Hawaii Maui

Maui

We spent 3 full days in the island of Maui. If you look at the map, it looks like a torso. So generally guides or locals call out “look at the head,” “look at the neck” etc. Most of the activities are concentrated in the head part.

We started our tour from Iao park. This park’s main attraction is 2,250 ft stone pillar, Iao needle. It has basalt core and is standing tall without erosion. The setting is very nice. This park is surrounded by a volcanic crater. You can see native species of plants. You reach at the visitor centre through lush green mountains. Many battles took place in this area. A nice fresh water stream flows in the park. This park is not very big but the area is lush green and hills give picture perfect setting for photography.

We stayed on Kanaapali beach in Royal Lahaina resort. This hotel has a beautiful beach on the backside. The garden cottages are not in good condition but the renovated part is good. My best place in this hotel was the breakfast table facing the beach. You can take a walk, swim, snorkel or just relax on the beach. Morning (before 10) was a better time. Snorkeling was good, but you have to find a proper place (Look for the rocks. They are very sharp). The black rock side is good for snorkeling. It is better to buy snorkeling equipment at an ABC store. They are not costly. You can see two small hills, some anchored boats and calm blue water on the beach. This part of the beach was really relaxing. I took early morning walk on the beach twice, soaking my feet in the water. The beach was clean and calm. Another interesting part of the hotel was golf courses. There were two courses on the property.

Hawaii offers many beautiful golf courses. It was difficult to take out some time from our schedule for golf. We gave priority to water sports and other tours. This golf course was on the property of our hotel.

Lahaina is the market place. Lahaina means “hot” or “warm”. This town was really hot. It is full of shops and art galleries. Many boat tours start from here. Tour prices vary according to size and comfort of the boat. We saw a big Banyan tree there. It is the second largest in the world and from INDIA. The largest tree is near Calcutta. This tree captures almost ½ an acre of land. I could see 16 big “parambya,” which formed new trees again. It was impossible to take complete pictures of this tree. I took 2-3 pictures. Our tour guide showed us the bus route to this place from our hotel and different shops. We had group lunch in the harbor side restaurant.

In the evening we went to Maui theatre to watch Ulelana. This is a theatre production in Maui Theatre. I read both positive and negative reviews about this, but finally decided to take the risk. This program shows the history of Hawaiian Islands with different dance forms and live music. It was a good program. Stage effects were good. This show told a story about the life of the Hawaiian people in olden days, their everyday life, Capt cook’s visit, sugar plantation, Chinese and Japanese workers and Madam Pele (Volcano goddess). I thought we should have such films or programs on Maharashtra for school kids. Statewise and all India level films on history should be produced. Pictures make a greater impact. We only have lokdhara type programs. Why not such films?

Next day, Prasanna went for the morning snorkel tour on Molokini Island. This is a horse shoe shape island in the middle of the sea. Due to its shape, you get to see fish and green turtles here. You cannot get down on this island. Only commercial tours can take you there. He swam with the green turtles. You are not supposed to touch them. You have to pay a fine for this. Snorkeling was good but nothing beats what we saw in Andaman. I think this space is more popular due to the island’s shape and position.

I did whale watching. This was a good tour. Tour people explained many things about whales in the beginning. Winter months are better for whale watching, but we were lucky to see some good action. I also saw dolphins on the way back. Generally, the captain would spot the whale (you can see turquoise blue color of water on the whale as the light reflects) and they stop the boat. Once the Whale comes out, we can move further. A whale is almost 40 tons, the size of a school bus, but you don’t feel this size in the water. We saw one mother whale teaching jumps to a baby whale. We were following them for 15 minutes. That was wonderful. Generally you cannot take good pictures as the action is unpredictable and fast. It is better to keep your cameras away and enjoy the show.

Evening time was Luau time. Luau means feast in Hawaiian. Many hotels host Luau with food and Hula. We attended Hula in Royal Lahaina. Seating was on the beach side. The crowd was big. We got good places as we were hotel guests. There were around 700-800 people. Mai Tai and other drinks were served on the table. 6 lines were open for dinner. We could taste some local food here like poi, coconut pudding, salmon fish and mahi mahi fish. Dinner from drinks to dessert was done in 50 minutes (all 800 people), what a speed!!! Food was good. I did not like poye (purple color paste made by taro roots.) It seems like this is used in the Gerber baby food. It is healthy. Coffee and dessert was open till the end. I was comparing in my mind how much time we spend in marriages on lunch. We spend minimum four hours.

