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This trip started quite normally and as planned... unfortunately, it would
not end that way...
My cousin Ambarish and I left San
Francisco airport at 1:00 in the afternoon, and landed at Honolulu at 4:11
PM Hawaiian time. We then got on a connecting flight to the island of
Kauai, rented a car, and checked in at our motel.
We wanted to do something -- ANYTHING -- on our first night in
Hawaii. We walked around the hotel area, stopping by at a local pizzeria
to eat "Hawaiian Pizza" and talk to some locals about sightseeing in
Kauai.
We learned very quickly that these particular locals did not think too
highly of their island! "Welcome to Kauai. It's terrible -- go to the
other islands!".
Well, that was enough of that! We got our pizza "to go" and ate it in the
motel room. Then around 10:00 at night, I suggested we go for a drive... I
knew we wouldn't be able to see anything at night anyway, but this was
Hawaii, and I couldn't wait to explore.
We drove North to the Na Pali Coast. (Of course, it did not really matter,
since we did not see anything anyway that late at night). Anyway, back to
the hotel by about midnight, ready for the first "real" day tomorrow...
"The First Real Day"
After checking out of the motel, we decided NOT to go to Na Pali Coast
again... instead, we drove towards Waimea Canyon State Park in the center
of the island. On the way, we stopped by at Opaekaa Falls and drove
through Lihue-Koloa Forest Reserve.
Drove in river.
Made a U-Turn.
Drove in river again.
Our next stop was a place called "Spouting Horn" in the Southern portion
of Kauai. It had started to rain a little, but we were not about to let a
little shower spoil our trip... yet.
Spouting Horn was nice... very nice. I gave it 
based on a 0-5 star scale, which was the same
rating system I had used on my second cross-country trip. There were
tall waves violently hitting cooled black lava rock. One of these rocks had
a hole in it, and the ocean water would go through that hole and make a
large splash.
Well... what would a Hawaii trip be withoug a stop at the Beach? So that
was our next stop. After driving around near Spouting Horn for "the perfect
beach", we finally got take-out lunch sandwiches at an Italian restaurant
and ate them at Poipu Beach nearby. This was not "the perfect beach", but
it was close enough, and we were both hungry!
Our next and final stop on this island was Waimea Canyon. It had started to
rain harder now (a sign of things to come), but we still enjoyed Waimea
very much. In fact, Ambarish thinks it's the most beatiful attraction in
all the islands. I disagree... I gave it a
rating.
Waimea Canyon (nicknamed "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific") is exactly
that... a canyon. It is very colorful... red rock and green trees (and if
it is raining, add white clouds to the red and green). It was spectacular...
and so the rating. After a while, however,
the rain got so bad, that the only "scenery" we could see was white clouds.
We both agreed it was time to turn back and return to Lihue airport for our
flight to Maui that evening.
"So long, Kauai. Hello,
Maui."
After landing at the airport at Kahului, Maui, we rented our car and then
got lost in the city of Kahului trying to find our way out of the city.
Then, we got lost again in the town of Kihei, where we were supposed to
check in to our hotel.
We finally arrived at the hotel at 9:00 at night -- only to find out that
the front desk closes at 6:30 PM!!! We called the manager's room number
from a phone outside and got our room key from him.
We were going to stay in Maui for five days, and our hotel room had a
full kitchen, with a refrigerator, microvawe, toaster, oven, and most
important of all... dishes and utensils. Well, might as well take
advantage of all this!!! We went to a grocery store nearby and bought
bread, mayonnaise, cereal, orange juice, etc... things we could eat for
breakfast and dinner each night in Maui.
Again, for the second night in Hawaii, we walked to the beaches nearby.
Nothing interesting.
Walked back to the hotel.
After checking in, we left the motel and drove to
Haleakala National Park.
Haleakala is a dormant volcano on Maui, 10,023 feet tall. The drive from
Kihue took almost two hours, but the views were spectacular. Also, unlike
yesterday, it did not rain today.
We parked at the summit of the mountain and went on some hiking trails
there. There were excellent views of Mount Mauna Kea and Mount Mauna Loa
on the big island of Hawaii, portions of the island of Lanai, and also the
beautiful ocean with all its colorful coral reefs. On our last hiking
trail, we walked down about half-way to the bottom of the crater. All
in all, this park was far too good for me to give it any rating under
6 stars in my rating system.
