Mumbai: The Sin City

Its Mumbai, it has got everything that can make you feel every damn senses of yours, Mumbai city full of surprises. Many say Mumbai is the city of hope, fashion and a hub of Bollywood stars. I would say all of that isn't true coz Mumbai is also known for its higher crime rates,  after all its the sin city of India!  Many people come here with hope in their eyes, die like a interloper. its very common in here, most youths in India want to go Mumbai for starting their acting career and very few of them succeed, My friend was one of them she came Mumbai to be an actress in Bollywood, to be the famous face of India but she died like a stranger and was left in towers of silence to decay,to rot, and if lucky, to be consumed by vultures.

       She was 16 when she came Mumbai for chasing her dream, she was too young to understand the consequences she may suffer, but its the age, that made her take such an impulsive decision but it was too late for her parents who thought that it was not good for her to leave like this, but at the same time they convinced themselves by thinking if she wants this, we're her parents, we have to support her. So at the end of the day they supported her, she struggled for her career but ended up being a bar dancer in a pub, her parents didn't know that. She told them, that she signed a movie and soon she will be a superstar, her parents were happy for her but they were unaware with the fact that her little daughter is a bar dancer, time passes slowly for her parents coz they haven't got any calls from her daughter for couple of months, soon they get accustomed of it. After few years a call came in, but that's not of her daughter but its for her daughter, her dad picked up the phone and got fainted when he heard her daughter is dead, they have been called by Mumbai police to identify the body and the belongings. They picked the next flight to Mumbai, police officers were waiting for them, they showed the body of their daughter, her parents identified their daughter's body and mourned. Police told them that she was a bar dancer and she was killed by her boyfriend, we arrested him, those lines from that police officer tore them apart, they never felt so betrayed in their lives before. Her daughter was gone, they had nothing to hold on to, but that's life, it goes on.
She belongs to a Parsi(Zoroastrian) family so her dead body was taken to Towers of silence.So the question comes in, what is the Tower of Silence and why parsi people take dead bodies there, what they do with corpses of their loved ones? The story ends here, for those who are sensitive and have fragile heart, rest can go through next lines, on their own risk. Zoroastrian tradition (Parsi) have a strange death ritual(Dakhma) they take dead body to a well shaped towers (non parsis are not allowed to go in) which are fairly uniform in their construction, have an almost flat roof, with the perimeter being slightly higher than the center. The roof is divided into three concentric rings : The bodies of men are arranged around the outer ring, women in the second circle,  and children in the innermost ring.They want vultures and other scavenging birds to consume it. Once the bones are bleached by sun and wind, which can take as long as a year, they are collected in a pit at the center of the tower. They say we can't bury a dead body coz soil will be polluted, we can't cremate them coz if we do so, air will get polluted so we kept it open for vultures, they consume it. Isn't it awful, that aggravates me when i think, how can they leave corpses of their loved ones open for vultures?? The reason behind this is, they believe human body is part of nature and belongs to it and they have to return it once it stops functioning, but in my opinion this is unacceptable. Its the violation of a dead man's right, i mean we can't even leave our pets like this when they die, then how can a body of human being can be left like this. Even in several decades of late twentieth and early twenty first century the population of scavenging birds on the Indian sub continent has declined by 99.9% as of 2008 due to diclofenac poisoning.For that, Parsi community is opting for captive breeding of vultures. Few surviving birds are often unable to fully consume the dead bodies therefore the bodies rot in those towers. If this isn't  pollution, then what is it? Its Taboo.
  There are many places in Mumbai that are still in the claws of mystery...that are yet to revealed.

