Palikir, Micronesia Travel Blogs

Dad's Visit
Aug 22, 2007

Dad took the long journey out to Micronesia for a week of fun, to see where and what im doing out here in the Pacific....we had a blast....keeping it short, here are pics....enjoy....

School Pics
Dec 1, 2006 (12 photos)

Here are some pics from school. I teach 7th and 8th grade English reading, writing, grammar, and spelling to some really great kids. Jeff

Home.
Jul 12, 2006 (14 photos)

I sit around the sakau stone, watching the village men pound the pepper root into a mash with circular boulders in a rhythmic, beating mood that both puts me on edge, and settles my mind. Waiting while the mash is strained through the stripped bark of the ...

Sunday in Rohi, Pohnpei
Oct 30, 2006

From my personal journal........ Sunday in Rohi 10.30.06 Tomorrow is Halloween. The venerable American tradition, memories of past adventures and misadventures, stomach aches, toilet papering trees, etc. That thought just crossed my mind as I ...

Yap COS and Island Life
Jul 20, 2007 (22 photos)

... itself was a chance to recount stories of our island lives, and also to start thinking about the future. Some will stay in Micronesia, most will leave. But we will be forever changed by what we have experienced here in the Pacific. Yap is a beautiful ...

SE ASIA TAKE 4
Jan 12, 2007 (31 photos)

well well well......just returned to the "rock" from an amazing three weeks in SE Asia, a place that never fails to impress, even visiting for the 4th time in a few years. Indonesia to Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam, Ankor Wat to Hill Tribes, Weekend ...

Truk Lagoon, Part 2
Aug 3, 2006

It is difficult to define the appeal of wreck diving and it certainly does not have universal appeal - there are many divers that are disinterested in, or actively dislike, it. For me, it combines a number of factors. Diving, in itself, is a remarkable ...

Truk Lagoon, wreck diving heaven
Aug 1, 2006

... unknown but is thought to have been greater than Pearl Harbour and included extensive civilian casualties. The Federated States of Micronesia today comprises a population of 100,00 dsitributed on 607 islands spread over 2.7 million square KM. For those ...

Truk Lagoon, Part 4
Aug 8, 2006 (11 photos)

The final four dives comprised a mixture of previously visited and new wrecks. The most bizarre of them was the Kiyosumi Maru, a 8,600 tonne freighter sunk whilst it was being repaired following a torpedo attack. The Kiyosumi lies in around 130ft of water ...

Another amazing island!
Feb 23, 2008

... in diameter encompassing 1,320 miles & contains a cluster of 245 islands. Chuuk is one of the four states which make up Micronesia (the others are Kosrae, Pohnpei & Yap) but Chuuk is the largest with a population of 53,000. As with Rabaul, Papua ...

Truk Lagoon, Part 3
Aug 5, 2006

Another two days and another load of excellent wreck dives. Before i get to them, I would like to address the subject of my new hair. This cut, sculpted so elegantly in just 90 seconds at a cheap hairdressers in Cairns, was chosen as an act of pragmatism; ...

Truk
Mar 21, 1975 (2 photos)

In the morning Ard and I got up and packed. We had a small breakfast then we went to the airport. While we were waiting for the plane it started to rain but stopped soon. Nothing unusual happened on the plane. When we landed we got our luggage and go on ...

Truk
Mar 22, 1975

When we got up we went and had breakfast then we got ready to go out on a glass bottom boach to see some of the Japanese sunken ships from the Truk bombing in World War II. Our guide's name was Gara. The ships were all under water. One of them had been ...

Young population
Oct 28, 2005

According to the US census bureau more than 50% of the people in FSM are younger than 25 years of age. The life expectance at birth is around 70 years. The total pop in FSM now is about 108,000 and is expected to be 98,879 in 2025. The site does not ...

Sokehns ridge
Nov 28, 2005

Sunday, Thom and I went hiking to see the WWII site on the Sokehns Ridge. There are big guns (6 inch diameter and 10 feetlong) and lots of bunkers and shell storage areas. Thom is a history buff and has been to the site before. Apparently, the Japanese ...

