I've known about leprosy but..... not really. I now know much more than I did before I took that mule road down the cliff. The mule ride lead us to a destination which I don't think is "correct" - I guess I mean politically correct. Especially now, after learning a bit about the history of this peninsula, Kalaupapa, I don't know if it's really a good idea to make it a "tourist attraction." On the flip side, if it weren't for the visit I made, I wouldn't have learned more about it. ~ still contemplating ~

Our tour guide has leprosy himself. It was obvious that he is not happy with either the state of Hawaii or our nation. He spoke negatively about most things. The only time he really sounded happy was when he pointed out his own home along with his collection of cars and motorcycles.

Frankly, the tour was not the greatest. Since I am prone to motion sickness, the bus ride did not help matters. I am quite sure that most of the people on the bus were in agreement that the tour would have been better with less driving around. We were rushed through the most beautiful areas and stayed a bit longer than necessary in other areas.

moving on.........finally, I was able to escape the diesel fumes and headed back to the mules which I'm sure you know had special fumes of there own. It had been said that climbing up would be easier on both the mule and the human than it was going down, but..... I didn't think so. Of course not! I do tend to be contrary, don't I?

It was a good ride. The turns were still a little scary.... actually, I thought they were scarier than when we went down.