PALAU - 22nd to 29th December 2008
As I’m writing this, I’m now back in London. Trying to find internet access in Palau was pretty much mission impossible due to their painfully slow dial up system. If you managed to log on, you were unable to send much as you’d get an ‘error’ msg. Our mobile phones were not working either, regardless of how sophisticated they might be, because one needed a local SIM card for the calls to connect. Using a hotel phone to call anyone was an average of $3 per minute. This is one thing I did not expect. I’d never quite felt so cut off from the rest of the world.
I also didn’t expect the prices to be so astronomically expensive, be it for excursions (diving here costs about 50% more than in the Red Sea or Borneo) and even food as simple as rice could be up to $8 for a plain bowl whereas we’d pay $5 in London.
We soon learnt that the cheapest places were actually Japanese restaurants. I’m not keen on Japanese food at all but soon had to learn to like it. However, it was better than I expected. The Japanese influence in Palau is huge. You cannot escape from it. There seems to be Japanese tourists en masse everywhere you turned (Tokyo is only 4H away by air, lucky them!) and as the country was under Japanese occupation for some 40 years, you have many ship wrecks and plane wrecks as a reminder of a more violent past. Just on the small path leading up to our resort (The Carolines) you could see 3 big holes that had been caused by old bombs. Palauan people are therefore pretty much all fluent in Japanese, it’s the 2nd language they learn at school with English. The best hotels are Japanese owned (the PPR – Palau Pacific Resort) and one of the best tour companies, Impac, was also pretty much exclusively for the Japanese market.
We also didn’t realise that December was still the rainy season. A google search had led me to believe that the rains ended in November, but not so... The ‘dry’ season is as of mid-Jan up to mid-May. OOps. And when it rains in Palau, it rains hard. You cannot fail to notice. It even wakes you up at night as it’s a downpour more than a drizzle. However, though it meant we could never go anywhere without an umbrella, such spectacular downpour had made for spectacular scenery. It was incredibly lush and the Rock Islands are a marvel to behold. It never ceased to amaze me that these limestone (?) rocks could hold so much vegetation and it was a true testimony of nature’s resilience through the ages. I mean, how could any seed even withstand the power of the sea waves and winds and manage to hold on long enough to spout roots onto these rocks at all? It seemed incredible. But each rock was covered in dense, rich vegetation and it made every boating experience quite beautiful as a result.
However, the star of the show, in my eyes, was the water colour. I simply do not recall having seen such an intense green anywhere else. The waters were also crystal clear in most parts and very shallow which made you feel like you were floating more than boating. You could see the reefs straight through. It’s this water quality that made Palau quite a magical place and matched my expectations. The coral reefs, however, were not as brillant as I’d hoped. Yes, they do have a huge diversity of fish and some neat coral gardens, but, to be honest, I’d need better coral gardens in Sipadan (Borneo) or on the Great Barrier Reef. We found a couple of great sites, but some were disappointing because you could see that people had not taken care of protecting the corals. We even witnessed people stand on them and some tour guides told us that the Taiwanese are the worst offenders who simply have NO clue about respecting these fragile organisms. They will break off branches as souvenirs, or pick up star fish or cumcumber fish and take them out of the water to take photos. Their lack of education, understanding or sheer selfishness (whatever it may be) had already left a sad impact on some reef. I also saw many plastic bags floating around The Big Drop Off (the most popular dive site) and in any other countries the dive instructors would pick them up as they go along but not here it seemed.
But, aside from this, the people of Palau were extremely gracious and welcoming. One tour guide even told us that children are taught very early on that ‘tourists are kings’ and that they owe us their jobs and livelihood as tourism is the biggest industry by far. Many operators went the extra mile to help out and our main contact at The Carolines, Zenie, was as attentive as a mother almost! A lot of people wear flowers in their hair, if it’s on the left handside it means you’re married, if it’s on the right, it means you’re single.
I’ll sum up below what we did as a way to refresh my memory later and as a way of advising fellow tourists to Palau of what to expect.
Currency is all in USD – which was not great for us as the exchange rate was a lot worse in Dec 08 than it had been in May 08 when we first booked the trip... but at least travellers cheques were widelyl accepted.
Helicopter Tours + Kayaking around Sam’s
On Tues 23 Dec we were picked up by the (only?) helicopter company on the island for our 15 mins flight. $79 no less. Up to $345 for 90 mins or $1,000 for tailor made. Hum. Needless to say, we could only afford the $79 each. NOW, I really wanted to fly over THE photo that’s advertised in all tourist boards and brochures but was told that this particular area was called ‘the 70 islands’ and was a fully protected area. No one was allowed to go within 1 mile of the shores and no one could enter the waters without a special permit – and that was only granted to marine biologists or people who were going to respect this unspoilt jewel. So, in effect, I’d call this the big Palau con.... the one photo that makes everybody drool is the one place that is off limits and forbidden access to all ! So it could well be that the ‘number one underwater wonder of the world’ label is fully justified in these protected waters... but not in what is accessible to us, common mortals.
The helicopter tour was still great though as we flew over the Rock Islands nevertheless (just not the 70 Islands area, which is further away - that was an extra $200 !). There were still beautiful beaches to admire and we thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. It was a lovely sunny morning too so we were really lucky there. You really need the sun to see all the different shades of blue in the waters. I let Roberto sit at the front as he had the better camera (his is about 3 times the price of mine). Also, he had a built in stabiliser, whereas I don’t and the difference was painfully obvious when we landed as there are many shakes in the helicopter and a few of my shots were blurred as a result.
Afterwards we went to Sam’s (across the road) so that Roberto could check out his diving equipment before D-day (he had to allow 24H before diving for the standard safety gap). It’d just gone 11am and I was starting to feel quite tired. We just ate a lovely tuna burger and I drank a coke to perk me up (though, oddly, the coca cola in the US and Palau taste quite different from the UK version – I really didn’t like the US version, so opted for Pepsi as a slightly more UK like alternative). After I had my ‘2nd wind’ and perked up a bit, we rented a double kayak for the afternoon and just stopped off where we could to have a swim and enjoy the secluded lagoons. I’d never kayaked before but managed to get the knack of it eventually. They also lent us a waterproof box for our camera gear which was so useful, and a dry bag so that we could keep our bare essentials safe in case we flipped over.