Rating for Haleakala National Park = 
(out of 5).
Ambarish started driving back to Kihei, and we stopped at Kahului for a
much-needed lunch at a Burger King. This was at around 5:00 PM, and we had
not eaten anything substanstial the whole day! After lunch, we stopped by
at a K-Mart to buy some supplies, and on the way out, stopped at a
"Discount Activities" desk. There, we made a reservation to see a Luau
the following Saturday.
A stop at the beach would be the perfect end to this beautiful day. The
only problem was we could not find the beach anywhere!!! By the time we
did find it, it was almost dark, so went back to the hotel!
We left the motel early in the morning and drove to Lahaina for a free
breakfast. "Activities Information Center" of Maui offers free full
breakfasts to all tourists within 48 hours of arriving in Maui. While we
were eating our (surprisingly, very nice) breakfast, we were hearing a
sales pitch about Maui island attractions. After breakfast, we finally
gave in and reserved a submarine ride and a whale-watching expedition --
both of which we wanted to do anyway. Then it was time to go to the
airport.
An attraction that was very high (no pun intended) on our list was a
helicopter ride over West Maui and Molokai. We had reserved a 10:30 AM
tour, and arrived at Kahului airport at 10:00 AM (half hour drive from
Lahaina).
This was Ambarish's first helicopter ride, and my second. Compared to
my first flight (on Trip #1 over
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah),
this was a lot better. For one thing, it was a lot quieter. The seat was
also much more comfortable! And of course, this ride was over HAWAII!
We started out with a ride through West Maui's spectacular valleys and
rainforests. Saw the "Wall of Tears" -- a cliff which gets so much
rainfall that water literally comes out of the rocks, creating several
thin but tall waterfalls. After several waterfalls, valleys, and
rainforests, we crossed the channel over to the island of Molokai.
We were over
Molokai for about 45 minutes, and in just that short a time, I decided
that this is one of the most beatiful islands of all the islands.
"Dramatic" would be best word to describe it. There are cliffs jutting
up 3,000 feet from the ocean... the tallest seaside cliffs in the world.
Once you see something like that, the images stay in your mind forever!!!
I had never seen cliffs like those anywhere! Incredible!
After some more waterfalls in Molokai, we started flying back towards Maui.
The ride was starting to get a little bumpy now, and I was starting to
feel just a tad uncomfortable!
But the view of the colorful ocean below was fantastic! Suddenly, our
pilot saw something interesting in the ocean... at first one, then two,
then THREE humpback whales came into view! We dived down (and I felt it
-- bad!). We circled the whales going in one direction, then
turned around and circled the whales again in the other direction, so
everyone in the helicopter could get some good photographs. Well, the
opportunity to take photographs of humpback whales in the wild was a
once-in-a-lifetime thing. But all that circling around and going up and
down made me a little MORE than just a tad uncomfortable!
As we got closer to Maui, I took out a paper bag from the back of the
pilot's seat ... just in case!
Well, I'll skip the next part, but I think you can figure it out!
We flew by Kaanapali Beach and Iao Valley on the way back to the airport,
and finally landed back on the ground.
Except for the last ten minutes, the helicopter ride was fantastic. The
whale sighting made it even better, and so a 6-star rating:
Rating for West Maui/Molokai tour, Blue Hawaiian Helicopters =
.
After leaving Kahului, we drove to Iao Valley and
Iao Needle
near the town of Wailuku, and I single-handedly finished all our potato
chips and other snacks -- I was really hungry, since this morning's
breakfast was no longer in my stomach!
Well, I did not find anything special about the Iao Needle. The valley,
however, was very nice. There was a small stream nearby, and we went
hiking along it, taking pictures.
Rating for Iao Valley = 
Our next stop was Lahaina. We had to go to a luau at the Marriott Hotel
there at 4:30 PM, and it was now about 2:00 PM. That gave us a comfortable
2 hours at the beaches in the
Lahaina
area.
Before that, however, I wanted to go for a drive along West Maui's spectacular
coast line. The drive did not take very long, and after a few stops for photographs,
we went to the resort area and to Kaanapali Beach at the Hyatt Regency.