After dinner they invited interested people on the stage and showed few Hula steps. This dance form or art form was started to worship gods in ancient times. Initially only men used to do this. Then slowly ladies joined as well. Gradually it became a form of entertainment. This was banned when missionaries were on the islands, but the king at that time saved this form. There are special schools teaching Hula, and Big Island organizes competitions yearly (Hula Olympics). There are many places where you can have free hula performances.

We saw 2-3 such programs. At one place, Prasanna got a chance to show his dancing skills. He got appreciation from the crowd. In Hula, each action has some meaning. Generally, they tell stories about islands in the song. The music is always live. Drums and some Hawaiian instruments are used. They play English songs most of the times as people understand. This music is similar to our goanese or Portuguese music. Now a days, it has become commercial. Good dancers attract more crowds; simple equation. These dancers shake so fast, remarkable. In general, the crowd was in a good mood. Everybody was in Hawaiian attire. Hibiscus prints or Hawaii shirts. Shell leis were given as tickets. They recognized people celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and newly wed couples. The couple next to us celebrated their 62^nd anniversary!!!!!!!! It was a full moon night with a nice breeze on the beachside. This took us 25 years back …same full moon night nice breeze…in Mahabaleshwar. There was no beach but there was a nice lake.

Third day morning drive to HANA (20 miles) evening helicopter ride to Maui and volcano. We saw other side of Maui. It was too hot. I took some tips from internet about the spots on the way. They have given mile by mile stops. It helps.

We rented a car and drove to HANA highway through central Maui. We drove 20 miles and sampled the road. This road is a real testing road, winding and narrow with single lane bridges. It has beautiful rainforests on one side and the blue pacific on the other. It was raining and the sun was shining with short intervals. Trees are lush green. We saw painted eucalyptus trees on the way.

We also visited the Garden of Eden, where the famous opening shot of Jurassic park was taken. On the way, we tasted sugarcane juice and shahale. In the afternoon, again we saw this area from a small plane. We stopped at Hookipa beach and saw windsurfers surfing. There are many waterfalls on the way but they are not that great. The road has twists and turns and turns and twists. The weather is tropical. There are many points on this route where you can watch water on one side and trees on the other side.

Hawaiian language

Missionaries reached Hawaiian Islands and gave them a script. This is an English like language but not English. There are only 12 letters in it. A E I O U and W L K N P H Y.

The tour guides give you so much information. They speak Hawaiian words and familiarize you with the language.

We learned some words

Alii – Hawaiian royalty

Hale – a house

Hula – Hawaiian dance

Luau – Hawaiian feast

Lua – restroom

Imu – a clay oven

Keiki – child

Lanai – warhanda

Lei – flower strand

Makai – towards sea

Mauka – towards mountains

Mauna – mountain

muumuu – a loose gown

nani – beautiful

Pali – a cliff

Pahu – drum

Aloha – welcome

Mahalo - welcome

Capoo – taboo

Wahini – lady

Kane – man

Mauna – mountain

History

Polynesian triangle is a group of islands in mid pacific defined by Hawaii, Easter islands and New Zealand. Main seven Polynesian cultures come from Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, New Zealand, Hawaii, Easter Island and Marquises. All these cultures have similar (with some difference) languages, greetings, customs and dance forms. You can experience this on Oahu at Polynesian cultural center. . We did not take the Polynesian tour on Oahu, but we could sample these dances in Luau. They have one or two Polynesian island dances. Hawaiian are mixtures of people from Polynesian islands as they came to Hawaii long back. You can see mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Americans as they came here for sugarcane plantation. I can not define features of a Hawaiian. You can say this person is Hawaiian but you cannot specify the features.

Polynesians were good astronomers. They could navigate the sea due to their navigational skills as well as canoeing skills. They used to craft canoes and travel with the help of stars in the night. If you think of those days, how these people traveled without compass or telescope or maps, it’s amazing.

About 100 years ago Hawaii was number one in sugar production in the world. Many Chinese and Japanese people moved here for jobs. This made impact on the food. You get all type of food here. Now they produce pineapples in large quantities. The land is very fertile here.

In general this place is a good blend of many nationalities and cultures.

Last day while coming back I was thinking about the Hawaii trip. This was totally different than Switzerland. I experienced many wonders in our trip. I saw different face of nature here. These eight days have given me many wonderful moments.

Hawaii Big Island

Big Island….

