To get to The Federated States of Micronesia, I had to go via Guam. To get to Guam I had to go via Manilla which was the cheapest option. So the morning of my flight to Guam, I got an electric cycle tuk tuk for £2 to the airport which was more fun than a taxi. I was there 5 hours before my flight and it was a good job too as I only got my boarding pass 90 minutes before my flight. It's like that jetstar New Zealand boarding pass fiasco all over again because I forgot that my esta was on my old passport doh! So no way they were letting me on that flight. So as instructed by the check in agent I applied for a new esta for $21, knowing I wasn't going to Guam as there's no guarantee as it takes up to 72 hours to be approved. Then to be told an hour later by another agent that I should be applying for the Guam-cnmi which was free... Fuck!!!!!! That got approved instantly as well and finally I got my boarding pass. So I have a 4 hours layover in Guam. I was going to have a couple of days here but Philippines airlines fucked me by changing my departure date. So annoying. But all I cared was I had my boarding pass and on my way to the Federated States of Micronesia. Chuuk was island one of two.
After 4 hours in Guam airport I board my United Airlines to Chuuk hoping the place I booked via Opodo existed. It was the only place that had an online presence so zero choice at $110US a night but I got it for £75 a night through opodo weirdly. It was barely 5 minutes walk from the airport. From the outside it just looks like one of several old and possibly abandoned buildings. Inside it's just so nice especially the staff. I love my room. I can see the airport from the lobby window and the jungle from my room window.
Chuuk is famous for being one of the best diving sites in the world and also the shipwreck capital of the world. Population is over 60 thousand so huge and tons of cars that never seem to go over 5 miles an hour. Everyone drives very slowly here. I'm exploring the area north of the island. It's another island that's not a beach getaway. So it's all about the people and culture because it certainly won't be about diving. Chuuk is the largest and busiest and also the poorest of the Micronesian states so the rubbish as usual is vast. There seems to be more wrecks than working cars. Unfortunately their coast is littered with them. There also many abandoned buildings mostly along the coast with amazing views plus rubbish and car wrecks in the vicinity.
Pou Bay looked like a lagoon in the middle of the island. This was a lovely walk around the bay. I noticed it was much cleaner than the coast. Hardly any rubbish and definitely no car wrecks in or around the bay. The road or dirt track around the bay takes you through a village where kids play bare feet in the dirt. They're climbing trees. They just appear out of the bush/jungle and want to chat. Some followed me showing me the best and drier paths to take. At the church the kids were yelling at me to take their photos. They all said thank you and all shook my hands. The most polite bunch of kids I've met so far.
The next day I ventured south of the island to the lagoon. The resort has dibs on it as that's their property. The walk there was eventful. I found the biggest supermarket on the island. I found the fishing port. Then it rained. I saw two very drunk teenagers still carrying a bottle of vodka either steal a car or it was theirs, go speeding off into a ditch. Then they got out of the ditch and zig zagged their way through traffic. Luckily traffic doesn't go faster than 5mph. Nobody did anything and no police anywhere. The rain got heavier but I continued my walk when a car stopped to offer me a ride. The music coming from the car was loud but I was grateful for the ride. I got in the back seat with the giant speaker. I met Paul and his friend Ray both retired now. They offered me a can and I realised they were both drinking beers. Apparently it's what they do, just drive around the island drinking. As they were going so slowly I felt safe enough. They dropped me right into the resort. I said thanks and waved them away. I strolled into the resort and checked out the lagoon from afar. So far nobody kicked me out yet. As Chuuk is world famous for diving, I wanted to know about the man who started it all. Kimiuo Aisek was a dive master and founder of the diving industry here. He was born in Chuuk in 1927 and died in 2001 at the age of 73. There was a museum on site. I visited his dive shop too. The lagoon is lovely but to get here you go past the island dump with all the cars etc. Then I saw the two drunk teenagers again still drunk and still driving. I walked south east of the island and was followed by a few kids. One kid in particular asked many questions. Happy to answer them from where I'm from, how much money I had and if I had a gun...the final question was if I was single,
cheeky. Time to head back. It started raining again and lucky me got another ride this time by a sober lady...woo hoo!
