Phoenix - Cactus,Date Palm Trees, Bald Mountains...nothing else!

No wonder!!!
I was never so keen ever, to get there.
Off all the places in USA...not this one.

But for the business opportunity I wouldn't have gone too.
Yes, the lure of the Grand Canyon was always there...The Hoover Damn too.
It also boasts of a place called Sedona which has the unique distinction of a Sun Set in the East!
There it was, an optical illusion...a very rare one.

Modern Phoenix as such is full of and known for Golf Courses and Play grounds.
But what stands out is the natural heritage of date palms, Cacti, and Semi Bald Mountains...nothing else.
One of them resembles a sitting camel and is appropriately named Camels Back too!
On the Northern side of the Airport lies this natural phenomenon, That runs East West.
So does the Airport too.
On the southern side are more prominent mountains all bald as they are bereft of vegetation.
Named aptly...The South mountain...and Human Beings' overreach on them stands out on one particular hill...that is full of what looks like needles stuck on a Voodoo Doll...antennae of various sizes and lengths clustered together that do shine a bright compound red in the night.

Rest, like in any other planned town of USA is all blocks n blocks...of structures square in shape.
Block after block!

The cabs here are a change though...a welcome change.
So are the Cab Drivers.
Swift efficient, neat and clean and well chauffeured.
Affordable,fitted with GPS its a pleasing ride in and around the town.
The yellow ones within the city and the green ones to and from the hotel etc.
There is of course a not to be missed out sprawling hire-a-car pool just outside the International Airport.

Sky Harbor Airport itself, is pretty well designed.
Self Sustained.
Well stocked.
Well maintained given the fact that 26 Airlines fly in and out of the Airport!
Busy but kind of take it Easy!
No not the security..my my on arrival an hours wait in a serpentine Que was indeed testing.
Then onto the desk of the immigration official.
A couple of questions are thrown at you by the poker faced official.
All your paws get marked one by one once you are through with the answers.
Your mug shot gets captured thereafter.
Your passport gets stamped and you briskly walk onto the baggage claim area.

No! the baggage is not strewn around it is arranged for easy recognition both on the conveyor and off the conveyor.
Post claiming ....Out you walk through a secured corridor on to a lifts that take you to upper levels for a quick exit to the township, via cabs, buses, airport shuttles etc, etc.
Terminal 4...As it is called.

The down town is quite corporate.
Hotels chained to one another through main streets and by lanes.
The Sheraton stands out as a tall rectangular building that cannot be missed.
The other hotels do get dwarfed both in size and in service when compared to this hospitality Giant.
The people in Phoenix are very calm cool and well composed.
Minding their business, generally.
Helping, when sought for.
Mixed races have descended here and there is a very strong presence of the Mexican Race.
Obviously, as a neighboring state this would be a greener pasture for them.

The food and flavour is a combination of American and Mexican generally.
There is no dirth of eateries though: from every nook and cranny of the world.
I had no time else I would have definitely found an Indian restaurant too.
Eating out is not very costly.
For 25$ one can easily have a dig at a good palate that can relish ones salivary senses to the fill.
For 10 to 15 $ also it could be done at a lesser expensive eat out though.

Now that's Phoenix in a nut shell as seen through my eyes very recently.
Grand Canyon..next!

Phoenix for me as such remains bereft of any thing worth talking about or remembering till eternity.

Its just a remain.
An unrisen name!
Not a Phoenix as it was supposed to be.

As: for somebody/everybody living there it was/is all a game!
With so many holes...in numerous sprawling Golf Courses.
Strewn all over Phoenix.
No dirth of hole(s) for the discerning player.
I could...but I did not go for the much coveted "hole in one."
I could have...but I did not as there were better things to be done.
Though That hole was waiting to be taken..easily.
No regrets.

The hole in any case was taken...not once but several times.
Not by me alone...but by by several visitors from travails all over the world!
As the hole is no longer the holy hole that I cherished and loved and holed as a "hole in one".
A unique distinction...once upon a time.

When Golf for me was a Passion.
So was Flying to this never elusive hole.
Not a Fashion as it is now turned out to be.

As:
Fashion is all about Dollars!
Nothing Else matters any longer to any one.
Come to think of it...Me too.
I am glad I went to Phoenix and stayed away from not so elusive "hole in one"
All for the well being.
As silence speaks louder than speech and the written words.
It Kills those who are well heeled and holed amongst Dollars.

For sure...slowly and steadily those... who decide to stay stupidly silent once their game is over.
Silent.... after a lusty journey(s) undertaken by them for a couple of hot"hole in ones."
On Company expenses.
The travel, the stay, the highway...all paid by the company(s) that employs that/the player(s).
Not a pence spent at all from individual(s) pocket!
Ever.


Thank God...I had no company to spend in my case.
Else mine would have been a parallel case too.
It was all at my cost.
My will.
And of course my well wishers' prayers.
That I could pluck out of the "Catalogue of the Universe" an opportunity that knocked on my door.
Vehemently.
Till I ceased it.
Eased it.
Never Pleased it...this time...yes it...as now it is all inanimate.

It.
Alias "Hole in One"

Axee
Alias
Arun