Category: Adventure

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An unexpected detour

A disclaimer: I will discuss the events that start our journey to Hanoi with a much calmer disposition than we felt while living through them.   That said, I wouldn’t mind if a couple of the airlines find this post so they can hear some of my frustrations with the events of today.  And with that, here goes my story.

We are so excited for our next adventure – Vietnam and Laos.  Bags packed, reservations made, itinerary printed, and we even get to the airport early.  That’s where the plan goes awry.

At SFO, Virgin American refuses to check us all the way through the Vietnam.  Something about being co-operators with China Southern, it being an international flight, and not actually listening to us when we try to see if there’s any way to help us.  We get to the terminal and all Virgin America flights are delayed (or cancelled).  They give some excuse about winds being stronger than usual, but we’re skeptical.  Flights coming in from all over (East, South, and North) are impacted.  It’s the merger – thanks Alaska Air.  The systems are so broken, they can’t even assign us seats until 30 minutes before boarding, which doesn’t happen until almost 3 hours after our scheduled departure.  The biggest cause of our delay is there’s no crew available.  It’s an operations nightmare, and we’re the unsuspecting bystanders.    

Only 50 minutes to LAX, but just late enough we can’t make our connection on China Southern.  And to add insult to injury, China Southern and Virgin America keep sending us back and forth as no one wants to claim responsibility.  I guess that’s what co-operators means.  Good to know.  The China Southern flight hasn’t taken off, but despite two-dozen angry passengers arguing with the check-in folks, no luck.  Apparently Virgin America had given out some boarding passes, but not to everyone.  And to those folks with boarding passes all the way through to their final destination, China Southern checks them in.  Reminder: getting checked-in to our final destination from Virgin America was something that Lindsey and I couldn’t get, and when we ask Virgin America’s customer service, it’s something that they say is impossible.  Oy.  I think the situation hits its climax when one very unfriendly China Southern attendant rips up a teenager’s boarding pass right in front of her.

We do find one person at Virgin America who is trying to fix everyone else’s mess.  After waiting almost three hours, she sets us up with flights on Korean Air for the next day.  We spend the night in La Canada (thanks mom and dad), and when we wake up the next morning, we find that our latest flight arrangement also delayed, meaning we’ll miss our connection in Seoul.  Not our day/weekend.  We head to the airport to work things out. When we arrive, Korean Airlines says that our flight was never actually was confirmed and that the plane we were supposed to be on is full. It’s infuriating. Mom has thought ahead and taken a defensive position in line at Virgin Airlines. Eventually we have the two airlines talking on our two phones (mine and Mom’s), duking it out. Both want to pass off responsibility and we’re not sure we’ll ever get to Hanoi, let alone in a timely manner. After over an hour of back and forth, we get seats on a plane to Seoul that afternoon and decide to make the most of our 36-hour layover.

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Annecy’s lake

Annecy is built alongside a beautiful lake, and to appreciate this lake, we cycle around it and paraglide over it. Atop our rented orange cruisers, Lindsey and I take to the lake’s bike path.  The path is crowded with other cyclists, walkers, runners, and rollerbladers.  The sun comes in and out of the clouds, making it really quite warm.  We stop frequently for pictures, cherries, and the occasional dip in the lake.  We end the ride hungry and sweaty, and ready to find a hearty sandwich made of mostly baguette.

Biking in Annecy

Annecy biking photo

The following day, we soak up the same view from a few thousand feet in the air tied to a parachute (and also tied to someone who knows what he’s doing).  This paragliding route is so popular that there is an air traffic control person on take-off and landing.  I calm myself a little by estimating how many gliders there must be every year, and decide that it has got to be safe.  But still with a lot of adrenaline, I run off the equivalent of an alpine black-diamond ski slope.  Shortly after, my heart rate slows just a touch as I settle into my seat, but given my intense fear of heights, I never totally calm until landing.  The rush of air around us, the view of the lake below, being at the same level as the alpine peaks, and sharing this rush together makes for an amazing 30 minutes!

Take off in Annecy

Lindsey in Annecy flight

Me in Flight in Annecy

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Waimea Wow

Waimea Canyon was a bit of an afterthought. We’d heard it can get cloudy and wanted to use the morning before the wedding to see if the fog would cooperate. The other couples we’re staying with weren’t as interested in an early morning, so Andrew and I were left by ourselves and out the door by 7:00am.

Waimea1

As luck would have it, we stumble upon a chalkboard sign outside of an old warehouse en-route for coffee. Dark Roost is a small trailer humorously situated inside a oversized warehouse. We order lattes and listen to the Hawaiian roaster cooly tell us the story of how they came to be. Inspired, we buy a mug. Obviously.

The Canyon itself is very beautiful. We give each lookout the appropriate amount of oohs-and-ahhs before proceeding to the next. A Hawaiian guide shares some history. (Add facts about the wettest place on earth, Grand Canyon etc.)

Waimea2

Satisfied, Andrew and I lace up our sneakers and grab our backpack of Cliff bars and water to start our canyon hike. We’d found a quick out-and-back the night before, figuring we’d have only a few hours before the wedding. The eucalyptus dense woods smell of Tiger Balm and the single-track trail reminds me of training in Vermont. Unlike our hike along the Napali Coast, the ground is dry and the elevation gain minimal. We respond energetically with a pace that feels like we’re skipping through the woods.

An hour in, the trees clear, leaving us with the most breathtaking view of Waimea. We at once want to slowly appreciate the beauty surrounding us and excitedly race to see it all, as if beauty like this can’t possibly stay.    

Together, we let the trail lead us the top of the falls marking the end of the hike before turning back to prepare for Drew & Kara’s wedding.

