Posted by Seth on February 9, 2010 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports | 
Indeed, I owe the islands of Hawaii an apology. For years now I’ve been telling anyone willing to listen (and quite a few who couldn’t care less) just how much I disliked Hawaii. That hasn’t stopped me from visiting 5 times in the past three years – when it comes to miles on the cheap I’m easy – but I never really enjoyed the trips.
Until this past weekend.
The reason? I got the hell out of Waikiki. I even made it off Oahu and out to another island (the Big Island). And that made all the difference in the world. It was incredibly refreshing to discover normal people hanging out and enjoying the island life rather than catering to package tourists in high-rise hotel towers on a fake beach. I got to hang out with locals who actually enjoyed living there and leading relatively normal lives, not just running tourist trap tours and pretending that they actually serve decent food.
At the encouragement of my friend Vince, a longtime resident of the Big Island, I paid him a visit. Immediately after arriving in Honolulu I found myself making the long trek over to the commuter/interisland terminal for the short flight to Hilo. Sure, Vince lives near Kona on the other side of the island, but I figured why not get an extra airport in my collection and see some more of the island by driving across.
I booked a bed at the Hilo Bay Hostel, knowing that I’d be in late, out early and not have too much need of a full service establishment. It was clean (enough) and the others staying there were quite friendly. It also is right in the middle of town which meant easy access to a few bars at night and to decent breakfast in the morning at Bear’s Coffee. The breakfast was fine but the conversations there were absolutely phenomenal. I happened to sit amongst a few folks at the counter who were recounting their days running the local pot growing operations and private security shops, regaling each other with tales of who was doing what and reminiscing about how they “had to get out when the cocaine came in.” I also was up early enough to catch a sunrise over the shoals that sit just off the edge of downtown. Not too shabby.
After breakfast I hopped in the rental car (pretty cheap via these guys) and set out along the Saddle Road across the middle of the island to meet up with Vince. The drive to Kona has gotten significantly better in recent months due to the repaving of that road. There is only one section now that is in terrible disrepair. I don’t really know how bad it used to be but I made the drive much more quickly than I expected to (about 2 hours versus the 3 I was led to believe it would take) and it was fresh asphalt for the vast majority of the trip. No complaints at all.
Our destination that morning was Hapuna Beach State Park, a bit north of town and adjacent to the Hapuna Beach Prince hotel. The beach was crowded but not so much so that we couldn’t find space to lay out some towels and catch some sun (too much, in my case). Plus the waves were pretty good there and Vince provided boogie boards. It had been about 17 years since I last rode on one but, much like riding a bicycle it all came rushing back to me, including the sensation of being slammed into the sandy bottom by a wave as I wiped out during one ride. No lingering effects but definitely a bit woozy for a few seconds there.
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| Relaxing between sets a Hapuna Beach State Park |
We also did a bit of cultural tourism, paying a visit to the Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site. The site was the long standing seat of power for the Hawaiian islands. It was 200 years ago when King Kamehameha finally completed his unification of the islands as a single kingdom, the completion of a 19 year effort that started with the construction of a war temple at the Pu’ukohola Heiau site. Among other things I learned during the visit, apparently the opposing leader sacrificed at the temple knew that the meeting was a setup that would involve his death but he went anyways, knowing that it was his fate to be the death that would provide the power to unify the peoples of Hawaii. That’s pretty impressive.
The temple itself is not open for tourists (it is still used by native Hawaiians performing religious rituals) but the site is and there is a well labeled trail, some videos explaining the history at the ranger station and another local beach at the base of the cliffs. The other beach – Spencer State Park – is even more of a locals hangout than Hapuna Beach. They permit camping and there is a small, well protected beach that was quite pleasant. Again we came across many families out enjoying the Saturday afternoon. There were more grills running than I could count and my mouth was watering at the sight of all the different foods being prepared. Alas, no time to try to crash one of the many parties; we had a plane to catch.
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| The beach at Spencer State Park on the Big Island |
Yes, we had a plane to catch. That’s because during the afternoon I had convinced Vince to make the hop over to Oahu with me that evening to meet up with a half dozen other guys for dinner. The fact that he had no running water at home that night probably helped in the convincing, though I still like to think that I really was that motivating. Anyways, off to the airport and on to the plane.
It was a whirlwind 18 hours on the Big Island but infinitely better than any of my previous trips to Oahu. Next time one of the $250 fares to Hawaii comes up I know what I’ll be doing when I arrive in Honolulu: leaving!
Posted by Seth on February 2, 2009 under Trip Reports |
The IATA airport code for Port of Spain, Trinidad has always made me chuckle. I am pretty sure that a big part of why I wanted to take this trip is be able to say that I’ve flown into the POS airport. The airport itself isn’t a PoS; it actually is a pretty nice facility with free WiFi and pretty decent fried chicken so not too much to complain about there. The city of Port of Spain, on the other hand, was not all that impressive to me.
