13 September 2010

hiking: nett ridge

nett ridge is a great hike that starts just outside of kolonia. its a great workout - very strenuous. it climbs to the top of the ridge behind us in the first photo, and offers a nice view of the river on one side, and of the reef on the other. this is one of my favorite hikes, and we had great guides this time - a group of young teens who husked coconuts for us to drink and fetched cacao for us to try out. the ridge has several japanese tanks and guns - given how much effort it is to walk myself up to the top, i'm at a loss to imagine the labor required to get such equipment so high up.
relatedly, we just celebrated liberation day this long weekend. it's a state holiday commemorating the end of japanese occupation during WWII. i just learned that pohnpei's holiday is three days after kosrae's because of the delay in passing the message of liberation from one island to the next. whether you've just celebrated liberation day or labor day, i hope you had a great long weekend!






















hiking: pahn tikai

pahn tikai is a beautiful hike in u. it's mostly a steep climb up a paved road, but ends with a short jungle scramble. the waterfall is in front of a bat cave - you can climb up to it, but i passed on the 'guano scramble' as i've done it before. i'd meant to take a photo of the reef on our way back, but we got drenched to the bone by rain instead.