Main attractions- Volcano National Park, Mauna Kea, black sand beach,

Botanical gardens (Hilo side)

Kona coffee, Captain cook monument, submarine ride,Scuba (Kona side)

The name ‘big island’ is given to this island as this island is big in size. It is also called Hawaii. This Island has two airports one in Hilo (east side) and the other in Kona (west side). The driving distance between these two places is approximately 2 hrs. The northbound road is more scenic.

We started our tour from Hilo side of big island which is windward side i.e. it is the wet side. This side has less sun. You can see rainforests, botanical gardens, and waterfalls on this side. Guides of the bus are very knowledgeable. They tell you names of the plants, history etc. On the way we stopped at Orchid gardens. This was full of beautiful orchids. We could only hear camera sounds and flashlights for the next ten minutes. We saw a picture of the most expensive orchid. (It was not that beautiful but it was perfect in design – worth $20000).

All ladies got flowers. Hawaiians say if a lady has a flower on the left side, she is taken. If it is on right side, she is looking and if someone wears it in the middle, she is confused. We had 2-3 confused souls on the bus.

Next stop was Volcano national Park. It was cloudy, raining and pretty cold. This is a typical wet weather. We visited visitor’s center, which is not big, but has good pictures and information. Rangers were ready to answer your questions. We saw some kind of a vapor coming from the ground. It was just water vapor….nothing to worry. Water goes down and when it comes in contact with hot lava it comes out as vapor. This gives you the idea that you are driving on live volcano. I think this is something to worry about. There is an 11 mile route around the crater (hule), which you can drive on. We could not go near the crater as that day sulfur levels were too high. This is hazardous for life, so we saw smoke /fumes coming out of crater from the distance. It was awesome. You could see an orange glow at the bottom. We took many pictures.

Then we visited Thurston Lava tube. This lava tube was found by Thurston on accident. There are many lava tubes under ground. You get an idea how the lava flows to the ocean through these tubes. A small part of this tube, which is lighted, is open for public. Next part is 40 miles in the dark. When the lava flows on the ground, it starts cooling (in 20 minutes or so). So, it hardens on the top and there is hot lava inside which keeps moving. This phenomenon makes lava tubes. So, when you walk on new lava, you have to be always careful. You can see red under your feet.

Lava meeting sea……

When we visited Hawaii, we booked our trip in advance. I used to visit http://nps.gov/HI site. It gives you all the updates about lava flow.

Volcano national park has a continuously erupting volcano, Kilauea. By chance, lava stopped flowing for 3 months. I was a bit upset, but we were lucky enough since it started flowing just 2 days before we started our trip. There was another eruption when we left Hawaii. This flow is continuous. When I saw all this I started thinking about the pumping system of lava from the magma (it is some 60 miles deep), and the tremendous energy inside. It keeps on pouring into the sea and makes new land, which you can actually see. First you see clouds of steam and at the base you can see lava pouring into the sea. (I will not go into details and numbers. They are easily available on the net). This view is the best in the dark. We took an airplane trip from another island to see the lava entering the sea as they were changing timings and site everyday. High sulfur emission was another reason. Bird’s eye view is the best.

We saw old lava flows which had destroyed the land. This land was blackish dark due to burning and tremendous heat. There were dead trees and we could see destruction on one side of the island. On the other hand, there was a land in making at the sea shore in front of us. It was amazing. You can see destruction and construction at the same place. This is Mother Nature. We cannot disturb it or master it. We can just watch. We generally learn all these things about lava in the school books and watch it on TV, but watching it in front of you was really breathtaking…kind of scary. Credit goes to American tourism which takes you so close to the lava. People staying in this area are really cool. I think they take lava warnings as we take flood warnings. We saw one subdivision road crossed by lava (royal garden subdivision). They stay so close to the lava, can you?

Black sand beach is another attraction on the south of Big Island. It is beautiful. Black sand beach is black sand with a coconut tree background. No shells on the beach. It takes time to realize that you are standing on a sandy beach and the sand is BLACK. This is due to hematite and basalt. All such sites make me thinking about the time and formation. This sand is here due to erosion of black material from lava. How come only black material got there? I am still thinking. One black sand beach on this island was destroyed due to lava flow. There is one more black sand beach on Maui (Hana).

Generally you see some turtles relaxing on the sand. You are not supposed to touch these species as they are endangered.

Our second tour on big Island was Mauna Kea, another volcano which is dormant. We took Arnotts lodge tour from Hilo. We stayed in Kona, so we had to drive 2 hrs to take this tour. If you want to see the volcano and Mauna Kea stay in Hilo. Generally good hotels and sunny weather is on Kona side so tour people book hotels in Kona. We drove northbound and this route was scenic.