We’d just got on the kayak when it started to rain quite hard, but within 5 minutes, it had all stopped again and we were able to enjoy all this superb scenery at leisure. There aren’t many jelly fish at all but we did spot about 5 brown ones with thick short dark brown tentacules and it made us a bit nervous about swimming in that area. They can be quite toxic though not lethal we were told. You just don’t want to touch them if you can avoid it. We met a woman who had swum within the harbour and had not even seen them and got stung on the neck. She said it didn’t really hurt that much but she did look badly burnt on her neck and described the jelly fish she saw as totally transparent and quite small – hence she didn’t see them at all. But, as a rule of thumb it seemed that they were in deeper waters. Every time we were kayaking in 1-2m of water, there didn’t seem to be any. We would jump in the water and have a swim to ‘cool down’, but the water was a wonderful 27C temperature so it didn’t really feel cool. You’d go in and it was like bath water in some places. It was just blissful.
The tour operators would then drive tourists back to their respective hotels which was quite handy.
When I got to our hotel that night though I realised that I’d lost my little purse on the way to Palau. I still cannot figure out where, but my bank card, home keys and English cash to get home were all in there. I’d never lost my bank card on any previous trips before and it made me feel quite vulnerable. If I’d been travelling alone, I really don’t know what I’d have done. I had $1,000 worth of travellers cheques and that was that. Roberto, thankfully had two credit cards and was adamant he could advance me the money to pay for my excursions. If it wasn’t for his kind help, I would have taken 3 days to get to Palau and found I could not afford to enjoy the island at all... which would have been a great shame as it has a lot to offer.
We went to have dinner in a Thai restaurant up the road. It was tastefully decorated and it didn’t have any windows but it was a very popular choice and more expensive than we expected – so we knew we could not afford to go back basically. $18 for a noodle dish. I would pay half that amount in London... sigh.
Snorkelling & Diving
Wed 24 Dec. This was our worst day weather wise, we only had about 10 mins of sunshine all in all. We were gutted. But as a consolation, at least it rained on a day when we were going to be in the water all day anyway, so we were going to be wet regardless. But it felt quite chilly with the wind factor and this was quite miserable. We didn’t really have any dry clothes and the boat didn’t offer much shelter. Some people were even wearing towels over their faces as the rain was so hard that it almost hurt when it hit your face.
But outside this nuisance, it was great to snorkel again.... though sad to see so many bleached corals (another side effect of El Nino, 1997).
On that day we also stopped at the famous Jelly Fish Lake, which is unique to Palau (well, in fact, they have 5 lakes but only one is accessible by foot). The jelly fish gather in thousands in the middle of the lake and though you know they do not sting as there are no predators for them in there (evolution), I had this slight psychological barrier to overcome and found it hard to take in that touching a jelly fish there would not hurt. I therefore only stayed in the best part about 5 minutes. There were mainly moon jelly fish, no tentacules, all sizes. They did look quite pretty actually and I only wish I could have listened to some classical music as I snorkelled around them as they pulsate to move around and it looked like one big symphony. It was a surreal experience, like nothing I’d ever experienced and it was quite beautiful to watch – but I wasn’t as serene as I should have been really. We wish we’d had an underwater camera but there are so many clips on You Tube, you just need to look up ‘palau, jelly fish lake’ and you’ll have a fair idea of what we saw.
I was surprised to learn that in 1997, further to the El Nino effect again, all the jelly fish died due to the increase in water temperature. There used to be two types of jelly fish in there (50/50) but when they sensed they were dying they all dropped some sort of semen that would go to the bottom of the lake and ‘ressurect’ in due course. Marine biologists felt that the jelly fish were able to remember how to survive in harsh conditions and had obviously experienced a previous global warming era. They all got wiped out but the following year, when the temperature dropped again, the jelly fish came back.... though it was mainly the moon jelly fish this time (95% dominant). A jelly fish is so transparent, it makes one wonder how it can even think that far? But survival instinct is the greatest force in nature it seems.
For lunch we went to a stunning beach, whose name I simply cannot remember but which was one of our favourites. It was quite stormy and the skies were dark but the water colour seemed a peaceful soft turquoise blue and the contrast was striking. We just fell in love with this little spot. It looked so exquisite. It was very similar to The Beach on Phi Phi island (the famous one featured in the movie). It just had that kind of look and atmosphere. However, trying to take a decent shot in the rain was very difficult. We were both so worried about our cameras. We’d just dash in & out from our shelter every time it stopped raining for a few seconds. We could have spent the whole day there. It was the highlight really. Roberto described it best when he said ‘it leaves you speechless’. Yep. It did inspire awe, that’s for sure.
After our wet wet wet day we decided to try and warm up with an Indian restaurant (the Taj), but it was far too spicy for me and still far too expensive for our budget so decided not to go back there again either.
The Carolines had a shuttle bus running every hour to take guests into town and drop them off at various restaurants. They charged $2 pp for a return trip and we felt it was a great service as taxis were much more expensive.
South Island & Carp Island Tour
On Xmas day, Roberto & I split as we wanted to do different things. I’d seen a photo of Carp Island and it looked so idyllic that I just had to see it for myself. Roberto was already committed to two dives and so went to Sam’s. I joined the Impac tour instead (Jap - Sam's did not offer that particular tour) and so I was the only white person there but my guide still made an effort to speak some English with me so I wouldn’t be totally lost. There were only 5 of us all in all so it was great.
It was one of the most memorable Christmas days of my life. The weather was much better and though Carp Island was very pretty, my fondest memory of the whole day was to step onto Long Beach. It’s like a ‘virtual’ beach basically. It only shows a few minutes at a time each day, not always in the same place (depending on the tide and moon) but links up two islands. Like a sand bank that appears and disappears... and the water colour around there was such a lovely soft blue, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Another surreal type of experience and probably the most unusual ‘beach’ I had ever been on. I totally loved it. We were all going ‘wow’ when we saw it ‘appear’. In that sense, Palau has probably afforded me some of my most memorable beach experiences of my life. I love it when something / someone takes my breath away and it certainly had that kind of impact on me... and I’m not normally a ‘beach’ person, I’m more of a jungle person. But this looked almost too beautiful to be true. I thought of Roberto and knew he’d be thoroughly gutted at having missed out on such a magical experience as he could have taken such awesome pix with his camera.
