Yap - Day #4
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2010
1
16
26
Trip End
Feb 14, 2010
Where I stayed
Yap, Yap, Micronesia
Saturday, February 6, 2010
We sat down to the bar and ordered our martinis. The staff took the time to demonstrate how the betel nut is prepared for chewing, and some of the traditions for the Yapese. They each showed us a handwoven basket, and I had earlier noticed Yapese men holding these during our trip here. When a boy turns fifteen years old, he is given a small basket. As he gets older and learns specific tasks and trades (e.g., canoe carving) he "earns" larger baskets. So, essentially, the size of a man's basket determines his status. (I'll pause here to let my gay readers finish snickering...)
Then they asked us if we'd like to try chewing the betel nut. Sure, we said -- why not sample the local tradition? They prepared our betel nuts wrapped in pepperleaf, and we started chewing. The concoction creates a lot of red-tinted saliva, and we were told not to swallow it. (A common sight in Yap is of people spitting out their betel nut juice...) The betel nut had a mildly sour flavor, and after a couple minutes, I was ready for my first spit. I leaned over the rail and spat -- more like dribbled -- the reddish saliva into the bushes. I chewed for about a minute more, then a lot of saliva was filling my mouth. I leaned over and spat again, but this time, as I raised my head, I noticed it was swimming. I was feeling somewhat lightheaded, almost dizzy. After one more minute, I decided I had enough and expelled the chewed mixture. The wooziness lasted about another five minutes, as I downed a couple glasses of water to ease the flush feeling in my head. (Lucas felt it even more -- he lay down on the floor for a couple minutes until the sensation passed.) Then they served us our martinis (which were not designed to create that same feeling), but by then I was turned off by the taste of betel nut, and only took a couple sips...
We had dinner at the Manta Bay Resort, another popular hotel in Yap that mainly caters to divers. They have a bar and restaurant in a converted schooner ship called the Mnuw. Once seated, the waitress said she would get the menu. She came back carrying a chalkboard ("the" menu) with four entrees detailed on it. We both had tuna, which was delicious. After dinner, we headed back to Traders Ridge where the owner of Village View was going to take us to our accommodations.
Al pulled up in his van and off we went. The van probably never made it over 20 miles an hour, and except for an occasional streetlight, only the van's headlights pierced the darkness. The ride took 40 minutes, with the last part on a narrow dirt road surrounded by jungle. (I was almost expecting a T-Rex to jump out and eat us.)
We pulled up to Village View, which was a set of five duplex bungalows situated on the beach, with a dive shop and a restaurant. Village View is situated in the village of Wacholab, which we learned is made up of Al's extended family. We could hear the surf breaking against the reef about a half-mile away. The bungalow was very spartan, but clean. It kind of felt like camping accommodations, except we did have a bathroom and air conditioning. Tired, we immediately went to bed.
When we woke in the morning, we looked out and saw paradise. The tide was high, and the water was lapping just a few yards away from our veranda. We spend most of the day relaxing on the veranda, reading and chatting. Oh, and we were reminding ourselves of the big snow storm that many of you were experiencing at that very moment! :-) We also took a couple walks on the beach, and had both lunch and dinner at the on-site restaurant (which had a surprisingly large menu for only serving a handful of people every day). For lunch, I had a club house sandwich (basically a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich) and for dinner I had a noodle bowl with pork. Lucas had an Asian chicken dish for lunch, and an Asian shrimp dish for dinner.
After dinner, Al drove us to the airport (I wasn't sure his van was going to make it up those first couple hills). Only a handful of people were waiting for the hour-long flight to Palau. There are no x-ray machines here -- all bags are searched by hand. We are about to board, and I hope our hotel in Palau has Internet access so I can upload this...
Comments
oh thanks for sharing the pix from Yap....i love them :)
My pleasure. It was such a beautiful place with wonderful people!