). Slyvio passed us photos of the elephant seals and gave us an insight on their attraction. The elephant seals have a trunk like an elephant and usually arrive at the bay during december to march for mating. They are harmless creatures. There is a light house by the bay which has since been abandoned. The elephant seals use the light house as their house
We arrived in Monterey around noon. The tour includes the optional aquarium visit and many decided to skip it. The aquarium had 2 decks and plenty to offer. I started with the jelly fish collections. The jelly fish are so amazing creatures in that they are too poisonous with regards to their shape and size. There were many collections on display and I was particularly fascinated with the transparent ones. Next was the shark section. I had a glimpse of the stinger rays and other ray sharks. The museum guide informed us that they had a white shark domesticated in display but had to release it as the shark began to show hunting instincts. The aquarium was indeed large and had plenty to offer. I never realised that I had been in for 2 hours
Our next stop was at the pebble beach and the famous 17 mile drive. Pebble beach in carmel is famous for daunting golf courses and picturesque houses. The residents are millionaires who had formed their own private property but have been gracious enough to allow tourists a peep. There are 3 main golf courses that are beautifully manicured. We stopped at the largest course to take snaps and stroll around the carmel bay. We also stopped over at the lone cypress over the bay. This tree is so lonely that you think of associating yourself with it. After all life is lonely.... I wanted to have a snap taken with the tree in the background and I asked a couple to help me. The man quipped "You want to take a photo with my wife?". We both lauged as his wife was blushing. He graciously clicked a few snaps.
At Carmel, one has to walk a long way to the beach as buses are not allowed along the trail. The beach was breathtaking with beautiful vistas of the moutains. I saw down in the cool sand and watched children play (How I missed the Beasant nagar beach in chennai. Those beach chats with my good friend Raam when we used to discuss anything and everything). After spending a few minutes, I trekked back. The climb was really punishing (The beach was down a cliff). I had to catch my breath and needed a chai latte to get my energy back.
We stopped at Gilroy on the way back. Slyvio informed us that Gilroy was famous for garlic and had garlic mixed in all its food. They even had garlic mixed in cakes. Our stop was at a farmer's market which had stacks of fresh fruits and garlic mixed eatables. Though I was curious, I stopped short of buying anything. Sylvio's accent was difficult to comprehend at times and I did wonder what language he was speaking. Slyvio took us through the Silicon valley and San jose on our return journey. He pointed out each major IT company (those we dream about working), its innards and the number of employees. He remarked he had learnt about them as he used to work there previously (as a charter bus driver for many of these companies). from IBM to Google to Yahoo and Oracle it was a gorgeous landscape. We arrived in San Francisco around 8:00 PM and I was too exhausted but content that I had a great day
posted by Prakash at
8:38 PM
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