Saturday, 23 January 2016

The Niagara Nostalgia



THE NIAGARA NOSTALGIA

It is often said, "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page". Having travelled all over India in my Army service career, my dream of visiting foreign shores ie the United States, took wings only recently.  Most tour operators to the United States pack the tour itinerary mainly with visits to the concrete jungles such as...  New York City - a city that never sleeps, the historic monuments of Washington DC, the magic of Disney World, Hollywood-the dream factory, or be it even the high profile casinos of Las Vegas, of course with a stern warning...  "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas". But they never fail to entice the tourists to visit the Niagara Falls, one of the most natural, hugely popular voluminous water falls in the world.
Although opportunity to visit the United States knocked several times through my sister and brother in law who stayed there for well over  a decade, I really wonder what held me back. Whether it was the financial awe, professional constraints or just indecisiveness, I am still unable to fathom. Whenever I used to speak to them over the phone, my desire to visit them would go on an upswing like a sine curve only to follow the downswing as I got busy with the rigmarole of the day today activities. Cutting the story short, it just happened that I couldn't visit the United States when they were there. However, when my son, Pranav moved to the US on his professional assignment, it was only a matter of time and completing the visa formalities before I landed there. I finally got my turn to visit the US along with my wife Ratna in July 2015.

Bengaluru International Airport was the place from where my wife and I had decided to fly out of India to the foreign shores. As I entered the immigration counters at  the airport, sensing my curiosity and anxiety as any first timer in those surroundings would feel, my wife, a veteran of visiting the United States twice earlier,  spontaneously  took over the duties of my 'guide' to the US tour, like fish taking to water. As our Emirates flight took to its wings, so did my dream of visiting the United States. Written below is one part of that experience, visiting the famed Niagara Falls.

Buffalo International Airport, gateway to the Niagara city and the famed waterfalls, is a lazy, laid back airport as compared to its other illustrious peers in the United States. After going through the rigorous security checks at the JFK NYC and the Dulles at Washington DC, this was a walk in the park. I was even pleasantly surprised to see the cab driver who came to receive me and my wife walk up to the arrival lounge conveyor belt where we were waiting for our luggage to arrive. My wife wearing one of her favourite salwar suits, was hard to miss the ‘Indianness’ in us. The cab driver Christine, a lean and smart lady in her mid sixties, who had come in a Lincoln limousine, drove us to Niagara about 30 km from the airport. It turned out that she a well to do lady in the neighbourhood was doing this as a part time job. Couldn't help but appreciate her zest for life and agility at her age. As we reached the hotel and she ready to leave, didn't forget to remark to my wife, "Hey, you look pretty in this dress". Needless to say 'my' tour of Niagara began so well.
An imaginary line in the middle of the Niagara River acts as the International Boundary between the cities of Niagara on the US side and Ontario on the Canadian side. Minimum fuss, minimal security, disciplined crowd behaviour,  shear excitement of watching the dancing waters and the pleasure of the mist brushing your face vigorously as the water flows down the falls and in addition, the ease of access so close to the sides and the bottom of the falls make this place so unique in the world.
View from Goat Island
Niagara Falls is a combination of three different falls ie The American falls, The Bridal Veil Falls, and the Canadian or the Horse shoe falls. Having visited so many falls in India I had always wondered what is it that Niagara has those others don't. It is the sheer volume of water that passes through, which is several times more than its nearest rival that makes it so unique. It is fascinating to note that nearly six million cubic feet of water flows every minute, with the roar of a jet airliner all the time. The Canadian falls hogs almost 90 % of the water that drops from a platform of nearly 790 m wide down more than 50m into the basin. 

American Falls on left ; Canadian Falls on right
The American falls more than 320 m wide with its baby sibling 'Bridal veil'   located closer to the picturesque Rainbow Bridge present an extremely exhilarating view.  Luna Island barely an acre in size separates the two falls like a wedge. A spacious view point constructed on this tiny island, presents a heavenly of these two picturesque falls.   The roar of the water, rise of the mist, coloured light focussing on the falls in the evenings and the magnificent display of fire crackers in the skies at night makes this visit a memorable experience.

Maid of the Mist
A visit to the Niagara is never complete without a boat ride on the 'Maid of the Mist'. Going down to the riverside in the lift, wearing a bright colourful raincoat and entering the decked up boat by a beeline of tourists is indeed a colourful sight. Similar boat rides are organised on the Canadian side too, the distinguishing feature being the colour of the raincoats.When two boats from these two friendly coutries cross each each other in the middle of the basin, the sight of the roaring Falls on one side and waving and smiling  tourists on the other side make a delightful sight to watch.
With Security InCharge on the Boat
These boat rides started in 1885 and operate between May and November each year. The cost of the ride varies between $15 to $18 depending upon time and booking provisions. The pleasure of going in these boats so close to the bottom of the heaving and pounding falls, the all encompassing rising mist  blurring the vision was indeed awesome. It appeared as if we were in a different world.


The Goat Island around twenty acres in size approximately, separates the two monstrous falls on the American side. It is but natural for anyone to wonder, how long this tiny island would sustain the continuous onslaught of such breathtaking rapids on either side of its fragile landscape ! Only later did I discover that the island has been suitably reinforced with steel and cement and intelligently camouflaged with the surroundings as also revisited by the engineers from time to time to ensure its sustainability.
Hurricane Deck - Cave of the Winds
In addition to ensuring the sustenance of this island, there is also an engineering marvel that has been created there and that is the 'Cave of Winds'. Amazingly, in such delicately placed island is this tunnel of nearly 175 feet going deep down the earth, which takes the awed visitors to the Base of the Bridal Veil Falls. The place has been so imaginatively developed that all tourists who go there in colourful raincoats, get to see the marvellous, breathtaking torrents of the Niagara Falls bottom up. It is indeed a rare sight as the bouncing and gushing jets of water brush all those excited faces. The tropical storm like conditions that we get to see there as we stroll over the 'Hurricane Deck'  is indeed a rare lifetime experience. 

A lazy and relaxing stroll in the Niagara National Park on the Goat Island after the exhilarating experience of going around the Water Falls completed our visit to the Niagara. As we walked back to the hotel along the riverfront on the city side, savouring the gorgeous falls, the child in me kept wondering how come such a calm, smooth gentle flowing river here could become so ferociously violent  just a few metres away....  While the soldier in me wondered had a similar setup of the river falls and the International Boundary passing through the middle of river been along India - Pakistan borders, how much of this natural beauty the world would have enjoyed !!!  I had no answers. But the Niagara Nostalgia lingers on forever. 


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