Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A Trip to Kayangel

Last month we found out that our Angaur State boat would be going up to Kayangel to deliver fuel . We quickly asked the captain if we could join the crew on their trip since Kayangel is supposed to be really beautiful. It is the northern most Palauan island and a coral atoll. He said OK and we were on our way at 9 am Sunday morning.

We'd be stopping overnight in Koror and then heading up on Monday. Kayangel would mean spending another 5-6 hours on the boat ... but it would be worth it! Here we are at the start of our trip.
















When we arrived in Koror, our friend Kelly picked us up and took us on a quick tour of a few cultural things that were close by (Kelly is an anthropologist and such a wonderful guide). This is the Mother & Child stone (the child is in the middle, wrapping its arms around the mother).










Really cool (& really old) war canoe.


















This is a modern version of the traditional Palauan Bai (sounds like bye) which serves as a meeting house for the community.





































Jason, Kelly & Chris (Kelly's nephew) taking a traditional cobblestone road to the site of another Bai.





















Jason ... trying out the "football fruit" ... it was not very good, but entertained Chris.
















This is a beautiful traditional Bai. The roof is thatched and there are many cultural symbals & stories painted on the outside.























































These two adorable girls entertained us for a while.





















Sadly, that night, when we called the boat captain to re-confirm for our departure time on Monday, we found out that the trip to Kayangel had been canceled! Our boat would be returning to Angaur in the morning instead. Boo!
On Monday morning, we were able to have our first donuts in over 6 months - oh how delicious! I think we ate them too fast to get a photo of! Then, we called to re-confirm our boat departure and were told the boat would be leaving on Tuesday instead. So, we traipsed to Kelly's work for a surprise visit and to ask if we could stay with here for another night. She was of course very gracious and had no problem with us staying another evening. Yay! So, we spent the rest of the day poking around in Koror. This was the longest we'd been in Koror since we arrived.
All of these photos are from the cultural center in Koror.






























































Perhaps my favorite road sign yet!


















We ended the day at the Palau Pacific Resort and played on the beach in the sunset while Kelly used their gym to work-out. It was incredibly beautiful.














































A parting shot.

1 comment:

Molly W. said...

WOW, that looks so beautiful! You and Jason are way too cute! And what is up w/ that sign?!! Glad you got "away" for a bit. :)