Drifting in the Kingdom of Tonga

As the sailboats slowly entered the blue waters of the Vava 'u Islands, the Kingdom of Tonga, the mysterious island country whose name I had just heard not long ago, began to unfold its own picture leisurely.

"Welcome to Vava 'u!" The captain dropped the anchor at the famous Port of Refuge, named in 1781 by the Spanish explorers who first landed on Vava 'u. Tonga has four major archipelago scattered from north to south in the Polynesia region in the vast central South Pacific. Vava 'u is located in the middle of Tonga; to the south are the Ha' apai Islands and the Tongatapu Islands, where Tonga's capital is located; and to the northernmost are the less-visited Niua Islands.

Belonging to the Polynesian Islands, the Kingdom of Tonga is far less famous than the name of Tahiti in the world of our Northern Hemisphere continental plate people. Perhaps it was because in 1786, the naive Tahiti girl who first saw a European expedition fleet (a French ship) climbed bare-chests onto the deck carrying 400 sailors. From then on, Tahiti has been praised by Europeans. The residence of Venus. Ten years before the Spaniards arrived in Vava 'u, although Captain Cook had landed in the nearby Ha' a-pai Islands, he was advised by the islanders: "Don't go to Vava 'u. There is no harbor there." It seems that Tongans would prefer to keep these islands to themselves.

Today, more than 200 years later, Tonga receives only 100,000 tourists every year, most of whom come from neighboring Australia and New Zealand. My trip to Tonga was purely accidental. After living in the Gulf town of Fiji for four months, I first heard about the island country from American Captain Gerry, and then boarded a sailboat and sailed here. It was enough to call it a "go away" trip.

Neiafu Town, the capital of Vava 'u, is built on the "refuge port" of beautiful mountains and rivers. On both sides of the undulating coastal mountain road, there are various restaurants, bars, shops, supermarkets, banks and service agencies. Half an hour is enough to complete a walk and find what you need for a short life here. I rented the first floor of a two-story building next to the old dock outside the town for a monthly rent of 600 Tonga dollars (Tonga dollars: RMB is about 1: 3.5). This small building, named "Island Explorer", is separated from its neighbors by wire.

The landlord is a multinational couple of the American wife and Mr. Tonga. The two met in Hawaii and decided to move to their husband's hometown, Vava 'u, three years ago. "As outsiders, don't pretend to be smarter than locals, let alone try to change them." The American wife spoke sincerely. She runs a small bar by the harbor. Once a Tongan man gets drunk and makes trouble, her husband still has to deal with it. American wives are not tough enough. On the contrary, she is too tough and does not understand the "way of Tonga".

Tongan people are generally very friendly and often smile on their lips; but they are proud inside and "face" is extremely important. So no matter what happens, you can't tear your face off with them. You can only speak kindly, otherwise you'll just wait to see the other side of them. The bravery of the Tongans once allowed them to dominate neighboring countries such as Fiji, Samoa, French New Caledonia and Wallis in history. This constitutional monarchy, which looks inconspicuous on the map, has a glorious history of never being invaded by foreign countries and never surrendering sovereignty.

The pride of Tongans is also reflected in their attitude towards foreign tourists. Even in a place like Vava 'u, which relies on the tourist season to subsidize its income, I have never met a hawker or driver who suddenly came forward to sell and pestered her. They will not be too enthusiastic or interfere too much with you. In their view, foreigners come and go, and Tonga is always their own. So when you meet Tongan children on the street who greet you with "goodbye" instead of "hello", don't think that they are poor in English. For travelers who like to be quiet and independent, their "indifference" is really a good thing.

Proud history, barren status quo. Tonga's economy relies mainly on international aid and remittances sent home by Tongans overseas, with income from agriculture, fisheries and tourism accounting for only a small proportion. Living in Neiafu Town for a few days, Tonga's material poverty and high prices are staggering. There are always only a few kinds of vegetables on the market. Most of the vegetable sellers are girls and aunties. They carefully divided tomatoes, green peppers, jar beans, etc. into small piles or bundles and sold them for 3 Tonga dollars per pile. So you can grab a few skinny tomatoes in one slap, which are worth ten yuan here. Cabbage as big as a face can be sold for 20 to 30 yuan. The price of these vegetables is naturally unbearable for ordinary Tongans. What they eat most are starchy root crops such as taro, and junk food exported from New Zealand and Australia-supermarket shelves are full of canned meat with extremely high fat content. I bought a bag of New Zealand frozen mutton to make a curry. With one slash, the meat will be crushed into small pieces. Originally, these were all scraps from sheep-mostly a bag of meat made of fat meat and tendons. After being stewed into broth, these extremely unhealthy foods became the favorites of ordinary local families. "Oh, you're in that fat country!" Occasionally, there are a few friends in China who have heard of Tonga, and all of them make such comments. In fact, local children and teenagers are all slim and slender, with small faces. The vast majority of adults seem to be inflated, swelling into solid cylinders from top to bottom, and even their faces have completely changed.

