Smuggler

Dear travel diary

Monday, July 19, 2021

The alarm clock woke us up at 6:15 am, completely interrupting our deep sleep. We haven't had to get up at this time in a long time, and since we're no longer in the hostel, I don't wake up so early anymore.

A bit sleepy, we had our cornflakes to finish them off. With hardly any food in our stomachs, as we were still completely full from last night's dinner, we finally packed our last belongings and ordered an Uber.

Once again, we were asked if we live here when we answered "no" to the question, "Are you going home?" and instead said we're going to Kauai. I think the Airbnb is not at a usual tourist spot, so everyone thought we live there.

At least this driver knew where Switzerland actually is and didn't think of Sweden like every other American.

Arriving at the airport, there were a lot of passengers waiting. However, since we received an email asking us to arrive early at the airport, we were prepared for such a scene. The self check-in worked perfectly once again, and we were able to check in our luggage.

Once again, my luggage was overweight as expected due to all the food, etc. But this time, I had to either remove some things from the suitcase or pay for the excess weight. So I took out a few things and ended up with a total weight of 50.6 lbs - perfect.

Then suddenly, the long line of people disappeared and we thought we hit the jackpot. But that line only moved back where we couldn't see it anymore. Nevertheless, it went fairly quickly. But then it occurred to me that I had moved a razor from my suitcase to my carry-on bag. Oh no...

As feared, the jumble bag with various things in it was taken out and searched. Or rather, I was first asked if I had anything sharp with me. Logically, I answered yes and knew exactly where and what. So I told him that there would probably be something in the yellow case. On the other hand, he took out our rice from the bag and inspected it. Shortly afterwards, the salt and even took a sample from it to make sure it really was salt. Of course, it was, and so my bag was fine.

We were already happy about the successful smuggling, which was also quite unsettling. But something told me that disposable razors are oddly allowed, and that's actually the case. So we're not future smugglers after all.

After a long wait, we were finally able to board the plane. Just before boarding, the announcement came that the gate would close in four minutes. I didn't know the Hawaiians could be this stressful.

Once we landed in Kauai, we waited what felt like an eternity for our luggage and then went to the exit. There we made a plan because we were hungry and couldn't go to the Airbnb yet because it was too early. Then suddenly, a woman came up to us and asked if we were taking the bus because we were standing at the bus stop. We considered this at first, but then decided to take an Uber instead because it's inconvenient with all the luggage. We told the woman that, and she disappeared again.

However, the Uber we ordered didn't arrive because Uber is not really well known in Kauai. So we decided to take the bus anyway, and I kindly let the woman know so that she could consider it again, as I still had to go on a money exchange tour anyway. We sacrificed our last $10 bill for the bus ride, or rather $5 after I was able to exchange with a taxi driver.

The bus was small and had inconvenient stairs, so we had to carry our heavy luggage. That's how we drove into civilization and got off at a bus stop near KFC. Neither Chantal nor I had ever eaten at KFC, so we tried it for the first time. We had heard several times before that it was overrated and didn't taste good, but we were pleasantly surprised.

Spontaneously, we also decided to take the bus to Princeville and thus save money. The first bus ride had gone quite well despite the luggage.

However, the bus driver of this bus was less happy with us and said that we could exceptionally board with the large luggage. However, since we couldn't really place the suitcases, we had to practically hold them on our laps afterwards. Some passengers kindly made space for us so that we could place the suitcase on one seat and ourselves on the other.

On the way, I started a conversation with a mother and her child and it turned out that she studied in Basel a long time ago and is going to visit Switzerland soon.

When we arrived at our final destination (right next to Foodland), we bought the essentials and then made our way to our accommodation with all the luggage in tow. At one point, a car on the other side of the road stopped and asked if we needed a ride. We said yes if it wasn't too much trouble and also where we needed to go. Then he drove away and we thought he would come back to pick us up, but he just disappeared.

So we had rejoiced too soon and walked along the road, through a roundabout, and over dead frogs. Then a car came again and asked us, and this time it actually worked. Dwayne and his mother gave us a ride and took us to the right address. At least after we first went too far. When we arrived at the apartment complex, they let us out and Dwayne even came with us to study the development plan so that we would be in the right place. So after a long day, we arrived at our final destination and Dwayne disappeared again in his car. "Girls," someone suddenly called out, and we turned around. Who was it? Of course, Dwayne, who came back to us and gave me his phone number so that we could call someone in case of emergencies.

When we finally arrived after searching for a bit and struggling to open the door, I thanked Dwayne once again and got a photo of his mother with beautiful flowers in her hands as a response. He said that they also benefited from the trip because they randomly came across these flowers.

After a short settling in and unpacking, we went to the pool and enjoyed the last rays of sunshine until we went back to the room for dinner.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Our first night could have been better, or rather the bed could have been more comfortable and not so noisy. It squeaks like a dying guinea pig with every little movement. As I was falling asleep, I suddenly remembered that I even smuggled my pocket knife in my carry-on bag. But that's allowed too, so it went well again.

After breakfast, we got ready and waited for our rented scooters to be delivered. Almost punctual like a Swiss watch, we received a call asking where we were. We were on the other side of the complex. We quickly went to her and were able to pick up our scooters for the next week.

After a short introduction, we were ready to ride. Our first destination with the scooters was nearby, so we didn't have to take a day trip right away.

So we drove about five minutes to the parking lot of Queen's Bath. From there, a muddy path led down to the cliffs. We were not prepared for such a path, so we quickly put on our hiking shoes.

Once we arrived there again, I first burned my calf on Chantal's exhaust pipe and then slipped down the muddy path to the sea. However, we survived without mud stains except on our shoes.

The Queen apparently used to relax in these baths when she needed a break. I would have done the same with such a view. The beautiful blue sea, the black rocks, and the green coast in the background.

Then we drove to Foodland, bought something for lunch, and ate it right there at a table. Shortly afterwards, a man came up to us and chatted with us.

But we continued on our way and drove to Secret Beach, which is a huge but almost empty beach with high waves. After a short and relatively steep descent and crossing a river arm with thousands of tadpoles in it, we reached the beach.

We made ourselves comfortable under an overhang and admired the interesting sand and even more interesting shells. The smallest snail shell I found was maybe only two millimeters long.

Tormented by the many red ants, we turned back after a while and drove back home. We unloaded the luggage and at the same time took the shopping bag and went to Foodland again. This time, we did a big shopping trip, which I transported in the bag on the scooter back to the apartment.

As a conclusion of the day, we enjoyed some more sunshine at the pool before it started to rain and became uncomfortable.