Travels

10/26/01 - Bye bye Bora Bora! This morning, after another breakfast across the lagoon at the Marara, we came back to the motu, checked ourselves out, said our goodbyes to the friendly staff, and headed to the dock for our taxi boat to the airport. There were a number of folks checking out today, and probably 4 or 5 couples were all scheduled to make the airport with us. One couple was running late and held us up a bit, but we still had plenty of time. The latecomers on the other hand, were in a rush. Their flight left in 45 minutes, and it was a good half hour to the airport. So finally, all were aboard and we were off. As we pulled away from the dock, we were serendaded by the big man in the photo. This guy wears a lot of hats on the job -- he does everything: sing, strum, haul, tote, guide, clean, blow the conch, everything. Not long after we left the dock, our boat's engine started sputtering, and finally died. The hurried folks looked a bit freaked about that, understandably. I think we were all a bit freaked, stuck in the middle of the lagoon in a broken-down boat. But not to worry -- the driver got on the horn and called for some "backup". Soon another boat arrived, and we all shifted vessels. And once more, we were on our way.

The airport was becoming a familiar scene to us by now. As before, we were dropped off long before we actually needed to be there, and so we had some waiting to do. It's interesting how things run here, especially after all the madness that goes on in US airports since 9/11. We arrived and headed for the check-in counter, where there was no line (despite the large crowd gathered waiting for their flights). I guess because the airport consists of really only one terminal, it just seemed crowded. In actuality there were, I think, two plane loads of people waiting. And we're talking about small planes, maybe 60-70 person capacity. Like most structures in FP, the terminal was not exactly indoors. Panels in the glass walls were opened to let in the breeze. In the center of the atrium-like room there was a little garden, with some plants set up, and running through this garden was a family of chickens. A hen and 4 or 5 chicks running around. How they got there I can't imagine. Occasionally one of the chicks would stagger out into the main thoroughfare and catch everyone's attention. All but the locals were kept well entertained by this. Anyway, we were able to watch the baggage process here. It went like this: you check in, you place your luggage on a scale by the counter, a guy puts it on a dolly, and it's ready to be stowed on the plane. No x-ray machines. No rummaging. Just put it on and go. And nobody was concerned. There was no need to worry about terrorists here. So after about an hour of standing around, we were herded out onto the tarmac and into the plane.

A 45-minute flight over the gems of the pacific and we were on the big island of Tahiti. The airport here, while not exactly LAX, was a shock after the calm of Bora Bora. This was a bit of an omen I think -- that would serve as a metaphor for the whole trip. Tahiti itself was a shock after the serenity of the smaller islands. This airport actually had a baggage claim conveyor belt, so we went to fetch our luggage, and trudged our way out to the front entrance where we were once again met by travel agents, who would place the token lei around our necks and take us and our bags in a tiny little minivan to our next hotel.

After dropping off a few other travelers at their respective hotels, we arrived at the Intercontinental, formerly the Beachcomber. From the get-go we were suffering a total culture-shock here. The streets had lanes. And traffic. The parking lot of the hotel was huge. The hotel itself didn't appear that big at first, but when we eventually made it out to the pool area in back, we could see just how much this place sprawled. The complex is made up of several separate structures, some of which were added on after others. The most interesting aspect of this hotel is that the lobby is on the top floor -- thats where you are when you enter from the parking lot. But the place has 3 or 4 floors. So, from the lobby, you head down to reach the restaurants, the pools, the bars and the shows. Notice how almost every noun in that last sentence is plural? There is more than one restaurant, more than one pool, more than one bar. This was not the case at the other hotels. One of everything was enough. Here it was a different story. Lots of guests, lots of dinners, lots of drinks, lots of chlorine. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

But before we really had a chance to examine the grounds, we had to check in first. Again, this did not go the way it did on BB or Moorea. The entire hotel, it seemed, was turning over. Everyone there was either checking out or checking in. The crowds of people that filled the lobby were overwhelming. We sort of stood around in a stupor for a while trying to come to grips with the situation. We found some juice set up at a table, and had a glass. Eventually, we were able to check in, but sadly, we were told to wait a bit while our room was made ready. So we went out back, where that side of the "building" was open to the outdoors, and revealed an absolutely wacky scene. Straight ahead was a beautiful view of Moorea. But our eyes were slightly distracted by the giant pool and man-made waterfall. Straight down, 3 stories, a few tables at the restaurant protruded out from under the building. To the left, another pool, lined with sand to make it look like a beach. This pool is what's called a horizon pool, where the far wall of the pool had a low wall, and the water ran over the top. This made it appear as though the pool ran right into the lagoon. A very neat optical illusion. Next we sallied down to the ground level where the restaurant was serving buffet lunch. We were a little tired of the buffet scene, and weren't looking to chow down, so we went a la carte. I think Meagan got a sandwich, and I had spaghetti. Enh.

After a very long while, our guy finally came by to take us to our room. And here was yet another example of the place being too damn big. He took us in a car! Or not exactly a car -- more like a diesel golf cart with a long flatbed trailer where they would load people and their luggage. Luckily, we were the only ones on board (everyone else was in their room by then). A few hundred yards up the road, we finally reached our room.