2012 apcocalypse : is it really coming

"Apocalypse" name itself threatens every living creature in Earth. Is it really occurring ?? Are we all going to die within a month or so ?? These are some questions that bothers us, when we decide something for our future, what if there is no future for us coz the planet we are living in, is going to be pulverized by Nibiru or some other meteor coming towards it. Some say Nibiru is a myth but what to believe is the biggest question which comes in to my mind. According to Sumerians(the one who predicated the existence of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto a long time ago) a planet Nibiru is coming towards Earth and the collision of this planet with Earth will cause a great flood which will reshape the face of our planet and will kill all the inhabitants. Nibiru is coming towards Earth, we can't see it coz it is hidden behind the sun. The name Nibiru itself suggested the collision coz Nibiru means "Planet of the crossing". Even Mayans warned about 2012 doomsday. Mayans the great civilization, their calender never goes wrong, they predicted every astronomical event precisely. Experts say that Mayan's have the most accurate calender in the world. Many cultures like Chinese, Egyptians and even the Irish warn about the world coming to an end.

  So if this planet hits Earth, what about the theory of shifting poles which some scientists suggested ?

   The pole shifting or pole reversal is the concept which is presented by some scholars from various disciplines it states that the pole will be reversed, the north pole will be changed in to south pole, you can imagine if this would happen there would be nothing left for us or  would i say that  whole human race will be extinct like dinosaurs.

Science has long speculated that the earth's center rotates at a different speed from the crust. The big question really is "What holds the earth's crust in equilibrium with the center?"

If the center rotates at a different speed from the crust, there is a good reason to believe that this is the cause for the static electricity apparent on the earth surface. If that is true, then North Pole on the crust must have an opposite magnetic charge from north side in the earth's core. 

  So the question arises if the planet earth is expiring on 21 Dec 2012 what will be its cause ?? There are numerous theories like planet alignment in 2012,Earth entering in dark rift and meteor hitting Earth presented by researches and scientists that proves the doomsday is not a hoax, but NASA abnegated, they told that there is no planet named Nibiru or planet X or any meteor coming towards Earth, even they denied Mayan's theory, they said ancient calenders are interesting to historians but of-course they can not match the ability we have today to keep track of time. NASA told that polar shift is impossible in such a short period of time. NASA declared that there would be no doomsday happening in near future.

  In my opinion, in either case, Earth and mother nature will suffer a huge loss.

 

 

Haunted places in India

Ghosts or Spirits are beyond the knowledge of human minds. Some believe in their existence some don't but in real, no one knows what they really are , where do they come from and what do they want. Many researches and studies are done in this field but no one reached to any concrete conclusion. There is no explanation as to why we hear whispers, why we feel, that some one is following, why we sense one's touch when no one is around, WHY ?? I believe there is no answer for that. Unexplained phenomenon,paranormal activities and mysterious death stories always caught attention but no one dared to explain the reason why it happened. so now lets have a look at some of these notorious places, where you can feel everything you never want to experience for your lifetime.

There are so many haunted places in India but the popular ones are Bhangarh and Ajabgarh forts. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has put up a signboard at Bhangarh's fort stating: "Entering the borders of Bhangarh before sunrise and after sunset is strictly prohibited."No one is allowed to go in. Bhangarh is in Alwar District comes under Rajasthan state. This place is declared haunted by state goverment after mysterious deaths of several innocents who spent night in that fort.

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Some people say that war between Bhangarh and Ajabgarh resulted in place being haunted coz no one survived in that war.Don't know whether it is true or not but yeah i've got one interesting story to tell about Bhangarh.  'There was a princess named Ratnavati in Bhangarh palace.. she was very beautiful, stories of her beauty was famous in all over Rajasthan.when she turned 18, she started getting matrimonial proposals from different states. One day a "Tantrik"(one who is well versed in black magic)Singhia heard about Ratnavati and her beauty and he started liking her. He knows that he will never be allowed to see that princess in his life. He was very desperate for princess so he did some spell on scented oil, which would hypnotize the princess by her merely touching the oil and gave that oil to maid of princess Ratnavati. When maid was applying oil, princess sensed something wrong in that oil so she threw it away. Tantrik Singhia's spell backfired on him and he died coz of that. While dieing, he cursed the palace with the death of all who dwelt in it, without any rebirth in their destinies. Next year in battle between Bhangarh and Ajabgarh no one survived including princess Ratnavati.