Mauna Kea (White Mountain) got this name as there is always snow on the top. This mountain is approx 14000 ft high. It is supposed to be the tallest mountain in the world if measured from the bottom of the sea. You can see cinder cones. It is the best place for astronomers. Eleven nation’s astronomers work here using different technologies. Actually they work from the base. This is a remote place. We are above the clouds so you get clear skies most of the times. Winter months have wild weather sometimes, so check before you plan. This is the place where you climb 14000 ft in about 2hrs. Our tour started at Arnotts lodge – Hilo. Tour guide gave us a tour of Hilo downtown. Then we took saddle road to go up. This road is uneven and bumpy. You can see lava on both the sides. At 9000 ft, we can stop at visitor center.

Our tour guide asked us to drink lots of water and get down in between. He took several stops and that helped us to acclimatize to the high altitude. He made us climb a small hill before we reached visitor center. We could see Mauna Loa from there. This is a dormant volcano. There was almost no vegetation on the top. You get beautiful sunset views. We took many pictures of the sunset. There are many telescopes on the top. Caltech has its telescope here. KECK is the biggest. Visitor center sets the telescopes for observation. You can stop and get some good views of star clusters, nebula etc. We were expecting our guide to set a telescope and do some stargazing as told before, but he just showed us stars by naked eyes. He explained how old settlers took help of stars for direction. We knew most of the things – thanks to Varun. Do not choose your trip near full moon day.

It seems on clear day (this is very rare) standing here you can see blue water around you, and other island in front of you. What a situation! You are in the middle of the ocean (there is only water 2000 miles around you), standing 14000 ft high and watching other island…..

We met one girl from Switzerland..Mayomi (I hope I am right..) She came all alone to Kauai for hiking. She was well traveled. She was working on a film project on Indian story. We had nice chat while coming back. She was working for a company in Swiss for some American company and the work was outsourced by India.. She asked very good questions about Indian culture. One good observation was about ‘Bollywood movies. They show so much skin on the screen, then why there was so much hype about Shilpa shetty and Richard ?

There is another interesting volcano on big island. Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on the planet. Generally mountains have ups and downs but Mauna Loa rises gradually. You don’t see any peaks or ups and downs in between. That’s what makes Mauna Loa (big mountain) different from other mountains. We saw it while climbing up Mauna Kea. Mauna Loa is one of the most active volcanoes on the earth. Last eruption was in 1984. Scientists keep a watch on the smallest activity of this volcano. This volcano is a shield type volcano and spreads more than 100 miles. It is very big (refer to the map in the beginning).

There is a green sand beach which is not easy to reach. We could not visit it due to the time crunch. This green color comes from olivine crystals. White sand comes mostly from shells.

We stayed in Kona side of the Island in Royal Kona Resort. This hotel has a nice location. In general, big island has fewer beaches. This hotel has a program with Manta rays. The place was near Alii road. You can see cruise ships in the water in the morning. Water color is a beautiful blue. As we were celebrating our anniversary, we were upgraded to a sea view room and they gave us complementary champagne.

We were happy as we were upgraded, but this sea was rough so I could not sleep properly. Next day I was ok.

We got a chance to visit farmers market. It was full of handy crafts and fruits and flowers. We saw apple banana, strawberry banana and some unknown fruits. I did some shopping here.

Next morning we took a flight from Kona airport. We saw lava on the airport road (black rock pieces.) Kona Airport does not look like airport; it looks like huts or some rest area.

Big Island has many climates. You get to see rainforest, waterfalls, sunny weather, snow and dry land on one single

Hawaii - Oahu

Pearls in the Pacific

We decided to celebrate our 25th Anniversary in Switzerland when we were on our Europe trip in 2002. That place was really wonderful. Switzerland is a place where every corner is picture perfect. Beautiful Alps, blue water lakes and pleasant weather make this place so nice. After coming back to USA and watching Travel Channel extensively, I realized there are so many other wonderful places and that changed our destination to Hawaii.

We visited a group of islands in the mid pacific. There are eight main islands. Each island is unique and has something special in it. All islands are diverse. I feel these islands are precious due to their diversity, rich culture and unique natural wonders.

This map shows 8 islands of Hawaii. We visited Oahu, Maui and Big Island. We booked the trip 6 months in advance. First, I thought of a cruise, which visits 4 main islands but we realized that if you are on a cruise, you get less time on land and some places of our interest were not possible on a cruise trip. So, we went and booked our trip with Trafalgar Tours. I started my research on different sites.

