Even after seeing travel posters of Palau, it was hard to imagine the true beauty of these islands. These two photos (above) were taken during a helicopter ride we took to get the true perspective of the area. We have lots of beautiful photos from this ride. The pilot flew barefoot and chewed on a wad of betel nut during the entire flight.
Betel nut chewing is an important cultural practice in the Asian Pacific. Individuals walk around with baggies containing the raw nuts and a powdery material that someone described to me as the equivalent of Drano. They mix the two and chew to achieve a mild euphoria and, as one person said "feelings of well-being". Not only was our helicopter pilot chewing the nut but so did our dive masters and even our tour guide. The whole country is "feeling good."
The Republic of Palau is southeast of the Philippines in an island chain composed of eight principal inhabited islands and more than 250 smaller rock islands. Within the inhabited islands are 16 states which comprise the Republic of Palau. The island of Koror, although very small, is the metropolitan center of Palau and hosts most of the business and shopping facilities in the country.
The Palau Pacific Resort, is a true island gem. The photos below show a few of the resort villas, the view from our patio, more villas and the pool area.
Like the Chuuk Islands, Palau became a Japanese naval staging area when Japan declared war on Germany in 1914. After the war the a League of Nations mandate officially awarded the islands of Palau to Japan. The Japanese mined phosphate and bauxite and improved the infrastructure of the islands, especially Koror which is the main commercial center today. Under Japanese rule tourism in the islands began gaining value.
When WWII came along, the US and Japan battle furiously over the islands of Palau as a military stronghold. The Battle of Peleliu, raged for two months, September to November 1944 and had the highest casualty rate of any battle in the Pacific. War reminders can still be found all over the islands. Even on the hotel grounds, just 50 yards from our patio was an old seaplane landing.
During a driving tour we visited a former Japanese hospital bombed by the Americans. It is riddled with bullet holes and on the grounds sits a well preserved but rusty Japanese tank. On the grounds of the nearby museum is a small section containing small war relics.
The small museum contains an interesting documentation of Palau's history. The only problem was that most of it is written documentation and during our visit the power went out and we had to read the large story boards with flashlights.
Important to know about Palau is not just its place in the WWII story but also its culture and the origin of its people.
The Palauans lived in virtual isolation for centuries then were encountered by Magellan in the 1500s. At the time, there were two languages spoken among the people and it was observed that there was no uniformity among Palauans of size, hair type or skin color.
They traveled as voyagers through out the islands in giant canoes as seen in the photo.
There's was a tribal culture with chiefs and elders. Each region having a meeting house, or BAI in Palauan language. Our guide had several stories of the meeting houses, many of which were hard to follow. We did pay attention after he showed us several of the carvings inside depicting the lore of the BAI.
Apparently women were not allowed in the BAI with the exception of arranged encounters with selected women from the community. The carvings were pretty graphic.
The last stop on our tour was the Marine Conservancy, called the MariCultural Center, to look at some clam shells. In order to bring one out of the country one has to have written permission. It just so happened that our guide's sister worked there. In the last photo you'll see the two of them--look-alikes---both chewing betel nuts.