It was a very nice setup, I have to say. Very different from the last few places of course, but nice. The furniture was sort of country french, or something. Or what I would think "country french" might be, anyway. Sliding glass doors opened to a roomy veranda, and the view I've already described. Same as the view from the lobby, more or less, only our room was over by the horizon pool, which is where we headed first. But before we left, we needed to use the bathroom. That's when we discovered the toilet didn't flush! Ok, no big deal. We called the front desk and they sent someone up to fix it. Now on to the pool, and the SWIM-UP BAR. The same pool that I mentioned, the one that appears to run off into the sea, has on one side a bar, with stools sitting right in the water. Swim on over, hop on a stool and order up a whiskey. Or a maitai, or whatever you like. This is the life! The overall design of this pool is really interesting and fun. We hung around there for an hour or two and then went back to the room to change, after which we were off to catch Le Truck.

Le Truck is the Tahitian public transportation system. The Le Trucks are rickety old trucks that are converted into buses, with basically a box in the back, often hand-constructed out of metal or wood, with seats for maybe 20 or 30 people. In most cases, the seats consist of one long wooden bench on either side of the box. Every time we rode, the radio was blasting local music, and the scene was generally chaotic. But you must take a ride on Le Truck! It's an enchanting part of the total Tahiti experience. And it only costs 125 CFP. The buses are privately owned and operated, but there are plans in the works to replace LeTruck with an updated public system, involving fully modern air conditioned coaches. It's too bad, but even Tahiti has to evolve. Anyway, we had to walk quite a ways from our room all the way around the hotel grounds, down the hill, through the parking lot, and out across the street, where Le Truck stopped. We were told that you know where the bus is going by reading it. This is true to a certain extent, but it seemed like they all said the same thing: Fa'aa, Papeete, Punaauia, Faauanu, etc.... we were headed in the general direction of downtown Papeete, maybe to the Bon Marche (the big public market), but we really were clueless. So we had a little difficulty. Not ever having been here before, we weren't sure where we were ever, and we didn't know what to look for, and for whatever reason we didn't feel like drawing any further attention to the fact that we were obviously dumb tourists -- and the only ones on the bus too. So we got off the bus when it looked like we had got close to the center of town.

As it turned out, we weren't very close at all. Ok, no problem. I rolled the old dice in my head and headed further in the direction in which the bus had been going, and eventually we found it. It was a very interesting scene downtown, because tonight was the start of Carnival, which is something similar to the carnival in Rio -- all the locals get dressed up in wacky outfits -- painting their faces, wearing lots of glittery things, all kinds of colors, and dance through the streets. Along the way, people were putting on shows here and there. After a while, we came to downtown -- and even though we live in the BIG CITY, we were still suffering culture shock here, and this place didn't help. We didn't feel like we were in any danger, but we didn't exactly feel safe, either. There didn't seem to be a lot of tourists about -- just us and thousands of Tahitians. It was a very lonely feeling. There was no hostility at all -- people were generally friendly enough -- but this is a big city, and big city people can only be so friendly. The streets were dirty, the buildings run-down, and in general it wasn't too exciting. We stopped into a few shops, and eventually made it in to the public market. We wouldn't stay long though, because all the vendors were packing up for the day. Shit. Oh well, night was coming on, and we didn't want to have to figure out the transportation system in the dark, so we hopped a Le Truck in the traffic-clogged street, and trucked it back to the sprawling hotel.

Once we were back in our hotel room, we turned on the TV to see if we could find anything in English, and we were successful! We got CNN (more bad news: Anthrax, airport security scares, Osama-rama), and a few other familiar channels. Hallelujah! The sun was beginning to set, and finally we had a west-facing room! With a balcony even! A diamond in the rough. The sunset was the best I had seen so far. If you can believe that. Every color imaginable was in the sky, and sprinkled on the jagged peaks of Moorea across the way. Wow! I only wish I was a better photographer, or had a better camera then. I stood out there and took tons of pictures -- most of which sadly never came out. Somehow this roll got over X-rayed at the airport or something.

For dinner tonight we opted for room service. Not because of TV, but because it was a long long day, and we were still pretty well cracked from the hectic change of pace. We missed hiding away in our little apartment. Ordering in. So we got BURGERS. A nice night in, catching up on the boob tube. Tomorrow: the safari tour.