Ambarish went swimming, while I relaxed on a beach-chair.
Next, it was on to the luau!!!
The luau, just like everything else in Hawaii, was fantastic!!! This
particular one was a Polynesian luau (as opposed to a Hawaiian luau).
It started with a comedy act, followed by the "unveiling of the pig",
and then the show and dinner.
The comedy act: Funny.
The unveiling of the pig: Interesting. Never seen anything like it. It
is a big ceremony!
The show: Entertaining.
The dinner: Delicious (well, except for the poi).
For those of you who have never eaten poi... don't! It's very easy
to recognize. It is a purple-ish, gooey, "blob" of "stuff". Can't miss it!
No other food item looks quite the same! Also, no other food item tastes
quite the same. The taste of poi, you ask? Hmm... imagine going out on a
muddy field on a rainy day, picking up a lot of mud, adding purple food
color, and eating it. Yech!
The rest of the dinner, however, was excellent.
The show consisted of various Polynesian dances, hula dances, etc etc.
Very nice indeed.
There was also an open bar... yep -- free unlimited drinks! That
clinched a 5-star rating!!!
Rating for the Marriott luau = 
.
Ambarish drove back to the hotel.
Today was a little "unconventional".
Ambarish and I left the motel around 10:00 in the morning, intending to go
to the town of Hana, on the Eastern end of the island. From our hotel in
Kihei, Hana is a good 4-hour drive on a narrow, winding, mountain road.
Almost immediately after leaving the hotel, Ambarish said something that
to me, was quite shocking.
"Ishaan, I dont think I want to go to Hana. Why dont you drop me off
at a beach in Makena [8 miles South], and I'll spend all day there. Then
you can pick me back up in the evening."
I couldn't believe my ears!!! I would be driving 4 hours to Hana, spend
some time there, and then drive 4 hours back to Kihei. It would certainly
be dark by then. Ambarish wanted to spend the day at beaches, then have
me pick him up at a mall at 11:00 at night!!!
After a while, I realized his motivation... coming from Ohio, the beach
was special to him. For me, a beach is a beach is a beach is a beach!
I've been to several, and beaches meant nothing!
Well, if he wanted to spend yet another day at the beach, so be it. I
dropped him off, and went on my way to Hana...
"The Road" was fantastic... there were several sharp hairpin turns. In
fact, tourguides claim that there are more than 600 turns on the 52-mile
stretch of the road from Kahului to Hana! Most of these turns were U-turns
on one-lane bridges! On several occasions, I had to back up 100-200 feet
to let cars coming from the other direction pass.
There are no services on the road... I was eating potato chips and
drinking Coke all the way to Hana!
The scenery, as advertised, was fantastic! Ambarish was really missing a
lot! There are several waterfalls, mountain views, ocean views... just
spectacular!
It was raining very heavily by the time I got to Hana -- that was
expected. I went further South along the coast to the Southern portion
(Kipahulu District) of Haleakala
National Park.
Black sand beaches, tall waves smashing into cooled black lava, the
so-called "Seven Sacred Pools of Maui", and more waterfalls! Even the
rain had stopped. The whole place just took my breath away!!!
On the way back to Kihei (back on the same Hana Highway again), I saw a peacock just "out for a leisurely stroll"!!!
It was raining off-and-on all the way back to Kihei. Still, I started doing
something that I probably should not have done...
The speed limit on Hana Highway is 10-15 Miles Per Hour. I averaged
40-45 Miles Per Hour all the way down, and was back in Kihei in only
one and half hours! Now I'll be the first to admit that this was pretty
stupid, but I didn't care... I enjoyed every second of it!!!
In Kihei, I stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box and picked up my dinner-to-go,
then came back to the hotel to see if Ambarish was there. This was at
about 8:00 PM.
As it turned out, Ambarish had walked about 8-10 miles from Makena to
Kihei after spending all day swimming in the beaches along the way! So
there was no reason for me to go to Makena to pick him up.
It was NOT supposed to rain today!!! Grrr!
It was not supposed to rain today either, but unlike yesterday, we did do
something today...
We had a flight out of Kahului airport to the big island at 8:20 AM.