He was having a good time too mind you, he’d seen a huge mantaray at a cleaning station and had stood just a few meters away from this 3 meter ‘beast’ and had also seen 5 sharks hunting together. He had totally enjoyed his day as well and ranked it as one of his best diving days ever (off the Blue Hole Drop off). Everybody talked about this particular dive spot being incredibly rich.
As for me, I snorkelled off the German Channel to see the giant clams (it was ok but nothing amazing) and then near the Big Drop Off again but the corals were poor. Though I did see black tip sharks and turtles, which was neat. I’d never seen a black tip shark before but they are very frequent in Palau. I didn’t feel scared as I knew that these guys were too small to hurt me (about the size of one of my two legs together pretty much).
I had lunch on Carp Island and though the water colour was amazing, as always, it was the back drop that makes Palau simply spectacular. The rock islands look like pirate hideaways, they are mysterious, inaccessible, lush and dense and it helps your imagination wander... it’s like reading Treasure Island or Robinson Crusoe all over again. I felt I could reconnect to all those feelings one has as a child reading these type of books.
Carp Island had nice facilities (you can rent cabins there) and it only rained when we were having lunch, so didn’t distract from our enjoyment at all. For more info on Carp, pls visit www.carpislandpalau.com The island has the shape of a star, which is quite neat too – though it’s only obvious from the air !
As it was Xmas day they had all sorts of Xmas decorations around (it’s a Catholic country) and it was sweet to see the difference in ornaments. They use sea shells and flowers to decorate their trees which looked quite unusual to me, as a European, but worked just the same!
We then went back to Koror (the capital) on the West Side of the Rock islands, zig zagging among them, looking out for secluded beaches (very few). Some mangrove channels or some other channels were so shallow that you felt you were just gliding over corals. I’ll probably say it more than once but the water colour is what gave this place its ‘wow’ factor. You could never get tired of looking at it. I made so many little video clips of such channels... you just wanted to capture every shade of green or blue forever more. Jaw dropping material really.
I was back at the Carolines Resort for 3:30pm and just enjoyed the resort’s view some more. It had limited facilities (they don’t even have a restaurant, you have to order your meals the day before and they deliver it to your room) but we had a charming wooden bungalow overlooking the island and ocean and we always had our breakfast on the balcony. They always put fresh flowers in a huge sea shell and it just looked quaint and homely. We had no direct access to a beach but they had a partnership with the PPR so that we could use their facilities just the same, which was a great perk (as they have a huge pool, spa, tennis court, internet centre etc). So you pay half the price staying at the Carolines and can have the best of both worlds!
It rained heavily that evening and it was wonderful to hear the sounds of frogs everywhere. It’s not often you hear so many at once. For Xmas we went to a Japanese restaurant (Fiji). It was ok, the best value for money so far anyway. And we made a point to call Italy & France though it didn't really feel like Christmas time at all for us. But it felt good to hear familiar voices.
Rock Island Tour
26 Dec, we went on Sam’s (the American operator tour) and our first stop was at the Milky Way. This was one of Palau’s highlights, the water was a gorgeous turquoise but because it had some white mud at the bottom (that could be used for face masks for its cleansing properties) every time someone ducked to pick up some mud it was as if someone had splashed some cream in the water. It was just like being in a little fairy tale, because you don’t see such phenomenons very often in ‘the real world’. We totally loved it and it definitely had the ‘wow’ factor too. We were spell bound. I spent more time on the deck looking out at this striking colour than in the water (I can’t duck dive so could not pick up any mud easily). Some people were having fun covering themselves up from head to toe. I was more interested in taking photos to remember this moment forever – and to share it too.
We went snorkelling to the Rainbow Corals site and it was the best snorkelling site I’d seen so I was glad that Roberto was around to enjoy it too. It had hundreds of fish, and endless coral gardens – mostly unspoilt as it was just deep enough so that the average person would not be able to stand on them. The diversity of fish shape and colour never ceases to amaze me. They also had a Napoleon wrass that seemed to follow us around and we were told that some are ‘super male’ that can change into female when the need arises. They are lovely colourful fish and some of the biggest you can find on the reef (beside the sharks).
For lunch, Roberto & I got dropped off on an island whilst the rest of the party went back to the Jelly Fish Lake. It was not the best island unfortunately. It didn’t look that great and there was almost nothing to do. In fact, it took me a long time to get used to the idea that doing ‘nothing’ is ok. We were both so stressed when we arrived from London that to suddenly make time for just sheer enjoyment and relaxation was almost hard to take in. It did take us a good 3-4 days to be able to ‘go with the flow’... and to enjoy having no watch to keep track of time either.
The only good thing about this island is that they had many black tip sharks and our guide soon found us about 15 of them, along with a smaller type of shark looking fish (flat head) that hangs around them a lot. It was quite odd to be surrounded by 15 sharks and yet to know they were not going to hurt you. Shark attacks are so hyped up in the media. And yet, as we saw in a documentary on our plane back, most are docile and usually only bite by mistake. People die of blood loss but not because they have been eaten as such. Every hour 15,000 sharks are killed around the world for their fins and yet they regulate the oceans and ruled them for 400 million years before we came along. In the last 100 years shark numbers have gone down by 90% and yet the ocean provides us with more oxygen to breathe than the rainforests. Sharks eat some of the planton that swallows this valuable oxygen, and so, by killing them, we are in effect killing our main defense for our oxygen supply. Strangely, though we know all that, many organisations who protect polar bears, pandas or seals, have no interest in sharks at all (they do not have the ‘cute’ factor). Even Costa Rica, one of the leading countries in eco-tourism was shown to make millions out of the illegal shark fin trade and the producer had managed to film secret videos showing hundreds of thousands of fins being dried on tin roofs. We are just decimating them and no one seems to care. It made very sad viewing. Chinese medicine is also to blame, as they attribue to sharks some anti-cancer properties when in fact it has never been proven to help humans. If anything, because we put so much mercury in our waters nowadays, eating sharks (and other fish) is likely to make us more ill than healthy. But shark fin soup is a sign of power and a multi million business industry. At a Chinese wedding everybody shark fin soup is a ‘must have’ to show power and wealth and if there are 450 guests, that’s a lot of sharks. Anyway, I disgress...
