'mahalo'

Hawaiians taught us a new way of expressing gratitude - yes and that is 'mahalo' (literally means 'Thank you') . This small wonderful island is a beauty that cannot be expressed in words. Whether it be the sea-life or the house of sun or the beach or even their very own traditional Hula dance...

Hawaiians believe that Hula dance was first performed by God or Goddesses which makes it a sacred ritual. The dance can be the expressions of inner thoughts and emotions, or the story of the lifetime, or the tales of Gods and Goddesses. It is performed with the spirit of Aloha and with all due respect, compassion and love. Some say that Hula came even before the written language of Hawaiians. It came from the hearts and souls of these islanders...

This sacred ritaul is performed on almost all occasions such as Graduation, Wedding, Parties, etc.. I would say Hula Dance as a expression of Mahalo in the true Aloha spirits.

a walk to the moon...

After a tiring drive on the road to Hana previous day, we still had all the enthusiasm to go for a drive to this dormant crater.. we checked out from the resort and dumped our bags on the backseat and headed off to this crater.. it was like a road starting from the sea level and twisting as high up as 10000 feet in the clouds... we started off at a temp of 25 degree celsius at sea level for this 20 miles drive to Haleakela National Park.

Hale-a-ka-la literally means "House of the Sun". This is the highest peak on Maui and the most beautiful spot to enjoy the spectacular sunrise and the sunset. Although we did not make it for the sunrise, I can imagine that sunrise on Haleakala must be breathtaking. First the pitch black sky when the entire maui will be under its blankets. And slowly the rays of light spreading across in the sky.. the colors of these rays slowly penetrating the darkness and clearing the sky from this darkness could be unbelievable.. And then the dark ocean beneath sparkles up when the sun rays kiss the waters...

The road is quite rough n tough.. And the drive is quite adventurous up this crater.. First you see the clouds high up.. and slowly as you go up the elevation, you see that you driving among the clouds.. now this was really amazing driving through the clouds.. and then in no time you are above these white clouds.. it feels like you are in the airplane.. never thought we could get such view without being in airplane.. as we climbed higher up the elevation, clouds went lower n lower and we could see the sun on one side and the moon on the other side.. the lava rocks and the crater formation makes one feel you are climbing up the moon :-)

for the first time in my life i understood what do you mean by a breathtaking experience...

'aloha'

There are some who like to skate along the surface, crossing over the boundary at times into unchartered territory yet there is a part of them curious and attracted to the mystery that depth would bring. While there are others who can not restrict themselves to the border and go deep down the depths to explore the beauty of life. Does not matter - which category one is in - its the beauty that one must be able to enjoy whether from the surface or from the depths. It felt like the butterfly in me unfurled, as I splashed the warm tropical water to find what was beyond those crystal clear sapphire waters.

As lovely as the Maui (Hawaiian) islands are above the water, beneath the waves I found a treasure filled with mysterious sunken ships, long-forgotten wrecks, colorful coral and exotic sea creatures.The mystique of an ancient underwater volcanic caldera - Molokini is still in my eyes. Molokini is one of the three volcanic calderas in the entire world. I went snorkeling at this crater. A couple of hundreds of fishes call this crater their home. The crystal clear sapphire colored water offered us an amazingly unlimited visibility to this beautiful underwater life.

Another incredible tropical water oasis where I went snorkeling was Turtle Town. The coral reef and underwater lava formations, animated by numerous colorful fishes, starfishes, and other aquatic delights was breath taking beauty. The most gentle residents of these waters were the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles who were intrigued by our presence, and they swam near us to get a closer look of ours :-)

After this adventurous snorkeling, I set my foot forth to whale watching. These pacific warm waters are home to tons of whales from november to march. They come here for breeding and give an amazing view to the spectators on the ship... While I was enjoying the mai tai on the ship watching sun go deep under the blue waters - this herd of hump back whales kept roaring in the background... sometimes they even sing and one can hear their singing while being underwater.

Amazing sea life experience .. Aloha (Greetings) thats what they say in Hawaiian language...

beyond the horizon..

what a respite from that cold chilly weather!! 10 hrs in the sky and we were transferred from the snow land to the wonderland... full of greens, sunshine and deep blue waters... now thats something i would call beyond the horizon... there were no limits to the awesome fun that we had on this small island 'maui'...

after the tiring flight we got some sleep in the executive suite of this resort. and we get up to see a stunning view from our balcony on the topmost floor.. it was like a dream come true.. could hardly believe we were up from the bed n enjoying the blue waters and the crystal like sand from our very own balcony... now that was such a relief from getting up to see the snow in the balcony and frozen lake view...

we had our breakfast and were there on the sunny beach in no time... that long walk on the beach, holding hands, in the silence of the sea currents, we had our best conversation ever... the unspoken one..... we walked away from the beach without saying a word to each other yet had the most beautiful conversation ever....
sea side drive on maui is amazing... the entire island has only one highway which circles around the island giving a spectacular view of the sea on one side and the mountains standing high on the other side....

we were awaiting the next day to enjoy the wonderful pools in the resort and then have some fun in the pacific ocean...