Spirits of dead Rajwada (family of king) are still seen in that fort. Many tourists died in that fort, corpses of the some tourists are still missing....

Next most haunted place in India is a hotel in Mussoorie.The savoy hotel was built in 1902 when British were ruling India. After some time when some guest died mysteriously in that hotel it is declared haunted by local people of Mussoorie.The former owner of Savoy hotel, lady Orme died due to poisoning and many such cases are reported from Savoy hotel Mussoorie. It is still open for booking so if you are daring enough and want to reveal the truth behind Savoy, you can book a room and experience the adrenaline flowing.

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Duma’s beach Gujraat has got many stories to tell, all you need to do is, to go there and decipher the strange whispers around. It is famous for its black sand. People got many stories to tell, some say it’s a Hindu cremation beach, Hindu devotees come here to cremate dead bodies, and some says after a horrible storm in Duma( long time ago) turned all people dead. Due to sudden death of villagers around Duma’s beach,  this beach got deserted and after some years it became cremation ground for Hindus. Lots of tourists went missing from Duma’s beach, many people complained that they heard strange whispers. A temple named “Dariya Ganesh” located adjacent to main beach. Some says if you go there Lord Ganesha will save you.

My friend who recently visited Duma told me that it’s a beautiful beach but at night it looks very spooky. She said you can feel the negative vibes roaming in atmosphere of Duma's. I love beaches but if someone asks me to go to the Duma's  i will definitely say NO.

     

If you find yourself  troubled by spirits you can resort to the old Sanskrit mantras (incantations) used by Aryans to repel evil spirits and defy death. These Mantra have been tried and tested several times by priests and exorcists.

ॐ त्र्यम्बकम् यजामहे सुगन्धिम् पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।

उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात ।। 

Om Tryambkam yajamahe sugandhim pustivardhanam

Urvarukmiv bandhanaan mrityoormokhsiya mamrataat

Simple English translation of this incantation is: Three-eyed one(lord Shiva), I meditate on you, who increase fragrance and nourishment. From powerful disease, bondage and death free us into immortality.

Lord Shiva's (the king of Ghosts) avatar Hanuman's (follower of Shri Ram in Ramayan) incantations are also used for exorcism purposes 

              भूत पिशाच निकट नहीं आवै |
              महावीर जब नाम सुनावै || 

              Bhoot pichach nikat nai aavai
              mahavir jab naam sunavai 

English translation for this is "Ghosts and spirits will never come near you when you remember Hanuman".

Discover India- Everlasting Beauties

India “Unity in Diversity” for many things like culture, food, people, and economy. you can see magnificent beaches, frosty & snow clad mountains, lantern-lit villages to modern cities.you will love it coz, this lovely country has got everything to leave a strong impression on you and make your trip memorable for lifetime.

                                           

                                         Top 3 Places to visit in India

India has got everything for every one. According to me top 3 places to visit in India are

1. Agra's TAJMAHAL: Tajmahal was built in 1653 by Mughal emperor Shahjahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaaz. Entire structure is made up by white marble and its the finest example of Mughal architecture. If you are not from India you need to pay higher amount of pass fee to visit Tajmahal, best time to visit Taj Mahal is from October to February(winters in India). Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus from there. I bet you will spend your entire evening admiring this magnificent place.

Taj Mahal refers as a sign of love(coz Shahjahan made it for his wife to show his love for her) but i would like to share some strange facts with you, first of all Mumtaaz was Shahjahan's 3rd wife. secondly, to get her, Shahjahan killed her husband and the most horrible fact is she died while giving birth to her 8th child, still it called the monument of love, strange but true.

