The USA

USA - PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I'm nearing the end of my travels, I've met lots of friendly and chatty Americans, I just wish I had more time to get to know places and socialise rather than just sight-see.

Most relaxing place - Glenwood Springs, favourite city - Boston, best view - of and from Golden Gate Bridge, biggest buz - Grand Canyon. Sorry Rachel - it was good to visit NY but I wouldn't want to live there.

Sorry Mr Watkins, you requested a picture of a big lady, but in view of your comments you will have to make do with this:

Arrival

Arrived New York JFK 29 March. Border control processing including queue, finger-printing and photo quicker than expected - just over an hour (but the queue behind me built up as another flight came in). The queue for USA passport holders was only 5 minutes.

There are many stories about rude and unpleasant border guards, luckily the one dealing with me was quite pleasant. N.B. you need to state where your staying on the entry card - you may not be allowed entry without firm accommodation.

There are a variety of options for getting you from JFK to Manhattan. As a single traveller new to NY I opted for the Super Shuttle Manhattan, this takes you to your hotel/hostel and at $17 was cheaper than the bus. The drawbacks are its not scheduled, the minibus goes when it is near full (it may take 30 mins picking up from other terminals) and as it drops off people at different locations it can take a long time to get to your destination (in my case nearly 2 hours after arriving at JFK, I think a taxi takes about an hour). IF you know Manhattan/NY then the metro/airport shuttle line is a cheaper and quicker option - I used this returning to JFK.

As a foreigner you can buy a 30 day US Rail pass for $385 (about £215 which enables you to travel coast to coast and as far North as Toronto in Canada. An absolute bargain; I was able to travel East to West coast and back with these stopoffs NY -> Niagara Falls (Canada) -> Chicago -> Glenwood Springs -> San Francisco ->(Railtrak coach)-> Los Angeles -> Flagstaff -> Grand Canyon rim (coach) -> Flagstaff -> Chicago -> Washington -> Boston -> NY

April 1st - Rail to Niagra Falls. Arrived 4:30pm

As you can see - page not yet complete - more later.