The spectacular Niagara Falls. Review on Niagara Falls

All my travels to the US has been for official work. How I spent my time there depends on the company I have form the local office! On one of the visits, I was staying in Lebanon, in the state of New Hampshire. We were a group of 5 from the Indian office. It was the month of September and we were wondering what to do over the weekend and then pop came the idea why not drive down to Niagara Falls?

Preparation: The Niagara is about 450 miles from NH. So we had to travel a total of 900 miles, that is about 9 hours each way. Driving in the US is not a nightmare as it is in India. We first downloaded and printed the route from Lebanon to Niagara falls. Yes, you can do it and you have all the information in detail. (For those who are visiting US for the first time, go to https://maps.yahoo.com/, Click on Driving Directions. We entered the starting location and the destination point and we got the required instructions in https://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?newaddr=&taddr=&csz=Lebanon%2C+NH&country=us&tc
sz=Niagara+falls&tcountry=us) Next, we checked for cheap accommodations. It is better to call and book for rooms or beds if it is a over night travel. We decided to stay at a bed and breakfast and fortunately got rooms without any problem. Now there was just time to have dinner, pack and catch some sleep before we left for Niagara. We left for Niagara in morning at 5.30 a.m. We took a just 2 stops of 15 minutes each in between and reached there at 2.30 pm in the afternoon. We had booked rooms at a bed and breakfast close to the falls! So we first went there, kept our things and walked down about 15 minutes to the greatest falls!

My first impression: I don’t know how to express my first reaction on seeing the falls. It is just wonderful, spectacular, awesome, gigantic, and gorgeous. I tried to capture it in the lens, but you need to see the fall, hear the sound, and have the experience to know what it really is! The river into which the Niagara falls separates the U.S. and Canada. We saw the falls only from the US side. It is said that the view from the Canadian side is said to be more spectacular. We could not go to there because we did not have the visa. Imagine being just a bridge away, we could see Canada on the other side of the river, but could not go across due to lack of a visa!

The maid of the mist: It is the Canadian part of the falls. We took a ferry that takes people near it, almost to the foot of it. The ferry ride costs $10, but it worth the cost! The part of the Canadian fall is in the shape of a horseshoe and constitutes about 80% of the waterfall. We were taken to the basin of the magnificent

Horseshoe Falls. The boat stops at the base of Horseshoe falls for a few minutes and gives us enough time to admire the mighty falls plunging down with full power. Every body is given a transparent, blue plastic raincoat to protect ourselves from the spray of the massive fall.You have a spectacular view from these places. I stood in the ferry and looked around at the three parts, which makes the Niagara Falls. It is a wonderful and inspiring sight. The memories of this experience is going to be with me for the rest of my life. I still have my blue plastic raincoat---as a souvenir.

Surprise: When we were returning from the ferry ride, I was standing at the railing of the upper deck and I thought I saw someone I know--waiting for the ride. It was my cousin from India, whom I had not met for 5 years. She had come to St. Louise on an assignment. She had come to see the Niagara falls with her friends and was waiting to get into the ferry. It was another incident that added some spice to the visit to Niagara!

Caves of the wind: After the ferry ride, we went walking to see the falls from all possible angles. We decided to check out the caves of the wind, a trip that takes you closer to the waters of American Falls than you might think is possible. An elevator through the hill/cliff takes people to the foot of the fall, 60 feet down into the Niagara gorge. Imagine going down a lift which is inside the hill/cliff. Here we had to wear a proper bright yellow raincoat and special shoes they provide. as you come of the list you can walk on some wooden planks/steps. The guide takes you to close to foot of the water falls, to a platform called the

Hurricane Deck. If you stand there, you can feel the strong sprays of the water. It is not exactly under the waterfall.From here you get a spectacular view of torrents of the bridal veil falls. It was some experience! What is more endearing is that the Hurricane Deck is especially designed for handicapped and adults carrying children in arms.

Illuminated Niagara:After a couple of hours, we left the falls to have dinner. Then went back to the Niagara to see the lighting. The entire area on both sides is light up in different colors. The colorful falls looks absolutely gorgeous. You can spend hours sitting there gazing at the spectacular falls. After a while one of the guys started yawning....and we decided to go back for a sleep after promising each other that we would come back there the next morning on our way back home....and we did that!

Check this site to see some pictures: https://niagarafallslive.com/Facts_about_Niagara_Falls.htm