2. GOA: This place needs no introduction, its beautiful beaches are well known to everyone.Goa earn most money from tourism. There are many places you can see including beaches, old cathedrals, museum etc. When i was in Goa I preferred beach over museum, to go first. My hotel was near Calangute beach so I visited Calangute beach on the very first day of my trip, you can  hire a bike or a car it is available on rent,door step delivery is also available for bikes and cars, after Calangute, if you are in to adventures you have an option to walk by the beach for some miles to see Baga beach its hardly one mile away from calangute  there you can do bumpy rides, banana boat rides, scooter rides and para-sailing in sea, if you want to save some bucks you need to do some negotiations before booking a ride coz there is no fix fee. There are lots of beaches you can see,  like Anjuna beach, Miramar beach, donna paula beach... talking about donna paula it’s a beautiful beach. Donna Paula was two lovers, this beach is named after them.. some says,  they committed suicide coz they failed in love, you can see their statue standing . you can visit fort Aquda and lighthouse too, fort Aquda is open till 5 pm and the light house is a mile walk from Fort.

To see the night life you can go to some pubs & disc around in calangute and colva, there is a famous club out there named Tito’s,  it’s a good club with nice ambiance

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3. KASHMIR: Jammu and Kashmir is the northern region of India and famous for its magnificent beauty. there is a lot to see in J&K, places like Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pehelgam and Leh Laddakh. Best time to visit J&K is in spring and summer, you can visit J&K in winters too but you should be prepared for some chilling cold. 

Gulmarg is 50 kms away from Shrinagar(summer capital of J&K state). Gulmarg ("Meadow of Flowers") is state's most visited destinations.It is an eye catching place with picturesque surroundings,lovely gardens with beautiful flowers and  fragrance. This is one of the best ski resorts in India coz in winters you can see heavy snowfall. Some of the highest ski slopes in India lies in the sloppy Himalaya regions in Gulmarg. From Gulmarg you can hire a cab to see Sonmarg and Pahelgam, Sonmarg is approx 130 kms away from Gulmarg. Pahalgam valley is perfectly suitable for adventurous activities like golf, horse riding, trekking and many water sports.Its is 96kms from Shrinagar.

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Discover India - The cultural side

India the country of temples,mosques,gurudwaras and churches in short it is the land of believers. you can have a lot of options like Banaras, kerala, and goa  to see its culture to experience its spices and to feel its beauty. Its your part to decide what you wanna see first, according to my opinion you should first see its culture. For Culture you can go Haridwar, Hrishikesh and Varanasi.

In Haridwar there is lot to admire.If you want to see Hindu culture or you want to learn it, there you would get ample options. Let me first tell you the meaning of "Haridwar" Hari(Vishnu) the renowned god in Hindu mythology and Dwar is Gate so Haridwar is gate that can lead you to god Vishnu, he took many Avatars, one of them is Krishna avatar, he took that Avatar to kill his uncle Kans. Kans was notorious for his cruelty against people of his kingdom.Someone predicted that he will be killed by his nephew so he started killing his own nephews, he locked his brother in law(Vasudev) and his sister(Devki) in jail and after some time devki gave birth to a child, that child was Krishna.

Foster parents Yashoda and Nand raised Krishna in Vrindavan. Later on he killed his uncle and he became leading prince of Mathura. In Mathura you can find many temples of Krishna some of them are really very aesthetic. In some temples of Mathura you can find a mysterious warning written on board "Mandir mai raat ko rukna sakht mana hai" that means residing in temple at night is strictly prohibited, some people say that at night god Krishna himself come and make "raaslila(dancing with his wives)" and whoever sees them in the act,  turns blind or crippled or in worst case may die. I heard it from my grandmother so i am not certain how true it is but i find it interesting. Anyways i was talking about haridwar, it is a holy place, people came here to wash out their sins in Holy river Ganga.

 

If you wanna know more about Hindu culture, you can talk to local sadhu(saints) they will satiate your curiosity.You can have a mesmerizing view  of "Ganga Aarti"  at Har ki pauri ghat situated in west bank of river Ganga. You can sit for hours by Ganges and enjoy the rhythmic calliphonies of incantations reverberating in atmosphere. After that you can have a look of Hrishikesh it is 18.9kms far from Haridwar. Hrishikesh is famous for Yoga centers and Ashrams. Ram(avatar of vishnu) and his brother lakshman crossed river ganga from Rishikesh that's why two bridges "Ram jhula" and "Lakshma jhula" are named after them. some shops of souvenirs can be found near these bridges and you can do shopping from here. Rishikesh is also famous for river rafting if you are into adventurous sports you can camp and raft as much as you want.