Some tips for first time visitors….When you visit Hawaii you should decide what you want to see. In general

Winter months - High surf on Oahu, whale watch

(Nov, Feb)

Summer months - Mangoes and other fruits and Flowers, other water activities

(Mar- Jul)

Year around - surfing, swimming, snorkeling,Volcanic activity, hiking, golfing

Good beaches - Waikiki – Oahu, Poipu - Kaui, Kanaapali-Maui

I think one should visit at least two islands. You must visit Big Island and one more island depending on your interest.

Our tour group was an all American group – all Whites. We were the only non Americans on the tour. Our AAA agent recommended this tour and we thought it was ok. Overall tour company experience was good. Administration, food, information, help, tour guides all were good. Out of the three places we visited, one accommodation was not good, that was the only bad part of the trip. Mostly people on the tour were seniors but they were so enthusiastic. First day they gave us some different looks but then they mixed up very well. I used to compare them with our last group tour in Europe and I want to admit that, it was pleasure traveling with this well disciplined group (I hope our people learn these manners and discipline.)

After booking the trip I told some of our friends. First question was how much is the cost? The answer to this question depends on ‘what’ and ‘how’ you want to see these islands. We were on a pleasure tour so we spent a little extra this time. The tours you choose, the places you visit and the places you stay change all the statistics. The basic expense is the air ticket and tour ticket or booking your hotels and inter island flights. All this information is available on net – visit expedia.com or gohawaii.com. You can find out many deals. Our trip was 8 days long. Excursion tours are costly. You have to consider transportation while planning any tour. Inter island flights are not costly. Food is not that expensive. If you opt to camp in the park, the price comes down. Visiting two islands is a good option. If you have miles use them. You can shop for the deals on the net. If you want to spend time on water, cruise is a good option.

When you visit this place you feel at home as you see gulmohor, gulab, chfa, kanher, coconut and mango trees around you. The only difference is that, you do not get the humid weather on the sea shore and that makes this place different. The color of the sea water is a beautiful blue, greenish blue. (If it’s sunny).

After coming back from the trip I had so much information, I decided to write about it. I wrote about my Europe trip last time and its fun reading. Some of our friends are ready to read this. (Thanks to all). Thanks to Sameer n Shetal who gave us useful tips. There is a difference between reading on the net and getting tips from someone who already had been there. I took some pictures from net as they are better than my pictures. I have indicated the places we visited by stars on the maps. I hope you enjoy the trip.

Oahu….Map

Main attractions:

Pearl harbor and down town tour

Waikiki beach

Sunset beach, North shore (high surf is in winter months Nov-Feb)

We started our trip from Honolulu. Honolulu is called the gathering place of all tours. Cruise ships start from here. This is the capital of Hawaii. This place is commercial. You will see high-rise buildings on Waikiki beach. We reached around 2 pm after traveling 9 hours from Chicago. Our tour people greeted us with lei (flower garland made from plumeria flowers). It has a nice smell and is quite sturdy. We stayed in Pacific beach hotel. Mostly all the hotels are on one strip and just across the road is the famous Waikiki beach. Our tour guide Hank welcomed us in the lobby and gave a detail itinerary. Check in was very easy. We had a nice view from our room. (25^th floor)

We went on the beach immediately after checking our luggage. We traveled 10hrs on that day but somehow we were fresh. Time difference is 5 hours. The beach was full of life. It was little crowded but it was clean and had place for many activities. I was wondering how come there was no repetition of swim suit or cover ups ….so many designs. People of many nationalities were around. You can see Diamond Head on one side of the beach. You can climb this hill and get a nice view of Honolulu.

That day was Honolulu parade day. We saw floats and many groups in the parade. There were dances by big groups of school children, high school groups, adults, special children. Other island people were showcasing their dances. We saw many Chinese, Japanese in this group. People were sitting on both sides of the roads and were watching the parade. It rained for a while but that didn’t stop the dancing. After watching the sunset, we went back to the room and had dinner. Again in the night we were just strolling on the road around 11 PM. All shops and bars were open. There were street jugglers and painters on the side road.

