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 Soaring mountain pillars rise up in the horizon behind the village of Hakahetau on the Marquesan island of Ua Pou. -- Photos by Diane Slawych |
Soaring mountain spires, so tall they pierce the clouds, rise up behind the village of Hakahau as our boat approaches the pier.
If there's one thing you won't forget on a visit to this remote island chain 1,400 km east of Tahiti, it's the landscape -- and the pillars of Ua Pou are about as dramatic as it gets.
One of these mountain pinnacles was the inspiration for Jacques Brel's song La Cathedrale. The Belgian crooner who lived on the Marquesas for a time, often travelled between the islands in his small plane.
Only a few towns have airports. Many villages can only be reached by sea and the Aranui 3 is one of the best options for getting to them.
A combined cargo boat and passenger ship, the Aranui carries up to 200 people on a comfortable 16-day journey to 15 villages on six Marquesas islands and two villages in the Tuamotu archipelago.
Our first port of call in the Marquesas is the island of Ua Pou, where the early morning air is steamy and hot. A few villagers have arrived at the pier, including a woman who welcomes us ashore with a smile and a tiny fragrant gardenia.
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Unloading all the supplies will take about five hours, which is the amount of time we have to spend in the village. Hikes are possible on most of the islands and the one-hour walk up to the Belvedere lookout here is one of the easiest -- and most scenic, offering a spectacular view of the crescent-shaped bay and lush mountainsides.
Down in the village, life moves at a slow pace and tourism isn't always a priority. Their only museum is closed today, though a stone church is open. Inside is a pulpit shaped like a boat that has been carved from a single stump. There's also a wooden carving of baby Jesus holding a breadfruit in one hand.
I wander into a shop and check the prices. A tin of peanuts sells for the equivalent of $9 Cdn., a big bag of chips costs $7. At least the fruit is free. I watch as one resident picks a few mangos and limes off trees that grow in profusion at the side of the road. He deposits the ripened fruit in a basket, then hops back in his car and drives off.
At an ancient ceremonial platform, known as a pae pae in the centre of the village, Marquesan singers, drummers and dancers are staging a traditional performance for us. For many years, missionaries had forbidden the practice of all Marquesan arts (including tattoos) but in the last few decades a major cultural revival has taken place.
At least no one has forgotten how to prepare poisson cru -- a favourite local dish of raw fish marinated in coconut milk and lime juice.
Our lunch at Rosalie's restaurant, which includes other local specialties such as rock lobster, breadfruit and sweet red bananas, is a memorable event.
Before we leave Ua Pou there is one more village on our itinerary. Hakahetau on the north west coast is a short boat ride away and affords more views of stark mountain pillars, this time without the clouds obscuring the peaks.
By late afternoon, a few children on the town's main drag seem giddy at the arrival of a boatload of foreigners. It's been more than two months since the Aranui's last visit. She had been prevented from calling on three previous occasions due to large ocean swells.
Those swells may explain the shape of an enormous boulder on shore which looks as if it's been sculpted by giant waves. Our stay is brief, just enough time to walk to a scenic viewpoint where copra, one of the chief exports of the Marquesas, is often laid out to dry.
Most notable of all in the village are unusual rocks bearing yellow flowered designs.
You can try to find one on the rock strewn shore or purchase one from a craft table at the pier. Apparently they can't be found anywhere else.
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BOTTOM LINE
UA POU: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Ua Pou, population 2,000, is one of six inhabited islands of the Marquesas, which form a 300-km-long chain in the South Pacific. Unlike most villages in the Marquesas, Hakahau, has a bank, a post office and a pier, where the Aranui can tie up. In other towns, the ship anchors at sea and passengers are shuttled to shore in whale boats.
Ua Pou (its name means pillar) is featured on the 500 Pacific Franc note. Languages spoken are Marquesan and French. The first church in the Marquesas was built in Ua Pou in 1842. For details on trips to the Marquesas by cargo boat visit aranui.com.