A day at the Blue Lagoon Resort and a tour of some islands

April 1, 2013, 8:14 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

Before getting on The Odyssey, I had an entire day to myself on the island of Weno, that being said, I was somewhat limited in what I could do. I spent some time walking around the resort and swinging in a hammock taking some time to consider what I was about to take on but more importantly, the beauty of my surroundings. Micronesia is beautiful. Reefs everywhere and that colour of the water dreams are made of. Around the resort, there are many structures remaining from war time. Many bunkers and look outs that are fading away into the ocean. You don’t have to spend much time here to realize how important Truk Lagoon was to the Japanese military. Much time and effort was spend developing the defences of the islands.

Even on the shore of the hotel are ship wrecks. Because of their exposure to the sun, there is little left but it was a taste of what was to come. Locals are so nice here. Big smiles all the time and wanting to help as often as possible. A gal could really get used to this.

For breakfast, I ordered a ham and cheese omelette. It needs to be renamed to Spam and Cheese whiz omelette. To appreciate your surroundings is to appreciate how far away you are from virtually everything and the importing of food has it’s challenges, so I enjoyed every bite. After lunch, I enjoyed a $40/hour long massage at the hotel right before a massive rain storm moved in. It was short lived but like a mini typhoon.

In the afternoon, to felt I had really explore my surroundings, so I got an “island tour”. The customs on these islands are, that as a woman, you do not expose your knees in public, you don’t initiate conversation with a man and it is best to avoid eye contact. When I hired the boat to take me around, I didn’t think I would actually leave the boat, so I wore a sundress.

Imagine my surprise when we docked on one of the islands and began a walking tour. I have to admit I was pretty anxious knowing that I was alone with this guide, who spoke very little english and on the first day of my adventure breaking cultural norms. I tried to keep up with him as he pointed out old bunkers and buildings remaining from the Japanese era of the islands. One of the buildings has been converted into a school. Education is paramount on the islands and the schools were as well kept as the churches.

When we would pass a homestead, always several children would come out running. They would walk behind us and the girls would giggle as I looked at them and smiled. At one time, there were about five of them and they were very curious about me. I felt privileged to peek into their world. I would ask them a question and they would giggle and run away. There was one beautiful little girl who stayed closer than the others and at one point, I turned around and asked her if she would like me to take her picture, to which she eagerly nodded yes. I took a picture and then showed her herself in the view finder. She got a massive smile and promptly ran all the way home, haha.

Some moments on the tour were not so touching. At one point, we approached a building which he explained was a hospital during war time. There was a group of about five guys sitting out front eye balling me. There are very few moments in my travels where I am actually scared. This was one that I will always remember. He told me it was an extra $5 to take the tour, which would mean passing the group of men and I smiled and declined wanting nothing more than to be back in the safety of the hotel. The last stop on the tour was the church, which was beautiful, then we boarded the boat and stopped at one more island to view some more bunkers and abandoned buildings. I felt a little better here until I walked by window and from the darkness of the building could see several men peering out, very strung out on something. Luckily, this was a quick stop and in no time, me and my exposed knees were back at the hotel.

Back at the resort, back to the hammock. At 5pm, I met my fellow divers and boarded The Odyssey.

Stubs.