Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tahquamenon falls and Paradise village

There is nothing very great about the Tahquamenon falls. There is a water fall with considerable quantity of water flowing through. There is lot of vegetation and greenery all around. Arrangements have been made to go very next to the falls and enjoy the scene. One may spend some good time trekking along the forest paths if so inclined. So on and so forth.



The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the falls was that it very much resembled the ‘Vrishbhaavati’ river of Bengaluru. I do not think many residents of Bangalore know about this river. If you travel from Mysore to Bangalore by road, after you cross the RVCE campus, you will see a great water fall of black sewage water to your right. Before you see the fall, you will have smelt it. That is what is now the ‘Vrishabhavati’ river, a tributary of river ‘Arkavati’ is. That water fall is black and this Tahquamenon fall is brown. Please remember that I am talking only of the similarity in appearance. Nothing else.



The water is not dirty. The tannins leaching from the cedar trees give this colour to the water while the river flows through the cedar swamps.
The falls is just about fifteen minutes drive from the Paradise village and we checked in at the “Best value Inn’.



The July 4th celebrations were to end with a firework display in a field about a mile from the village. We had our dinner and reached there just before ten at night. There was a considerable crowd and people were still in the celebration mood. They had come prepared with blankets and pillows to put on the ground and enjoy the spectacle in the sky. The display lasted about half an hour and was really enjoyable.

Next morning I went on my early morning walk on the only street of Paradise village. It was very calm and quiet.



By half past ten in the morning of 5th July, we joined the traffic returning to the city trudge once again after enjoying the open country.



We reached Canton MI by evening and with that trip our US visit was almost coming to an end.

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