I headed East the next morning walking past more villages on even worse roads than ever. Luckily for me I got a ride. The first thing he said as I got in his car was ignore the 6 pack. He was on his first can so I figured not drunk yet. He dropped me off a third of the way and I continued my walk towards the other bay. I then continued east along the bay and came across a few kids. School had just finished so lots of them just hanging out. A few decided to follow me. I didn't mind and enjoyed their questioning. I came to the end of my trail but the kids said to follow them to the lighthouse. I had nothing else to do so followed along. As there were no roads or dirt tracks left, we ended up walking up into the jungle. I kept asking them about why they weren't going home. They kept saying it's OK. I'm well aware that these kids just followed me right after school ended and we'd been walking an hour already and now we were heading into the jungle. I didn't want them to get into trouble. Then my mind started working overtime about how news will spread around the island about a foreign lady kidnapping local kids luring them into the jungle or village kids kills foreigner in ritualistic jungle sacrifice out of boredom. Then a lady appeared out of nowhere and chatted to the kids. Then she turned to me and said I had to pay $20 to see the lighthouse. So I said no thanks and politely declined to go any further because I was too hot and tired. They said ok and left me, as they walked further up to what probably was their homes. So now I had to find my way back down to the village and back on the road to town. 15 minutes later I'm back on the road and my dress was drenched in sweat. Luckily for me Lucky stopped and offered me a ride. He wasn't drinking but eating cookies. He was a primary school teacher and drove me all the way back to my hotel. I was so happy to be back in town.
I was done with Chuuk. Bit of a crappy morning. First hotel said I had to pay at check out but I know I paid in advance. So I said sort it with expedia while I go check in for my flight. I go to the airport, line up and then it's my turn and I ask for a window seat.. The agent says your flight was yesterday. Then I say...ok any seat will do...ffs! I said no it was yesterday but in September United Airlines rescheduled me to today. Then she goes away and comes back and apologises for the hick up. I pleaded with her to get me on this flight as it shows on the app my booking details. Then all of a sudden she says wait, there was no flight yesterday. Oh OK it's definitely a mistake. I get my window seat then see that I have to pay a $30 departure tax. I have zero cash luckily they take card. I went back to my hotel and that got sorted too. I was glad to be on my flight on my way to Pohnpei.
Cliff Rainbow hotel was the only hotel that responded and luckily it was cheap enough at $58. Don't forget we're using US dollars...ooh I miss Aussie dollars when everything was half price. Chuuk seems a distant memory because Pohnpei is a stark contrast. It's bigger. Their roads are better. Less car wreckages around. There's a lot of American influence here unlike Chuuk. After checking in I went looking for the only two cash points on the island and to get some food. It was a good 45 minutes walk to the Bank of Guam. Just as I got to my hotel it started to rain and it didn't stop until the morning. The difficulty in getting around the island without a car meant paying for a tour with a guide. A pricey $130 to visit Nan Madol. This is a ruined city located here in Pohnpei. The ancestors of Micronesians called these basalt ruins Soun Nan-leng, meaning the Reef of Heaven. The site consists of vast numbers of fallen temples, ancient tombs and bath houses which come towering out of the water. It took awhile to get there crossing many badly made and maintained bridges. Then there was torrential rain. We finally got to the main temple after many more bridges. Then to get across you had to wade into the sea...water as high as my butt. Slippery rocks to walk over and we had to be quick as the tide was rising. Amazing temple still very much in tact. More explorations of the site and the surrounding islets or mini canals. Then it was another walk into the sea to cross back. Nearly had to carry my bag over my head at one point. Frigging tide came in too fast. This was fun.
Our next stop was at Kepirohi waterfall. Pretty impressed by this waterfall. Had a great swim in it but the current was strong. Found a calm bit by the rocks only to realise I was surrounded by eels...frigging huge eels. I heard they bite so I got out of there pretty sharpish.
After the waterfalls we had another mini jungle walk to see the Petroglyphs. Again we had to pay the land owner to see it. The markings were really clear on the rocks with a far away view of another waterfall. There was a trail to follow first then nothing but jungle ahead. So we just walked through it until we got to the rocks.
After the tour I walked up to Sokehs Ridge. There are two reasons to walk up the Ridge, the views and the WW2 park. The walk was really muddy and steep. It was sunny when I started but the rain eventually started again for 5 minutes. So I took shelter in a bunker and changed my flip flops to sneakers. The rain stopped so I continued into the park. It was so muddy and boggy too. The Japanese bunkers and guns looked great. The islanders really created a nice park. I didn't go any further into the ridge as it was ankle deep mud all the way there. No thanks!
The views at the top were lovely once it stopped raining. Although the walk up and down was pretty steep and slippery with my flip flops. On the way to the ridge you walked past a village. The walk back to the hotel was long especially with the rain. I was soaked. The people of Pohnpei not as friendly as in Chuuk. Not a single person offered me a ride. Just like that my adventure on the Micronesian islands were over