I was a bit confused about where the hotel I wanted to stay in was at so I took my cab to the wrong destination. That was bad in that it meant walking around for an extra hour or so trying to find where I was going. It was good because it gave me a chance to see some of the city that I probably would not have otherwise visited. I’m not really sure that is a good thing, but at least now I know a bit more about the area around the Savannah. I saw the national museum – pretty good collection of local artwork – and I happened upon a church that was pretty, but otherwise the area was pretty run down.
I won’t go so far as to call the area slums. They weren’t that bad, but they were pretty close. Every storefront was covered in bars or wood panels. There were plenty of stray animals roaming the streets and plenty of folks sleeping in them. Not a pretty scene. I finally found my way to a hotel where I was able to buy some extortionately priced internet access and find my actual hotel. The Par-May-La’s Inn was just fine, especially for the price. Their internet wasn’t working, which sucked, but the woman working the desk was very friendly and helpful. The cab she arranged for me to get to the airport in the morning was right on time.
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| Fun sign on a storefront in Port of Spain |
But there was NOTHING going on in Port of Spain on a Sunday. I wandered as far as I felt safe doing and really couldn’t find anything. I ended up in a sports bar (Trotters) to have a couple beers and a snack. And later I was back in the same bar to watch the Super Bowl (great game, I thought). I met some new friends at the bar. One was a German who has been living in Trinidad for a few years. Another was a guy from San Diego who was in month 11 of his random trek around the world, picking up contract work from his employer as he went to pay for the trip (yes, I’m a bit jealous). And then there was the Phoenician who was a regular visitor to Trinidad. All in all a fun group to hang out and watch the game with.
I had considered trying to find one of the pre-Carnival parties to hear some steel drum music and celebrate a bit. There was supposedly one near my hotel but I didn’t really feel comfortable walking the half mile to try to find it. And the news this morning was filled with a story about a guy getting killed buy some jealous guys for hitting on a girl at a similar party the night before. I think that my inability to find the party might have been a blessing in disguise.
Oh, and apparently I managed to bring the financial meltdown with me on the trip. The bank and investment company responsible for 40%+ of the nation’s GDP announced on Sunday that they were insolvent and the government is taking them over. Awesome.
Posted by Seth on February 2, 2009 under Uncategorized |
First off, a bit of a pronunciation lesson, as I got it wrong for most of the trip. The middle syllable of Tobago rhymes with lay, may and hay.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me say that spending time in Tobago is a great way to play, for a week or even just a day. It is ridiculously laid back, but also almost completely dependent on the tourism infrastructure so they understand the value of actually dealing with visitors in a reasonable manner. I didn’t get the same feeling from my stay in Trinidad but that will be a different story for a different day.
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| Pigeon Point beach in Tobago |
I had made arrangements with the guest house I was staying at to be picked up from the airport when I got in late on Saturday night. The guy came right over and about 20 minutes after landing I made it to my room, dropped off my bags and headed out to see what there was to see on a Saturday night. Quick aside here: I stayed at a place called Candles…In the wind. It was fine. It was cheap, clean and in a decent location. Not much more one can ask for at $40/night. Somewhere between a true hotel and a hostel, but nice enough. Call in direct rather than booking online; I saved ~$20 that way.
Back to the evening in Tobago. Good times. I wandered about 5 minutes from the hotel to a bar and had a beer while enjoying the sights and sounds of the island. There was a good mix of locals and tourists at the bar flowing out into the street, which wasn’t too hard since the bar had a parking lot and small dance floor and then literally was in the street. There were 30-40 people milling about and generally having a good time. Music was pumping (dance/techno) and it was an interesting scene. I wasn’t up for a big party so I called it a night after one beer and headed back to the room and my reasonably comfortable bed.
The next morning I was up early; too early. For reasons I still do not understand I woke up around 6am. On the plus side, it wasn’t too hot out yet. On the down side, it was ridiculously early. I had planned to spend most of my morning in the water, snorkeling the great reefs of Tobago. I didn’t get to see the great reefs, but I did have some decent snorkeling opportunities on the beach about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. It is an open public beach that abuts a ridiculously high priced resort (Coco something or other) so pretty much the same fish at a significantly discounted price. The snorkeling wasn’t phenomenal, but it was pretty good. Definitely a good alternative to just sitting on the beach the whole day.
