Guam
Had a really terrific day in Guam. First, after being at sea for 4 days it was great to walk off the ship onto some terra firma!
The immigration and customs officials showed up an hour late so everything was delayed but no one seemed very upset. The captain has given us extra time as he's delaying our departure to help make up for it.
This island is so pretty! Green and lush (and bloody hot and muggy) and neat and clean. Beautiful vistas from the overlooks into the bays.
There's a lot of WW2 history here. U.S. troops landed here in Asan Bay in July 1944 and a battle ensued for over a month, fighting the Japanese for control of this strategically located island. Thousands of soldiers perished during this period. The U.S. was successful. We visited a memorial and it was quite sobering.
There are two naval bases here with 20,000 troops today. There is the only navy run fire department here as well.
There's a very old park called Latte Stone. It is a few stone relics from the Chamorro people who came to these Mariana Islands around 2000 BC. Today there are still close to 100,000 Chamorro living here. They would build their homes on top of these stones, which include a tall stem-like base with a wider flat cap on the top. The A frame top of thatched material would then sit on top of these stone pillars. Or something like that.
After the tour we went back to the ship. Lots of security there - the bus was stopped outside the gate to the port and bomb sniffing dogs were led around the bus. Then to get back into the port area our bags were thoroughly searched and we were "wanted"! Fun!
I immediately turned right back around and hopped a free shuttle bus to the mall. I had in mind to find a place to get a much needed pedicure. I found one! The mall was cool inside and the pedicure was lovely. There was also free wifi.
After my pedicure I wandered around and had some kimchee and some SPICY hot chicken at a food court place. My mouth burned and my eyes watered for ten minutes but it was delicious.
Picked up some cookies and big bottles of water ($1 for 1.5 liters) at the ABC store and then climbed back on the shuttle back to the ship.
A nice nice day!
Sherita
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