“It’s
probably not that far. We can walk- it’s
right there.” Words that are almost always wrong
and definitely were that day in Honolulu.
Diamond Head was right there. You
could see it from the beach, it couldn't be that far. Why
bother taking a taxi or figuring out a bus when it’s right there. There
should have been a warning like on side view mirrors “Diamond Head is further
than it may appear.” So I convinced him, for like the last time ever
after this bad decision, and we started walking.
Leaving
Waikiki, past the Honolulu Zoo and some very tan homeless folk, past the
surfers smoking weed out of an apple and into a town where some actual
Hawaiians live. Then the road started its incline. Mountains tend to
do that, I must have forgotten with my vacation
brain. It’s a good thing I brought sneakers to change into, bad
thing we started walking at all. And it’s Hawaii so of course it started
raining midway.
Finally we arrived at the entrance and had
to proceed through an ominous tunnel. We’re sure this volcano
is dormant right? Against car traffic-
what- no one else had my bright idea? We were inside the
crater! Unfortunately there wasn’t an escalator to the top like I was
hoping at that point. Who knew the rest of the way was a series of twisted
tunnels, paths and stairs, some very steep, to the top.
As we
continued through the crowds I vowed to always invest in a guide book...and a
rental car. I couldn’t believe there were some (Japanese?) women
wearing heels! I hope they didn’t walk to diamond head in those or I should be
really ashamed. The optimist in me was grateful there was at least a
handrail I could pull myself up with.
At the
top- the views were definitely worth it. That vantage
point to stare down on Waikiki and off into the pacific was an
interesting one and worth it (at least to the top of the crater, I don't recommend walking to Diamond Head itself). I estimate we walked about four miles in
total. Which sounds pathetic as I write it because
I definitely felt like Lawrence of Arabia pushing on
through the harsh (actually it was pretty lush) landscape for my destination
and some water. Or at least Aladdin after he got out of
the cave of wonders. Who knew I would be so dramatic about a stroll?
We hiked back down to
the crater and, sigh, found a free trolley that would bring us back to
town.
