The Marquesas are two and one half hours behind the US West Coast.
And daylight savings happened a couple of times while we are under
way, depending on what country you live in. But we were in the
middle, so it hardly mattered until yesterday. Being that far off, I
actually experienced a bit of jet lag, though our jet averaged just
over 4 knots.
My next few trips will be on proper jets, doing 400 knots. Those
plane rides were of great interest to the customs people, who want to
be sure I leave their country. I expect it was my smell that put them
in the mood to put me on a plane. But now I've secured a hotel room,
washed myself and my clothes, and I hope to cause no further offense.
This country shares a lot in common with Hawaii, but everything is
turned up a notch, the plants more lush and varied, the people more
Polynesian, the air more humid, the towns more scenic and rural. Its
breathtaking, and made all the more so by the fact that all I hear is
French. And as a rule people speaking a language you do not
understand seem kinder and more clever than those that you do
understand. Does that make me an optimist of humanity, or a
pessimist?
I hear the bageuttes here are price controlled, and the lager from
Tahiti, Hinano, is not too expensive. So until they put me on that
plane you'll find me under a palm tree with the "long bread" as Holly
puts it, and a cold one. Glad to be on my own, surrounded by space
and supported by dirt once more!
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