Welcome to Puerto Rico. Review on Puerto Rico

It was an icy-cold morning in my neck of the woods and the roads were still covered with snow. The frigid wind blew on my face as I got into my car, turned the ignition key on and rushed for the'heat' button. As I was waiting for my car to warm up, I closed my eyes and reminisced of some place warm. My thoughts took me to a stunning tropical island called 'Puerto Rico', a US territory located in North East Carribean. I could visualize the towering mountains, pristine beaches, beautiful rainforests and the historical landmarks. I could even smell the sweet fragrance of the wild flowers out there.

It was a three and a half hour long flight from JFK, NY to San Juan Puerto Rico. As soon as I got out of the airport, I felt that the clear blue skies, the swaying palm trees and the gentle breeze whispered something into my ears. To me, it sounded like 'Bienvenidos - Welcome!'. My exhaustion bade good bye to me almost immediately and I knew right then and there, that I would love to'get to know' and'see' more of Puerto Rico than originally planned. My policy of'never leaving home without a camera' was actually going to be more than worth it. I was visiting for official work, but decided to extend my trip by an extra couple of days to accomodate 'business' with'pleasure'. There are a very few things that I have done on an impulse, and this had to be one of them. Hearing that I had extended my trip, one of the ladies I had met there, during our meetings, said that she would like to come along as well. Puerto Rico is a fairly small island, surrounded by a group of few other tiny islands in the vicinity. It can be explored fairly easily(depending upon where one chooses to go) by car. Hence the first thing we did was rent a car.

I found San Juan to be a blend of old and new. It is home to old style Caribbean market places, art galleries, museums and beautiful gardens as well as upscale shopping malls, restaurants, boutiques and the like. The financial district, Hateo Rey gave us a taste of the beautiful modern architechture. One could spend an entire afternoon at the bay in the Condado Lagoon area, but as time was of the essence, we decided to move on to our next destination - **Old San Juan.

Being in Old San Juan and surrounded by historical buildings, I was automatically transported to a different era, with each building trying to tell me its story. There were eco-tours available, but we decided to walk around at a leisurely pace on our own. As we walked through the streets, I felt that time had stood still. The entire place had an aura of old European architechture and cobbled streets all around. The houses were built close to each other, resulting in narrow streets and alleys. Walking through Cristo Street was a tempting venture what with all the outlet stores of Ralph Lauren, D&G, Coach etc trying to lure us in. But I didn't give in to temptation this time. We slipped through the only remaining gate of the old city wall - The San Juan Gate and gazed upon the sparkling waters of the San Juan Bay. It was a surreal feeling at that moment. Apparently, years ago, there were many such gates all of which would be closed at dusk to protect the city from enemy attack.

We then visited the San Felipe del Morro Fortress, and about a half a mile from it was the San Cristobal Fortress. Both of which are marvelous works of architechture. It is said that the galleries of the San Cristobal fortress at one point could hold upto 700, 000 gallons of water. An engineering marvel in itself. We then walked by Casa Blanca(how I remembered Boghart and Bergman) an old historic mansion, which is now a museum. There were beautiful chapels and cathedrals as we walked by. Just across the bay from Old San Juan, we visited the famous 'Casa Bacardi'- home of the world famous Bacardi Rum Factory. It reminded me of past wine tours, that I've been on. A walk through the distillaries and the free samples of Rum were available for tasting.

We then headed East. Eastern Puerto Rico is a blend of tropical rain forests, beautiful beaches, world class resorts with excellent spa facilities and some of the best restaurants. The locals absolutely love sea-food and fishing boats are a common sight. We reached the town of Rio Grande, which is the gateway to El Yunque National Forest. There were numerous picnic shelters, observatory towers and hiking trails. We were a bit tired and stopped for lunch. As I was munching, my heart skipped a beat as a huge Iguana popped out of no where, barely about 20 feet from where we were having lunch. I ate as fast as I could, so we could go some place else. But the photographer in me tried to venture close to it(within safe distance) to get some shots. Having photographed the Iguana, we drove down the coast along Route 3, and reached a town called'Naguabo'. We then went to Hucares Beach, where a beautiful boardwalk stretched into the ocean. A few mintues drive, further down, and we were in Humacao, a Mediterranean styled town, home to Palmas Del Mar, a beautiful resort area. As far as I could see, there were miles and miles of beautiful beaches stretching out. The houses by the ocean were gorgeous. I was told that the prices of some of the houses ranged over a couple of million dollars. The following day, we drove further south to the town of Yabucoa. We then drove through Maunabo Loop, a breathtaking panoramic coastal route. Next we went to Salinas Beach, and then 'The City ofPonce', well known for its coffee. I tasted their coffee and loved the aroma and the flavor as well. Since, I had to fly back the next day, we could not visit much of Western Puerto Rico. We drove through the town of Caguas, which had a rustic flavor and was surrounded by hills. If we had the time, we could have explored the central mountains as well, but then we thought to ourselves, that it would give us all the more reason to visit Puerto Rico again. I was biding good bye to my new friend, with whom I had bonded over the past few days when suddenly, I heard loud honks of cars, a man banging at my car window, screaming at me for taking so long to vacate the parking spot.

For a minute there, I was startled, I looked out the window and saw the snow covered ground. I wondered where the Rainforests, the beaches, the hills, the Casa Blanca mansion and most importantly, my friend had disappeared? Had I fallen asleep? Was I dreaming, was I on 'Mullholland Drive' or was I in Anurag Kashyap's world of No Smoking? And then I saw the airline tag still attached to my laptop case. Irealized, I had just taken a long trip down memory lane andthought to myself, rain or snow, hot or cold, my friend and I, we'll always have Puerto Rico, as I stepped on the gas paddle and drove away.