Our last snorkelling stop was the ‘cemetry’... with many corals that looked like white cauliflowers. I assumed they were bleached or dead but Roberto seemed to think they were alive. We didn’t seem an awful lot of fish there though.
When we got back we went to the PPR for a dip in their spa and to enjoy the resort (it had lots of Xmas trees all around the ground and looked positively pretty at this time of the year).
We then went to town to try a Filipino restaurant... only to be put off my the smells and prices (not as cheap as we’d been led to believe), so ended up at Tototo, another Jap restaurant. Food was good, decor was very boring though. Definitely not one for ‘romance’. Talking of which, so many people assumed that Roberto & I were a couple, it was quite comical at times (as in ‘so, have you guys got kids?’)... yeah, right.
The Waterfall tour
The next day, we went to check out the famous Ngardmau Waterfall. The highest waterfall in Palau (25m). We were originally booked to go with Sam’s but when I realised they charged $150 pp whereas Impac, the Jap company charged only $90, we had no choice but to swap (no cancellation fee applied, thank God). With my having lost my bank card, I was really watching my pennies and why spend double for the same thing?
We thoroughly enjoyed our day. It was so different from being on the sea and gave us a totally different perspective into the island. We’d highly recommend this option to anyone. Most people just go to dive and ignore the rest and it seems a shame as they are such different experiences.
We first were issued with some marine boots to help us with crossing rivers. Our first stop was at a kind of botanical garden where a Jap couple had gathered a collection of Palauan plants and fruits – with some samples to taste. The nodi fruit for instance tastes nothing special but is supposedly full of anti oxidant and sells for $200 a liter in Japan.
We then drove to the start of the hike for the waterfall. Going down countless steps and then crossing a river (knee deep) to hike some more on some really muddy trails. And I mean, MUDDY. You would sink about 2 inches deep and I needed a stick to keep my balance as it was quite slippery. Thankfully, Palau has no leeches otherwise I’d not have been a happy bunny. But when we got to the waterfall, it was worth it. It wasn’t a big rush of water as you’d have in Niagarra Falls (!) but more like a thin curtain. To stand right under it felt thrilling and liberating at the same time.
We only stayed at the falls for an hour or so but it was the best picnic spot. I became very thankful for the heavy rain of the previous nights as it meant the fall could look as good as in the brochures. In the dry season it comes to a dribble with only one side ‘working’ properly but in December, it looked just perfect. AND it seemed to make my hair so soft, as if it had conditioner in it too.
On the way back, to avoid trekking through slippery mud paths we walked in the river. I loved it but we were just concerned about our cameras in case we’d slipped or stepped in a hole. Our guides knew the ‘shallow’ way though and we just followed them. I had seen a video of this water route on YouTube and couldn’t wait to do that for myself. I felt we were like Indiana Jones. Great fun.
Our guide told us that December was the best month for this waterfall. In the dry season there isn’t enough water, and at the peak of the rainy season it was almost impossible to walk to the falls as the treks were too muddy or slippery. Dec is just in between! He did worry that the waterfall area would be spoilt soon though. A main tarred road was completed two years ago and many companies are currently asking for building permits for hotels nearby. He said that the clearing area around the falls was not even there 5 years ago. Before you could hear the fall but not see it until you were right in front of it. They’d also built a couple of small huts with tin roofs and benches and tables so that people could sit somewhere dry on rainy days and this was only 2 years old too.
On the way back we made time to swim in some water holes that had been ‘created’ by the Japanese bombs. Some were quite deep – deep enough to dive it safely. We had tremendous fun sitting under the rush of water. I remember telling our guide ‘I could just eat a fresh coconut right now and it’d just match the scene perfectly’... and lo and behold, when we got back to our bus, there was a woman who was selling fresh coconut and our guide kindly gave me a straw so I could drink the juice and then scooped the flesh for me. He suggested I tried dipping the flesh in soy sauce – I did (I like trying new flavours) and it actually worked quite nicely.
We then headed back to Koror and Roberto & I went straight to the PPR for dinner as we realised that the prices to eat there were actually just as cheap as the Japanese restaurants in town but with the added bonus of having a gorgeous setting. If we’d realised this earlier, we would have gone there every night. As it’s a 4* resort, we assumed the dinners would be priced accordingly, but no... very reasonable indeed.
When we got back people who had gone to some sea excursions complained that the weather had been really terrible but as we were up North, inland, we didn’t really have much rain ourselves. In fact, it only rained at ‘convenient’ times – i.e. JUST after we got back to our bus (and it was a loooong trek up many stairs). So we had had real good flair to do the waterfall tour on that day. People who went kayaking had been quite distressed by how rough the sea had been. Even some guides had become sea sick.
Kayaking
On our last day in Palau we went for the kayaking tour with Sam’s. It was a glorious day and we totally loved it. Very relaxed pace, the lagoons were a striking green or blue, and kayaking seemed relatively easy – calm waters, etc.
We had lunch on a beautiful beach and though the lunch box at Sam’s were always the same and it got seriously boring by day 3, the exotic decor more than made up for it.
Early afternoon we headed to the Mandarin Fish Lake and it was like being in an aquarium. The water was so clear it was just like tap water. The sun was shining on the corals and we kept wishing we had had an underwater camera as it would have been so easy to take really clear shots. A turtle stayed in the lagoon for ages and we followed her around for 10 minutes at a fair distance. It’s so relaxing to watch a turtle swim around in slow motion... soothing for the soul almost.
We got back to the harbour by 3:30pm, Roberto ordered his usual cup of coffee, I had a hot chocolate and we felt so lucky to have seen so much beauty in just 6 days. It was the perfect ending to our week in Palau. We had got to experience most of the main attractions really.
We went back to our hotel to start packing and headed to PPR for our last meal. We then got back to the Caroline Resort for 8:00pm so that we could grab a couple of hours’ sleep before heading for the airport. We left at 11pm for a 2am departure. This was tough. We had 4 horribly long days out of 15 days and this was going to be one of them, as we didn’t check into our hotel in Kauai till 1am!
To be cont.
