Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [259]
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DETOUR: WOOD VALLEY
Near Pahala, the Tibetan Buddhist Wood Valley Temple & Retreat Center (Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling; Map; 928-8539; www.nechung.org; requested donation $5; 10am-5pm) makes a lovely escape from the modern world, whether for an hour or several days. The century-old, colorful temple contains a wonderfully ornate altar, which is all the more striking and exotic set against the backdrop of the center’S lush 25-acre property. The temple’S name, Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling, translates as ‘Immutable Island of Melodious Sound,’ and that perfectly captures the valley’S meditative thrum of forest, wind and birdsong.
The temple was built around 1902 by Japanese sugarcane laborers. Later abandoned, it was rediscovered in the early 1970s and restablished in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition by Tibetan lama Nechung Rinpoche. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has visited twice: in 1980 to dedicate the temple and again in 1994. Many well-respected Tibetan lamas conduct programs here.
Visitors are welcome to attend daily chanting and meditation sittings at 8am and 6pm (it might be just you and the Rinpoche!) or visit the temple and gift shop. In addition to a regular schedule of Buddhist teachings, Wood Valley also hosts nondenominational retreats.
For a personal retreat or meditative getaway, stay in the center’S cheerfully painted guesthouse (dm/s/d with shared bathroom $65/75/85; ). Guests have the run of the huge building, which has a full kitchen and a screened-in dining hall and lanai with lush views, as well as several reading nooks. Rooms aren’t spacious, but they are clean, simple and nicely furnished, with colorful details and new bamboo floors. Some rooms have only curtains, not doors. Though rains can create dampness, there is no musty air here. There’S a three-night minimum; two nights are possible for an extra $25.
To get here, from Pahala’S shopping center (Click here), follow Pikake St about 4.5 miles inland.
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When the road forks, veer right for Ka Lae and left for Green Sands Beach.
KA LAE
The elemental simplicity of the incessant winds, steep cliffs and endless ocean make Ka Lae feel like the edge of the earth. Even with the rushing wind filling your ears, an odd stillness and silence steals over you. From the parking area, a short walk leads down to the southernmost tip itself, where there are no markers, no souvenirs, just wave after wave rushing across the ragged lava.
Not that you will be alone, necessarily. The confluence of ocean currents here makes this one of Hawai’i’S most bountiful fishing grounds, and locals fish off the craggy cliff, some bracing themselves on tiny ledges partway down. The wooden platforms built on the cliff have hoists and ladders for small boats anchored below. Local kids like to cliff jump here, though you may want to poke your nose over the surging water and just imagine that heart-thumping trick. Behind the platforms, inside a large puka (hole), you can watch water rage up and recede with incoming waves. The only facilities are two portable toilets.
Near the parking area is Kalalea Heiau, classified as a ko′a, or a small stone pen designed to encourage fish and birds to multiply. Inside is a fishing shrine where ancient Hawaiians left offerings to Ku′ula, the god of fishermen. A standing rock below the heiau has several canoe mooring holes. Ancient Hawaiians would tether their canoes with ropes to these handles, then let the strong currents pull their canoes into the deep waters to fish.
GREEN SANDS BEACH
This legendary green sand beach on Mahana Bay is made of semiprecious olivine (a type of volcanic basalt), which erodes from the ancient littoral cone towering over it. The olivine sand mixes with black sand to create an unusual olive green that brightly sparkles in the sun, making this a fun, unique destination. However, the tiny strand is pounded