Pyramids of the Pacific

Kosrae was beautiful, but Pohnpei is even more breathtaking. If you haven’t clicked on the link from the last blog, you wouldn’t know that my hotel here on Pohnpei is essentially a tree house; a bungalow in the jungle with wide open windows to nature. Obviously, the first thing anyone would think of is the bugs. It’s not that bad. If you ever seen that Expedia commercial where a couple stays in a hotel room and in the middle of the night turns on the light and sees the wall come alive, that’s what I was thinking I was getting myself into. I actually slept pretty descent throughout the night. The hot humid weather wasn’t bad as there are a lot of night showers and the mist keeps us cool as well as the bugs at bay. I was greeted by this friend in the morning. I think it’s a termite. Nevertheless, when I showered and left my room it was gone so it’s all good.

Today we went on a boat ride. I have never snorkeled before in my life and being that this was my first experience, I fear that it may have ruined it. It sounds bad, but really I’m just saying how this set the bar for snorkeling so high, I may not have the same exhilarating thrill as I did today. First off, we were on this boat and it was POURING. I mean the rain freaking hurt as it hit us and sitting in wet clothes while traveling fast made it a very cold trip. We stopped and anchored onto a buoy and started to gear up to jump into the water. Coincidently, the rain stopped as we were putting on our fins and masks. When I jumped in, I was pleasantly surprised how warm the water was. I just wish I could have taken pictures of what I saw. The reef was so full of life and colors. I never realized how much life there is underwater. We saw countless number of fishes and our guide was even able to sniff out a couple manta rays (not literally). There was also a really friendly shark (a white tip?) that was casually swimming through. The school of fish was one of the best choreographed sites I have ever seen. Once one fish turned, the entire school moved. Again, I am sorry I couldn’t take these underwater pictures!

I read in this a traveler’s guide to Micronesia that if you’re even remotely close to Pohnpei, you must stop by and visit Namadol, an ancient ruin site that dates to pre-civilization on the island that no one understood how it got there. You can even say it’s the “Pyramids of the Pacific.” This monstrous site is constructed of extremely heavy stone. We’re talking 50-60 tons each brick. As you can see from the picture, each brick isn’t exactly small. It’s believed that men from unknown origins built this place as a palace for worship. On this island, there were three different tomb sites, a meditation chamber (arguably a prison, but the guide pointed out that no place of worship would house detainment areas), and walls that surround the campus to protect the “palace” from incoming waves.

The steps you see lead to one of the three tombs. The guide sits us down in this pathway and tells us everything he has heard of the Namadol islands. He opens by admitting to not knowing much about the ruins. It is believed that the palace was built for worship, but how it was built is unknown. There are stories that it took 18 locals to pick up 1 brick and took half a day to transport it from steps of the palace to the shore line. They constructed an “oversized” raft, one never seen before due to its sheer size, and it immediately sank to the bottom once the brick was placed into the raft. That’s just one brick. This palace fortress utilizes countless number of rocks and bricks. I am still dumbfounded and can’t figure out how the fortress was built (notice I use fortress and palace interchangeably. I understand it was a palace but man, it looks like a stronghold!).  It’s just like the Egyptian Pyramids or the Mayan Temples or even like that huge rock from Indiana Jones. If only someone had a whip I could say “Dock-tah Junes! Dock-tah Junes!” Anywho, place is freaking SWEET.

This wall you see here is from the entry way. Whoever constructed the place was obviously experienced. In between each brick is broken down coral. It acts like cement in a way and binds the adjacent two bricks while sealing it off and preventing any leaks in between the layers. The guide states there is a unique, indigenous word that describes how the rocks got to the island. Though there is no direct translation from Pohnpeian to English, it sounds like it’s not too far from the definition of levitation. Archeological teams have surveyed the sight in the past and our guide states the stone have some type of “magic” because compasses were not functioning correctly (the needle didn’t sit still, something you would expect from a magnetic field).

This is the biggest tomb of the three and is located dead center of the island. When I mean dead center, I mean past teams have measured the tomb and it’s equal distance from every which direction in regards to the island (by the way, the island was pretty small. The wall in the previous picture was almost the border of the island. There is a small walkway around the perimeter directly in front of that wall and beyond the walkway was the water. We’re talking you can walk the perimeter of the island in 5 minutes).

The three tombs incased held 16 skeletons, as discovered by a German archeologist. This archeologist had the skeletons shipped back to Germany on a freight boat. Unfortunately the boat never reached its destination nor did anyone figure out where it sank. Sadly, the same German archeologist who opened the tomb succumbed to a grave illness and soon passed away not too long after the graves were overturned. Based on that story, the locals further believed the existence of a magical aura that radiates from the island. Our guide admits he does perform this tour often and there was a $3 dollar “entrance fee” to attend this tour, so whatever ambiance that was present may or may not still be there. Nevertheless, I don’t want to disrespect any spirits so I will kindly take his words for it.

This is one the mediation hole the guide was talking about. It is 4ft x 4ft and is 6 feet deep. One of the other tourists (another MD from Austria who is here doing work on Diabetes and the obesity challenge the islands present) posed the question what if it were a prison. As I previously touched upon, the guide said they understand this was a place of worship ergo a place for detainment against your will would not be a reasonable explanation for the hole. Nevertheless, he answered her question by stating that it could possibly easily have been a prison because they still do not know the origins/purpose/use of these Namadol ruins. After I saw the hole, the first thing that popped into my head was “Are there any spiders down there? That alone would be enough to make sure I don’t go to prison!”

After our adventure on the land, we went kayaking, another activity I have never participated in. I was paired with Lori and Mike with our guide. The others on the trip had single kayaks and were roaming about. Now, past experience has taught me this was going to be grueling and extremely hard (tandem bicycle riding at the beach was the most exhausting thing ever mainly because my partner didn’t pedal, THANKS!). Lori was a champ and rowed the entire way. In fact, there were parts where she would row and I didn’t because I was too busy taking pictures (thanks/sorry Lori!). It was a lot of fun and we saw extensions of the ruin walls as we kayaked far in between the numerous small islands.

After our Namadol trip, we moseyed on over to another part of Pohnpei, Kepirohi Waterfalls.  It was a boat ride away and once we reached our destination (another island but still a part of Pohnpei), we had to walk this extremely narrow, rock trail. The trail was outlined with exotic plants and bushes of a variety of color. You could hear the water roar but couldn’t see any water or wet spots.

You turn the corner and BAM! This is what you see. Talk about WOW factor. The waterfall was easily 30 feet high. The water was 26 degrees (according to one traveler’s watch thermometer) but being that it was a hot and humid day, it felt refreshing. There was an area in front of the waterfall but before the rocks where we could swim. Our guide showed us a specific spot where you could sit behind the waterfall. I attempted to get into that space but he made it look a lot easier than it was. As I tried to get up into the space, I actually slipped and fell onto the rocks before I landed in the water. I think I’m ok but I believe sympathy points are in order.

There is no narration needed for this picture.