Day 13 – Island Tour

Day 13 – Island Tour

We took our test at 8:30 am and were done with the questions and grading by 11:30. That was a long test. Mike read the questions and we had to write down the answers. Good thing spelling did not count. As long as we were close it counted. There were eight people taking the test I ranked 3rd. Liz took 2nd and Kevin Casey from Aqua Dive Academy, Portland, Maine took first. The test was a bit stressful, but then again I really did not study like Liz did. She is a good student.

After lunch, we took the island tour. We went to the north side of the island to visit the place where they are building outrigger canoes like they did before power tools. The cool thing is that they really use these canoes to paddle to Palau, about 300 miles to the southwest. They also sail it the old fashion way with the water, stars, moon and the sun to navigate.

We checked out a Bai (men’s meeting house) which has old style architecture that was interesting to see. They have some stone money lying around and use stone slabs as backboards. We then went to an old village. To get there we had to walk down a stone walk way. Both the village and walkway have been in the area for close to two hundred years. After a brief rest and photo op at the main meeting house, we boarded the minibus and headed to the south side of the island. The driver, Richard, wanted to show us one of the main stone money banks on the island. But to get there he took a dirt road that cut over one of the highest points in Yap. We could see both coast lines from there. The money bank has stone money that is several hundred years old. They are currently trying to record the stories about the money and have that in a central location for reference. The interesting thing about the money is that the harder or more dangerous it was to make, transfer, or acquire the stone, the more value it has. Some of these stones are taller than I am, it is remarkable to think they would sail to Palau, mine the stone, carve them and then sail them back to Yap in outrigger canoes.

Our next stop was the old runway. This was the original landing strip used by the Japanese in WWII. In fact there are still some shot up planes in the area. Due to time issues, we did not get to see the foundation of the old Spanish Fort, which is where the Yap Governor’s office sits today.

It is now 5:30 pm and I still have to pack. We are leaving Yap in the morning at 4am. The airport shuttle is picking us up at 2am. It is going to be a long day tomorrow, but all in all, it is just a hop, skip, and a jump to get home. And I would just love to take you on this trip. We are going to be planning a trip out here again in Jan of 2011. I really think you should join us. If you have never been to Palau, then you owe it to yourself to visit it at least once in your life.

We will be having an information and photo party after we get back. We will let everyone know when it will be by the end of the week. I will have one more report to make once I get back home, but now it is time for me to pack up everything. Good night and I will be seeing you soon.