Farthest east, the 15 lofty Marquesas Islands are ruggedly mountainous.

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While anthropological opinion varies, it is thought that settlers from Southeast Asia arrived in the Marquesas Islands around 300 AD, although other historical evidence has suggested tribes from Samoa and Tonga sailed into the region before 100 AD.

BBC: Getting in the Tahitian spirit

If you book in the shared cabins, you can make the 14 day cruise from Papeete to the Marquesas and back (about 1, 600 nautical miles) stopping in the Tuamotus and the larger of the Marquesas Islands, for just 25, 000 francs a day, full board, including all guided shore excursions.

BBC: Travel - Island hopping French Polynesia, without breaking the bank

French Polynesia is made up of some 200 islands -- the Society, Tuamotu, Gambier, Austral and Marquesas groups -- spread over 4.1 million square kilometres of Pacific Ocean: an area roughly eight times the size of France.

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