Kahului airport was a half-hour drive from our hotel in Kihei.
The front desk at our hotel does not open until 8:30 AM.
Frustratrated at not receiving any service at the hotel, we finally left
Kihei, without formally checking out of the hotel.
NOTE for all future trips to Maui: NEVER STAY IN
"Kihei Bay Vista Hotel" AGAIN!!!
It was still raining hard when the plane landed at Hilo airport on the
big island of
Hawaii. After a long line at the Alamo Car Rental desk, I finally
walked up to the counter, only to find out that they did not have our
reservation on their computer!!!
Spent 20 minutes arguing and yelling.
Got a car.
Akaka Falls was very nice, and well worth the stop.
We drove across the island from Hilo to Kona (2 1/2 hours drive). It was
raining all the way down there. After checking in to our hotel in Kona,
I called Atlantis Submarine Company and asked if our reservation for the
next ride (supposed to depart in 5 minutes) was still on.
After a wet and bumpy ride on the ocean, we finally arrived at and
boarded the sub. This was the first time either of us had taken a
submarine ride. We dived 150 feet below the surface, seeing nothing but
cooled lava that had flowed into the ocean. It was quite dissapointing,
as I was hoping for colorful coral reefs. We did see a sting ray, which
was a real treat. But that was about it.
Rating for Atlantis Submarine at Kona, Big Island =
Atlantis also operates from Lahaina, Maui, and we had a reservation there,
but that trip was cancelled because of bad weather. The ocean near Maui
has a lot of coral reefs, and the submarine ride THERE would definitely
have been a lot better!
There was not much else to do in this town, so we (independently) roamed
around the nearby streets and came back to the hotel. Also saw our first
real "Hawaiian" sunset... it was beatiful! There was also a rainbow along
with the sunset, and that made it even better!!!
Our first stop was just outside the town of Hilo at
Akaka
Falls State Park.
.
It is 420 feet tall, and quite impressive. There is also another waterfall
nearby, accessed by an easy hike.
I hung up the phone, and we rushed to the Atlantis Submarine main office.
We got there just in time, and had to run to the dock to catch a boat
which would take us to the submarine.
.
Kalikimaka Day. A Bright, Hawaiian, Christmas day.
After checking out of the hotel, we drove South from Kona to Ka Lae. At
least, what we think might have been Ka Lae. Ka Lae is the
Southernmost point in the country, and I wanted to go here, since
on my second trip, I had also been to the
Southernmost point in the Continental United States at Key West, Florida
and the exact geographical center of the nation near Belle Fourche, South
Dakota. So the southernmost point in the country would be an appropriate
place to go to!!!
Well, getting there was a little confusing. As we were driving down, the
road suddenly branched off into many directions, without any signs telling
us which we should go. So, I may or may not have gone to the
Southernmost point in the country!
Rating for Ka Lae (no surprise) = 
We then proceeded towards Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park, which is near the Southeastern portion of the
island.
Click here to see a map of
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
We arrived at the park a little late (4:00 PM), so we did not get to see
the whole park. After a quick stop at the visitor center, we started to
drive along "Crater Rim Road" which circles the Kilauea Caldera.
We went on a couple of hiking trails, which were not as impressive as the
ones at Haleakala National Park.
There were views of Kilauea's craters, but they were not as impressive as
Mount Haleakala's crater. At sunset time, we followed "Chain of Craters
Road" down to the oceanside. Along the way, the scenery on this road was
magnificient! Along the way, Ambarish also wanted us to go on a
"pilgrimage" to see a "nene" bird, and that side trip was also quite
scenic. And after a long drive, we finally did see those birds!
But the main attraction here was seeing the most recent (and active)
lava flow from Kilauea. Unfortunately, the lava forced a road closure
and all we could see from our vantage point was an orange dot off in the
distance and steam rising up from the ocean. We could also see an orange
glow in the other direction, and this was the "Puu Kaeia" vent.
THIS was what we really wanted to see up close! This was the actual
ongoing eruption, as we had seen so many times in photographs and and on
television. But, since we were so far away, all we could see was an orange
glow at the eruption site and an orange dot with steam at the oceanside.
By this time it was night, and it was time to go to our hotel in Hilo.
Rating for the portion of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park that we saw =
.