As I’m writing this, I’m now back in London. Trying to find internet access in Palau was pretty much mission impossible due to their painfully slow dial up system. If you managed to log on, you were unable to send much as you’d get an ‘error’ msg. Our mobile phones were not working either, regardless of how sophisticated they might be, because one needed a local SIM card for the calls to connect. Using a hotel phone to call anyone was an average of $3 per minute. This is one thing I did not expect. I’d never quite felt so cut off from the rest of the world.
I also didn’t expect the prices to be so astronomically expensive, be it for excursions (diving here costs about 50% more than in the Red Sea or Borneo) and even food as simple as rice could be up to $8 for a plain bowl whereas we’d pay $5 in London.
We soon learnt that the cheapest places were actually Japanese restaurants. I’m not keen on Japanese food at all but soon had to learn to like it. However, it was better than I expected. The Japanese influence in Palau is huge. You cannot escape from it. There seems to be Japanese tourists en masse everywhere you turned (Tokyo is only 4H away by air, lucky them!) and as the country was under Japanese occupation for some 40 years, you have many ship wrecks and plane wrecks as a reminder of a more violent past. Just on the small path leading up to our resort (The Carolines) you could see 3 big holes that had been caused by old bombs. Palauan people are therefore pretty much all fluent in Japanese, it’s the 2nd language they learn at school with English. The best hotels are Japanese owned (the PPR – Palau Pacific Resort) and one of the best tour companies, Impac, was also pretty much exclusively for the Japanese market.
We also didn’t realise that December was still the rainy season. A google search had led me to believe that the rains ended in November, but not so... The ‘dry’ season is as of mid-Jan up to mid-May. OOps. And when it rains in Palau, it rains hard. You cannot fail to notice. It even wakes you up at night as it’s a downpour more than a drizzle. However, though it meant we could never go anywhere without an umbrella, such spectacular downpour had made for spectacular scenery. It was incredibly lush and the Rock Islands are a marvel to behold. It never ceased to amaze me that these limestone (?) rocks could hold so much vegetation and it was a true testimony of nature’s resilience through the ages. I mean, how could any seed even withstand the power of the sea waves and winds and manage to hold on long enough to spout roots onto these rocks at all? It seemed incredible. But each rock was covered in dense, rich vegetation and it made every boating experience quite beautiful as a result.
However, the star of the show, in my eyes, was the water colour. I simply do not recall having seen such an intense green anywhere else. The waters were also crystal clear in most parts and very shallow which made you feel like you were floating more than boating. You could see the reefs straight through. It’s this water quality that made Palau quite a magical place and matched my expectations. The coral reefs, however, were not as brillant as I’d hoped. Yes, they do have a huge diversity of fish and some neat coral gardens, but, to be honest, I’d need better coral gardens in Sipadan (Borneo) or on the Great Barrier Reef. We found a couple of great sites, but some were disappointing because you could see that people had not taken care of protecting the corals. We even witnessed people stand on them and some tour guides told us that the Taiwanese are the worst offenders who simply have NO clue about respecting these fragile organisms. They will break off branches as souvenirs, or pick up star fish or cumcumber fish and take them out of the water to take photos. Their lack of education, understanding or sheer selfishness (whatever it may be) had already left a sad impact on some reef. I also saw many plastic bags floating around The Big Drop Off (the most popular dive site) and in any other countries the dive instructors would pick them up as they go along but not here it seemed.
But, aside from this, the people of Palau were extremely gracious and welcoming. One tour guide even told us that children are taught very early on that ‘tourists are kings’ and that they owe us their jobs and livelihood as tourism is the biggest industry by far. Many operators went the extra mile to help out and our main contact at The Carolines, Zenie, was as attentive as a mother almost! A lot of people wear flowers in their hair, if it’s on the left handside it means you’re married, if it’s on the right, it means you’re single.
I’ll sum up below what we did as a way to refresh my memory later and as a way of advising fellow tourists to Palau of what to expect.
Currency is all in USD – which was not great for us as the exchange rate was a lot worse in Dec 08 than it had been in May 08 when we first booked the trip... but at least travellers cheques were widelyl accepted.
Helicopter Tours + Kayaking around Sam’s
On Tues 23 Dec we were picked up by the (only?) helicopter company on the island for our 15 mins flight. $79 no less. Up to $345 for 90 mins or $1,000 for tailor made. Hum. Needless to say, we could only afford the $79 each. NOW, I really wanted to fly over THE photo that’s advertised in all tourist boards and brochures but was told that this particular area was called ‘the 70 islands’ and was a fully protected area. No one was allowed to go within 1 mile of the shores and no one could enter the waters without a special permit – and that was only granted to marine biologists or people who were going to respect this unspoilt jewel. So, in effect, I’d call this the big Palau con.... the one photo that makes everybody drool is the one place that is off limits and forbidden access to all ! So it could well be that the ‘number one underwater wonder of the world’ label is fully justified in these protected waters... but not in what is accessible to us, common mortals.
The helicopter tour was still great though as we flew over the Rock Islands nevertheless (just not the 70 Islands area, which is further away - that was an extra $200 !). There were still beautiful beaches to admire and we thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. It was a lovely sunny morning too so we were really lucky there. You really need the sun to see all the different shades of blue in the waters. I let Roberto sit at the front as he had the better camera (his is about 3 times the price of mine). Also, he had a built in stabiliser, whereas I don’t and the difference was painfully obvious when we landed as there are many shakes in the helicopter and a few of my shots were blurred as a result.
Afterwards we went to Sam’s (across the road) so that Roberto could check out his diving equipment before D-day (he had to allow 24H before diving for the standard safety gap). It’d just gone 11am and I was starting to feel quite tired. We just ate a lovely tuna burger and I drank a coke to perk me up (though, oddly, the coca cola in the US and Palau taste quite different from the UK version – I really didn’t like the US version, so opted for Pepsi as a slightly more UK like alternative). After I had my ‘2nd wind’ and perked up a bit, we rented a double kayak for the afternoon and just stopped off where we could to have a swim and enjoy the secluded lagoons. I’d never kayaked before but managed to get the knack of it eventually. They also lent us a waterproof box for our camera gear which was so useful, and a dry bag so that we could keep our bare essentials safe in case we flipped over.
