Interpreter of Maladies
Thursday, June 01, 2006
The tourist in me-1Another one week and my summer sojourn would draw to an end. I have not been much of a tourist during the last two months but the little I have explored is worth sharing. The holidays are few and far between and not all weekends qualify as holidays-therefore much less room for recreational indulgences. The two trips I made outside the city were to Atlantic City and Niagra Falls. AC and Niagara are alike and apart in many respects and are the more "conventional" to visit places for a NY resident. Also had the chance to visit the famed Museums of NY - the history museum, modern arts etc. Did the obligatory Statue of Liberty tour too. The funniest part about the trips is the mix of people I come across at these places-around 50% is Chinese and the rest is Indians. Comparing it to the fact that the BRIC countries are just experiencing the high growth rate, salaries and higher living standards, the populace is slowly climbing the ladder and going GLOBAL.
AC is a city in New Jersey. It's single claim to fame maybe around 20 years back would have been the ocean it is situated next to. Its the farthest end of the Americas next to-you guessed it right-Atlantic Ocean. The new "hep" thing about AC is the casinos. It is supposedly the poor man's Vegas or the casino land of the east-crowded with a slew of casinos. Boarding a bus that was "supposedly" to take us to the city-we got marooned somewhere in between. The bus service is only marginally better in the US(maybe in terms of cleanliness) as compared to India and Greyhound which is the oldest bus company in the US is no good at "customer service". Bored and exhausted, we finally set foot on the casino city. Through the bus tour, I had seen people flipping through guides on poker, blackjack, How to get lucky with slot machines...can you really make money in a game of pure chance..was what I asked myself.
Since I am such a big water lover, I could not wait to see the ocean. But what we saw was a sore disappointment. The beach was dirty though the sea was strong, powerful and cleaner than average water bodies in India. As I stood there, watching the waves wash on my feet and wetting me, I longed for home. Only if I could swim and cross the seas and be at the place I love the most. When my day dream got over, we set off to the farther end of the beach. It was mostly deserted and there were people selling "POT", lovers nestling with each other and the likes. There sitting on a jutting reef, I closed my eyes and heard the wind and the ocean rushing through my head. It was great. Undoubtedly tha part about AC I enjoyed the most. As the sun set, we set out for our casino round. Donald Trump, the millionaire who hosts the Apprenticeruns this pricey casino called Trump Taj Mahal which is awkwardly designed to be some kind of cross between Indian, Arabic and some grotesque architecture. I have little idea about how conscious are architects of casinos on aesthetics but what I saw before me was some golden minarets and something that looked like Indian craft. Within this TAJ MAHAL were housed thousands of slot machines, roulette tables, black jack and poker experts. I stuck to slot machines as a) they eat up money slowly and b) they seemed easier to experiemnt with for a novice. Although I spend a couple of hours fiddling with the slot machines trying to get combination that can throw up some money for me but no good. All I got was "zilch". No regrets though, I never expected much. Tired from the slot machines, in the wee hours of night we set off back to home, sleeping and yawning.
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for travel enthusiasts:
way to reach: take the Greyound from NY - best connection to AC. They also have a special ticket that covers transport as well as gives some discount for casinos too. That is a must buy.
what to do: I would recommend the beach and not the casinos. There is also an old lighthouse within the city that overlooks the ocean. Must visit.
what to eat: there are a very few vegetarian choices available but the roadside pizza stores can cook up something veg if asked. Beer is quite cheap though and can be gien a try.
what to buy: souvenirs didn't look so good. So cant recommend much.
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