Anyone ever been to the Marquesas Islands?
Their approximately 15 islands make up a very remote part of French Polynesia, 850 miles northeast of Tahiti and about 5,000 miles west of Mexico in the Pacific Ocean. I've seen photos and travel videos about them and they appear other-worldly for their jagged mountains and beaches that look largely unspoiled. They are of decent size, of over 400 square miles (about two thirds the size of Orange County, California) and very beautiful. The population numbers fewer than 9,000 and speaks, Tahitian, French, and several native Marquesan dialects. There are no major towns or developed resort areas. The highest point is Mt. Ouave on Ua Pu island, over 4,000 ft. high. Only two of the islands offer any kind of tourist acomodations, in simple lodges. The natives take great pride in the fact that the islands are still largely undeveloped and unspoiled. The islands feature breathtaking 1000 foot waterfalls where the water evaporates before it hits the ground.
The island of the TV show Gilligan's Island was supposedly located in an outer portion of the Marquesas, according to coordinates provided by The Professor in one of the episodes. Paul Gauguin and singer Jacques Brel are buried there and the islands are a setting to Herman Melville's Typee.
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