We’d just got on the kayak when it started to rain quite hard, but within 5 minutes, it had all stopped again and we were able to enjoy all this superb scenery at leisure. There aren’t many jelly fish at all but we did spot about 5 brown ones with thick short dark brown tentacules and it made us a bit nervous about swimming in that area. They can be quite toxic though not lethal we were told. You just don’t want to touch them if you can avoid it. We met a woman who had swum within the harbour and had not even seen them and got stung on the neck. She said it didn’t really hurt that much but she did look badly burnt on her neck and described the jelly fish she saw as totally transparent and quite small – hence she didn’t see them at all. But, as a rule of thumb it seemed that they were in deeper waters. Every time we were kayaking in 1-2m of water, there didn’t seem to be any. We would jump in the water and have a swim to ‘cool down’, but the water was a wonderful 27C temperature so it didn’t really feel cool. You’d go in and it was like bath water in some places. It was just blissful.
The tour operators would then drive tourists back to their respective hotels which was quite handy.
When I got to our hotel that night though I realised that I’d lost my little purse on the way to Palau. I still cannot figure out where, but my bank card, home keys and English cash to get home were all in there. I’d never lost my bank card on any previous trips before and it made me feel quite vulnerable. If I’d been travelling alone, I really don’t know what I’d have done. I had $1,000 worth of travellers cheques and that was that. Roberto, thankfully had two credit cards and was adamant he could advance me the money to pay for my excursions. If it wasn’t for his kind help, I would have taken 3 days to get to Palau and found I could not afford to enjoy the island at all... which would have been a great shame as it has a lot to offer.
We went to have dinner in a Thai restaurant up the road. It was tastefully decorated and it didn’t have any windows but it was a very popular choice and more expensive than we expected – so we knew we could not afford to go back basically. $18 for a noodle dish. I would pay half that amount in London... sigh.
Snorkelling & Diving
Wed 24 Dec. This was our worst day weather wise, we only had about 10 mins of sunshine all in all. We were gutted. But as a consolation, at least it rained on a day when we were going to be in the water all day anyway, so we were going to be wet regardless. But it felt quite chilly with the wind factor and this was quite miserable. We didn’t really have any dry clothes and the boat didn’t offer much shelter. Some people were even wearing towels over their faces as the rain was so hard that it almost hurt when it hit your face.
But outside this nuisance, it was great to snorkel again.... though sad to see so many bleached corals (another side effect of El Nino, 1997).
On that day we also stopped at the famous Jelly Fish Lake, which is unique to Palau (well, in fact, they have 5 lakes but only one is accessible by foot). The jelly fish gather in thousands in the middle of the lake and though you know they do not sting as there are no predators for them in there (evolution), I had this slight psychological barrier to overcome and found it hard to take in that touching a jelly fish there would not hurt. I therefore only stayed in the best part about 5 minutes. There were mainly moon jelly fish, no tentacules, all sizes. They did look quite pretty actually and I only wish I could have listened to some classical music as I snorkelled around them as they pulsate to move around and it looked like one big symphony. It was a surreal experience, like nothing I’d ever experienced and it was quite beautiful to watch – but I wasn’t as serene as I should have been really. We wish we’d had an underwater camera but there are so many clips on You Tube, you just need to look up ‘palau, jelly fish lake’ and you’ll have a fair idea of what we saw.
I was surprised to learn that in 1997, further to the El Nino effect again, all the jelly fish died due to the increase in water temperature. There used to be two types of jelly fish in there (50/50) but when they sensed they were dying they all dropped some sort of semen that would go to the bottom of the lake and ‘ressurect’ in due course. Marine biologists felt that the jelly fish were able to remember how to survive in harsh conditions and had obviously experienced a previous global warming era. They all got wiped out but the following year, when the temperature dropped again, the jelly fish came back.... though it was mainly the moon jelly fish this time (95% dominant). A jelly fish is so transparent, it makes one wonder how it can even think that far? But survival instinct is the greatest force in nature it seems.
For lunch we went to a stunning beach, whose name I simply cannot remember but which was one of our favourites. It was quite stormy and the skies were dark but the water colour seemed a peaceful soft turquoise blue and the contrast was striking. We just fell in love with this little spot. It looked so exquisite. It was very similar to The Beach on Phi Phi island (the famous one featured in the movie). It just had that kind of look and atmosphere. However, trying to take a decent shot in the rain was very difficult. We were both so worried about our cameras. We’d just dash in & out from our shelter every time it stopped raining for a few seconds. We could have spent the whole day there. It was the highlight really. Roberto described it best when he said ‘it leaves you speechless’. Yep. It did inspire awe, that’s for sure.
After our wet wet wet day we decided to try and warm up with an Indian restaurant (the Taj), but it was far too spicy for me and still far too expensive for our budget so decided not to go back there again either.
The Carolines had a shuttle bus running every hour to take guests into town and drop them off at various restaurants. They charged $2 pp for a return trip and we felt it was a great service as taxis were much more expensive.
South Island & Carp Island Tour
On Xmas day, Roberto & I split as we wanted to do different things. I’d seen a photo of Carp Island and it looked so idyllic that I just had to see it for myself. Roberto was already committed to two dives and so went to Sam’s. I joined the Impac tour instead (Jap - Sam's did not offer that particular tour) and so I was the only white person there but my guide still made an effort to speak some English with me so I wouldn’t be totally lost. There were only 5 of us all in all so it was great.
It was one of the most memorable Christmas days of my life. The weather was much better and though Carp Island was very pretty, my fondest memory of the whole day was to step onto Long Beach. It’s like a ‘virtual’ beach basically. It only shows a few minutes at a time each day, not always in the same place (depending on the tide and moon) but links up two islands. Like a sand bank that appears and disappears... and the water colour around there was such a lovely soft blue, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Another surreal type of experience and probably the most unusual ‘beach’ I had ever been on. I totally loved it. We were all going ‘wow’ when we saw it ‘appear’. In that sense, Palau has probably afforded me some of my most memorable beach experiences of my life. I love it when something / someone takes my breath away and it certainly had that kind of impact on me... and I’m not normally a ‘beach’ person, I’m more of a jungle person. But this looked almost too beautiful to be true. I thought of Roberto and knew he’d be thoroughly gutted at having missed out on such a magical experience as he could have taken such awesome pix with his camera.
