On-line blogger Gunnar Garfors shares with us his experience of Tonga.

” How to see a fair amount of a country if you only have a day? If the country is Tonga, renting a scooter will do the trick. That is if you are happy seeing only Tongatapu, the main island where the capital Nuku’alofa is located. Of course, no one should go to Tonga for only a day, as I discovered yesterday. James Cook arrived in Tonga in 1773 and soon came up with the name “Friendly Islands.” It is not hard to understand why, I have rarely experienced such hospitality. And I did not want to leave, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

You can get around by a rental car or by taxi, but the latter is rather expensive. Or you can rent a scooter. It will set you back 20USD for 6 hours, but driving around on one lets you see, listen to and smell the country in a very different way than in a car. Maybe more importantly, it makes you get very close to the locals in villages and along roads. If you drive a car, some people will wave and smile. If you drive a scooter, almost everyone does. Many of them do also want to chat to you…”

Read the full blog on: http://www.garfors.com/2013/03/tonga-best-discovered-on-two-wheeler.html