Hi there,
We leave for FP on Wednesday and I have to tell you, your site is amazing, absolutely wonderful, I enjoyed it. We have almost the same itinerary as you only a couple different hotels. I especially love your comments on Bostonians, as I am originally one, they are completely true, very funny! I hope we have as wonderful a trip as you did.
Do you have any tips or advise on things (not good) that were completely unexpected and easily avoidable?
Also, how did you manage to get free upgrades and that fabulous beach dinner?
What are somethings that we should definately pack?
Well, thank you for keeping up your website so well. I will now visit it often! We'll strive to make our website as nice as yours!
Thanks again!
Kim

Thanks for your nice comments, and for having a good sense of humor about my anti-Boston rant. Talking funny doesn't make you a bad person! ;) Heck, I live in Brooklyn -- we don't sound any better. Well I'm jealous. It'll probably be a while before I can get back there, and the place spoiled me rotten. But I will get back, eventually. My only tips are that you should expect the unexpected. Keep yourself open to all possibilities. For the most part the people there will bend over backwards for you, but it's a beautiful island in the Pacific, and things move at a very slow pace. There will be some unexpected "excitement" here and there, like our boat breakdown for instance, which was probably the most drama we had to endure -- and it was nothing to worry about. Overall the trip was perfect. But nothing unexpected is easily avoidable. Avoid sunburn by using lots of sunscreen. Stay hydrated, but don't eat too much coconut (or drink too many pina coladas) -- it goes right thru you. Wear reef shoes or aquasox in the water to avoid coral cuts. Oh I guess one thing that we found was not good -- meat. As you might expect, seafood is king there, and it's all good. Stick with it as much as you can stand to, because except in the top notch hotel restaurants, meat (chicken and steak) tends to be tough and chewy, not at all like the bioengineered stuff we're used to here. And all that flying will have you pulling out your hair -- but once you're finally in your bungalow, you'll forget all about that.

My list of items to bring looks like this:
- bug spray for mosquitoes and no-nos.
- your pain reliever of choice in case of headache, etc.
- anti-diarhea medicine (immodium) -- you'll be glad you did, in the event you need it. Here's wishing you dont, but fair warning: if you like fruit, you're in trouble, because the fruit there is like nothing you've ever tasted.
- Jan Prince's Tahiti and French Polynesia Guide
- sunscreen, the strongest you can stand -- i used coppertone sport 48 spf, waterproof, sweatproof -- but i'm white as a ghost.
- snorkel, mask (if you plan to snorkel, which i strongly encourage) and fins (if you need them, and dont want to use the hotel loaners)
- reef shoes, a.k.a. aquasox, to protect your feet from the loose coral on the lagoon bottom.
- minimize your clothing baggage -- dress is super casual there and you'll likely spend most of your days in a swimsuit, just bring 2 or 3 swimsuits, and a few days worth of shorts/dresses/shirts as you will never spend all day in any of them. A little goes a surprisingly long way. Shorts and t-shirts or hawaiian shirts for the guys. If you're staying at Hotel Bora Bora or maybe the BB Nui, they might require pants for the men, not sure about that. I doubt they'll turn anyone away. A sweater or light jacket might be a good idea too, as it cools down nicely at night when the trade winds blow in.
- perhaps some of your favorite booze or snack items from the states that you can't live without -- if they have it in FP, it's gonna be expensive.
- think about currency -- some people like to have travelers checks, but they are not necessary. we brought them but never used them. we put as much as we could on the credit card, and got the best exchange rates that way for big purchases like dinners and car/bike rentals. Small things like snacks and tips for restaurant drivers were paid for in CFP (Pacific Franc -- not sure what the C stands for). We exchanged about $300 US dollars for CFP when we first arrived at the airport in Tahiti, and that was just about all the cash we spent there, so it worked out very well. You might want to call your credit card company ahead of time to make them aware of your travel plans -- I've heard of people's cards being deactivated because the CC company sees a sudden surge of charges across the globe and assumes it's stolen.
- passports and papers : everyone says you should make copies of those, just in case anything happens. eat at the "snacks" -- roadside kitchenettes -- for breakfast or lunch, or hit the markets for bread, cheese, crackers, water, etc, if you want to save some money on lighter meals. The hotel restaurants are good and plenty but not cheap, and these places will help you get a better feel for the true flavor of the islands outside of the mega resorts.

As for the upgrades and the romantic dinner on the beach - 90% of that was part of the package we took -- lots of little extras that the tour company threw in. They were all things that the hotels offer regularly. We didn't really have any upgrades -- we paid a king's ransom for the overwater bungalows -- but I think we did get a few extra gifts, like t shirts and pareos, fresh flowers, fruit/cheese/wine, all left in our rooms almost every day. These were either staff screwups, or, I like to think, the staff just liked doing nice things. Maybe they were just trying to get us to tip them! But really, the locals are on the whole super friendly and gracious people, and we felt that we really got to know a lot of the hotel staff after a few days' stay, since the hotels are relatively small (the Tahiti Beachcomber is the exception to that). Also, we were honeymooners, and I'm sure that was part of it.

As you can see, it's easy to get me going on this topic -- it's my favorite. Feel free to ask more questions if you've got em. Enjoy your trip, and make sure to let me know when you get your photos online!

Jamie, I wonder if I might have permission to refer to your website in my book THE NODDY BIRD (please reply to my email address). I might like to quote a bit, too - as a writer and a teacher of writing I can say you write beautifully! The text was most enjoyable. It sounds a bit like you had some unpleasant mealtime experiences - I had the exact opposite experience on Moorea. We ate out 7 nights and when we got home could hardly stomach burgers and french fries and pizza! The meals at Moorea's restaurants were incredible. Costly, too - around $50-75 for the two of us. But hey, if you're trying to save money, French Polynesia is not for you!

Thanks for the great site.