Tongatapu and the New King

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A new king was being crowned in Tonga when we got there, and all of Tongatapu was in a hubbub! There was a ritual drinking of kava on the fields near the royal palace. Kava comes from a root and paralyses you if you drink enough of it! It's very common to drink in Tonga, especially with the Tongan men. (Incidentally, I was once invited to a kava party at the little island of Uoleva, but Pim and Josje didn't want to go, and I didn't want to paralyse myself in a strange hut with a bunch of unknown people on a deserted island!). Other festivities included great crowds of schoolchildren dancing in bright colours. And, as I mentioned before, the shipwrecks near the city were towed away out of sight so that visitors flying in wouldn't see them. Lots of flags and excitement!


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