Tonga

Hi kids, Michael here:  welcome to the Kingdom of Tonga, the only one of the Polynesian Islands that has never been colonized.  Overall, today was enjoyable, but there were some miserable parts as well.  We were reading about Tonga last night and it was described as generally decrepit with very little that is nice about it.  Well, we awoke this morning, looked out the window and yes, they were right.  My first thought is that we were back in Myanmar!  But looks are deceiving and it wasn’t really that bad.

I escorted one of five buses headed to the Oholei Beach Resort and Hina Cave.  On the way (45 minutes in a full, and non air-conditioned bus) we saw an island that is mostly falling apart.  It isn’t poverty though but an environment where everything rots quickly and then a cyclone comes in every few years and destroys whatever is left.  The most interesting thing we saw were the cemeteries, which are all over the place.  They are plots defined by concrete borders, perhaps ten by ten.  The grave is shallow, only about five inches because the water table is so high.  Dirt is piled up several feet high and then decorated with multi-colored memorials of every description imaginable.  The stores are interesting as well, as most of them are stands.  You walk up to a cage and ask for what you want and the attendant grabs it off the shelf for you.

The people here are very friendly.  Most of them are dressed in native garb which is gaily colored waist wraps intended to show respect for the King and also for esteemed visitors (us).  Speaking of the King, they have both a king and queen.  Tonga is a democratic monarchy.  The Prime Minister is really in charge but the King still has a lot of sway.  Actually, not as much “sway” as he used to have.  Up until only about ten years ago, obesity among the royals was mandatory.  The King weighed in at 550 pounds and the Queen at a more dainty 450.  They must have gone on Weight Watchers as they are not nearly that heavy any more.

The streets here range from being in bad repair to dirt roads, and they even drive on the wrong side.  No street signs, or anything like that in evidence.  Of course, there are only about 40,000 people in the whole Kingdom.  Here in Nukualofa they still manage to have heavy traffic during rush hour though, so I guess it’s like everywhere else.

Arriving at the Oholei Beach Resort we discovered that we had a lot of time on our hands, but more importantly we were at the beach!!  Yea!!  So, I changed into my bathing suit and with many other folks enjoyed the gentle surf.  On the way to the shore we passed some circular concrete structures that turned out to be old U.S. gun emplacements from WWII.  Like most of these islands the beaches are protected by a reef well offshore, and so it really was gentle. At noon we all dried off in time to enjoy a traditional Tongan feast, similar to a Hawaiian luau.  The center piece of the meal was a suckling pig roasted in an underground over called an “umu,” and it was truly sumptuous.  A conch shell was blown to announce the meal but the resort owner, a very devout Christian, first sang and then recited a blessing that took at least ten minutes.

After the fest we were treated to a  performance of traditional dances and music in Hina Cave.  It started out a little hokey but finished very strong with the native men dancing with burning torches.  We left the resort and traveled in now even hotter busses to visit the blowhole.  I can tell you when you have seen one blowhole you have seen them all so nothing much to report on this.  I was totally soaked and exhausted upon my return to the ship and a shower was very welcome.

Beverly’s turn:  [In all of French Polynesia, I never got close to the sand or the water.  I couldn't tell you if it was warm or cold.  So there... it's my blog and I can complain if I want to (this added as I review the pictures and get pissed all over again).  This is a picture of the luxury bus we got to ride in.]

Michael has done an outstanding job of describing Tonga.  The one piece I would like to add is that the children were fascinated with us tourists.  I asked if I could take their picture and then show it to them.  They just loved that.  The kids in school waved as our bus drove by.  The Tongan people are very gracious and friendly.

I am not destined to go or even see a beach in the South Pacific.   My tour was on an old non air-conditioned bus (see picture above)  that was made for little people.  Legs were sprawled out in the aisles; I wound up in a seat over the tire well and had a dickens of a time getting my body into the seat so I could keep my back straight and supported.  Plywood was used to patch holes in the floor.

We drove by the Palace for a photo stop before heading to the Captain Cook landing place and cultural center.  There is a plaque commemorating Cook’s landing in 1777.  We observed how food is wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an “uma” or underground oven, how bark is pounded into tapa cloth and woven into textiles, and were treated to some refreshments including milk right from the coconut.  By this time, we were thoroughly soaked from perspiration as it was very warm and humid and the breeze had died down.  My group of passengers was getting very uncomfortable and wanted to leave.  The hosts were unnerved by this as they had not finished their demonstrations; I assured them it was not their hospitality, but that our “elderly” people could not cope with the heat.  The Tongans were not in any hurry to adhere to the set schedule and there was no telling how much longer we would have been there.  Shades of mutiny al la Gdansk?

We rode and rode over dusty potholed roads to our next stop, the Terraced Tombs of Tonga, which were built out of coral stone for the sacred kings around 1200 AD.  According the legend, the kinds were half man and half god, so they were buried in raised tombs, between heaven and earth.  We were not allowed to climb up to see them because they were sacred.  We really didn’t see anything at all.  I wonder why we needed to stop there then.

Our final stop took us to the Ha’amonga Trilithon, an ancient archway made with three massive limestone slabs.  The who and why is unknown.

All in all, my impression of the South Pacific islands has been skewed by four hour excursions that merely drove around the islands and stopped at a few cultural sites.  If I had been in better physical shape, maybe I could have done some of the more fun and physically challenging excursions that involved water.  So I hope you don’t think I sound like sour grapes, it’s just that my impressions have been limited and at times been very uncomfortable.