After leaving lovely Kalopa State Park, I had a downhill ride all the way to Hilo, a town on the wet side of the island. My route took me along the Hamakua coast, a mostly downhill ride with lush rainforest on the “mauka” (mountain) side and the Pacific on the other side. There aren’t many beaches on the wet side. Instead, you have huge cliffs or “pali” all along this coast. Waterfalls cut “Vs” into the cliffs. I couldn’t see most of them, because the highway cuts above the cliffs, but I could often see the ocean far below me.

My route took me along some interesting diversions. I managed again to reconnect with some sections of the old Mamaloa highway. This road is a biker’s dream: one-lane, winding, and with an almost never-ending cathedral of trees. It’s very humid and fragrant. Flowers are everywhere. I often ride over their squished remains on the road. The best part: almost no traffic.

For you, mam, I stopped at a botanical garden right before entering Hilo. You would love this place! The garden is a collection of exotic tropical plants, stuff I’ve only ever seen on pots: orchids, cocoa trees, bromeliads, all kinds of gingers, ornamental pineapples and bananas. Needless to say, I took a lot of photos which I’ll try to upload shortly.

I like Hilo (or “Hilo-town”). Odd little shops — dusty and dank army surplus stores, lomi lomi massage, “da kine” bike shop “open 12 ’til 3″ — line the streets. It’s very warm and it does rain often but the showers are very short-lived. It’ll rain very hard for about 15 minutes and then it’s gone. The sun comes out and the frogs start singing again. The best part about Hilo is the farmer’s market. I saw “poi” for the first time. Poi is the mashed taro root the Hawaiians use to eat before America moved onto these islands. I also all kinds of fruit I’ve only ever read about: durian, bread fruit, taro root. I also saw 10 different kinds of papayas and 10 different kinds of bananas. Who knew that there were varieties? I tried Mexican tamales for the first time and I also bought smoked ahi tuna. Yum yum!