Bora-Bora, Raiatea, Huahine, French Polynesia

An Intriguing Trio of Societies


Baptism
Moment of a religious ceremony in a church in Bora Bora.
Bora Bora misty
Mist irrigates the verdant vegetation that covers the heart of the island of Bora Bora.
Tropical almost horizontal
Coconut trees seek the Pacific Ocean in Huahine.
Group Photo
Believers pose for a photograph outside a Protestant church on Bora Bora.
Islands-Society-Polynesia-French
Verdant mountain in the heart of one of the Society Islands' many atolls.
Tropical coastline
The lush green coastline of Huahine.
Marae's corner
Ethnic elements decorate a Polynesian ceremonial Raiatea marae.
uniform faith
A female-only believer attends Mass in very similar white attire.
arm of the sea
Arm of sea cuts the leafy interior of Huahine.
In the idyllic heart of the vast Pacific Ocean, the Society Archipelago, part of French Polynesia, beautifies the planet as an almost perfect creation of Nature. We explored it for a long time from Tahiti. The last few days we dedicate them to Bora Bora, Huahine and Raiatea.

In the middle of the Age of Discovery, James Cook, impressed by the exuberance of the scenery and the beauty and gentleness of Polynesian women, will have declared Bora Bora the Pearl of the Pacific.

Two centuries later, Bora Bora is part of half the world's imagination as a symbol of luxurious paradise, as hedonistic as it is frivolous. The most powerful tourist corporations turned it into an island generating huge profits.

In the image of Moorea, Bora Bora proves to be a geological masterpiece that combines countless sharp volcanic peaks surrounded by an eccentric atoll that dazzle the most insensitive to the planet's expressions.

Thirty years ago, the Bora Bora hotel was installed from one of the motus, the islanders that delimit the lagoon. Since then, dozens of others resorts joined the pioneer and the effective marketing that promotes the island on a world scale began to attract thousands of couples on honeymoon, eager to live the most sophisticated Polynesian experience and, on their return, be able to brag about it. .

Guests are primarily European, American and Japanese. They even display Louis Vuitton bags. settle in bungalows exquisite on the lagoon, hoping to share your vacation with Pierce Brosnan, who is said, around here, to be almost a resident, or other movie stars.

As for leisure activities, Bora Bora offers little new in relation to the sisters. It is customary to participate in at least one lagoon tour which includes stops for snorkeling and a barbecue on one or more sandbanks.

For a few hundred extra euros, the resorts provide unforgettable diving experiences with mantas and sharks. When the island's blue-blue sea starts to fill, you can even go horseback riding along the motion Piti Aau.

Society Islands, Polynesia, French

Verdant mountain in the heart of one of the Society Islands' many atolls.

Of course, in the Society archipelago, all the refined hotels pay to match. In the case of Bora Bora, prices keep aspirants with less stuffed wallets away. And yet, the island also reserves a place for those, like us, looking for expressions of their Tahitian soul.

Arrival in Rainy Weather

We land on motion Mote on an afternoon of rain, wind and gray skies. We had already had our dose of good weather and paradisiacal views on other islands. Accordingly, we proceeded with the visit resigned to the meteorological misfortune.

We check into Chez Rosine, a family pension located on the edge of the lagoon, but still in the heart of the island.

Two hours later, when we ask the maid what she advises us to do on a rainy day, she replies with bored sincerity: “My friends, in Bora Bora, apart from looking at the colors of the lake, there is little to do“. That's not why we gave up. The torrential rain gives respite. We took bicycles from the inn and set out to discover.

Tropical forest, Bora Bora, Society Islands, Polynesia, French

Mist irrigates the verdant vegetation that covers the heart of the island of Bora Bora.

Along the way, we observe the mystical landscape of Mount Otemanu, diffused between the dense vegetation and the low clouds that irrigate it and the waterfalls that slide through it. We passed tourist-oriented shops and stores and the occasional humble house that withstood the inevitable real estate pressure.

We only stop at Faanui. Mass takes place in the Protestant church in the village. A multitude of believers, almost all women in their best attire, pour in en masse. After brief moments of socializing abroad, the faithful enter. The church is on the pine cone.

We are dazzled by an immensity of white dresses and lacy hats that the predominant ladies keep on their heads during the ceremonial.

Women at Mass. Bora Bora, Society Islands, Polynesia, French

A female-only believer attends Mass in very similar white attire.

