Hana is Paradise on Earth. The Road to Hana is another on that list of "must dos". The drive took about 3 hours from our hotel in Kapalua (Ritz). You need to take your time on this drive. It's all about the journey, not the destination. The road winds over 50 miles past taro patches, magnificent seascapes, waterfall pools, botanical gardens, and verdant rain forests. To avoid the 1,000 cars and being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, start very early in the morning. We didn't make many stops for picture taking on the drive to Hana - deferring until the drive back when we could more casually stop and still miss the rental car parade.
Click on thumbnails for larger view:
The first stop we made, at mile marker 02, was at Twin Falls. The falls can be seen from the parking area (room for 4-5 cars). See in middle of picture.
These pools at the foot of the falls are very inviting. But we only lingered for 5-10 minutes. Taking a dip in every pool would insure not making the roundtrip in a day. An overnight in Hana would make this trip much more enjoyable - if you can schedule it.
Stretch break. The road has 56 single-lane bridges and 600 hairpin switchbacks. Some of our friends, on an earlier trip, turned back because it the drive was too "hectic". Too bad.
Another stop on a one-lane bridge. Notice the fern and philodendron-filled gully. This really is paradise.
The drive was extremely beautiful. We had no problems. Oheo gluch and the Seven Pools are coming up next.
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Return to Hawaii, 2000.
