In February of 2018, we visited a magnificent, tropical and far away island of Palau. Palau is located in the Pacific Ocean, east of Philippines and Indonesia. Below are a few stories I would love to share. They may be kind of random but hopefully interesting.
We went to Palau islands because we wanted to experience its world class diving. Some of the best underwater experience in the World may be found right here. Palau is known for its only shark sanctuary as well. Therefore, we booked our vacation with a goal to spend one week on land and one week on a live-aboard Rock Aggressor, doing nothing but diving. Photographs depicted on this page are land photographs only. Underwater world is a separate album also found on my web site.
Palau consists of over 340 islands and form the chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. There are only 22,000 people living on the islands, mainly on Babeldaob Island. Koror is the most populous town as seen in two pictures below, but the capital city is Ngerulmud (population of 391!).
Palau consists of over 340 islands and form the chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. There are only 22,000 people living on the islands, mainly on Babeldaob Island.
Koror is the most populous town as seen in a picture above and three below. The the capital city is Ngerulmud (population of 391!).
I will be honest. There is nothing much to do on the island of Palau, but get really lazy and enjoy the most beautiful scenery. The island itself is a never ending jungle with a nice road cut in the middle of it . The road loops around and takes you back to where you started. Scenery is out of this world. There is abundance of lush vegetation mixed with strikingly red flowers and bushes. During your drive around the main island, you may see, among the heavy vegetation, a hidden modest home, then again, the never ending rows of tropical trees, so thick you can't even walk through. A few drive tours we took around the island left the impression that very people live here, and posed the same question: "Where are all the people?" On internet, it read that there are 22,000, which should include around 8,000 immigrants working here, but I sure did not see fragment of that population. It is quite desolate. Desolate and very pretty.
The island calls for a number of nature related experiences, but it seems to me that most people do them though a few travel agencies that are stationed in the most populated town of Koror. They also charge you and arm and a leg for the experience.
We did part-take in one of the experiences. It was probably the most beautifully spent day in my life. Kayaking around Rock Islands, the Long Lake Tour! A whole day of heavenly gorgeous and tranquil scenery, kayaking between mangroves, exploring small salty lakes, snorkeling with cattle fish, having a healthy, organic, sulfuric mud bath a Milky Lake and being a child all over again.
On a picture below is the largest town of Koror and its local park and access to the beach.
The Island of Peleliu
On the pictures below, you can see the island of Peleliu and its Orange Beach. We hired a local to take us on a 90 minute boat ride to the island. As we got there, we hopped in a rather old, rusty but still somewhat functional SUV. We spent half of the day driving around this tiny island and visiting sites. The island is known for the bloody battle in WWII between the vbrave Japanese and American soldiers. You can still see some remnants of the battle, such as abandoned artillery scattered in the bushes and close to the beach.
The feeling is as if you have the whole island to yourself. There are no big resorts or anything you can call fancy or luxurious. I kind of like it like that. Interesting fast is that there are only around 500 people living on the island of Peleliu.
