Empire's Last Casualty: Hawaii: Visiting the 50th State in the Middle of the Ocean

Hawaii

Visiting the 50^th State in the Middle of the Ocean

Sachi Ghosh Dastidar

To break from the Corona virus lock down, and to fulfill the wishes of granddaughter Shriya Lakshmi, we headed to the Island State of Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is said that it is a wonderful place to visit, a tropical area of the United States. It proved to be true.

Getting from the East Coast of the U.S. to Hawaii was almost as much time consuming as to go to the distant India, Subcontinent or South Africa.

Hawaii locals reminded visitors time and again that transformation of Hawaii to a place of tourist attraction began in the 1950s, right before it became the 50^th State of America. It also became my visit to the 50^th state of America. In practically all lower 48 states we were able to camp and visit different sites, but in Hawaii we didn’t camp but traveled in cars and buses. Hawaii has created different attractions in different islands and in different parts of each island. There are wonderful beaches, popular water sports, walking trails in mountain ranges and forests to explore, monuments, shrines, and WWII famous Pearl Harbor that is a national memorial of Japanese bombing of Navy ship Arizona taking hundreds of lives. There was additional destruction.

In many of the tropical areas of Asia. Africa, South America and the Caribbean there exist similar opportunities of development based on climate and Mother Nature’s beauty. I hope one day some of those areas will be able to develop themselves uplifting their economy, as Singapore has done. One big surprise for my family was the ridership on public buses. At times there were no room for standing. On the other hand, congestion on some of the roads surprised me. Barely a 30 mile ride on a single lane road from the top of the island, Kahuku Point, to Waikiki took several hours, and then there was jam on highways in Honolulu paralleling congestion in large mainland cities. Also there was the warmth of local folks. When we had car trouble near the northern Kahuku point, before AAA could reach us came some road workers to help, led by a female worker. They fixed our problem, but refused to accept any gift from my daughter-in-law saying, “This is our duty to help our friends!” Hawaii and Honolulu seemed very relaxed where many men and women walked with their bathing suits to reach the beaches or returning from beaches, and at times riding public transport. A surprise to us was also frequent rain, at times only sprinkle for few minutes, then bright sunshine.

Here are sample pictures from the Islands of Oahu famous for the City of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, and from the Island of Kauai famous for a Hindu Monastery started by local Americans. Hawaii State itself has a population of less than 1.5 million, of which about a million people live in the Island of Oahu, home of Honolulu. I am sure there were more visitors than residents in both Oahu and Kauai islands that we visited.

A Beach Scene

A Road Scene

Wild Bird Feeding at Waikiki Beach

Polynesian Center

A Crowded Bus in Honolulu

An “Alligator” Faced Ocean Front

A Water Fall

Shriya Lakshmi Returning from the Beach

Waikiki Beach

In the middle of the island lies a large burial ground, and within it an old Buddhist temple. The temple was built in late 1800s, planned and designed in Japanese style. The temple is surrounded by a water-filled canal full of fish and wild birds.