The next day, we continued to explore what remained of Bora Bora's pre-tourist roots.

A Leap in the Archipelago. Discovering Raiatea

And we go even further back in Polynesian history when we travel to Raiatea, the next Society island on the map.

Definitely outside the glamorous of the group's predecessors, Raiatea – but not its Taha'a extension which is just wild – proves to be as sophisticated as it is reserved and old-fashioned.

Its inhabitants live on the terms they set. We confirm that agriculture and government jobs are the main sources of employment, the latter, concentrated in Uturoa, a local port and the second largest city in French Polynesia, after the capital Pape'ete, located on the mother island of Tahiti .

Raiatea housed, many centuries ago, some of the most important sacred shrines in all of Polynesia. Its verdant lands emanate a mystery and mysticism that does not go unnoticed by archaeologists or explorers interested in the millenary Tahitian culture.

Marae in Raiatea, Society Islands, Polynesia, French

Ethnic elements decorate a Polynesian ceremonial Raiatea marae.

From them stand out certain mares, places of religious worship and social ceremonies that the natives cleared of vegetation and delimited. We find them at various strategic points along the coast.

This is the case of Taputapuatea, which was as important to Polynesians as any other marah built on another island must include one of its stones, as a symbol of alliance. This law applied even to the distant Cook Islands or the Hawaiian archipelago.

It is also the case of Tauraa, an enclosure Tapas (taboo) that preserves a high endowment stone in which young people ari'i (chiefs) were crowned. Others mares with the Tainuu from the village of Tevaitou, they allow us to continue to add data to the historical context of Raiatea and its role in the vast Tahitian universe.

It is not that it lacks seductive ingredients because the Society's archipelago has become so desired, but if each of its islands is ideal for different purposes, Raiatea, the noble mission of revealing the enigmatic origins of Polynesian civilization was incumbent. Accordingly, we cut short the flight to the island we were following: Huahine.

Huahine, the Society that follows

As we can see again from the plane's windows, in the image of Tahiti, Huahine is made up of two islands: Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti.

Both are surrounded by a ring of coral reef and are accompanied by several islanders, moved. Nui and Iti are separated by a few hundred meters of water which, during low tide, reveals a tongue of sand that allows walking from one to the other.

Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti form the classic island-mountain geological complex with the highest point at 670 meters from the Turi peak. And one of the abundant atolls in the Society's archipelago surrounds them. The duo proves to be another exuberant and seductive natural monument of the Earth that keeps these parts of the Planet in the imagination of paradise of any traveler or traveler.

Coconut trees, Huahine, Society Islands, French Polynesia

Coconut trees seek the Pacific Ocean in Huahine.

The best beaches in Huahine are in small Iti. In terms of bathing and scenery, they fall far short of the Maupiti, Bora Bora and Moorea, to mention just three of the islands of the vast Society archipelago.

The Cosmopolitan and Solar Life of Chez Guynette

We settled at Chez Guynette, a family inn, run by a French couple with two children, owners of Guynette, who inspired the business's baptism, a brown dog. In the mid-2000s, the owners moved from Nice, Côte d'Azur to even sunnier French Polynesia.

They tell us that their best friends are Portuguese, from Chaves, who have already visited them during the summer pilgrimages in Trás-os-Montes.

We share the inn's common space with Gerald, an Austrian, like us, on a long journey and whom we approach as a joke when we see him leafing through a large and heavy atlas. "Are you traveling with this?" “Do you think so? I happen to be a bit stupid, but not as stupid as that”, he replies and generates a huge communal laugh.

Gerald describes to us the places in Alaska that he found most magical. It reinforces the enthusiasm we already felt for this American leg of the trip back to the world that we would give ourselves to in a few months.

The Aussie Jim, Spirituality and Numerology

Gerald goes about your life. Jim appears. Jim is an Australian from Byron Bay who, among other skills, surfs, builds surfboards, writes music. Jim, confess to us that you are about to start a yoga retreat and nature fast, determined to release toxins from your body.

Jim cultivated a strong interest in numerology. He asks if we care to be analyzed from a numerological point of view. "No of course not!" we responded, excited and intrigued. Next, he takes note of a series of information essential to the analysis: date of birth, age, names.

Apply the answers to your formula. As a result, he assigns numbers corresponding to our personalities, which he assures that he had more or less defined, despite having only studied us for twenty minutes.

