Hawaii - two weeks in a fairy tale
Hawaii - dreams come true.
After a long choice of where to fly - to Spain to Tenerife (our friends were there last summer - well, they liked it very much) all the same, I once again wanted real exoticism in the form of endless beaches, volcanoes, waterfalls, sun, warm ocean and lack of heat and fuss and haste. Long story short, Hawaii.
We flew in two pairs. We are from Krasnoyarsk, and friends from Moscow. Since we flew specifically to Hawaii, we chose the route through Seoul. It turned out to be much more convenient than we flew before with a bunch of transfers.
We have been to Oahu 2 times (before) and I will say that what our tour operators offer is not always the best places. Like a broken record. And then it’s a little expensive and we got tired of pushing on buses, until you wait, you’ll be loaded in the queue - you’ll already get tired. Either Vasya has to wait, he has not yet left the toilet, then Petya has not finished smoking yet. Then Marivanna squeals - I want to go there, I don’t want to go here ...and so on. What kind of vacation is this?
In short, Californian pensioners and I are not on the road. Save fifty dollars and lose the whole day.
This time we decided not to mess around, booked tours of the four islands directly from the Russian agency Hikci in Hawaii. How expensive, but! Firstly, they carry on the 500th Mercedes, secondly, these are individual tours as it is convenient for us, and thirdly, due to the fact that they ordered us hotels everywhere and tickets and tours, in total it turned out to be inexpensive, even a little cheaper than the last time we took in Moscow and without tours and excursions. And everything is as WE want, and as it is convenient for us. And WHEN and WHERE is convenient for us!
This time - WE RESTED to the fullest! ! !
First we flew to Maui. Here is a completely idyllic island. Nature is unique, impenetrable tropical jungles, roads like a table, beaches without end, mountains are completely different - both pointed like blades and transcendental like on another planet.
And really, like on another planet - the craters of extinct volcanoes, rarefied air, featherbeds of clouds far below you. Some rare unusual plants and black lifeless stones.
After a dizzying trip to the mountains, we drove around the island to Hana. The views and waterfalls on Hana are amazing. So powerful, there are no words. You have to stop every five hundred meters. Try the local pineapples - you're still salivating. Delicious! ! ! Around the road the jungle is impassable. And our Christmas trees are standing next to each other. Nature is very different and conifers and tropics and ferns with a two-story house. The towns are cozy, the people are mostly white. Coffee! ! ! The coffee is the best we've ever tasted! It's a pity they didn't take much with them.
Everyone is smiling, basking in life. Still, in such a place to live. All American stars, politicians, athletes and famous businessmen live on Maui. They call it the Island of Flowers and Celebrities.
When you go to Hana there is a park on the right (I forgot the name Sergey brought). You leave the car in the parking lot and continue along the trail on foot. It took a couple of hours. You go through the jungle, higher and higher. Air is something to smell and swallow! In short, we climbed and there is a waterfall 300 meters high and 10 meters wide. I have never seen anything like it. I wanted to stand under the stream of water, but there is such pressure - you can’t breathe. You stand with your head thrown back and look. Energy - in general, there are no words.
We took a catamaran to the lagoon in the middle of the ocean (I also don’t remember the name, local) is considered one of the best scuba on the planet. Do not believe it, and I would not believe it ...Under water, visibility is 50 meters. Not twenty (this is also a lot), but fifty. Different fish, turtles, colorful corals... another world. And when you sailed back on a catamaran, you lie on the net and in front of you dolphins jump out of the river. Bliss.
Maui is the most expensive of all the islands and the best.
For three days we lived in paradise on the ocean coast under the sound of waves and warm sunny but not hot weather. We did not get to the island of Lanai where the dolphins were.
Then they flew to the Big Island. So harsh, not at all like the joyful Maui. Rocks, endless lava flows, such masses of ground molten stone are hard to imagine, one must see. We had to go far from the town of Kona, but this is already the work of a guide. He taxied, constantly turned into some secret scary and beautiful places and told his own or other people's stories. We arrived at the Volcano Park, well, getting lost there and not seeing anything without knowing what-where - it's like twice two. We looked at the huge mouths of volcanoes full of heat, roar and smoke. We took a steam bath in sulfuric geysers (do not burn yourself, they can be quite strong), went straight to the frozen rivers of lava - something indescribable. And then to these vaunted Akaki waterfalls or something. There, I don't recommend it.
The guide seemed to say so, but the tour was fully paid for, on the Internet everyone praised them and we got caught, so we say - take it, show it. Far away and the waterfall is certainly picturesque, but it is far from the monsters of Maui. And they came back tired. Still, you probably wind three or four hundred kilometers or more in a day.
