Fodor's Escape to the Hawaiian Islands, 1st Edition (Fodor's Escape Guides, 1) - Hardcover

Introduction

Most books on the travel shelves are either long on the nitty-gritty and short on evocative photographs, or the other way around. We at Fodor’s think that the different balance in this slim volume is just perfect, rather like the intersection of the most luscious magazine article and a sensible, down-to-earth guidebook. On the road, the useful pages at the end of the book are practically all you need. For the planning, roam through the color photographs up front. Each one reveals a key facet of the corner of the Hawaiian Islands it portrays, and taken together with the lyrical accompanying text, all convey a sense of place that will take you there before you go. Each page opens up one of Hawaiai’s most exceptional experiences; each spread leads you to the quintessential places that highlight the islands’ spirit at its purest.

Some of these experiences are sure to beckon. You may hike through the green, mysterious realm of a bamboo forest, bathe under the lacy 400-foot veil of Waimoku Falls, glide over the crowded underwater reefs of anauma Bay, or feel your senses reawaken among the flowers crowded in stands at Hilo's farmers' market. You may ride turquoise waves or dusty cattle trails, teeter on the edge of gigantic seaside cliffs, or travel back in time as you explore the simple life of Japanese coffee farmers. Or, wrapped in a blanket, the early morning sun in your eyes, squinting and shivering, gaze in awe at an immense crater that you will soon descend.

To capture the raw energy of these islands, photographer Robert Holmes stepped on still-hot, newly created land in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, where the primordial elements meet when lava reaches the sea. It was, he says, "the experience of seeing the Earth as it was at creation." Writer Paul Wood's intimate relationship with Hawai`i is grounded in his almost electromagnetic attraction to a mountain, Haleakala; his certainty that the old gods have not passed from the Earth; and his bemused affection for all true Hawaiians, whatever their ethnic origins.