O matt Jim has what it takes. Just like us. We say goodbye with a see you later, counting on a nightly reunion that happened.

The next morning, we left in a rental car at the exorbitant prices of French Polynesia.

The narrow but pristine roads run along Huahine Nui that Welsh structural finance helps to maintain. In practice, it is the same effect they have on French Polynesia's dependence on France.

These routes reveal the lush nature of the island.

Braço-de-Mar, Huahine, Society Islands, French Polynesia

Arm of sea cuts the leafy interior of Huahine.

We give it more than one ride. We are disappointed. The settings and atmosphere were the same as in Raiatea. Even more than in Raiatea, we practically didn't detect or feel human life apart from one or two natives taking care of the fronts of their houses, in an almost obsessive way.

Huahine's Surprising Tropical Desolation

We were so annoyed with the unexpected sterility of the island, overly landscaped and arranged, that we returned the car, four hours later, still halfway through the rental period.

Huahine quickly transmits, to those arriving from outside, a feeling of absolute isolation. This feeling is related to the defensive posture of the local population in the face of millionaire tourism. Even aware of how they damage their bank accounts, the island's less than 6000 inhabitants have always been against the construction of resorts luxurious.

As of the date of our visit, only a large hotel of those that spread out to sea constellations of huts had managed to break through the blockade.

From this hotel, another small private world sprang up, pseudo-sophisticated and alienated in the already-in-itself universe removed from the confines of the Society Islands.

Maupiti, French Polynesia

A Society on the Margin

In the shadow of neighboring Bora Bora's near-global fame, Maupiti is remote, sparsely inhabited and even less developed. Its inhabitants feel abandoned but those who visit it are grateful for the abandonment.
Papeete, French Polynesia

The Third Sex of Tahiti

Heirs of Polynesian ancestral culture, the Mahu they preserve an unusual role in society. Lost somewhere between the two genders, these men-women continue to fight for the meaning of their lives.
Tahiti, French Polynesia

Tahiti Beyond the Cliché

Neighbors Bora Bora and Maupiti have superior scenery but Tahiti has long been known as paradise and there is more life on the largest and most populous island of French Polynesia, its ancient cultural heart.
Moorea, French Polynesia

The Polynesian Sister Any Island Would Like to Have

A mere 17km from Tahiti, Moorea does not have a single city and is home to a tenth of its inhabitants. Tahitians have long watched the sun go down and transform the island next door into a misty silhouette, only to return to its exuberant colors and shapes hours later. For those who visit these remote parts of the Pacific, getting to know Moorea is a double privilege.
Rapa Nui - Easter Island, Chile

Under the Moais Watchful Eye

Rapa Nui was discovered by Europeans on Easter Day 1722. But if the Christian name Easter Island makes sense, the civilization that colonized it by observant moais remains shrouded in mystery.
Easter Island, Chile

The Take-off and Fall of the Bird-Man Cult

Until the XNUMXth century, the natives of Easter Island they carved and worshiped great stone gods. All of a sudden, they started to drop their moai. The veneration of tanatu manu, a half-human, half-sacred leader, decreed after a dramatic competition for an egg.
LifouLoyalty Islands

The Greatest of the Loyalties

Lifou is the island in the middle of the three that make up the semi-francophone archipelago off New Caledonia. In time, the Kanak natives will decide if they want their paradise independent of the distant metropolis.
Grande Terre, New Caledonia

South Pacific Great Boulder

James Cook thus named distant New Caledonia because it reminded him of his father's Scotland, whereas the French settlers were less romantic. Endowed with one of the largest nickel reserves in the world, they named Le Caillou the mother island of the archipelago. Not even its mining prevents it from being one of the most dazzling patches of Earth in Oceania.
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Ouvéa, New Caledonia

Between Loyalty and Freedom

New Caledonia has always questioned integration into faraway France. On the island of Ouvéa, Loyalty Archipelago, we find an history of resistance but also natives who prefer French-speaking citizenship and privileges.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
Safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 2th - Chame a Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
Sirocco, Arabia, Helsinki
Architecture & Design
Helsinki, Finland

The Design that Came from the Cold

With much of the territory above the Arctic Circle, Finns respond to the climate with efficient solutions and an obsession with art, aesthetics and modernism inspired by neighboring Scandinavia.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Adventure
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
shadow of success
Ceremonies and Festivities
Champoton, Mexico

