Istanbul. Local time 17:00. We have been away from our hotel in Los Angeles for more than 20 hours, and fatigue is taking its toll. We have only one more flight home and it seems like everything is taking place in a parallel universe. We can't get the landscapes of Hawaii out of our minds , even though we have changed the continent, the time zone, and the island floral scents have been replaced by oriental ones. Luckily, this time too, Turkish Airlines took care of us and selected us again for a free upgrade to the business area.
I might not have been able to write these lines if I hadn't spent the 13 hours of the flight in an armchair that converts into a bed. I wrote about my experience in business class at Turkish Airlines HERE , on my first flight.
Check, check and re-check the travel conditions
I started with the travel conditions for Hawaii because following the first article I received several messages from Romanians who had paid vacations in the islands. Many were surprised by the entry conditions I wrote about, especially since some travel agencies assured them that the anti-covid vaccine was enough. My advice is to use only official information, which you can find on https://safetravelshawaii.com/ , so that you don't find yourself paying $250 per person for a PCR test on the Bucharest -Istanbul-San Francisco-Hawaii route that will be issued in an hour and a half. For now, the state of Hawaii only recognizes vaccination from the USA , and all travelers are required to have a negative PCR test at a Hawaii-accredited laboratory on US territory.
The beginners or the trap into which the tourist who comes to Hawaii for the first time falls
The locals call us first-time tourists, those who arrive for the first time in the islands that belong to the state of Hawaii. “The beginners” stay in Waikiki or Honolulu and explore the urban area of the island a lot. This is typical tourism for Americans , who are known for being extremely comfortable. I don’t think we made a mistake, but after discovering the wild area of the island, I felt sorry that we were accommodated in the urban area.
In the urban area, close to the beach, you will hardly find accommodation. We paid around 120 dollars per night in a holiday apartment block located three minutes from the ocean. The reservation was made almost nine months ago. Although the apartment was classified as 4 stars, more than three would not have been received in Romania or the European Union.
Being with two Canadian friends, we opted to rent a car. Again, we encountered the same problem that I wrote about HERE . The cost of the car was double that of Los Angeles, but I recommend a car because you won't be able to manage with public transportation if you want to explore the island. And if you still have a rental car, look for an accommodation that also provides parking because otherwise during the day you will pay a dollar per hour for public areas, and at night around 50 dollars in specially arranged areas.
Urban beaches, designer shops and chain restaurants
Waikiki and Honolulu are two day max destinations from our point of view. Rather they are just points of interest and less destinations in themselves. Dozens of storey buildings, converted into hotels or holiday apartment blocks, form the border between the island's mountain range and the urban beach. Although we arrived in the dry season, when the air temperature reaches 30 degrees Celsius daily, and a few drops of rain will cool you down daily, we were lucky enough to catch the famous Hawaiian rainbows.
- Otherwise, on the big boulevards you will find designer shops, with lower prices because the island taxes are low, famous American restaurant chains, we ate well at Cheesecake Factory, and hundreds of tourists who come and go along the entire promenade. In the coastal area you have several restaurants overlooking the ocean, and if you really want to have an unforgettable evening, then don't miss the sunset, around 18.30.
But tired of the large portions of American food, extremely salty everywhere I tried, I looked for locally cooked dishes. We were very surprised to find that the most recommended local "restaurant" is actually a trailer where one of the most famous Hawaiian chefs was cooking. Local products, but also Mediterranean dishes.
If you end up in Waikiki, I recommend getting food here and having a picnic on the beach at sunset.
Dreamy landscapes, a state of well-being and a wild area that remains imprinted on your retina
The rest of our vacation in Hawaii was spent on wild beaches with incredible scenery. I enjoyed coconuts fresh from the palm trees, I ate the tastiest pineapple ever, but also some of the best seafood cooked by a naturalized Chinese woman in Hawaii.
But as the time zone change takes its toll again, I promise to reminisce in a future article.
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