Apartment
Oct 24, 2005 (4 photos)

I found an apartment. It is a 2 bedroom (on the second floor) with a view overlooking a valley. It is on the main road to the office. We looked at about 6 places. The most beautiful one was $900 ($400 over my housing allowance) and on the third floor. ...

a manual truck
Oct 24, 2005

I'm working on a long list of things to do: I got a phone, internet connect to be installed, a bank account, a prepaid card for my utilities, and a post office box (there is no home delivery). I still need a state driver's license, a FSM driver's ...

Nan Madol by car
Nov 13, 2005 (4 photos)

Saturday I went with the 4th year medical student from Maryland (Elisabeth Kato) and her children's au par(sp?)(Jay). It took us about 45 minutes to drive there. The roads are paved but did not have signs. Elisabeth knew some land marks to look for. ...

Random thoughts
Nov 14, 2005

... To get anywhere, directions are given based on various buildings (e.g. it's across from the post office, or it on the road to Palikir). There are some posted street signs in Pohnpei-esse, but no one refers to them. The Pohnpei Argosy book says that when ...

FSM and the clouds
Oct 23, 2005

Somewhere along the route we crossed the international date line. So it suddenly became Saturday. WOW! We made one more stop on Kosrea FSM, but this time there were fewer passengers so everyone could stay on board. After the inspection, I took a ...

audit begins
Oct 27, 2005

I meet with my team today (Yoli-staff and Leman-AIC). They are both sharp women. Yoli has been working on the job for about 4 weeks. Leman has just returned from materinity leave--she had her 3rd child (girl 16, boy 10 and now another girl). We took a ...

Thanksgiving
Nov 25, 2005

I had a great Thanksgiving. Doriann invited me and another ex-pat Thom Baker from the apartment complex for Thanksgiving. We had turkey, ham, stuffing, fruit, vegetables, gravy, pineapple upside-down cake, cheese cake (from me made from a box mix) and ...

second adventure
Nov 12, 2005

Early this morning (around 4:40 am), I heard a sound and then rushing water. The sound turned out to be my bathroom mirror, which was held on by suction cups, falling to the floor. The rushing water sound came from the pipe that it broke on the way down ...

Audit Life
Nov 3, 2005 (2 photos)

Audit work is the same all over with minor differences. · Because we live on an island, some of the staff are related: o Sophie and Mike and siblings o Mike is married to Fletcher's niece o Fletcher is Yoli's uncle. · Because we live on an ...

Nan Madol from a boat
Nov 14, 2005 (5 photos)

My day of fun and adventure started at the Village hotel. The "Village" was built in the 1970s by a family from the US using native materials. This is eco-tourism at its best. The hotel and restaurant are made of grass and local wood. The windows do not ...

Adventure by truck
Nov 6, 2005

Today, I had my first real adventure. Dorian, the 26 year old pregnant (7 months) secretary, Chance, her 6 year old son, and I went to an off-island resort to go swimming. We drove 45 minutes (the top speed here is 30 mph) and stopped at the top of a ...

Guam
May 24, 2005

Guam

Local thoughts
Oct 22, 2006 (11 photos)

Today is Saturday and we had a day off from work since things went fairly well during their first live week. Harvey and Becky and I took the day to basically just drive around the island road. It was a hot muggy day and so being in the car just driving ...

Magical Mantas
Aug 18, 2006 (31 photos)

This morning we went back out to the Manta cleaning station. To give you an idea about what I'm talking about I'll describe the cleaning station and what happens there. The cleaning station is above a large coral formation on the side of a channel. The ...

Leaving Truk and heading home
Aug 27, 2006 (4 photos)

This morning the Odyssey (our liveaboard) dropped us off on Truk at 8:00AM. We checked into one of the two hotels on the island for the day. I spent some time at the beach appreciating all of its beauty before my long trip home. We left our hotel at 11 ...