In my next post i will write about India's cosmopolitan cities,lifestyles,cuisines etc

Cheers

Experiencing Thailand

I know you all have desire to go Thailand coz the place is awesome and food is mouthwatering. Forget all worries and spend some time in Thailand. As i described in my earlier post packing,currency and other stuffs now you know all the basic things but for a specific country some specific preparation must be done and for that i'm here. First of all i want to introduce its culture.

Culture:

 

Thai culture has been shaped by many influences, including Indian, Lao, Burmese, Cambodian, and Chinese. Buddhism in Thailand is strongly influenced by traditional beliefs regarding ancestral and natural spirits, which have been incorporated into Buddhist cosmology. Most Thai people own spirit houses, miniature wooden houses in which they believe household spirits live it might be scary for you but i know you definitely wanna go there and see it by yourself . They present offerings of food and drink to these spirits to keep them happy. If these spirits aren't happy, it is believed that they will inhabit the larger household of the Thai, and cause chaos it is like the things we often see in some spooky movies. These spirit houses can be found in public places and in the streets of Thailand, where the public make offerings, if you wanna go and see it don't forget to take some offerings with you.

Cuisines :


I know you all know about Thai food how tasty and mouthwatering it is but you should also know how they prepare and serve food.

Thai meals typically consist of a single dish if eating alone, or rice (khao in Thai) with many complementary dishes served concurrently and shared by all. It is customary to serve more dishes than there are guests at a table.
Thai food was traditionally eaten with the right hand while seated on mats or carpets on the floor as still happens in the more traditional households. It is now generally eaten with a fork and a spoon.
  Some great dishes of Thai food are  Chok, Khao kha mu, Khao khai chiao, Khao khluk kapi, Bami haeng pet, Kuaichap and Sapaketti phat khi mao. Try all these dishes and post comments.


Currency:

 


Thai's currency is BHAT. The thai baht, like the pound, originated from a traditional unit of mass. Its currency value was originally expressed as that of silver of corresponding weight (now defined as fifteen grams), and was in use probably as early as the Sukhothai period in the form of bullet coins known in Thai as phot duang . These were pieces of solid silver cast to various weights corresponding to a traditional systems of unit related by simple fractions and multiples, one of which is the baht.

Places to visit :

BANGKOK: Bangkok is the finest place in Thailand to see the culture, experiencing the food and do shopping.It is one of Asia's most cosmopolitan cities with magnificent temples and palaces, authentic canals, busy markets and a vibrant nightlife that has something for everyone.

PHUKET :  Phuket is Thailand's largest island. It is 48 km in length, 21 km at its widest, and is in Southern Thailand, on the west-facing Andaman Sea coastline, suspended from the southern tip of Phang Nga Province by a pair of short but substantial road bridges. It has got beautiful beaches though Phuket is hot and humid throughout the year. The hot season is generally considered to be from March to early May. During the summer monsoon season from May to October, mornings and afternoons are still sunny and clear, but it tends to rain in the evenings and water clarity goes down. Locals consider November to February the "cool" season, and the weather is quite tolerable, much more so than in the tourism centres around the Gulf coast. It's comparable to Florida's summer weather in temperature and intensity of rain storms: 25-33 deg C, flying clouds, short and thunderous rainfalls in the afternoons and evenings. Surfing is possible off the western beaches.

PATTAYA: It is the next best place to visit after Phuket i'm writing this coz its my personal experience. Pattaya is also famous for beaches and water-sports. It is about 150 km southeast of Bangkok. It is also famous for its go-go and beer bars, but local authorities have made some efforts to provide more family-friendly attractions and activities.Efforts by local authorities over the past few years have improved the quality of the beaches, but they are still lacklustre by Thailand's standards, and over-development has long since destroyed some of the natural charms the area once had.

