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| billyray75
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| Countries traveled: | 6 |
| Essential item: | Tour Book |
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Place
North America
USA
Bar Harbor, Maine |
Style Free Spirit | Budget $$$ Comfortable |
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An Outdoorish Adventure for Non-Outdoor Types
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| Info Source: Fodor's Maine Coast |
| Trip Costs | | In general, my costs in US$ were: |
| For the Whole Day: |
40 |
For a Night's Accommodation: |
50/person |
| For a Meal: |
12 |
For a Beer/Cocktail: |
5 |
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| Activities & Experiences | Trekking
Bar Harbor, Maine is one of the most gorgeous places in this country. It was the perfect end to a road trip up the coast of Maine (Bar Harbor is actually in Mount Desert Island which is just off the Maine coast). It's minutes away from Acadia National Park, but we'll get to that later. The town of Bar Harbor itself is quaint and New Englandy in that Gilmore Girlish kind of way. There's a gazebo in the town square and people actually lounge in the lawn around it as a local high school band plays. We went in July and it still gets cool at night there.
There are loads of accomodations at all price ranges. If you're the adventuring type you can even camp in the park. We were not the adventuring type. We stayed at a moderately priced hotel called "The Wonderview Inn". It's not false advertising, the photo is from my room's balcony. The Wonderview Inn hadn't changed since presumably the mid-1960s when it had been a resort. It was like walking into a scene in Dirty Dancing. It even had a write-up in Vogue...In 1968! And it was still hanging in the lobby. The hotel was high on the top of a hill but getting around wasn't a problem because all summer long Bar Harbor provides free shuttle busses with routes all over the town and even to the park. Pretty darn convenient.
Food: There are two things Maine is known for: Lobster and Blueberries. I highly suggest going for it on both fronts. Neither are very hard to find, in fact I saw--I shit you not-- Lobster Ice Cream in one of the local sweet shops.
Acadia National Park: I'd give you all the interesting facts about it, but I can't really remember anything except it's purty. That's not true. We went to the top of Cadillac Mountain to watch the sun rise (Many people go to watch the sun set but my friends and I weren't really people persons (people?) so we in stead woke up at an ungodly hour to watch the sun rise...there were still plenty of people around). Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the Eastern seabord all the way down to South America, so if you see the sun rise there, you are actually seeing the sun rise before everyone else from New England to Brazil. We also did a driving loop (about a 45 minute tour) to see the main attractions of the park before we went to explore.
To get around the park, you purchase a pass (around $15) that lets your car in and out of the park for a week. So you're paying $15 if you only go one day or if you seven days.
My friends and I did a 3 hour hike around a lake. It was very much unlike any of us, but we were all so overcome by the beauty of the park around us, that we needed to be closer to nature for a little while. Maybe it was the salt water air or maybe it was the woodland creatures calling to us and telling us to hike around a lake. For three city boys it was quite an adventure. Just don't forget the bug spray.
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Three essentials for India:
GET YOUR VISA ORGANIZED AHEAD OF TIME. The Embassy wait can be brutal!
A-Z of Adventure Travel Insurance from World Nomads as you will probably get "Delhi Belly."
Hostelworld was a great help for finding cheap, but decent accommodation in India!
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