Babeldaob

After three days exploring the waters of Palau, we decided to spend a day on terra firma exploring Babeldaob. As we left my neighborhood, we stopped at the Topside Mobil gas station to refuel and get lunch. In the States, food at gas stations is not ideal cuisine. Here in Palau locals make small bento box lunches daily and the gas stations sell them. Some of our group preferred them to sandwiches, so throughout the week we stopped by to get lunch before our activity. After leaving topside, we crossed the KB Bridge into Airai. We turned onto the compact road taking the western route north. The group was amazed by the lack of development, especially compared to Koror. At most parts along the compact road the only human imprint is the road itself. We cruised along the road until we reached Ngardmau.

The first stop of the day was Ngardmau Falls. It is a downhill hike to the falls starting by going down a long set of stairs. At the bottom is a trail along the path of bauxite mining train tracks left by the Japanese. We were careful to avoid the poison tree, Palau's version of poison ivy. That path opens out to the top of a hill that has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area, including the falls in the distance. After another downhill section, we arrived at the river cascading down rocks. The river forms small waterfalls into small pools that allow for swimming and we took the opportunity to cool down by jumping in. The cascading falls provide an excellent natural massage. After swimming, we headed down a muddy path to falls. We could avoid the mud by stepping on tree roots and it is a challenge not to get muddy. After the mud, we crossed the river again, fording it where it is only a few feet deep. We finally arrived at the falls. It is a gorgeously perfect falls and we took plenty of pictures of us in front of and frolicking in the falls. The group spread out, climbing underneath the falls and letting it rain down on them. We enjoyed the falls for a while before starting the hike out. Katie decided to follow the river instead of the trail for a little bit and enjoyed hiking through the jungle. The trip back covers the same ground, but this time it is uphill. However, it is not a long climb. At the top, we found some shady benches and ate our lunch.

Back on the compact road, we headed around the northern part to the eastern side. We had to detour through Ngiwal, but it is a charming little village. Eventually we arrived in Melekeok and I took them to the new capitol. I gave them a quick tour of my future office and the courtrooms. Leaving the capitol, we drove down into the village. We parked near the dock and walked to the path to the Melekeok Bai. The old stone path is uphill and takes about fifteen minutes to climb. At the Bai, we took time to study all the different wood carvings depicting scenes of life and war in traditional Palau. Some of the them are quite graphic in their depictions of death and sex. All very interesting and I'm glad they got to see a slice of Palauan culture. We headed back down the path and continued out to the end of Melekeok dock. While it was a beautiful sunny day, it was still windy causing plenty of surf and waves. We sat at the end of the dock for a while watching the rolling waves and seeing schools of fish taking shelter.

We left Melekeok, but due to construction had to head north back around the way we came. We attempted a short cut, but that was a mistake on my part and had to return to the compact road. The trip was smooth from there and we arrived safely back home. Still in our swimsuits, we went for a twilight swim in my pool. After cleaning up, we went out to the Taj, the local Indian restaurant. It was fabulous and everyone had an excellent meal. After dinner, we stopped at LB's to borrow Finding Nemo. Katie had been bugging me nonstop to see Nemo so we could watch it after doing all our diving. We returned home and watched Nemo while playing cards. We made it to eleven before we turned in for the evening.

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