 Cheers

Feeling of roaming outside your country

I know the feeling when you travel the places you have only seen in google maps, some of them are deserted, some of them are crowded so its time to let your mind and soul go free and take a tour around. Though it is quite difficult to manage things between your work and your fantasies but i personally think we can afford some breaks from our routine life. First of all you need to search where you really wanna go what type of culture you want to see or live, what kind of food you want or you wana try etc.Once you opted for some place just stick to it, do not change your plans coz changing plans at the eleventh hour make things crazy, stick on whatever you decided and go with it. Next thing is very common for sane minds i.e. Packing you should pack things according to weather and the culture you want to live in, no doubt you will be doing shopping from there itself but still if you have something same in your collection its time to let it out and if you are a girl you have to be prepared for so many things like dresses,make up kit,accessories, footwear etc. list is endless, take your time and figure out the things and make a list of things you wanna take with you. After that the most important thing is currency you should take some amount of local currency of the place you wana go and if you want to take some more amount money with you, you can go to your bank and ask for some travel cheques it is very safe and secured way of taking good amount of money from one place to another. so now its all set to go..


         After reaching there make yourself very clear about some things like "It is not your country" and laws aren't same. So you should be more careful about where you go, what you do and with whom you spending your time with etc.I am not suggesting that you should be scared of locals they can't do anything until and unless you give them opportunity. Enjoy each and everything around, take maps from station and hire a bike or car whatever you want and just roam like a free bird.

 

 As i wrote earlier, food is very important part of a trip and if you are vegetarian or a vegan its quite a problem for you, for that you can search the area on internet and you can have whatever you want. I have many friends who spent some very special days in their holiday they have got one thing to say "you should know the language" coz if you don't know the language of that country it would be very painful for you to get what you want, sign are sometimes be helpful but not always.

So these are some tips you can use when you are planing to go for a holiday and yeah don't forget to write comments if you like the post and if don't just wait for my another post you might find that one interesting and useful  :)

cheers

Places to visit in United states of America

I always wanted to go US it is very beautiful country, lots of places to visit lots of things to do and obiviously shopping,honestly being a girl shopping is the most important thing to do when you visit some new places. so my prime motive is to let you all know the top ten places to visit in United States

1. US Virgina Island

In a year when travelers are apt to still be watching their wallets, this is our #1 choice for an American tropical getaway. It’s eternally 80 degrees, rimmed with white-sand beaches on turquoise water, and, yes, it’s a US territory. Each of the US Virgin Islands has their own identity: if you want a break from resorts, st. John is nearly two-thirds a lush national park with tent cabins amid trees and hikes to secluded beaches – this sadly may be the last year for the Maho bays camps, a long-standing eco-resort which is the place to stay if you’re watching your budget; or try the St. john inn which offers great-value rooms with kitchenettes. For more action, the previously inaccessible Hassel Island, now part of Virginia Island nation park, can be explored by snorkel or kayak. And word is that the Captain Morgan Rum Distillery onSt. Croix will open its new visitor center in spring 2012 – ahoy!
 

2. Hudson River Valley, New york

It should be a given that any visitor to New York City breaks for a day or two ‘upstate’ in the Hudson River Valley, a slice of rural Americana just north. It’s a real city break, with leafy drives, wineries and plenty of farm-to-table foodie options that draw even spoiled-for-choice Manhattanites away from the city. A favorite spot to stay is straight out of a B-52s video. No surprise. It’s former ‘52 singer Kate Pierson’s  Lazy meadow, a renovated ‘50s cabin complex near Woodstock designed by the same pals who did up the ‘Lo.

3. Cincinnati, Ohio

Seen Cincy lately? The pretty city on the Ohio River – off the main cross-country interstates – gets bypassed by many road trippers, but it’s quietly transformed itself in the last decade into a worthy weekend getaway. Life centers around the river – much which can be seen by foot: river walkways are best on the Kentucky side, reached via a couple bridges including John Roebling’s Suspension Bridge (a prequel to his famous Brooklyn Bridge). Narrow, twisting (and steep) brick roads of the Mt Adams district lead past 19th-century Victorian townhouses and the free Cincinnati art museum, while the once-dangerous, emerging Over-the-Rhine, just north of downtown, is home to the Findaly Market and a sprawling collection of historic Italianate architecture.

