Aloha

The Big Island

Yay, guys! We went to Hawaii! I'll tell you what we did, and I'll put some pictures up for you. Cause I'm a very nice lady. 

So to start, for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to book a 5am flight. I think this was because it meant we we would get to Hawaii in the early evening. But I super didn't enjoy getting up at like 2. Solution? Get drunk in the airport. 
But we did get into Kona early and it was a b-e-a-utiful day. Soldier went to get the car and picked me up in a fancy red Mustang GT convertible. First stop? COSTCO! We were amazed at how big it is and excited to be able to get alcohol with the rest of our things. (The Juneau Costco is one of the smallest they have, and up here you can't buy booze with your groceries and stuff.) The drive over to Hilo was about two hours and it was raining over on that side. Oh well. 

Monday
It was still raining a lot the next morning, but we thought it might not be raining farther south. So off we went to Isaac Hale Beach Park. It's a spot known for surfing and the ocean was especially turnt-up, if you will. We watched the waves for a few minutes and then it started down-pouring. I had some hot springs on our itinerary next, but it was raining so hard we decided against it. 





We decided to check out the Volcano Winery. It was really, really good. We tasted some wines, bought some wines, and just went back to the hotel. It started to get nicer so we walked over to the Liliuokalani Gardens. And guess what? Down-pour again. We were absolutely soaked but we didn't care. We walked through to look at all the plants and all of a sudden...chickens! There were two chickens just chillin there. I was amused. That night we got sushi and a super yummy bottle of sake. Twas lovely.





<--Isaac Hale


Chickens!-->

Tuesday
This was our day to spend in Kona. We started off at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. It had some old grass huts and a bunch of old wooden statues and a great lava wall and I'm not awesome at descriptions. And we saw sea turtles! And these really pretty bright yellow fish. Afterwards we walked next door to Two Steps, where a lot of people snorkel. We didn't have any snorkeling gear and the water was a bit cold for me so we went in search of a beach to just lounge on. 


There we ate at a place called Foster's Kitchen which, if you find yourself in Kona, you should stop at. 








<--Statues
Sea turtles!-->




Wednesday
Today we stayed in Hilo. There's a farmer's market downtown that I wanted to check out, and we got a couple of nice prints. We had a burger for lunch and headed over to Mehana Brewing for a flight tasting. After a brief rest at the hotel we went to check out Richardson's Black Sand Beach. Still too cold for me to get in the water much, but it was very picturesque. Then it was off to the other end of town to see Rainbow Falls. 
We had dinner at a place called Pineapples that was so good we ate there the next day too.

 


<--Black sand beach
Rainbow Falls-->





Thursday
I was really excited for Volcanoes National Park today! It was rainy again so the views weren't the best, but I think it kept the crowds away. I finally drove the 'Stang too, down Chain of Craters Drive. We didn't stop to see all the craters, but there were places where it felt like some post-apocalyptic future where we were the only people left on the planet. It was eerie but really cool. Finally at the end we got to the Sea Arch and some crazy lava cliffs. I stood close to the edge at one point and kind of freaked out; I realized that the whole thing could collapse at any time and I would just be toast. It makes you think of how completely powerless we are against nature. We also got to walk through a lava tube. You couldn't see a whole lot and we had to walk through a big puddle, but it's neat that to know I've walked through lava! Plus since there weren't a ton of other tourists we got through everything pretty quick and didn't really have to wait in lines. Me likey.

 

Friday
We'd been staying in Hilo so far. Since we had a morning flight in Kona on Saturday, and the towns are about 2 hours away from each other, we decided we'd spend our last day and night in Kona. We found a beach near the hotel we were staying at and laid in the sun for a few hours. We wandered down the strip and had lunch and got some touristy shit. Soldier had noticed we had a great view from our room for the luau that night so we did get to see it, it would a lot of fun. I decided maybe I should just try and do that stuff for exercise...they had crazy leg muscles. There was even a fire dance at the end! I loved it. 

And that's it. We had a great time and got to do most of the stuff we wanted, plus a few extras. I'm so excited I got to see some sea turtles and spend some good beach time with my Soldier. He's still a keeper. 
Also, sorry I really effed up the pictures. I haven't done them in a long time so I really couldn't remember how to do it nicely. I'll do better next time. 

196 Books: Bhutan

The Hero with a Thousand Eyes, Karma Ura

That's Bhutan. I don't love this map, because it doesn't give you much of an idea of how big it is and stuff. But this is one of the few places where I've had a harder (okay I didn't have to put THAT much effort into it) time finding a good map. Shrug.

Description:
This novella is set in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan in the recent past. Nevertheless, it reflects an age and a set of manners-mostly set about the court and central administration-which is now almost completely changed. This is a book about a courtier, who represented a mode of life and living which had vanished overnight, and not about the kings he served, but the reader will find rich detail on all aspects of life in Bhutan. 
The plot is a relatively simple one. A reincarnation is born in central Bhutan with prospects of a quiet and uneventful religious life in a small but lively rural community. By happenstance, he is allowed to serve first at the court of the second King, and later in the wider administration of the country. He achieves high position. By the time of his voluntary retirement, Bhutan is already caught up in increasingly rapid economic, social, political, and cultural changes. 

It goes on a little more to praise the book, but that's probably enough.

This book...okay. I have to admit that I read a couple other reviews and they're tainting mine. On the other hand, they kind of took my feelings about the book and put them into words. This book was very blah. Though the summary says it's a novella, that's not really a good word for it. It's over 350 pages an doesn't have much of a story line. It's more of a report than a narrative.

I did keep having to remind myself that it mostly took place in the mid-1900s; it seemed more like the mid-1800s with no cars, no real financial system, and a strong kingdom heirarchy. So that was kind of interesting I guess. I also had no idea what was going on half the time. People's names seemed to change with their position in the government, and some of the stuff I tried to look up didn't have much of a description.

There's not a whole lot super likable about the main character/narrator: he gets promoted a bunch but doesn't seems to do the bare minimum in his job, breaks up a few marriages and then *whoops* has to marry the women himself (after divorces of course), and gets himself into financial difficulties which other people then take care of.

The narrator works in the government for over 40 years and has nothing but wonderful things to say about everything. Each king is wonderful and generous, they do nothing but advance and improve the country in strides, every civil servant is hardworking and earnest, everyone just wants the best for everyone else. I mean is a story even really a story without any conflict?

Meh.I did kind of rush to finish this so I could start the new one before we head to Hawaii. So excited! And you know you'll be hearing all about it. So...Aloha!