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Joined: Apr 04
Points: 17984
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Lahaina – you missed the point!!
Posted: 2004-12-05 09:12 AM
Dear Madam,
Welcome to Globosapiens. Thank you for taking the trouble to read my report on Lahaina and to comment upon it. Unfortunately, you failed to notice that it is a report deliberately focussed upon Lahaina and not a generic Maui one. Had I written a generic report on Maui per se I would have titled the report just “Maui” and not “Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii”.
Again, if you had read my report properly you would see that my advice was, similar to yours, - to escape the door or, welcome mat as you call it and, get out of Lahaina - I quote my wording:-
“If you really want to escape the many day-time cruise tourists crowding Lahaina - head out of town to visit my top five places to see on Maui:- “
1. “Highway to Heaven” road between Kailului and Hana.
2. Haleakala National Park
3. Ioa Valley Park.
4. Kaanapau.
5. Wailuku.”
Similarly, you again misquote me by referring to “manufactured Disney world storefronts” I never used that phrase or indeed those words at all in my article. In my introduction I accurately say - “The town is now a National Historic District and many of its buildings, particularly on Front Street and Wharf Street are being restored to their former glory”. Later I say that some are “tacky” - that is an accurate portrayal.
Although the article is focussed upon Lahaina specifically, I then go on to devote four fifths of the “sights” section of my report to what I considered to be the better parts of this island. Here I attempt to take the visitor away from Lahaina to discover some of the islands true pleasures. An apt English proverb that comes to mind is “You can take a horse to water – but you can’t make it drink” because as you and I know, 90% of all cruise ship tourists will sadly stay put in Lahaina for the day! The article was written with these people in mind and also published on Globosapiens for our member’s to see my personal view of the good, bad and ugly of that location.
Incidentally, I have visited the Hawaiian Islands many times over a 30 year period and consequently witnessed many changes. I do consider that compared to many other, so called “paradise” islands, around the world, some of the Hawaiian Islands have sadly become so over commercialised that as a result they are overrated and will disappoint many visitors.
We all have our own ideas and experiences of “paradise islands” based upon our travels…. “paradise” in travel terms frequently substitutes for “expensive”. I personally prefer the islands of Thailand (Koh Samui particularly), Sri Lanka, Moorea, (you may read my GLOBO reports on these places). Other superlative islands to my mind are Palawan – one of the many Philippine islands, Bali in Indonesia and Western Samoa, to name just a few. Sadly nearly all of these places are now witnessing some side effects of tourism, but fortunately most are not quite as scarred as some of the Hawaiian Islands.
I hope that you enjoy your membership here on Globosapiens, please join in and indeed write and publish your own articles, download your pictures and do become an active participant.
Good Luck & Cheers!
Brit
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