Whenever this remote island country occasionally receives international media coverage, the weight of Tonga's king is always deliberately mentioned. "The fattest king in the world","the King of Tonga who weighs more than 200 kilograms"... In their tradition, weight is also a symbol of a person's wealth and status. However, in the Vava 'u Islands, the World Customs Network, globalization has left its mark on young people. I often see some Tongan girls who work in restaurants and bars. They have well-proportioned and slim figures, and their confident and bright smiles are so beautiful that even a female spectator like me. "In recent days, two generations of kings have called on Tongans to eat healthier foods. The king is also taking the lead in losing weight."

Those who graze on the grass, those who cross the road in small steps, those who roll in the lake and mud ponds at low tide... Outside the town center, scattered pig herds can be seen everywhere. The piglets that have just been born are particularly cute. Their curled tails sway. Whenever they see people approaching, they sneak into the sow and hide. Living so freely, Tang Jiazhu will definitely rank among the top few in the global pig happy life index.

However, after staying here for a long time, I realized that the fences outside each yard are not to protect against people, but to protect against pigs. These overbearing guys don't care about private territory at all. As long as there is delicious food, it will be as if no one is here. They often arch up the flowers and plants in the garden by their roots, making it a mess. One night in the middle of the night, I was woken up by noise outside my bedroom. A group of pigs broke through the fence and stole food on the backyard grass. It was a full moon this night. Looking at the strange scene created by the bright moonlight shining on the grassland and the pigs, I couldn't bear to disturb these "thieves". Okay, I won't kick you out tonight.

The Vava 'u archipelago consists of a main island and more than 50 small islands, some of which are unsettled. Although life in the main island town is a lot of fun, I decided to visit the outer island. In the east, there are locally run B & Bs on Ofu Island, facing the sea and just a few steps away from the soft sandy beach. The island's only main road is covered with dense grass, decorated with shells and empty beer bottles on both sides. Many islanders and children usually live on the main island and come back every week for weekends. So the island is peaceful.

Those small islands that appear to be far apart on the map can be reached with a rowing boat even for people with my average physical strength. Of course, the premise is that you do not go against the wind or against the current. About half an hour later, I arrived at an uninhabited "connected island" at the northern end of Ofu. At low tide, reefs and sandy beaches exposed between the two islands, one big and the other, and could be crossed on foot. Pulling the rowing boat to the shore, I walked around the island in twenty to thirty minutes. Almost all of these small islands in Vava 'u have standing stone walls on one or two sides, and there will always be delicate and perfect light gold or white sandy beaches between the reefs. Eat a simple lunch on the beach and take photos of blue and maroon starfish under the shallow water... Except for the waves and bird chirping, the world is so quiet that it seems like there is nothing to worry about.

To explore all these dotted islands, it is difficult to paddle a small boat, and nothing is more convenient than owning a sailboat. Spanish couple Maria and Ed came to Vava 'u more than 20 years ago while sailing around the world. They finally decided to rent Tapana Island and have lived here for 25 years today. I live in a cabin they build for tourists. Climbing the winding uphill for 20 minutes from the shore, you reach this wooden house surrounded by mountains and forests. You can overlook the blue sea and the surrounding islands from the high cliff. Except for a black goat, a cat and a flock of chickens that the couple raise on the island, which come outside from time to time to harass and beg for food, the world seems to be my own. Following the marks in the dense forest, I came to the beach on the other side of the foot of the island. Looking around, there was still no one else except for the outlines of islands floating on the sea and the deep and shallow blue water. The warm sea water brushed against my feet. The small island ahead is only a thousand meters away. I want to row over and have a look. Take a look at the end of another world.

The Kingdom of Tonga, whose full name is the Kingdom of Tonga, is located around the Equator in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and west of the International Date Line. It is the first country in the world to start a new day. It consists of 172 islands of varying sizes.

Tonga's bizarre landscape:

● Making clothes from tree bark In the Kingdom of Tonga, every celebration, men, women and old have to change into festive costumes. These gorgeous clothes are actually made of tree bark!

● Coconut Tree Houses Residents in rural areas use local materials and cut down large tracts of coconut groves to build houses.

● Flying fox hanging tree A large bat with the scientific name Foxba. Because its head looks like a fox and its fur is brown-red, it gets such a nickname.