Three days later, Kawaii. Kawaii is a sweet island. Sweet air, warm, soft. Enveloping and intoxicatingly soothing. Grace! ! ! Eat with spoons. Indeed, an indescribable feeling. Quiet, beautiful...The hotel was chosen for us inexpensive, but decent right on the ocean. What a sky! ! ! And the stars! ! ! We haven't seen these anywhere.
Our tour was on the second day. Let's go to the Canyon first. It's around the whole island then along a winding road to the very top, through the wettest place on the planet. Such abysses - on one side the sun and blue sky, on the other, fogs and argali jump on the rocks.
Beauty. While standing on the Pali Coast (where Lost was filmed), a rainbow came out against the background of the ocean. Miracle!
In Hawaii, contrary to the claims of tourists, there is NO rainy season. It rains almost every day for about five to ten minutes, it will bring freshness and then again the sun. No heat either. New from us in Kawaii caught in a storm. And it rained for a couple of days. It was boring to sit in the hotel and we drove north, again around the entire island. This must be seen. Nature has created such wonderful places. And the mountains are like dragon's teeth (that's what they are called in my opinion) and the jungle and the ranch ...yes, that's all ...such a beauty.
The colors are bright, contrasting to obscene. Well, you can't be as beautiful as this island. We arrived at a special place, as the guide said the place is sacred to the Hawaiians. There the three elements merge together. These are mountain waterfalls into rivers, and they are already into the ocean, a forest standing right on a sandy beach endless to the horizon and the ocean itself with azure water. Water is alive! You come out rejuvenated.
I can’t explain, but the guide said that the place is special and the Hawaiians go here to be treated for indistinguishable diseases, they bring pregnant women so that everything would be fine with the future child and he was lucky, but you didn’t believe. And there, in fact, constantly pregnant local girls come and meditate. Maybe there is something. But I definitely felt it. The lightness is amazing and like minus five to seven years Whack!
The place is truly extraordinary. You immediately begin to swim there. I mean like drunk. It’s good that you feel like that and your darling flew somewhere. And nothing worries you anymore, and it's good so ...This is something. Then we went to the caves where the Hawaiian tribes used to live and ate each other and to the water cave at the very end. We returned at night, a restaurant on the beach under torches, a barbecue. Everything you need for happiness.
But then the turn came to Oahu (Honolulu). We have been in Hawaii for 11 days.
On Oahu, I liked the Hilton Hotel, in addition to pools, a jacuzzi under burning torches and a tropical sky, it also has access to its azure ocean lagoon. Not far from Waikiki (on foot 5-10 minutes) and at the same time quite removed from the tourist bustle and noise.
On excursions - we took a package - Hidden Hawaii - such as secret Hawaii. What I liked is that they have routes just in places not where all the tourists flock in droves, but where the locals like to relax. Those. -the best on the island and really hidden from tourists. Lanikai is a unique beach. Two islets nearby and water is something indescribable. Emerald-azure as in the pictures, and the sand is white, soft as flour. The helicopter tour over Honolulu and the volcano is awesome. You can see why they called it the Precious Head - it looks like a frame for a diamond from above. Waimanalo Beach has the best waves for beginners to board. (the guide gave them to us for free).
And long and safe and the bottom is sandy.
Hike through the crater Daimon head to the very top of the volcano, too, liked. Top view is awesome. you see the lighthouse, reefs and waves roll on the shore with foam. On a submarine excursion is about nothing. . But on Oahu, the famous Hanayuma Bay, I do not advise this one. The cinema is old, crowds of Japs, well, fish like in Egypt. Mutota. I liked (our wives were generally in decline) an excursion to the pearl jewelry factory. The pearls are the best in the world and the craftsmen are good. And the prices are different from ours, well, not weakly. The second excursion was taken to Pearl Harbor. There you go to the cruiser itself where the film with Segel was filmed. I didn't think he was that healthy. Cruiser I mean. Probably 12 floors. The guns are so awesome about half a meter, probably in girth and length, I don’t know, well, dofiga meters, probably 10-12. Then we went on a boat to the flooded cruiser Arizona.
In the afternoon we went from Pearl Harbor to Waimea - we also liked it very much.
Second or third best place in Hawaii. And even on the planet in the top ten. There is such an island from which the locals dive and I dived - I caught my ass. While flying twenty times regret. The main thing is to get into the wave. There are interesting waves. They pick you up and back and forth, back and forth, shake you. Toward evening we went to the North Shore - turtles five meters from the shore. We went for a swim in the blue water to the point of impossibility, a stone came out and a stone lies, and he took it and began to crawl away! The turtle is healthy!
I really liked the people. We travel a lot, but we have never met such open and friendly people anywhere else. both ours and not ours. For good, we envy them that they live in such a place.
So many impressions in one day - it's hard to believe. And in the two weeks that we were there - more than a year. Super. Just great.
