Tonga Travel Guide
Thanks to a quirk of humankind and not of nature, the international dateline swings eastward from its north-south path down the middle of the Pacific Ocean just enough to make the last Polynesian monarch the first sovereign to see the light of each new day. When King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga greets the dawn and looks out on his realm from the veranda of his whitewashed Victorian palace, he sees a country of low but extremely fertile islands, of gorgeous sandy beaches, and of colorful coral reefs waiting to be explored.
His is a nation protected but never ruled by a Western power. Like Samoa to the north, Tonga has managed to maintain its Polynesian culture in the face of modern change. The Tonga Visitors Bureau is spot on when it says the kingdom "still remains far away from it all; still different, still alone, and to the joy of those who find their way to her -- essentially unspoiled."
While this description is true of the perfectly flat main island Tongatapu, it is even more applicable to Vava'u and Ha'apai. Vava'u is a group of hilly islands whose fjordlike harbor makes it one of the South Pacific's most popular yachting destinations, and the low islands of the Ha'apai group seem to have changed little since the crew of HMS Bounty staged their mutiny just offshore in 1789. Visiting Vava'u is extremely pleasant to the eyes, and taking a trip to Ha'apai is like traveling back in time to the old South Seas.
Bring a taste for adventure and your sense of humor to Tonga, for this is the poorest country in the South Pacific. The electricity might quit working, and the tap water might be turned off (not that you can drink it when it's running). You'll see multitudes of dogs, chickens, and even pigs almost everywhere, even wandering the streets of Nuku'alofa, the capital. But if you can do without many comforts of home, you'll get a most fascinating glimpse into the way things used to be out here.
