Monday, July 13, 2009

Another epic weekend

Ok, I know you are getting sick and tired of hearing this. But I just had the greatest weekend in paradise.

As I said, it was Kate's birthday on Saturday so we planned to spend the night at an island resort known as "Carp Island". We went with a group of Palauans and Deanna, a fellow worker at the MOH. The Resort was at the south of the rock islands near where we scuba dived at Blue Corner. We made one pit stop to see a sunken WWII airplane, and old markings on this wall. The weather was really crappy in the morning, but Palau has this amazing ability to be beautiful even in a downpour. On the way there we had to stop because the rain got so intense, but it was fun being tossed around on a small boat in the middle of the Pacific.

We got to Carp Island and the weather cleared up. It was just beaches and beaches filled with hammocks, little cottages. We all just relaxed on the hammock and enjoyed the breeze for about 3 hours. It was time for lunch provided by the resort. We met some Europeans there and other random tourists and divers. However before lunch there was an impromptu wedding! Two Canadians were getting married on the beach. We all gathered for the 5 minute wedding. It was strange being that no family was there except for a bunch of strangers. But everyone has their own way of celebrating. picture break:









After lunch we went on a hike through the island. It was an awesome hike. We saw this huge tree on top of this huge rock. Its roots spanned ran down the entire rock. It was so cool looking. There was also this path made entirely of old shells. We assumed that it was like that because the tide used to go over the entire island. It was really eerie walking on the skeletons of old hermit crabs. Then there was this clearing of this weird plant that grew like spikes...





After the hike we said goodbye to the Palauans that came with us. At that point it was low tide and I went for my own walk across the sand dunes that built up. The sand was soooo soft, at some points, too soft that I sunk to my knees. It was kinda like quick sand. I walked across the first beach and made it around the corner to arrive at a completely empty HUGE beach. The sand stretched out so far because it was low tide. I had an awesome hour absorbing the beauty of the island and watching birds fly by. I saw star fish, lots of sea cucumbers, and crabs. I just saw in the sand for a while staring out into the ocean. picture break:







After this it was time for dinner aaaand an impromptu brownie cake for Kate! yay. We then proceeded to have wine and sho chu to celebrate. Next thing I knew we were all in the water swimming under moonlight. haha. Lots of fun until the sand bugs started to bite. We went back to land and I layed in the hammock for another hour or so.

The next morning it was time to go scuba diving! Mr. Song and the crew picked us up and we went to our first destination: "German Channel". the channel was man made by the Germans during WWII to allow big boats through the reef. There was supposed to be a few Manta rays down there, but we were unlucky. We saw lots and lots of coral fish and eels and star fish. Fun time.

After the dive we braved the storm that was occurring as we made the bumpy trip back to Clam City, our next snorkling stop. We saw huge corals and lots and lots of giant clams.

The last scuba stop was my favorite scuba ever, the Chandelier cave! The cave had 4 air chambers in it, so anyone with open water certification could go in it. It was INCREDIBLE. We had our flash lights and explored the underwater cavern. Huge stalactites everywhere. We went up in the air chambers and it was just the most unreal thing ever. I can't describe it in words, but it is a memory I will have forever. The highlight of the scuba trip by far:



When we got back, we had some dinner and passed out and got ready for our last day in the rock islands: Peleliu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu

Through work we were going to Peleliu to visit the elementary school, but also to get a tour of all the old WWII ruins. Peleliu was where all the WWII relics exist and they are extremely well preserved. We got there and got a personal tour of all the relics. Tanks, bunkers, monuments, Japanese hiding caves, buildings, even torn down trees from the original bombings. Everything was just sitting there. It was incredible knowing that such a small quaint fishing town now is all that is left after so much violence happened so recently. Enough talking, pictures:











When we got back to the elementary school from the tour we were fed a Palauan meal of Crab, Coconut, fish, aaaaaaand, Fruit bat soup!! I first filled up on the crab and coconut and then Kate and I tried the fruit bat. I tried the wing meat, tasted like slimy chicken. I gave the rest to Yixin.

om num num num num num num:





I then passed out when we got back, aand let the 4 day work week begin!

-Tom

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. 1.) you're super tan.
    2.) your life is bangarangin'

    (i removed previous post as i used the wrong "your" and felt embarrassed, as I will be teaching English next year.)

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  3. i wanna get scuba certified here cuz it'd be much cheaper...but its still expensive.

    and havent found any turtles to eat yet..haha

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