He was having a good time too mind you, he’d seen a huge mantaray at a cleaning station and had stood just a few meters away from this 3 meter ‘beast’ and had also seen 5 sharks hunting together. He had totally enjoyed his day as well and ranked it as one of his best diving days ever (off the Blue Hole Drop off). Everybody talked about this particular dive spot being incredibly rich.
As for me, I snorkelled off the German Channel to see the giant clams (it was ok but nothing amazing) and then near the Big Drop Off again but the corals were poor. Though I did see black tip sharks and turtles, which was neat. I’d never seen a black tip shark before but they are very frequent in Palau. I didn’t feel scared as I knew that these guys were too small to hurt me (about the size of one of my two legs together pretty much).
I had lunch on Carp Island and though the water colour was amazing, as always, it was the back drop that makes Palau simply spectacular. The rock islands look like pirate hideaways, they are mysterious, inaccessible, lush and dense and it helps your imagination wander... it’s like reading Treasure Island or Robinson Crusoe all over again. I felt I could reconnect to all those feelings one has as a child reading these type of books.
Carp Island had nice facilities (you can rent cabins there) and it only rained when we were having lunch, so didn’t distract from our enjoyment at all. For more info on Carp, pls visit www.carpislandpalau.com The island has the shape of a star, which is quite neat too – though it’s only obvious from the air !
As it was Xmas day they had all sorts of Xmas decorations around (it’s a Catholic country) and it was sweet to see the difference in ornaments. They use sea shells and flowers to decorate their trees which looked quite unusual to me, as a European, but worked just the same!
We then went back to Koror (the capital) on the West Side of the Rock islands, zig zagging among them, looking out for secluded beaches (very few). Some mangrove channels or some other channels were so shallow that you felt you were just gliding over corals. I’ll probably say it more than once but the water colour is what gave this place its ‘wow’ factor. You could never get tired of looking at it. I made so many little video clips of such channels... you just wanted to capture every shade of green or blue forever more. Jaw dropping material really.
I was back at the Carolines Resort for 3:30pm and just enjoyed the resort’s view some more. It had limited facilities (they don’t even have a restaurant, you have to order your meals the day before and they deliver it to your room) but we had a charming wooden bungalow overlooking the island and ocean and we always had our breakfast on the balcony. They always put fresh flowers in a huge sea shell and it just looked quaint and homely. We had no direct access to a beach but they had a partnership with the PPR so that we could use their facilities just the same, which was a great perk (as they have a huge pool, spa, tennis court, internet centre etc). So you pay half the price staying at the Carolines and can have the best of both worlds!
It rained heavily that evening and it was wonderful to hear the sounds of frogs everywhere. It’s not often you hear so many at once. For Xmas we went to a Japanese restaurant (Fiji). It was ok, the best value for money so far anyway. And we made a point to call Italy & France though it didn't really feel like Christmas time at all for us. But it felt good to hear familiar voices.
Rock Island Tour
26 Dec, we went on Sam’s (the American operator tour) and our first stop was at the Milky Way. This was one of Palau’s highlights, the water was a gorgeous turquoise but because it had some white mud at the bottom (that could be used for face masks for its cleansing properties) every time someone ducked to pick up some mud it was as if someone had splashed some cream in the water. It was just like being in a little fairy tale, because you don’t see such phenomenons very often in ‘the real world’. We totally loved it and it definitely had the ‘wow’ factor too. We were spell bound. I spent more time on the deck looking out at this striking colour than in the water (I can’t duck dive so could not pick up any mud easily). Some people were having fun covering themselves up from head to toe. I was more interested in taking photos to remember this moment forever – and to share it too.
We went snorkelling to the Rainbow Corals site and it was the best snorkelling site I’d seen so I was glad that Roberto was around to enjoy it too. It had hundreds of fish, and endless coral gardens – mostly unspoilt as it was just deep enough so that the average person would not be able to stand on them. The diversity of fish shape and colour never ceases to amaze me. They also had a Napoleon wrass that seemed to follow us around and we were told that some are ‘super male’ that can change into female when the need arises. They are lovely colourful fish and some of the biggest you can find on the reef (beside the sharks).
For lunch, Roberto & I got dropped off on an island whilst the rest of the party went back to the Jelly Fish Lake. It was not the best island unfortunately. It didn’t look that great and there was almost nothing to do. In fact, it took me a long time to get used to the idea that doing ‘nothing’ is ok. We were both so stressed when we arrived from London that to suddenly make time for just sheer enjoyment and relaxation was almost hard to take in. It did take us a good 3-4 days to be able to ‘go with the flow’... and to enjoy having no watch to keep track of time either.
The only good thing about this island is that they had many black tip sharks and our guide soon found us about 15 of them, along with a smaller type of shark looking fish (flat head) that hangs around them a lot. It was quite odd to be surrounded by 15 sharks and yet to know they were not going to hurt you. Shark attacks are so hyped up in the media. And yet, as we saw in a documentary on our plane back, most are docile and usually only bite by mistake. People die of blood loss but not because they have been eaten as such. Every hour 15,000 sharks are killed around the world for their fins and yet they regulate the oceans and ruled them for 400 million years before we came along. In the last 100 years shark numbers have gone down by 90% and yet the ocean provides us with more oxygen to breathe than the rainforests. Sharks eat some of the planton that swallows this valuable oxygen, and so, by killing them, we are in effect killing our main defense for our oxygen supply. Strangely, though we know all that, many organisations who protect polar bears, pandas or seals, have no interest in sharks at all (they do not have the ‘cute’ factor). Even Costa Rica, one of the leading countries in eco-tourism was shown to make millions out of the illegal shark fin trade and the producer had managed to film secret videos showing hundreds of thousands of fins being dried on tin roofs. We are just decimating them and no one seems to care. It made very sad viewing. Chinese medicine is also to blame, as they attribue to sharks some anti-cancer properties when in fact it has never been proven to help humans. If anything, because we put so much mercury in our waters nowadays, eating sharks (and other fish) is likely to make us more ill than healthy. But shark fin soup is a sign of power and a multi million business industry. At a Chinese wedding everybody shark fin soup is a ‘must have’ to show power and wealth and if there are 450 guests, that’s a lot of sharks. Anyway, I disgress...
