I made it to the first of the Pacific islands on my trip this year. I arrived at 2am and after 30 minutes in immigration I was off to my accommodation. I was picked up on time and headed straight to my room for some much needed sleep. Pretty excited to explore this new country...but sleep first. So I slept through my 9am alarm and woke up at 10.30am damn it. I arrived at night but I can see the great view from my room window. The pool looks amazing and the surrounding area looks lovely. The guesthouse was actually the cheapest place I could find at $60 a night so pretty pleased with my choice of budget accommodation and it turned out better than expected. Pool and views from the room were a bonus. I'm staying in Malakal island about an hour's walk downtown. FYI no free WiFi here except in the airport and I'm too cheap to buy wifi!
I walked to Koror in the blazing hot sun. It was 36 degrees Celsius. The guesthouse is next to the Shell oil refinery, Palau's brewery and a couple of posh resorts. Malakal island to Koror island and then the Arai island where the airport is on are attached by little bridges. So the walk was easy except for the burning sun so I cut my walk short and enquired about some snorkelling and kayaking tours in the nicely air conditioned visitor centre.
So wifi is very expensive here and even my guesthouse doesn't have any. I'm fine with it but trying to get information just by walking around and asking like back in the olden days is pretty difficult. How the bloody hell did we do it back in the day? Well I eventually found a lovely lady in the Palau Visitor Centre. I must have been the only person to have come in there in years as all the brochures I picked where she called to enquire for me were out of date or out of business. Finally I was able to book a day of snorkelling around Palau's best islands and a half day kayaking tour in Nikko Bay the day I fly back. Woo hoo!
I found the mini market in Malakal and two supermarkets in Koror. Prices aren't as bad as I expected. Some weird drinks combinations and expensive cheese slices. Pretty productive walk. Booked my tours and bought my food and snacks for the next three days, but not the weird drinks though.
It was definitely time for the pool. Sweating all day, then the pouring rain and finally dog saliva from all that licking. Then I watched the very tiny sunset from my balcony. My first day in Palau is over.
I was picked up in the morning for my tour of the southern islands. Our first stop was to Long Beach. When the tide is out, there appears to be a long beach in the middle of the ocean. Unfortunately for us, the beach today was a short and slightly under the water beach. It was still beautiful and fun to walk the length of it in the lovely sunshine and then going for a swim.
Our second stop was snorkelling at the Big Drop Off. It was pretty choppy out there in the ocean but the snorkelling was great. We even saw a baby shark. We headed to Carp Island for our bbq lunch. There is a resort on this Island but empty today and along with the crew, we were the only ones on it. What a beautiful island, palm trees, soft sandy beach, clear blue turquoise water and so many hammocks. Ok, of course there were dogs on the island too. Suddenly there they were. No matter where on earth I am, they find me. It was either me or the smell of the bbq...me thinks it's the latter this time.
Right on cue, lunchtime time and there's a dog sitting right next to me. It's one of the nicest bbq lunch on tour I have ever had. My first time trying unicorn fish and baked tapioca in banana leaves. There was bbq pork, beef, sausages and chicken as well as mud crabs. We also had miso soup. Bella the dog and I enjoyed our lunch immensely. To be honest, I could have stayed here all day. After a lovely lunch Bella and I took a nap. I loved the hammocks and it was so peaceful. Then it was time to go.
This was our last snorkelling stop. We saw a sting ray, a turtle and two sharks. Luckily the sharks went away when we got to Coral Gardens. This place is famous for its coral tables. It was also the first time seeing many purple coral. They're so gorgeous. The sea was calm this afternoon and slightly colder but the snorkelling was amazing..
Our last but most fun stop was at the Milky Way. The sludge from the surrounding limestone land in the bottom of the ocean giving the sea its milky colour. Our guide Jun, swims to the bottom and collects the muddy sludge and of course, we stupid tourists rub it all over our bodies without question. It's supposed to make us look younger. I didn't care as I was having too much fun and I even got to rub mud on the captain's big belly like a Buddha so hopefully prosperity for us all.
I'm checking out of my guesthouse house this morning so I'm saying goodbye to the pets. The puppy is super excited and the cats are whatever dude.
After my goodbyes with the pets, I was picked up by Jun, my guide from yesterday. I was so happy as he was great and so nice. So it was kayaking time this morning. Oh my it feels like 40+ degrees Celsius and I can't wait to get in the water. It's so turquoisey...and more importantly, cool.
We paddled to a tiny beach where sting rays sleep. They make little hollow dips in the sand. Luckily it's hot now so they are in the deeper part of the ocean cooling down. So I can sit in their beds and cool down myself.
More kayaking but into a lagoon this time. It's hard work paddling in the hot sun but it's so peaceful out here. Our lunch stop was on another island near Shark City. No bbq today instead we got bento boxed lunches just like in Japan. While eating you can see the sharks swim close up to the beach. In fact they were coming up to our boat . These are black tip sharks.
So after lunch, Jun says time for snorkeling...in Shark City!!!!!! Wait...wtf? Dude there are sharks all around us and not baby ones where I've seen while snorkelling before but they're as long as me. Huge!!!! My brain is not computing and it took a while to psych myself up and in I went but only after everyone else went in and nobody got eaten. Snorkelling with the sharks eh...yeah sure why not. Dumbfuckery of the highest level.
My heart skipped a beat every time I saw the sharks. Obviously they're vegetarian as they didn't even nibble us once.
Next stop was at Jellyfish lake but it's not in season but I learnt that they have gonads and they don't want you to kick them. Fair enough. Who was the first fucker who decided to kick a Jellyfish?
This was our last snorkelling spot in a place called paradise. I couldn't have asked for a better snorkelling experience. I saw so many beautiful fish and they swam right next to me and alongside me. So cool and then I spot a turtle so I just floated above watching and moved when he moved. I snorkelled quite far just following the turtle. I even heard him eating the coral...crunch crunch crunch.
Then it was back to the Milky Way again. I had so much fun yesterday, I was happy to go back. This place is actually full of crocodiles but they only come out at night. I love it here! Just before the end of the trip we learned about the war. The Japanese were so smart using the limestone hills as caves and hiding from the Americans. They got them in the end as they used a ton of betty bombs. There are still remnants such as gasoline cans and big guns. Then Jun drove me straight to the airport where I spent an hour in the ladies washing the sea water and sweat off. I even commandeered the only fan in the waiting area. Then I waited to board. I had so much fun in Palau and I'm so sunburnt. The immigration guy said I looked like a lobster and I did!
