Note: I’m finally posting journal entries that I couldn’t post because of limited wifi while I was in French Polynesia. I’m home at the moment.
This is the only port where we stayed overnight. It’s totally fine with me. Even though it is the most visited island in French Polynesia, apart from Tahiti, it doesn’t feel crowded. It’s large enough, with enough activities both in and on the water and land to feel relaxed.
I spent the morning on “le truck” tour circling the island. The truck is a converted bus, decorated with vivid colors and patterns. Prior to conversion as a tourist vehicle, it was a public passenger bus. The bus is open air, with large windows on each side allowing a breeze to keep it cool. There is a single road that hugs the coastline (originally built by the US Army Corps of Engineers during WWII) with not much traffic. The constantly changing views were like gorgeous paintings, with a tropical color palette.
Our guide taught us some Polynesian words, which I promptly forgot. She also pointed out various notable sites, everything from the bungalow on stilts built for Marlon Brando to the Club Med that was destroyed by a typhoon and is slowly rotting away. We got a lesson on the flora, breadfruit, gardenias, hibiscus, palm trees and such. Each one had a story to go with it. For example, the coconut palm is one of the most valuable plants grown here. Every part of it is used for something. The nuts are eaten, the husk is used to make copra, the wood is used for construction.
At our first stop we got a lesson in making sarongs. The material comes from China, as does a key material in the production of cultured black pearls. It’s then tie-dyed and spread out to dry on huge racks. Stencils (made from Chinese material) are placed over the freshly dyed fabric that leech out the color, leaving behind an outline of turtles, flowers, sharks and other motifs.