Tonga

Map

September 17–19, 2011

The Kingdom of Tonga consists of 172 islands.

The capital, Nukuʻalofa, is located on the main island, Tongatapu. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the royal palace grounds, which start right past the fence.

The capital is basically a big village.

There’s definitely no reason to stay here longer than a couple of days.

The main sport in Tonga is rugby. Many houses are decorated with red and white in support of the local team. There are even banners hung up at the market.

The gates in front of many of the homes are decorated with inscriptions.

Generally speaking, decorations are pretty unsophisticated here. Lots of old car tires-turned-flowerbeds (like in Zvezdny).

The most lavish decorations can be found at the cemetery. All the graves are covered with bright flowers. Many headstones are draped with blankets.

The predominant national costume is a straw mat with a belt wrapped around it. This can be worn over any other clothing.

The obligatory accessory for any woman over 25 is a gold frame over one of her teeth (like in Guatemala or Bolivia).

The Tongans have an expression, “Tonga time,” which signifies their innate inability to be punctual. An exception is made only for foreigners: if a white person orders a taxi for eight, it will come at eight. For a Tongan, it will show up at nine.

Tongans are all religious without exception. A little girl snips the belt on her mother’s dress with nail clippers at a church service.

For some reason, all the church bell towers are separate standalone structures.

Absolutely everything is closed in the country on Sundays, even the gas stations.

There are no post boxes here, just a post office with a couple of slots for letters.

But they do have payphones.

A fire hydrant.

Electricity meters.

Lightning bolts strike upwards here, like in Barcelona and New Zealand.

These strange objects, which you can occasionally encounter on the street, are some kind of local variety of electrical boxes. Why they have this specific shape is a mystery.

A school.

Graffiti.

Street signs.

Tonga wheelbarrows.

The country’s main telecommunications center. The ivy growing on the satellite dish gives it a rustic feel.

In general, Tonga is quite clean. All the sidewalks in the capital are brand-new and neatly laid. The grates on storm drains have hinges and can be opened.

I only spotted mud in one place.

Almost all the shops and restaurants are owned by the Chinese.

The Tongans are lazy and slow, so they got pushed out of commerce very quickly. Instead of stores with separate entrances, the Chinese came up with the idea of little shops where all the goods are laid out openly on display with metal bars in front of them.

Trash disposal is well organized here. Dumpsters are attached to special stands to keep them neatly parked.

There are also tin and aluminum can recycling containers everywhere.

A license plate.

Vehicle inspection slips.

A pedestrian.

A roundabout sign mounted on a concrete-filled tire.

This type of stop sign was common in Europe and the USSR up until the 1980s (and can still be found in The Bahamas today).

A “populated locality” sign (imported from China).

Peasants.

Vegetables at the market are sold in woven baskets.

There’s an interesting natural attraction here. The ocean has eaten away holes in the reefs in such a way that hundreds of fountains have formed, powered by the lapping waves. The wave is all like, “Splash!” and the fountains are all like, “Whoosh!”