Rodeo Under Sombreros

Champoton, in Campeche, hosts a fair honored by the Virgén de La Concepción. O rodeo Mexican under local sombreros reveals the elegance and skill of the region's cowboys.
Victoria, capital, Seychelles islands, Mahé, Capital Life
Cities
Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles

From Francophone “Establishment” to the Creole Capital of Seychelles

The French populated their “Etablissement” with European, African and Indian settlers. Two centuries later, British rivals took over the archipelago and renamed the city in honor of their Queen Victoria. When we visit it, the Seychelles capital remains as multiethnic as it is tiny.
Meal
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Kigurumi Satoko, Hachiman Temple, Ogimashi, Japan
Culture
Ogimashi, Japan

An Historical-Virtual Japan

"Higurashi no Naku Koro never” was a highly successful Japanese animation and computer game series. In Ogimashi, Shirakawa-Go village, we live with a group of kigurumi of their characters.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Africa Princess, Canhambaque, Bijagós, Guinea Bissau,
Traveling
Africa Princess Cruise, 1º Bijagos, Guinea Bissau

Towards Canhambaque, through the History of Guinea Bissau

The Africa Princess departs from the port of Bissau, downstream the Geba estuary. We make a first stopover on the island of Bolama. From the old capital, we proceed to the heart of the Bijagós archipelago.
Coin return
Ethnic
Dawki, India

Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight

We descended from the high and mountainous lands of Meghalaya to the flats to the south and below. There, the translucent and green stream of the Dawki forms the border between India and Bangladesh. In a damp heat that we haven't felt for a long time, the river also attracts hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis in a picturesque escape.
Sunset, Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio

days like so many others

Christiansted, Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands, Steeple Building
History
Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

The Capital of the Afro-Danish-American Antilles

In 1733, Denmark bought the island of Saint Croix from France, annexed it to its West Indies where, based at Christiansted, it profited from the labor of slaves brought from the Gold Coast. The abolition of slavery made colonies unviable. And a historic-tropical bargain that the United States preserves.
Geothermal, Iceland Heat, Ice Land, Geothermal, Blue Lagoon
Islands
Iceland

The Geothermal Coziness of the Ice Island

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Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Winter White
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Nature
Valdez, Alaska

On the Black Gold Route

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker caused a massive environmental disaster. The vessel stopped plying the seas, but the victim city that gave it its name continues on the path of crude oil from the Arctic Ocean.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Prayer flags in Ghyaru, Nepal
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 4th – Upper Banana to Ngawal, Nepal

From Nightmare to Dazzle

Unbeknownst to us, we are faced with an ascent that leads us to despair. We pulled our strength as far as possible and reached Ghyaru where we felt closer than ever to the Annapurnas. The rest of the way to Ngawal felt like a kind of extension of the reward.
Seljalandsfoss Escape
UNESCO World Heritage
Iceland

The Island of Fire, Ice and Waterfalls

Europe's supreme cascade rushes into Iceland. But it's not the only one. On this boreal island, with constant rain or snow and in the midst of battle between volcanoes and glaciers, endless torrents crash.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Characters
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Balandra Beach, Mexico, Baja California, aerial view
Beaches
Balandra beach e El Tecolote, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Seaside Treasures of the Sea of ​​Cortés

Often proclaimed the most beautiful beach in Mexico, we find a serious case of landscape exoticism in the jagged cove of Playa Balandra. The duo if forms with the neighbour Playa Tecolote, is one of the truly unmissable beachfronts of the vast Baja California.
orthodox procession
Religion
Suzdal, Russia

Centuries of Devotion to a Devoted Monk

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Erika Mother
Society
Philippines

The Philippine Road Lords

With the end of World War II, the Filipinos transformed thousands of abandoned American jeeps and created the national transportation system. Today, the exuberant jeepneys are for the curves.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Daily life
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Rottnest Island, Wadjemup, Australia, Quokkas
Wildlife
Wadjemup, Rottnest Island, Australia

Among Quokkas and other Aboriginal Spirits

In the XNUMXth century, a Dutch captain nicknamed this island surrounded by a turquoise Indian Ocean, “Rottnest, a rat's nest”. The quokkas that eluded him were, however, marsupials, considered sacred by the Whadjuk Noongar aborigines of Western Australia. Like the Edenic island on which the British colonists martyred them.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.