Cultural excursion

Getting started

I slept for 12h, on and off, from 2100 till 0900.  My sore throat seemed to have gone but I was still a little feverish, sweaty and had slight shivers.  It is very fortunate that I have the day free from any activities at sea.

In fact, I have nothing booked for the day.  I had tried to get on a land-based tour to see a bit more of Palau on land and understand the cultural aspect, but there weren’t enough people on the tour.

I had a bun from the convenience store with some instant coffee for breakfast and at the hotel lobby, noticed posters by the Palau Visitors Authority for some land tours, including a cultural one.

The hotel helped me ring up the and I managed to confirm one for 1400 today!  I feel better that I will have an insight into the country’s culture instead of just enjoying it at a very superficial level at sea.

With that sorted, I took a brief walk around the area and returned for a lunch of just some snacks.

Airai Bai

The hotel organised my short taxi 12 min ride to a petrol station just across the Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge on Babeldoab, the largest island in the country.  The ride cost USD17!

My guide Velma turned up at 1345, slightly earlier than the appointed 1400.  It as a short ride to Airai Bai, the oldest meeting house (bai) in Palau.  A meeting comprises of 10 elders in the village plus one messenger.

Here, Velma also explained the meaning of the various patterns which adorned the meeting house.

If no decision can be agreed in the meeting house, they take it outside to the Tier 2 decision-making venue, comprising of a rocky platform, where the four most senior elders undertake the decision.

We also saw a spirit house.  As Palauans are now largely Christian, these are now rare.

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War canoe

Next we visited a war canoe.  Each row of paddler sit next to each other, with one leg outside the canoe, supported by a rope loop.

Palauan war canoes have an outrigger on only one side.

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Japanese war ruin

Lastly, we visited the bombed out remains of a Japanese communication centre, bombed by the Americans during WWII.  The building was shaped like a cross to disguise it as a medical facility.  Not fooled by the shape, it was destroyed with a bomb right down the middle.

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This site replaced some causeway which was in the original itinerary.

Velma was kind enough to give me a ride back to the hotel.  That little detour for her saved me a bomb (or another USD17) and was very much appreciated.

It was very nice to speak to a local whom I could converse with to get some true local insight, rather than a Japanese hotelier who spoke limited English and Chinese/Filipino service workers.

Native Palauans, to my untrained eyes look Polynesian with a hint of Micronesian. On the other hand, Velma said that natives of people of Guam and Saipan would look like me.

Velma also said that Palauans don’t like Chinese tourists because they like to bargain.  As an example, she said that they charge USD500 for a 10 min cultural dance.  I thought, no wonder they bargained, as the price seemed extortionate to me.

Rest of the day

Back at 1515, I chatted to a German diver, Paul, who was an actuarial mathematician before grabbing a Korean dinner across the road.

My divemaster came after dinner, around 1930, to do the payment and paperwork in preparation for my dive tomorrow.  But because he had brought part of the paperwork in Chinese, that will have to be done tomorrow.