Palau

Arriving in the dark and rain at 4AM in the morning makes any place forbidding. But after a sleepless five hour- flight from Seoul and getting a few hours sleep at the Palau Pacific Resort we saw we were in a tropical paradise.

Like all paradises it has a dark historical side, in this case a history of occupation, first by the Spanish then the Germans then the Japanese from the beginning of the 20th Century to the end of World War II, the ravages of which reduced Palau's native population from 45,000 to 15,000. Palau was used as an agricultural and supply center by the Japanese with hundreds of thousands of slave laborers from Korea, Malaysia etc. building roads and bridges and working the fields. The Japanese presence made Palau a major target for the Allied forces in World War II.

The islands were taken by the United States in 1944, with the costly Battle of Peleliu between September 15 and November 25 with more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese killed. The wrecks of 300 American planes are scattered around the islands as evidence of the ferocious US attacks along with many shipwrecks, now attractions for divers, supplementing the coral reefs and underwater wonders for which Palau is world-famous.  Now, Japanese comprise 75% of the tourists.

Palau has 350 islands, if you count lots of little stones in the sea with vegetation on them. Ten of them are inhabited. Their gentle, green, rolling outline, make a beautiful scene. The climate  is hot and humid. Palau is now an independent country after coming under the benevolent wing of the US following the war. The US dollar is the currency and Palauans have the right to live in the U.S. freely. U.S. citizens can live in Palau but can't own land. English, Japanese and Palauan are spoken by the natives.

The snorkeling was excellent. The reef right off the beach of the Palau Pacific Resort was superb. On a day trip we snorkeled the Dropoff, along the outer edge of that magnificent reef which is world-famous among divers and also snorkeled the unique jellyfish lake where countless stingless golden jellyfish create an other-worldly experience. The multi-colored big clams, the amazing varieties of fish and the varied terrains of corals and underwater plants were also outstanding.

The original deserted island which inspired countless cartoons

Evidence of Japanese WWII occupation

Scenery

A hint of what lies below the surface

Our lunch beach

Underwater scenery

 

Now I can reveal that all the pictures above were taken at the Honolulu Aquarium on our way back after Palau. But they accurately reflect what we saw in Palau (except that in the Jellyfish Lake the jellyfish were golden color in lighter water color..)