After a long and eventful day, we finally checked in at our hotel in Hilo
at 10:00 PM.
This was our last day in Hawaii which ended "normally". The next day would
be anything but normal, and completely unexpected.
First thing in the morning, we drove all the way back from Hilo to Kona
(again... a 2 1/2 hour drive). It took us 3 hours, since we also stopped
at a Wendy's restaurant for lunch in Kona.
Everything is very expensive in Hawaii. In California, I used to complain
about the gasoline prices being very high... a whole dollar and thirty
cents. But compared to Hawaii, that is absolutely, positively,
nothing!!!. The average gas price in the Hawaiian islands is
in the range of $1.80-$2.10. (That's per gallon, not per barrel!) Anyway,
on this day, I broke my old record of the most amount of money that I had
ever spent to fill up a car's gas tank. On Thursday, December 26, 1996, I
actually spent $25.50 for a full tank of gas (about 13 gallons).
We drove a hour North of Kona to the resort area near the town of Waikui.
We went to Mauna Kea Resort and to the public beach there for a whole day
at the beach.
We wanted to go snorkeling at this beach, but to my dissapointment, there
were no snorkel rental shops in the resort. So instead, Ambarish went
swimming in the ocean, while I stayed on the beach. We were there for a
little over an hour, then decided to go the next beach.
At a neighboring beach, there was a snorkel rental shop, but it was closed
by time we got there. Besides, the water was too cold here anyway!
We stayed at this beach until after sunset... (and a very beautiful sunset
at that!)
As events would turn out, this would be the last sunset in Hawaii on our
trip...
Ambarish drove back to the hotel in Hilo.
When we got back to the hotel, the "message" light on our phone was
blinking. This was a little strange, since we were not expecting any calls
from anyone! All our calls to our family were already made before this
day!
The message was to call our uncle Suresh in Fountain Valley, California.
When I called, my dad (whom I was expecting to be half-way to India by
now), told me that his father (my grandfather) had passed away that
afternoon, and the funeral was scheduled for that Saturday, December 28.
Our Hawaii trip had suddenly come to a halt. My dad had said NOT to
change our plans and continue with our trip. But after talking to Ambarish
about it, we both decided to cancel the rest of the trip and take the
first flight back to California. The part that we would be cancelling was
the remaining two days on the big island and three days on the island of
Oahu.
I cancelled all our hotel/car reservations for the next five days, and
changed our airline tickets' dates.
The first flight back to Orange County, California, was a 5:20 PM flight
on Friday from Honolulu to San Francisco, and then a Saturday morning 7:30
AM flight from San Francisco to Orange County.
Our flight to San Francisco was from Honolulu at 5:20 PM. We were in Hilo,
and had to catch a plane to Honolulu at 1:15 PM.
So after grabbing a bite to eat and checking out of the hotel, we went to
return the car at the airport. Before returning the car, we had to go fill
up on gas. Ambarish spotted a gas station that was EXTREMELY cheap --
ONLY $1.69. This was a real bargain, so we filled up on gas there.
There were no problems returning the car, and the plane departed on time
at 1:15.
At Honolulu, we had to go through an "Agricultural Inspection", which
we were told would take two hours. It took less than twenty minutes to
check in, do the inspection, and go to our gate. So we now had two hours
to kill at the airport.
We put our carry-on baggage in a locker, and walked around the airport.
Took a couple of photographs of the Aloha Tower, had a "Blue Hawaii"
cocktail (for eight dollars!), and went to an Aerospace museum at the
airport.
Rating for the Aerospace museum = .
The scheduled departure time was 5:20 PM.
The plane arrived from San Francisco at 5:30 PM
We boarded the plane at 6:10 PM
The plane left the gate at 6:24 PM
The wheels left the ground at 6:39 PM.
On the plane...
Horrible dinner.
Bumpy ride.
Miserable peanuts.
No scenery out the window at night.
Slept through the movie.
The plane landed at San Francisco airport at 12:42 AM Pacific Time, and
arrived at the gate at 12:49 AM.
The Hawaii trip was over.
On the whole (with the exception of the last night), the trip was a
success. Must do it again sometime!!!
(and next time, I'll rent a convertible at all the islands!!!)
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