Palau - Week 1

Hello again. With great expectations, Eileen and I are off on what we hope will be an epic journey. This time, we plan to spend 11 weeks traveling around Southeast Asia. We'll start in Palau, then on to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and finally the island of Borneo. While we won't have the camper van with us this time, we will have our bicycles – hopefully they will give us great freedom to explore new places.

Given the 7 hour time difference, we started “time-shifting” before our departure. We went to bed 30 minutes later each night for the 10 days prior, making for some strange hours the last few days: up at noon and to bed at 4am, for example. The day of our flight (New Year's Day), we left the house to drive to LAX at 3:30am. Forty hours later, we arrived in the island nation of Palau (via Honolulu and a 20 hr layover in Guam).

A bounty of frequent flier miles left over from my business travel days allowed us to enjoy 1^st class service. International first class is amazing! Succulent cut fruit, freshly baked cookies, attentive service, and above all room to straighten your legs and actually recline the seat! The leg to Hawaii wasn't like that though, and the flight attendant admitted it is because it is not a money maker since most of the travelers there are using frequent flier miles.

The first thing we noticed in Palau was the overwhelming humidity. The temperatures were mid 80s, but our skin was constantly slick with sweat. I have never been so hot in all my life. I think I lose about 20 IQ points in this condition – I can't entirely think straight. Maybe we'll acclimate eventually.

But when there is a breeze or you are in the shade, it is truly paradise here. I didn't know there were so many shades of color between blue and green. From deep dark blue to shockingly brilliant turquoise (we haven't been able to catch it in photos yet, but we'll keep try trying). And the water is so clear and inviting – it is always calling you to get in. And get in again and again until your fingers are wrinkled like prunes.

So far, we've done six amazing scuba dives. I'd forgotten how great it can be under the right conditions. Starting with the wonderful feeling rolling backwards off the boat into the weightlessness of the water after suiting up in all the heavy scuba equipment. The water feels just like body temperature (it is 85 degrees). So far, we've seen a tremendous amount of sea life: sharks, turtles, fan corals, clown fish in their home anemone, and other colorful fish too numerous to mention.

At the famous “German Channel” site, we got to watch a giant manta ray fly thru the water to the “cleaning station” where cleaner fish were waiting to remove parasites (a tasty meal for them). Mantas are not just big sting rays, they are massive! Seems like they'd make a great submarine – 2 or 3 people could fit inside the body no problem.

Diving in Palau is described as challenging – not a beginner site because of the strong currents. We carry a “reef hook” with us so we can “attach” ourselves to the bottom against the strong current whenever desired. It allows you to effortlessly watch the sea life swimming by in the current. We had heard of divers' being carried away and lost in the current, so we were extra careful.

That said, after diving one day, we discovered that our guide divemaster was in the news a few years ago when he was swept away and drifted for some time (rumored to be 8 hrs to several days) before he was luckily discovered miles away in the Pacific Ocean by a passing fishing boat. Upon reflection, he did seem very very cautious about the currents on our dives – makes sense. Wish we could have asked him about it.

Internet has been harder to find than I anticipated. And when we find it, it is painfully slow. Loading a single page can take more than a minute – or never return! Turns out most of the island is running at 28 kbps – wow, who can remember dial-up speed? It simply doesn't work now that the web is optimized for high-speed access. It could get better or worse on the mainland – we'll see. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep the blog up to date in a timely fashion.