Next day, in the morning, we had orientation and after that we headed to Pearl Harbor. Generally there is a big ticket line. Our tour guide gave us tickets and, since our group tour was around 1 pm, he took us on a downtown tour and Maui divers shop. This is the advantage of going with the tour company. They know the timings, and we can cover more things. The downtown Honolulu tour included State capitol building, King Kamehameha statue, (you can see this statue on all the islands), Justice House, Iolani palace (the only Royal palace in the USA. This was the residence of last two monarchs.) You can take a tour if time permits. We saw construction everywhere. Our guide said construction is the number one business and Tourism is the second best business. (That’s why Crain is the official bird of this island)

Our guide was Tiny. He was only 250 pounds. It seems he was born tiny. He was very informative. He used to speak Hawaiian. That sounds like English tongue twister. He taught us many Hawaiian words while driving.

Next stop was a big volcanic crater. When you reach there, you do not get feel of a volcanic crater. Punchbowl cemetery is a memorial of the sacrifice made by USA Services men and women. Veterans from World War I, World War II, Korean and Vietnam wars are resting here (34000). On some name tags ‘unknown’ is written as they were not identified. This place is surrounded by Chinese banyan trees. They are different than the Indian banyan trees.

After that we stopped at Maui Divers shop. It is kind of a trap or commercial part on the tour. Ladies enjoyed this shop as it was related to pearls and corals. We saw one film on corals with food served by the shop owners. Then, they showed us how Corals are transformed into nice ornaments. How they clean it, grind it etc… The ornaments were beautiful and costly too. I purchased a tree structure (small) which has the corals of eight islands represented on it. I forgot to take their name list. I was under the impression that coral means only ‘powli’ which we Indians wear (I purchased those in lots when I was in Saudi Arabia.) But, here I found 8 colors. Black coral is the specialty of Hawaii. I picked up one small earring in black coral as a souvenir. Each Island has one coral deposition. Isn’t it great that one island has only black deposits other has green and so on…..If you start thinking, it’s a miracle, and I found so many miracles on Hawaii. They have developed the maps of coral deposits.

There was one more attraction …opening shells and getting pearls out of it. They sell it for 14 dollars (one shell). You have to choose your shell. After that you hear ‘Aloha’ and that shell is opened with a knife. You can see the pearl inside the shell in a bag like structure. Colors and sizes of the pearls cannot be determined beforehand. There are many designs for ornaments, and they have different stories for them. Most of them are related to their kings and nature. This process was very exiting.

Making of a pearl is a long process. Oysters inside shells make these pearls. If any impurity enters the shell by chance, it starts coating it. It takes days to make a single pearl. They can be black, pink, white or yellowish. Pink and black are rare. The girls or sellers were expert in making ornaments. They make pendants, earrings, or rings of these pearls which suits your budget (generally over budget). I compared this process with the child birth. The colors are taken from the shell cover. You get cultured pearls and real pearls. In cultured pearls, they put dirt inside the shell. Now I understand why Tahitian pearls strand costs so much. My lookout towards real pearls changed totally. We have artificial pearls to spoil all this. I saw some shells in the water packed in a tin for sale.

After Maui divers, we visited Pearl Harbor. This is a memorial. First you watch a movie which has actual footage of the attack. It is really moving. There is a small boat ride which takes you to the memorial. Always take right hand seats to get good pictures. The memorial is built on the actual ship, Arizona, which was downed by the Japanese in the attack. When you stand on the sunken boat and think 1700 or more people are buried under your feet, it gives you an odd feeling. Everyday thousands of people visit this memorial. Tickets you get have a picture of the memorial and a story of one soldier who was on that boat on that day. It’s a good souvenir.

The architecture of the USS Arizona Memorial is explained by Preis as, the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expressing initial defeat and ultimate victory. The overall effect is moving. You can meet veterans on the site. I think this is the only place where defeat is displayed so well. Inside the memorial you see different flags, model of the ship, and names of the soldiers on the wall. White color memorial on the blue water looks prominent. Aerial view is good.



You can see oil on the water, which comes out from the boat. When I read this on the internet, I did not believe this, but it is still coming out. They call it eye drops of the sunken boat. USS Missouri is another ship which was used in Middle East war. It is standing at a distance from this memorial. There is a museum on this ship.











After coming back to hotel we visited the beach once again. Prasanna took surfing lessons. He could actually ride some waves. It looks very simple but is not that easy. I enjoyed the warm water. I saw some outrigger canoes. These are the canoes with left hand side support. The beach was very nice and relaxing. Surfing, swimming, canoeing, sailing, boating, so many things were happening around.
In the evening we had a sit down dinner at the hotel. Sweet dish was made by guava. Next day, we took a flight to Big Island. These flights generally do not have seat numbers. It is on a first come first serve basis. These inter island flights are 35-40 minutes long.