Day 14 - Temples

The Mustang wasn't particularly in the plan. Turtle Bay is a self-contained resort, with championship golf courses, restaurants, beaches, surf schools. The idea is that you turn up, get pampered something rotten and never, ever leave the confines of the resort until it is time to go home.

This is probably the very antithesis of how Caroline and I travel, we aren't tourists, we are professional travellers. But to be honest, after a couple of weeks of catering for ourselves, the idea of having someone on hand to sort out every whim was damned attractive and it is, after all, our honeymoon.

So to have to spend the day out of the resort was disappointing. Instead of lazing on the beach, we had to go back to Waikiki to pick up the now repaired bag. No choice but to jump in the Mustang and head south this time by the scenic route.

We are so glad we did, as we managed to see a wonderful little place that we would not have known about if it hadn't been for Kenn on the tour.

The Valley of the Temples is possibly the prettiest cemetary in the world. The area contains graves of all denominations, along with a Catholic Church and the astonishing Byodo-in Buddhist Temple. This temple celebrates 100 years of Japanese people in the Hawaiian islands. It was built in 1969 as a replica of a temple in Japan and despite its size was constructed of wood and entirely without nails.

It has to be the most serene and peaceful place I have ever been in. The quiet is only broken by the occasional tolling of a massive bell, rung by the visitors to announce their presence. From there, you walk slowly to the temple itself, removing your shoes at the entrance. Inside, there is a massive Buddha (the largest made in recent times apparently) to look at. Although I am not particularly religious - although with its "live and let live" philosophy Buddhism is as close to my own outlook on life as religion gets - it is impossible not to find an inner peace and reflection.

On exiting the temple, there is a small shop across a bridge. The bridge is crowded with birds above and huge koi carp in the lake below. The reason is quickly clear - the shop sells fish and bird food for $1 and they have learned to come down and eat directly from your hand. In fact, hold out a handful of food and they will land on your head, your arm or each other in order to get fed.

From there it was back to Waikiki to pick up the now repaired suitcase. It was nearly 5pm once we had got done so we thought we would try to grab a quick view of Diamond Head, the big crater at the end of Waikiki Beach. We drove through the tunnel into the crater, up to the entrance booth and got a very impolite "We're closed!". Despite the signs clearly showing closing at 6pm. Tcha. Still, this meant we could head towards Sandy Beach and watch the surfers and swimmers before heading back north.