Palasia Koror

... in the lake is prohibited to avoid disturbing the jellyfish and also to reduce the risk of hydrogen sulfide poisoning. What else!?? We met some boys on the flight over and they decided to stay at the same hotel. So, we basically ended up spending our entire trip with them. We went to clubs, got scammed by Parker, a local "taxi" driver, and rented a car and toured the islands with them. It was such a great experience! The whole trip was well worth it and I can't wait to go back one day!

  We dive a Japanese vessel, sunk in 1944. And the chambers. Those are air chambers UNDER an island, only reachable when diving. They ARE amazing! You dive under an island and come up in air chambers. You can take your mask off in there: the air is breathable. Stalactites of meters long are hanging down. Some chambers are big. Others cannot hold more than 2 people.   They have Blue Holes here too! Chimney after chimney. You go down in one, go up in the ...

When we arrive at the dive shop, Steve has news for us: we are going to the jelly fish lake, after our 2 dives. For me, 2 dives a day is enough. And we made it clear, we did not want to go to jelly fish lake. It gets worse: one does not dive there; one snorkels. Wait a minute: I hate jelly fish and I hate snorkeling and we need to pay 70 bucks extra for that? They can also dump us on a beach and pick us up an hour or 2 later. No, we cannot be ...

In case you are planning to come to Palau: a couple of websites. Yesterday, we had a day off. Did not do much. We looked for an internet café, mentioned in the Lonely Planet. As often before: Lonely Planet is outdated. We do find a hotel with wireless: http://www.palasia-hotel.com/en/hotelIn troduction/hotelIntroduction.asp Veeeeery weird: full of Japanese men ...

... we lost our camera. This time for good. It is at the bottom of the sea. What started off as a nice day, turns bad. Sun is shining in the morning, not anymore when we reach our dive site: it is raining cats and dogs. Sea is rough. I roll in and am meeeeters from the boat in seconds. Alain shouts: grab the line. Which line? I cannot see anything. Rain is piercing my face and my eyes. I float further and further away from the boat. 'The line' Alain ...

... how cold water and air of 28 degrees can be! Yes, the boat does have a roof but that does not protect you from the rain, which comes from all sides. Sharp, cold drops in your face, feels like needles. The sea is rough and sea water also spatters in. only our dive master stays dry. The captain has a small metal box in front of him, on which the steering wheel sits. And the dive master crawls in there. He has a view on the balls of the captain. But stays almost dry. It is ...

... saw some basalt monoliths known as Badrulcha. Their originin and purpose is unknown but ledgend says that they were put here by the gods to protect the local people. On the drive I got to see the capital of the country and the building there looks a lot like our White House! While I was there the tv show Survivor was just ...

... estimate there are 15 to 25 million jellyfish in this lake. You might be wondering who in their right mind would swim in such a lake?! Since these jellyfish have no natural enemies in the lake they have lost their ability to sting. It was a bit disconcerting however when I was swimming in the middle of them and they were bumping into me all over! I spent a day kayaking, snorkelling and checking out some other ...

He Said: If it wasn't for a season of the TV show "Survivor" being filmed here a few years ago, I imagine most probably would have never heard of the nation of Palau. The fact that the entire nation only has 20,000 inhabitants (that is less than half the size of our home of Hoboken, New Jersey!) and is just a few small dots in the Pacific doesn't put it in too high of a profile on the nightly news or in school geography classes ...

After a short stopover on Yap to drop off passengers, and for a security check, we we enroute again and arrive on Palau after midnight. On Yap, before we landed, there was an announcement on the plane, that the left side would have to de-plane, and go through security checks. The right side got to stay on board the plane?? We were hearded into a cell type of holding ...