Micronesia [antikvár]

Introduction Micronesia is entirely in the North Pacific, a term that doesn't exactly conjure up exotic images the way 'South Pacific' does. Yet all the idyllic island clichés fit perfectly: Micronesia has warm aqua waters lapping at pristine bleached sands, swaying coconut palms, lush tropical jungles, tumbling water-lls and traditional thatched huts. Micronesia's 2100 islands lie scattered between Hawaii and the Philippines. Though they cover an ocean expanse the size of the continental United States of America, their total land mass is less than Rhode Island, the smallest US state. Many world maps don't even bother dotting them in. Four colonial powers have used these tiny specks of land as stepping stones between continents, first as provision ports on trade routes and later as military bastions. The island groüps have recently emerged as 'island nations', each with some sort of political identity of its own, yet all still firmly locked into a future with the USA. Not only are they spread out over a great distance but each of the island groups has its own culture and character. The inhabited areas vary from idyllic villages with no cars or electricity to the high-rise resort developments of Guam and Saipan. Steeped in a rich yet largely unknown history, the ruins of the great stone cities of Pohnpei's Nan Madol and Kosrae's Lelu are on an archaeological par with the stone statues of Easter Island and the Mayan ruins of Central America. You can still get a glimpse of these abandoned worlds by navigating the Venice-like canals of Nan Madol or walking Lelu's coral rock pathways. Unfrequented Yap has giant stone money, grass skirts, men's houses and Micronesia's most traditional lifestyle. With only a few small hotels and no developed tourist sights Yap offers the sort of unspoiled earthy attractions that independent travellers yearn for. Now that jets fly into Kosrae, all the major district centres are linked by air. Kosrae itself is a beautiful mountainous island and a friendly backwater that still seldom sees PACIFIC OCEAN 0 MARIANA • ISLANDS <¦ MARSHALL oGuam ISLANDS Yapo o o o oO Pohnpei o^ ^ Palau ° '' o "Chuuk "o ® Kosrae CAROLINE ISLANDS Tropic of Cancer " o HAWAII Equator ^ SOLOMON o"^,j,ISLANDS