Day Two: Maui - Lahaina - Hawaii

Yoga Class - the beach is very small here, the grass is part of the resort in the background
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Today I woke up at 4:30 AM... there was no more sleep for me :(  My clock will be off for a couple of days.  Not much to do a 4:30 am, I just repacked a bit and packed a day pack.  I headed out in search of an outdoor yoga class.  Before my trip I found a class online that was given right on the beach.  It's a good thing I left around 5:30 cause it took me 3 hours to find it.  I did have breakfast and coffee and checked out the sites on the way.  It was located in a hotel in West Maui in Ka'anapali.  I had a very nice relaxing but difficult yoga class by the wave crashing sea.

View from my Yoga Mat
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After the class, I basically crashed some resorts and lounged by the ocean... I then went to the main hangout/mainstream city in Maui (besides Kihei which has some nice spots).  In Lahaina, there are some historical sites as well as shop after shop, selling this trinket and that crap.  You know the tourist trap.  I visited a royal birthing stone (see pic) and this beautiful wondrous tree called the Banyan Tree (in Banyan Tree Square, see pic).  Well it is a Banyan Tree the largest in the US!  The banyan tree was planted in 1873, it has areal roots which descend on the earth and root to make another trunk (16 trunks in all).  It's amazing what you think is a branch is a trunk which is a totally surreal experience.  Kinda like you are not sure which way is up or down anymore :)

Resort beach I crashed further up the coast in Napili Bay
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Across from the square, I had dinner at this not memorable restaurant.  I wanted to try many different types of fish that I couldn't get on the mainland or at least fresh and not ever frozen.  This night I tried Opah... it was so heavily seasoned that I'm pretty sure it was old.  I was very disappointed cause I couldn't taste fish.  It was overpriced, but at this restaurant I did have my first experience with Taro (local staple).  I ate purple bread, the taro root was used in the making of the bread.  Poi is a purple starch that is more a sacred and traditional accompaniment to the Hawaii Diet.  I didn't think the bread tasted any different, but it was purple.

Royal Birthing Stone
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Next stop was picking up my friend Sam at the airport.  It was already quite late... we found lodging at a Hostel - Banana Bungalow... we paid 65 for a private room.  Find with me, I was exhausted and cheap lodging is hard to find in Maui, unless you are camping.