Today is our final day in Yap. We have to board our plane this next morning and sadly leave Micronesia behind. We began our day with the final exam. Mike quizzed us on places we had seen, people we had met, important travel information, marketing and various other things so that we could better serve those who choose to travel with us to Micronesia. There was a contest during the quiz that the person with the highest test score would be called “the scholar” and receive a cash prize of $20. Although I did my best, Kevin from Aqua Dive Academy in Portland, ME, beat me out, with Rod only a few points behind me – oh well!
After we were done with the test, we grabbed some lunch on the Mnuw and then headed out for an island tour. Richard, our minibus driver, first took us to where some gentlemen were building the Yapese outrigger canoes the old fashioned way in preparation to sail them to Palau like the warriors did in days gone by when they went to mine and transport the Yapese currency, stone money. The techniques and craftsmanship were truly remarkable; and to think these men actually sail these canoes to Palau, some 300 miles away is amazing. It was rather cute when Vickie asked one of the young men if they ever got seasick on the journey and he sheepishly admitted he did.
Our tour continued on to visit a bai (a men only meeting house) built in the traditional manner sitting on the water’s edge with authentic stone money set out in front of it. Further down the road we stopped at a village over 100 years old. As tradition dictates, we all carried the leaves from a croton plant to indicate that we were strangers just visiting the village. We followed a stone path through the jungle which led us out to an opening where this village’s bai was with the stone money of several chiefs from this village placed along the road next to it.
From there our tour continued south. We took a dirt road off the main road and stopped at the highest point in Yap to enjoy the view of the coastline on either side of us and the view of the southern tip of the island in front of us. Further in our journey, we braved the jungle once again to see the largest stone money bank on the island and various stops along the way to view a few remnants of plane crashes that happened long ago. One was a small Continental Airlines plane that had not made it to the runway and three others were Japanese planes that had been shot down sometime during World War II. All this sightseeing made for an interesting afternoon.
When we returned to the hotel, we packed most of our things in preparation for tonight’s departure, then we joined the gang on the Mnuw for one last dinner together. With my blog done for today, I hope to catch at least a little sleep before we have to meet at 2am for our airport transportation. I will drop you all a line when I get back to the States and hopefully then I can share some pictures with you. BON VOYAGE!
My travel adventure blog speaks of places I have been, places I am going, and places I will visit someday. Although, as an avid scuba diver you might think I focus only on what lies beneath the water's surface, but I also enjoy the magic of a destination's people and its physical beauty above the water, too!
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