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| Some of the fish and coral off of Pigeon Point beach in Tobago |
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| Bake ‘n’ Fish breakfast at Liz’s |
After snorkeling I did sit on the beach for a bit reading and then, around 9am, decided to find some food. Knowing nothing about where I was I randomly ambled up the road, hopeful that a decent opportunity would present itself. It did, in the form of Liz’s By D’ Bay, a restaurant i found on the road to Pigeon Point. I saw the place as I was walking but kept on, just in case there were other options. Finding none I was headed back to Liz’s when I saw a woman sitting in front of her shop eating breakfast. She also endorsed Liz’s (and made the 10th offer I heard that morning for a glass bottom boat tour of the reef) so I made my way over for breakfast. The food was pretty cheap ($3 for fresh Bake ‘n’ Fish) and pretty delicious. It doesn’t quite meet the technical description for street food since it was a permanent building, but it was pretty close in terms of atmosphere and quality – great on both accounts.
I should note at this point that ordering breakfast made me feel a bit like I was in the movie My Cousin Vinny. Sadly, it is not because Marisa Tomei was stomping her foot at me. Still, there was no menu at Liz’s, so ordering mostly consisted of looking around at what others were eating and then casually saying that I wanted “breakfast, like these guys.” All I can say is that it worked. The food was great and rather filling, too.
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| Store Bay Beach |
And then my time in Tobago was done. I waited out a quick tropical rain storm, wandered back to the hotel, gathered my belongings and walked the mile or so back to the airport. Yeah, I walked to the airport. I had the time to kill and it let me stop off along the way at Store Bay beach. Nestled between the two high priced resorts on that section of beach, Store Bay is an impressively nice public beach facility. The beach isn’t huge, but big enough to accommodate a good crowd. Beach chairs and umbrellas are for rent at decent prices. And there are decent changing rooms and other facilities there. Oh, and basically all of the snorkel/glass-bottom boat tours operate from the beach there, too. So there is that to deal with, but they were pretty low key in terms of soliciting business, so no big deal.
Finally back at the airport, I hopped back on the DASH8-300 and made the quick jump down to Trinidad. That was the end of the more relaxing part of the trip. I could easily see going back and spending a couple days in Tobago. The diving with the manta rays is supposed to be pretty good, and it is way more accessible than Yap. Know going in that the facilities are still pretty limited, but that’s not too big a deal, especially considering the prices.
Oh, and add to the previous list of things I forgot for this trip (passport, books) some new entries, like a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Those aren’t important, especially when you’re going to the Caribbean.
Posted by Seth on January 17, 2009 under Uncategorized |
I knew going in to my stays at hostels in Europe this weekend that it wouldn’t be “normal” nights of sleep, but I never expected quite the level of entertainment that I got on my first night in Luxembourg.
First, a quick review of the hostel in Luxembourg: It is awesome. Clean, modern and really quite nice. The views up the hills toward the ruins of the old battlements were impressive, though a reminder of the hill to be hiked to get up to the city center.
The view from room B101 at the youth hostel in Luxembourg.
They had a shuttle van parked out front but I never saw it in action so I’m not sure what the deal is with that. The doors closed a bit louder than I would have liked, but I was tired enough that I slept through most of that. I skipped breakfast there this morning so I cannot rate that, but the guys I talked to said it was pretty decent the previous day, and it is included in the rate, so nothing to complain about there. They also didn’t charge me extra for not having a hostel card even though they were supposed to so that was nice. Sheets are included in the rates but not towels. They make you buy one if you need it and they aren’t cheap. Or if you are only staying one night you can do as I did and just use the sheets to dry off in the morning as you’re leaving. That worked out pretty well for me.
Now, on to the entertainment. When I got home from dinner I was a bit surprised to see someone laying in the bed I had made up before going out. Apparently one of the guys I was sharing a room with decided that he should use that bed since I had made it up. In his defense, I get the feeling that he had used it the previous night, but it was unmade and appeared unclaimed when I got there, so I’m not totally sure.
And then there was the Finnish guy. He was the last of the six to arrive in the room and he seemed a bit apprehensive about claiming the last bed available since it was a top bunk. Still, it was the only one and he went ahead and made up the bed. I thought nothing more of it as I made my way out to dinner. His somewhat noisy return to the room rather late was annoying, especially when he felt it appropriate to turn on the overhead lights, but I got over it.
At about five in the morning when he fell out of the bed, however, it took the fact that I was still pretty tired to avoid cracking up laughing. He seemed to survive the fall OK, and I know it is not nice to laugh at others’ misfortune, but it really was entertaining to watch him stumble – presumably still drunk – to the bathroom at that point and then try to get back in to bed. He managed to sleep through my departure this morning so I never got a chance to ask him how he was feeling. Hopefully he’s OK.
I certainly got my money’s worth in both the bed and the extra entertainment offered. I hope my hostel in Brussels is a bit more subdued, but I’ll take it either way.
