Our Maui Trip Photos

12.30.2008
On Friday, the 12th of December, we decided we were going to Maui. On 13th, we were on the 6.00am flight :-). We had been to Kauai (twice) and the Big Island (thrice), but never to Maui. Well, in a sense, we didn't like Maui as much. To us, there wasn't as much 'Squeal Appeal' (which means places that make you squeal) as the other two islands I have mentioned. In Kauai, there is the Kilauea Lighthouse Marine Sanctuary, the Waimea Canyon, the Wailua Falls, the Spouting Horn and of course, the Na Pali Coast! On Big Island, my favourites are the Volcanoes National Park, the Akaka Falls State Park (which has 3 waterfalls and a great great forest-y walk), the Waipio Valley, the Hamakua Coast Drive, the Lava Tree State Park, the natural pools heated by lava....... I can just go on and on and on.
Maui has the Road to Hana, but we came across lots of bad local drivers, who just wanted to overtake and on the narrow road (just one lane going each way), they still push you to a corner, went onto oncomi
ng traffic and overtake. (Yes, in the no-passing zones!) We had a few incidents like that. And the road has about 60 one-lane bridges :) and about 600 bends :). And there's hardly any place to park your car and go and take a closer look. That is what was most disappointing. We had so many beautiful waterfalls, but couldn't see them properly.
From Hana, we went to the Haleakala National Park. People go there to see the sunrise, but we wanted to be dif
ferent :). So, we went at noon. Now, that is one place that blew us away (literally too!). Its gorgeous! On the road up the Haleakala, you get to touch clouds :). And when you get to the summit, you are actually above clouds. It such a great feeling! And from the summit, you can take a peek into the crater and different cinder cones of the dormant volcano (I don't think its extinct yet). The summit is at 10,000+ feet, so be prepared to acclimatize before you move on. Its super cold too :). On Haleakala, we saw the Silversword plant, which grows ONLY on the Haleakala and nowhere else in the world. It's really a marvel in more than one way! It starts out silvery-green and goes totally silver!!! Metallic, gleaming silver! It's amazing. My pictures don't do them justice.
We stayed at the Old Lahaina House. The room was so CLEAN! Why do I stress on clean? Well, usually, in Hawaii, unless you cough up a fortune, its almost impossible to find a room that you want to stay in. And Maui is the most expensive. So we were happy to find a room for less than a hundred dollars. And even more excited to see how nice and bright and clean it was. The Old Lahaina House is a Bed and Brea
kfast place. We were very pleased with our experience. And we loved the old town feel of Lahaina. This is one place that makes Maui score some Brownie points over Kauai and the Big Island. We found that we had a choice of places to eat from and they were open beyond 8pm :).
The next morn
ing, we took a drive and simply stopped at places which interested/intrigued us. We also stopped at a place from where we could look at 4 islands (Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the tiny submerged volcano Molokini). Standing there, we also saw the HUMPBACK WHALES!!!! That was amazing. We then went to the Iao Valley State Park and finished our trip with a visit to the Maui Ocean Center, which is nice too.
Anyway, that's a lot of travel blabber from a person who didn't like Maui as much :). Imagine how much I'll have to say when I talk about Kauai or the Big Island :).

8 comments:

Sarah Jane said...

What an awesome post! :D It sounds like a fabulous trip, especially the cloud touching part- I'd love to do that. And the pictures from way up there are stunning!

I'm glad that you guys had a good time, and yay for clean hotel rooms!!! SUCH an important part of staying away from home.

Thanks for sharing! :)

Jennie said...

Deb, you have truly had some once in a lifetime experiences there! I would so love to see those waterfalls myself. Your post is very interesting and informative- thank you for sharing!

Linda said...

It sounds beautiful and unique Deb; thanks for the travelogue.

Debashri said...

Sarah - Yes, we were so excited about having clean hotel rooms! On an earlier occasion, we had paid 175 dollars for a room and still it was bad! The elevator was stinking and the carpets in the room were torn. The bathroom had holes in it, because the towel rod had fallen off and there was no parking! It was a nightmare. In Hawaii, the hotel owners know they can get away with anything! But the place is so beautiful, you are willing to put up with anything :).

Debashri said...

Jennie - Yes, this place is wonderful! You should come to Hawaii sometime :). Its so unique in its natural beauty.

Linda - You are welcome! Hawaii is very unique Linda. Even in our crowded city, I can't stop looking at the 'green' I have around me. And every island has its own shade of green :). Its strange, but true.
I hope to write more travelogues soon... :)

Som's Studio said...

Looks like you had lots of fun...
Talk about clean rooms...haha....I am very difficult to please in that area. Your pics are lovely especially the Haleakala collage.

All that tropical vegetation has made me nostalgic...its a ton of snow outside my studio window...

Anonymous said...

Hi Debashri!
What a great way to spend some holi-DAYS! My family and I still have to get to the neighboring islands, I think after 4 1/2 years on O'ahu, it's time, don't you think?! :-)

Anonymous said...

Ooops, I forgot to add...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(ready for all the noisy firecrackers?!)