After Papeete, came time to see the rest of the island of Tahiti. Since public transport is reputed for it's unreliability, the next best thing, although not the most economical, is to rent a car. My first trip was to head straight down to Papeari, to see the musee Paul Gauguin. I was terribly disappointed to learn that it was closed, had been so for a year, had tried to reopen, only to be vandalized, which led to it's re-closure. There are plans to reopen it, of course, but no one seemed to be able to give me any indication of when that would be. I have to be happy with having been lucky enough to catch the Gauguin exhibition at Seattle Art museum a couple of years ago.Renting a car and inviting the other guests at the charming pension Te Miti, where I stayed, to come along, proved to be a very good plan. I had the car anyways and they knew more about the island than I did. I suspect they had read their Lonely Planet. The truth is that a person can quite easily travel without guidebooks. It all depends on the type of traveller you are, and the kind of travel you do, and how much preparation you have done ahead of time. Most travellers are talkative and sociable and like to share information about places they have been or stayed, and their experience easily replaces guidebooks.
We checked out the botanical gardens, springs and a water garden, hung out at beaches as well as walked a couple of memorable hikes. All and all I felt that renting the car was money well spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment