The charms of the Idyllic town of Hawi, Hawaii Big Island

Hawi is a quaint little town in the north end of Big Island. Its that kind of town that you want to "discover", and, when you do, you find that you are perfectly happy to share your discovery with others. You just hope that it will forever remain quaint, in its old Hawaiian way. There are not many things to do in Hawi, and that is a blessing.

I possibly would never have discovered Hawi, since we were debating whether to go to Polulu valley (via Hawi) or to Waipio valley (not via Hawi). At the end, we decided to go to both the places, and thats how we came to Hawi. Glad we did. Because Hawi to me remains that idyllic little town that modern America forgot. Its best that way.





We stopped for lunch at Hawi, and it was love at first sight. Hawi has a short little stretch of road that you could call downtown, with a couple of restaurants, and a few arts shop. It was wonderful to sit outside, in the warm Hawaii sunshine, and have our lunch. There was something about the place that makes you feel relaxed. So we did. Wish we could just linger on there for a long, long time.

We had to leave after some time, because we had a long drive ahead, to Polulu valley, and to Waipio valley, and finally to the town of Hilo, where we would be staying the night. In the couple of hours we spent in Hawi, it charmed us no end.

Amit Basu Photography / Getty Images

Before going to Polulu valley, we stopped at the statue of the great Hawaiian king Kamehameha. The statue is located pretty close to Hawi, in the village of Kapaau, where Kamehameha was born.

After our Hawaii trip, when we were back to the hustle-bustle of Silicon Valley, we took a vote on the best town we saw in Hawaii Big Island. Hawi won the vote hands down. Its a place I will have to go back to, just to sit around the cafe and watch the world pass by.

I know, when I do that, I will be in no hurry to leave.