  4.Four Corners Region, South West USA

The most popular attractions of the four states sharing a border in the southwest – Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah – typically cluster away from the four corners, but this underappreciated region is a geologic, archeological wonderland. Even with a 100-mile radius, you can see the sandstone towers of Arizona’s Monument vally, Hollywood stars in their own right, seen on a 17-mile loop or by Navajo-led walks – pop into one of Utah’s national parks, see Colorado’s Mesa verday’s abandoned cliff dwellings on self-guided walks, then straddle all four states at once.

5. Culebra pureto Rico

Isla Culebra , "Snake Island" is an island-muncipality of Puerto Rico originally called Isla Pasaje and Isla de San Ildefonso. It is located approximately 17 miles (27 km) east of the Puerto Rican mainland, 12 miles (19 km) west of St. Thomas and 9 miles (14 km) north of Viques. Culebra is spread over 5 wards and Culebra (Dewey) Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). The island is also known as Isla Chiquita ("Little Island") and Última Virgen ("Last Virgin", reflecting its position at the end of theVirgin Islands archipelago). Residents of the island are known as Culebrenses.

6. California Gold Country

Tahoe and Yosemite gets all the mountain love in California, but an hour closer to San Francisco (and cheaper and less crowded) is Gold Country. Towns that ooze century-old ambience are strung out like throw-back pearls along Hwy 49, a fun drive that passes stops like Jamestown’s historic train, a tiny gold town called Volcano (with no volcano), wineries (some even consider the region a contender to Napa and Sonoma), caves, gold-panning spots and a good overnight choice: the artsy town of Nevada city. Winter is also a treat with snow parks for kids and Bear Valley for hard-core winter sports – plus there’s sledding options galore. That’s how the locals do it.
 

7. Boulder, Colarado

The university town of Boulder is one of the most livable cities in US. Locals live with a mad crush on the outdoors, and adventure can be found at every turn. Main roads are filled with cyclists, except for the bustling ped-only Pearl St Mall lined with shops and great eateries and brewpubs. There’s also a bike path along Boulder Creek, which gets filled with tubers in summer. The Royal Arch Trail is a two-hour hike though a challenging red-rock canyon in town. And, in winter, don’t overlook Nederland’s goofy Frozen Dead guy festival, 17 miles west.
 

8. Hawai The big island

For too long, ‘Hawai’i’ has meant Honolulu, but a rise in direct flights from the US mainland to Kona, on the Big Island, mean the draw of this magical place has never been easier. Plan to stay as long as you can, considering its wide variety of attractions: Hawai volacano's national park, Kealakekua Bay snorkeling, hikes into caves and waterfalls along the lava field at Hilina Pai, or just bumming on the island’s best beach at Hapuna.
 

9. Chicago

Chicago’s going to be busy in 2012, with G8 and NATO summits based here – though the main attraction lies outside politics. Instead, occupy the Magnificent miles! Chicago has incredible art offerings at places like the Art Institute  and Millennium park , some of the country’s best restaurants and world-class festivals like Lollapalooza and Taste of Chicago. And the Obamas’ old neighborhood on the south side – Hyde Park – is seeing more visitors for its lakeside walks and a look at Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘prairie style’ Robie House, up this year for World Heritage Site status.

10.Yellowstone National Park

The world’s first national park – turning 140 next year – attracts nearly four million visitors a year, but just a trickle go in winter; consider it. Rates are lower , and the scenery has its own wintery majesty, when waterfalls turn to curtains of ice, geysers shoot higher and boiling rivers billow with steam. You can get about by ski shuttles, snowshoe (rangers lead free tours) or – best yet – cross-country skis, as hiking trails of all levels transform into some of the country’s best trails. Why wait for summer?