Mighty Niagara ...

Since the time I got first glimpse of Niagara falls my fingers are aching to type in all that I witnessed there. And so here I go ...

I have seen a lot of wonders of nature, but this was my first chance when nature made me cry and laugh and scream and ultimately forced me to confess how tiny ... ant like ... not even ant like ... but like an amoeba or something even tinier then that I am in front of mother nature.

We reached city of Niagara on Saturday evening, by the time we reached there it was already dark and what we got to see wasn't actual Niagara falls, it was a commercialised view of Niagara. All different funny colors all over the falls, red, blue, green ... a man made rainbow was there, which I guess is pretty necessary to attract visitors even in night time. But I got little disappointed to see this evening Niagara fully clad in bright party make up, perhaps because I wasn't seeing the real face of Niagara then.

Actual fun began on Sunday morning, our target was to cover two things that day, cave of the winds (Bridal Veil falls) and Maid of the Mist (Horseshoe falls).

Cave of the winds is kind of a tour that takes you in front of the Bridal Veil falls, name is bridal veil because it was actually like this few years ago, people can actually go in the back of the falls and see the falls in front of them ... just like a bridal veil but now that view is abandoned because of some accident and now people do not go behind the falls but only can see it from the sides.

You can see the falls just from a distance of 25 fts ... yes only 25 fts. This was the first thing we wanted to see, so we went there with our disposable cameras and free hands so that we can hug the actual Niagara as tight as we can. We were welcomed by brave white birds, these birds were lying there everywhere with their baby birds and were much more luckier then us since they can see the falls from a much much closer distance and that too without even paying a single penny.

We could hear the voice of thundering Niagara as soon as we entered the cave of the winds and we kept following the crowds, initial few steps were good, we could see the Niagara from a distance, but it was very crowded, everybody was busy taking snaps with Niagara falls. Now as soon as we started climbing up the wooded stairs crowd started getting filtered, now there were only few brave people including us off course. The highest point they call as Hurricane point ...Hurricane point is beyond any description ... I can not tell you Sir how amazing it was to see roaring Niagara just from 25 fts, this mighty Niagara was falling from a height of almost 50-75 fts and we were standing below that ... at a horizontal distance of 25 fts (figures may be wrong but that's what I felt) ... I could see nothing, I could hear nothing except the thunders of Niagara .. it was so exciting, I wish you were there.

Our next adventure was maid of the mist boat ... this is a boat that goes very close to the horse shoe falls ... Horse shoe fall is named because of its horseshoe shape ... I know you must be knowing all this but I want to tell you my tiny knowledge too.

We made sure that we get the position of Titanic corner in this boat and we rushed like small children to get that place ... and we did got it ... and later on we realised that was the best place in the boat to see the horse shoe falls (btw it was my idea to go to that place). When our boat reached closer to the falls ... it was only mist and mist and thunderous sounds of Niagara and nothing else ... I could not see anything ... since I had to take out my specs because of the mist but I did felt the spirit of the falls ... and it was truly awesome. I again wished you were there to witness this.

And later in the evening we saw a movie named "Niagara - Legends of Adventure" by Keith Meryll ... which showed the stories of some of the adventurous people who tried to win over the falls ... a must see movie indeed !

And next morning we took a long walk along the banks of Niagara river ... Niagara river was looking so calm and quite when she was away from the Niagara falls ... so innocent as if she didn't even knew what she is gonna do just after few hours ... but as soon as we started reaching nearer the falls ... we started seeing small water steps ... and ultimately saw the powerful Niagara falls cutting and eroding the soft stones beneath ... and then was the time to drive back home.

Rajib drove almost 1000 miles in this trip and I gained confidence in his driving after he took me back home safely without getting any ticket.

And I think I should stop it here for now ... I can go on writing but lets stop it here for the time being ... don't know whether somebody will read this post till here or not ... but if you did then thanks a ton for your patience !!!

love - Aru !