Our retreat featured a grand expedition that would take us to the eastern coast of the island to visit the bustling Farmers Market in Hilo,  Volcanoes National Park and Big Island Candies. I started the day off with an invigorating yoga class with handstands (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) as our peak.

Once again, Mo packed up special meals for us to take on the road since we would be gone all day exploring sites on a tight schedule.  We loaded up the vans and headed out on Highway  200 traveling about 80 miles (2 hrs) across the Big Island to the densely populated city of Hilo where the lively market was in full swing.  We were joyfully struck by the vibrant medley of produce –lychee, bananas, squash, melons, pineapples, musubi and more fruits and vegetables that were exotic to us but native to the island. There were also flowers of all kinds in dazzling colors, including orchids and anthuriums.

Handmade crafts, jewelry and clothing suitable for the tropical environment filed the outer lying stalls. Everyone left the market with bags loaded with treasures and I couldn’t resist the pareros buying more to add to my growing collection!