Waimea3

Waimea4

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Queen’s Bath

We wake up for an early easy hike to some nearby tide pools named Queen’s Bath in Princeville. We get to the trail right when they “open”, although there really isn’t any opening and closing of the baths (or the hike).  We are back in the mud and immediately reminded of our Hanakapi’ai falls hike, except this time we’re in our bathing suits and sandals.

Hiking to Queen's Bath

The trail isn’t obvious as the mud has washed much of the easy trail indicators away, and we end up on an old trail.  We assume it can’t be too hard, so we forge onwards.  We find small ropes down a cliff side, and we’re happy there’s at least something to hold on to as we slip down the muddy hillside.  We are grateful for every tree root that we can use for support as we repel down.  Although this make it seem like a controlled decent, I feel it was probably anything but.

Swimming in Queen's Bath

By the bottom, due to a healthy fear of heights and a fair amount of exertion, I’m in a full sweat. It takes a little time to calm my heart rate, after which a dip in one of the tide pools is exactly what’s needed.  The crashing waves along the side of the tide pool, the fish swimming through the perfectly clear water, and refreshing temperature of the tide pool made it all seem a little more worthwhile.

Victory at Queen's Bath

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Same Napali Coast by land

Lookout along Napali

We did the same stretch of coastline today, except today we do it by land.  Entertainingly, we get to see the kayaks that were us just a day earlier as we walk along the cliffs of the Napali Coast.   More than yesterday, however, we appreciate that we are in a rainforest.  The weather changes every 10 minutes alternating between hot humid sun, dark windy storm, and everything in between.  The path also takes on a few different looks: thick and squishy clay-like mud, slippery mud between rocks and tree roots, slippery boulders mostly covered in the red clay mud, and deep stream crossings that require some boulder hopping (or crawling in my case).  Needless to say, we realize we’re going to finish this day a bit muddy, a bit wet, and a bit tired, but all worth it because of the sights, sounds, and memories that we’ll get along the way.

Hanakapi’ai beach

Cartwheels on Hanakapi’ai beach

Lindsey and I walk first the 2 miles to Hanakapi’ai beach, where we sit, enjoy, snack, and picture-take.  Then we continue on for another 2 miles to the Hanakapi’ai waterfall.  This is quintessential Hawaii: giant waterfall falling into a huge pond (maybe even a small lake), rainbows come and go, the sun comes and goes, people swimming, laughing, and enjoying nature.  All straight out of a movie.

Hanakapi’ai falls

Through all the challenges of the trail, I believe that I would’ve had a much harder time had I not schlepped my hiking poles from the mainland.  They prevented me from sliding, balanced me across some rather tricky stream crossings, and served as a monopod for my camera when needed.

On the way home we spot at Tahiti Nui, a great local dive in Hanalei for a pair of much needed Mai Tai’s.  Legs still covered in mud, feet still soaking in wet shoes, but a solid sense of accomplishment and excitement for having conquered a small piece of the Hawaiian rainforest.

Hanakapi’ai trail Hanakapi’ai coastline

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Napali Coast by 17 miles of sea

Napali_Coast

Lindsey and I arrive on the nature-filled island of Kauai late from a flight delay, find our airbnb apartment that we’ll be staying in for the first half of the week, venture out to a local grocery store to procure some necessities, and head to bed setting a much-too-early alarm for our first day on vacation.

Day one is spent with Napali Kayak, who claims to “challenge your body, blow your mind, and feed your soul”.  We arrive at 6am to meet our guides, get our life jackets, and sign our lives away (in case anything bad happens).  After some safety instruction and some group bonding, we hit the seas starting from Ha’ena State park for our 17-mile adventure of the Napali coast.  17 miles is no joke, but we are grateful that the wind is pushing us along today.

Soon into our journey, before we even hit the Hanakapi’ai beach, we are already greeted by two giant sea turtles, who apparently have some pretty ghastly breath – it smells a bit like sulphuric seaweed.  Along the journey we paddle in and out of coastal caves – the Waiwaipuhi Cave and the Waihuakua Cave to name a couple.  On our way into one, we pass under a waterfall, which brings us good luck… and cools us off.  The topography of these cliffs and caves and beaches is other worldly.  One cave we venture into called Koa Mano has an open ceiling after its initial entrance.  We get out swim, climb on rocks, and just rest in this small haven from the large waves of the open sea.

Speaking of large waves, occasionally some pretty large swells rolled underneath us.  The waves could be large enough that you could be right next to another kayak but not see them because they were at the bottom of a wave that we were behind.  I’m glad that I had a full dosage of motion-sickness medicine first thing in the morning, and even still, I occasionally feel a little wobbly.  The waves can be frightening from a distance but we also must be thankful as they often give us a nice push in the right direction.  A couple kayaks flip, but I’m proud to say that Lindsey and I only swim in the water when we choose to.

We made it!

We lunch at Miloli’I Beach and finish at Polihale State Park.  Polihale State park is 17 miles from our starting point, but about 90 miles (150 minutes) from our start via the road.  If the roundish island of Kauai were a clock, we begin our trip at almost 12 o’clock, we end our trip at around 11 o’clock.  The trick is that that road that circles the island only includes 55 minutes of the hour and has a break in it between those two points.  Thus, when we get picked up by the van at the end of our journey, we need to go counter-clockwise all the way back around the island to the start.  This seems inefficient, but it was a nice way to see the whole island on our first day.

After arriving home after this long day and nursing a couple missed sunscreen spots, we quickly find ourselves very tired from a long week of work and a day of travel.  We crash early, get over 11 hours sleep, and reset for another big day two.