Day 5

Waking up early has become the key phrase that is usually left to non vacation time for conscientious health conscious early risers. The lure of romantic sunrise on the islands was sufficient to rise us from the deep slumber induced by the water kissing the sand on the beach. We packed our bags and checked out as Chuck our ride to the base camp greeted us in a gruff voice and a cowboy hat. He had plenty of very funny anecdotes about the weather resembling his wives in predictability among others. We joined four others who were also signed up for the classic sunrise bicycling down the mountain tour. The treacherous climb to the Haleakala mountain was conveniently delegated to Chuck who we later came to know had poor sight and obvious hearing issues. I just thought he loved to talk and listening was skipped in his vocabulary.

He was originally from Portland and had stories about pollution and had apparently held quite a few odd jobs. Our tour guide from Brazil and cohorts in cycling tour from Spain and Germany was like a benetton add for country representation. The full moon added to the bright early hours and coffee was barely sufficient to keep us in the windy mountain top for a sunrise in the clouds. The discussion in the van varied from Lance armstrong to Pushing Tin and pickpocketing tips. Once the time passed the sunrise we headed down on the bicycles which had drum brakes and fixed gear ratio.

There was hardly any pedaling and the only portion was labelled Jane Fonda's thigh Blaster road by Chuck. At first she was pedaling like a grandma driving a skylark in Florida, but after a stop for coffee and breakfast she was right behind the tour guide. The tour guide led the troop on a bicycle and Chuck followed us in the van with the trailer for bikes blocking any traffic barreling down our way. He was in radio contact with the lead and we occasionally gave way to the meddling fuel consuming beasts driven by environmentally inconsiderate folks. I will get off the high horse now.

There were no bill boards in Hawaii, it was conveniently made too expensive so that it does not interfere with the aesthetic view. There were no pearls from Hawaii because of preservation laws. Is that in self interest i.e. If Phillipines wants to harvest pearls and destroy environment it is cool. But harvesting Hawaiin pearls was against the law. Already there were signs of progress that interfere with nature. Existence of Walmart for a couple of years almost guarantees the diminishing returns for farming industry. The 35 sugar mills have dwindled down to 1.5 because sugar could be made cheaper elsewhere.

In the long run the only thing cheaper in US would be ???.

On one hand you want a decently priced vacation and on the other hand one also craves the exotic. If the islands of Hawaii get ravaged by sea of concrete Jane, Jill and .. would be able to afford it bu then it wont be the exotic "place to go". ANd then there would be new islands to explore and ravage.

The fast sweeping wet turns were also being conquered by a late year YZF600 and a missed downshift had the rider squirm a bit but experience took ove as he rode out the turn. Our third leg was fast paced and short lived, just as we were getting used to the pace and the curves and the views we stopped to load the bikes back on the trailer. It was a pretty neat trick to keep the customer wanting so that he would come back. We basked in the warm sunshine on a plastic chair somehow seemed to be a crazy simple wish when we had left Chicago.

After Chuck dropped us back at the hotel we finagled our way to a room for a couple of hours. It was more like the resort graciously offered a room and in the few hours a nap was taken and the chappatis were consumed with Shahi paneer. The garden view room was more like parking lot view room and pale in comparison to the ocean view room, but we were definitely not choosers nor did care, just grateful for the rest and rejuvenation needed for further car drives and plane rides.

We saw some crazy surfer dudes getting smacked around and so close to the rock wall that made me wonder is life insurance rates increase if you mention interests in surfing. We found a desolate point in the highway to stop by and have a cliffhangar reminding moment from the top of the rocks. We returned the car without any trouble and our ride to the airport was immediately available. The only time when we wanted to tip the man we did not have any change, luckily the driver was also picking up a couple more passengers from the airport. Hopefully they had some bills of green and willingness to part with them, but being asian only the first part may be true.

We met another Indian couple at the airport who also did a whirlwind tour of the islands like us and offered good tip on plane ride to the lava viewing and volcano park visiting.

It is like the MBA thing, most of the people I know have either done one or in the process or planning to do one. Same with the Hawaii trip too. One thing checked off on the things to do before the end.

The car rental that we had online was thrice the price compared to the other islands. We took a risk and just took a shuttle to another car rental and found 50% savings by ditching the reservation and getting another car on the fly. Make on wonder how artificial jacking up of prices prior to Holidays is so prevalent.

The island hopper plane deserves a few lines. First impressions were rickety dinky "will it complete the trip" kind of emotions. The baggage check in person was the same as the non existent security person. In fact he was our luggage storer, flight attendant tour guide and the pilot as well.

We checked into the hotel and saw the beach kinda from the balcony. But by now the Maui hotel would be a tough one to beat, for its proximity to the beach, the ocean sounds, the pool view. We just shrugged at the view and went to find dinner. We had asked the concierge about not so fancy not so fast food and she got the hint and showed us a few inexpensive (cheap) places. One of them was closed so our choice narrowed down by combining our willingness to walk to only one. We saw a palm tree with chritmas decorations for the first time. I ordered the oonu grilled sandwich with fried and she ordered sno crab sandwich with salad. The fish was very very mild but the snow crab on sourdough was pretty good.

Ordering healthy food is not the same as eating healthy food, I noticed as she gobbled up most the fries from my plate. At the end I put my plate farther away but distance is never a deterrent to a fried snack fanatic.

As I see couples clinging to each other like the end of the world, I wonder when and how that comes down to the couple with kids who rarely talk to each other. Reminds me of the Julius Ceasar quote " Like horses, hot at hand but fail the test like a deceitful jade under the eyes of a jeweller" or something like that. Do quibbles strengthen a relation or making up after fights result in taking the person for granted. Is the willingness or desire to make up an indication of the strength of a relationship. Should logic be used in the same sentence as relationship?