"And then the sun crested the horizon and there lay the Marquesas: like the pinnacles of some ornate and monstrous church they stood there, in the sparkling brightness of the morning, the fit sign-board of a world of wonders", Robert Louis Stevenson
We are now back on the high seas, on the way to Rangiroa, in the Tuamotu archipelago. The sun has set and for the second time this trip we saw the "green flash". It's been an interesting day so far. Somehow, three blogs that I have written over the last 5 days totally disappeared from my Blogger website. Then, I pushed the wrong button on my camera and the last couple of days of pictures were deleted. Oh well.
Today was our last day in the Marquesas and our last island was a revisit to the amazing island of Ua Pou. This island is famous for its towering basalt pinnacles, created when the softer rock surrounding this hard rock whittled away over millions of years of rain, wind and gravity. When we first visited Ua Pou, the pinnacles were covered with clouds, but today, just as we were leaving, the clouds parted and there they were in all their glory...
Ua Pou might be the most fantastically beautiful island of the Marquesas, but each island has its unique points. It's hard to pick a favorite, but surely for me if I had to pick one it would be Fatu Hiva, the southernmost Marquesas. Maybe this is because we got to see it up close, as many of us did a difficult 10 mile hike from the small town of Omoa to the amazingly beautiful valley of Hanaveve.
We started off with some local villagers giving a demonstration on how to make tapa. They showed us how to strip the bark off the tree branch and then pound it so it is very thin. There were many nice pieces of tapa for sale and we bough a nice turtle with a Marquesan cross for $10. Nearby, was a nice craft fair with really well done wood carvings. We bought a beautiful bowl from a highly tattooed man named Noel.
At 10am about 30 of us met at the church. We then headed up the road, which at first was quite steep. Pretty soon, there was a long line of us going up the road and we were all spread out quite a ways. Amy and I would make several stops to rest and see the view, but we noticed that especially the Germans kept up their own pace and would not stop, no matter what. Apparently, the German way to hike is that you find your own pace and keep to that pace, neither slowing down nor speeding up and never, ever stopping to look at the view, even though that view is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life, you will never see it again and you travelled thousands of miles and paid thousands of euros to see it. Stop and smell a tropical flower? No, sorry, we are German and must keep walking. Look at the Aranui sailing 2,000 feet below us to our next destination? No, sorry, we are German and this is the way we hike.
After 2 hours of climbing up the road, we reached the top at 2,000 feet elevation. The Aranui staff brought us up a nice hot lunch including fish, chicken and lamb. Before long, however, Amy and I were ready to head down. The road went into the beautiful valley of Hanaveve, which looks very pre-historic and you think a dinosaur will pop his head around the corner any minute. The road at times was incredibly steep, but the views into this ancient caldera were incredible. Giant ribs of basalt encircled the valley and far away you could see tall waterfalls. Way up on the top of one of these ridges was a hole and you could see the blue sky through it. Long ago, teenage Marquesan boys would climb up to this hole in the basalt cliff, thousands of feet above their small village, to prove their manhood.
After 2 more hours of hiking down a very steep road, we were in the little village of Hanaveve and were treated to a dance by the locals. This village is located on the Bay of Virgins and there is a story behind this. On both sides of this valley there are many huge basalt pinnacles, which look very much like a certain male body part. So it was called La Baye des Verges, which in French means the Bay of Penises. Well, when the missionaries arrived you can imagine they didn't think too much of that name. So some brilliant priest came up with the idea of inserting an "i" and you suddenly had La Bay Des Vierges, or Bay of the Virgins. Problem solved.
Once back on the Aranui, we had a party on the back deck to enjoy the famous sunset in this beautiful bay. The sunset on this bay is even mentioned in Lonely Planet. Indeed, it was beautiful as all the hillsides turned yellow-orange and we all got to witness the "Green Flash".
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