Our last snorkelling stop was the ‘cemetry’... with many corals that looked like white cauliflowers. I assumed they were bleached or dead but Roberto seemed to think they were alive. We didn’t seem an awful lot of fish there though.
When we got back we went to the PPR for a dip in their spa and to enjoy the resort (it had lots of Xmas trees all around the ground and looked positively pretty at this time of the year).
We then went to town to try a Filipino restaurant... only to be put off my the smells and prices (not as cheap as we’d been led to believe), so ended up at Tototo, another Jap restaurant. Food was good, decor was very boring though. Definitely not one for ‘romance’. Talking of which, so many people assumed that Roberto & I were a couple, it was quite comical at times (as in ‘so, have you guys got kids?’)... yeah, right.
The Waterfall tour
The next day, we went to check out the famous Ngardmau Waterfall. The highest waterfall in Palau (25m). We were originally booked to go with Sam’s but when I realised they charged $150 pp whereas Impac, the Jap company charged only $90, we had no choice but to swap (no cancellation fee applied, thank God). With my having lost my bank card, I was really watching my pennies and why spend double for the same thing?
We thoroughly enjoyed our day. It was so different from being on the sea and gave us a totally different perspective into the island. We’d highly recommend this option to anyone. Most people just go to dive and ignore the rest and it seems a shame as they are such different experiences.
We first were issued with some marine boots to help us with crossing rivers. Our first stop was at a kind of botanical garden where a Jap couple had gathered a collection of Palauan plants and fruits – with some samples to taste. The nodi fruit for instance tastes nothing special but is supposedly full of anti oxidant and sells for $200 a liter in Japan.
We then drove to the start of the hike for the waterfall. Going down countless steps and then crossing a river (knee deep) to hike some more on some really muddy trails. And I mean, MUDDY. You would sink about 2 inches deep and I needed a stick to keep my balance as it was quite slippery. Thankfully, Palau has no leeches otherwise I’d not have been a happy bunny. But when we got to the waterfall, it was worth it. It wasn’t a big rush of water as you’d have in Niagarra Falls (!) but more like a thin curtain. To stand right under it felt thrilling and liberating at the same time.
We only stayed at the falls for an hour or so but it was the best picnic spot. I became very thankful for the heavy rain of the previous nights as it meant the fall could look as good as in the brochures. In the dry season it comes to a dribble with only one side ‘working’ properly but in December, it looked just perfect. AND it seemed to make my hair so soft, as if it had conditioner in it too.
On the way back, to avoid trekking through slippery mud paths we walked in the river. I loved it but we were just concerned about our cameras in case we’d slipped or stepped in a hole. Our guides knew the ‘shallow’ way though and we just followed them. I had seen a video of this water route on YouTube and couldn’t wait to do that for myself. I felt we were like Indiana Jones. Great fun.
Our guide told us that December was the best month for this waterfall. In the dry season there isn’t enough water, and at the peak of the rainy season it was almost impossible to walk to the falls as the treks were too muddy or slippery. Dec is just in between! He did worry that the waterfall area would be spoilt soon though. A main tarred road was completed two years ago and many companies are currently asking for building permits for hotels nearby. He said that the clearing area around the falls was not even there 5 years ago. Before you could hear the fall but not see it until you were right in front of it. They’d also built a couple of small huts with tin roofs and benches and tables so that people could sit somewhere dry on rainy days and this was only 2 years old too.
On the way back we made time to swim in some water holes that had been ‘created’ by the Japanese bombs. Some were quite deep – deep enough to dive it safely. We had tremendous fun sitting under the rush of water. I remember telling our guide ‘I could just eat a fresh coconut right now and it’d just match the scene perfectly’... and lo and behold, when we got back to our bus, there was a woman who was selling fresh coconut and our guide kindly gave me a straw so I could drink the juice and then scooped the flesh for me. He suggested I tried dipping the flesh in soy sauce – I did (I like trying new flavours) and it actually worked quite nicely.
We then headed back to Koror and Roberto & I went straight to the PPR for dinner as we realised that the prices to eat there were actually just as cheap as the Japanese restaurants in town but with the added bonus of having a gorgeous setting. If we’d realised this earlier, we would have gone there every night. As it’s a 4* resort, we assumed the dinners would be priced accordingly, but no... very reasonable indeed.
When we got back people who had gone to some sea excursions complained that the weather had been really terrible but as we were up North, inland, we didn’t really have much rain ourselves. In fact, it only rained at ‘convenient’ times – i.e. JUST after we got back to our bus (and it was a loooong trek up many stairs). So we had had real good flair to do the waterfall tour on that day. People who went kayaking had been quite distressed by how rough the sea had been. Even some guides had become sea sick.
Kayaking
On our last day in Palau we went for the kayaking tour with Sam’s. It was a glorious day and we totally loved it. Very relaxed pace, the lagoons were a striking green or blue, and kayaking seemed relatively easy – calm waters, etc.
We had lunch on a beautiful beach and though the lunch box at Sam’s were always the same and it got seriously boring by day 3, the exotic decor more than made up for it.
Early afternoon we headed to the Mandarin Fish Lake and it was like being in an aquarium. The water was so clear it was just like tap water. The sun was shining on the corals and we kept wishing we had had an underwater camera as it would have been so easy to take really clear shots. A turtle stayed in the lagoon for ages and we followed her around for 10 minutes at a fair distance. It’s so relaxing to watch a turtle swim around in slow motion... soothing for the soul almost.
We got back to the harbour by 3:30pm, Roberto ordered his usual cup of coffee, I had a hot chocolate and we felt so lucky to have seen so much beauty in just 6 days. It was the perfect ending to our week in Palau. We had got to experience most of the main attractions really.
We went back to our hotel to start packing and headed to PPR for our last meal. We then got back to the Caroline Resort for 8:00pm so that we could grab a couple of hours’ sleep before heading for the airport. We left at 11pm for a 2am departure. This was tough. We had 4 horribly long days out of 15 days and this was going to be one of them, as we didn’t check into our hotel in Kauai till 1am!
To be cont.
posted by Sylvie at 4:32 PM
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