Saipan Gold

Another Vacation

Over spring break, my friend Sandy and I went to Saipan for four days. It was a short trip but we were able to do a great deal of things. This is an account of our adventure.

It begins here

Hotel

I had booked our 3.5 hour flight to Saipan as part of a package which included accommodations at a hotel. It was the cheapest of the listings so I was not expecting much. The hotel, however, turned out to be quite nice. It had an especially beautiful pool and private beach. My single gripe was that Sandy and I were the only Westerners. Everyone else was either Chinese or Japanese. So we stuck out as an odd pair, particularly when considering that the others were families or couples.

View from the room

Main tower

Beach out back

One thing we did manage to do was get to know the hotel staff, two lifeguards in particular. They worked the pool and seemed bored sitting in the shade with little to do. The older of the two had an interest in Japanese women and asked me for advice about how to date them. He later lamented that he couldn't really have a relationship with one because they were all passing through as tourists.

Chinese couple

Lifeguard and boat captain

If there is anything else to say about the hotel it's that the TV had American programming, and we watched a bit. Actually, we left it on only a single channel, one that showed NCIS, CSI, Law and Order:SUV, and other similar shows. I was quite intrigued by the hour-long episodes an their gritty realism. Years have passed since I've watched American programs (Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones being exceptions). So it was a nice slice of American culture.

TV's on

Perfect weather forecast

Going Native

The Chamorro and Carolinian people are the natives of Saipan and make up about a third of the island's population of 30,000. Sandy and I met a group at a park. We joined them with a six pack of Hite beer. They were drinking Busch, a kind of cheap Budweiser, and said it was the most popular brew on the island for locals.

Good fun

We proceeded to get drunk together and everyone was friendly. One girl from the group was a mix between the two native races and referred to herself as a Chamorrolinian. She could speak both the native languages and seemed proud of her dual heritage. Her husband was also with us, but he was originally from the Philippines. Filipinos, Micronesians, and Chinese immigrants were quite common on the island, and the Chinese stood out thanks to their business savvy ways. A Chamorro in the group told me that the Chinese had done well because of how hardworking they are. They will toil out in the sun for hours doing construction if need be to make money, while the locals prefer to sit in the shade and relax. I later found that many of the latter were unemployed and rely on welfare to get by. Not surprisingly, ubiquitous "We accept Food Stamps" signs hung from windows and doors at the markets.

After we had filled our guts with beer we decided to go swimming in the ocean. A full moon cast a ghostly light across the water, and small waves lapped at the white sands. The west side of the island was harbored by a natural reef. In the low tide, a person could walk a half mile out without the water rising above your waist. We did not go that far, but rather found a small, pool like depression and conversed about the beauty of life and nature. Once we returned to shore the warm air felt a bit chilly because of how we were now soaked. Using discarded pallets from a nearby warehouse, we made a bonfire. The wood caught quickly and the flames burned so intensely we had to turn our backs to them to keep our faces from becoming seared.

Moonlit beach

At the bonfire

It became late and half the group left. We were ready to go too but the bonfire was still burning. Jerry, the Filipino guy, said we should call the police to have them come put the fire out. But I didn't want to bother them. So we dumped water and sand over the flames and coals. I was then gonna collect our empty beer cans and food wrappers. One of the girls said that it wasn't necessary. People are paid to clean the place every morning. "Man, I love this island," I marveled in response. "It really is a paradise."

Touring Saipan

Jerry had said if we gave him money for gas he would be happy to take us around the island in his truck. We took him up on the offer and he drove to our hotel to meet us the next morning. From there we went north to the island's main town of Garapan. It is mostly on a road that parallels the coast. On the one side are hotels facing the waterfront, and on the other residences and businesses that rise upward into the hills and interior of the island. After lunch we continued onward to an old bunker. The Japanese made their last stand during the Battle of Saipan in the bunker, and behind it was a cliff from which many of the them committed suicide.

Bunker

Inside

Suicide Cliff

A secondary highway went inland and headed across Mt. Tapochau the highest point on Saipan. A lookout at the top provided a view of almost the entire 45 sq. mile island. Most of the tourism was built up on the west side with the nice beaches, and on the east there was more nature and rugged coast. We headed back down to the east end. Jerry showed us a few beaches and we ended the tour by swimming at the last one, which had some corals in the shallow water.

Jerry

Island of birds

Locals

After our tour we made it back to the hotel in time for a perfect sunset. The elliptical disc projected a column of brilliant light straight to the shoreline, and I watched until it sank beneath the horizon and the sky became orange and above that dark purple.

Golden sun 

Cocktails

Nice kitty

Local Cuisine

In spite of all the food we had during our stay, only once did we eat the local Chamorro cuisine. And it was not even a meal but a sample offered to us by the pool lifeguard. He had gotten it from the hotel cafeteria that was for staff only. The chunks of meat tasted great. It reminded me of Mexican food with its spicy sauce and tenderness, and when I asked the name, the lifeguard told me it was was adobo. "Why that's a Mexican dish too," I told him. Then he started mentioning other dishes like tamales, menudo, and tortas.

I assumed this influence came from the Spanish colonial period when Saipan like the Philippines was governed from the viceroy of Mexico. But whatever the reason I wanted to try more of this Chamorro Mexican food, especially the tamales. I was told they made them with rice powder instead of corn meal, and boiled them in banana leaves. Sandy and I looked for an authentic restaurant during the remainder of our stay. The problem was they didn't have them. The locals just cooked at home, and the restaurants were for tourists. They specialized in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, American, Filipino food and so on.

European style

The closest we found to real Chamorro food was the bbq that they do on a stick with four or five chunks of meat. That and we ate at a Filipino Chamorro fusion restaurant. The food there was not so great I thought but the ladies who ran it were friendly and we chitchatted for a good half hour.

With the staff

Fusion food

The island had one McDonald's. We did not bother. Near our hotel was also a Taco Bell/KFC. Japan has KFC but its overpriced and missing a lot of the good sides. But there is no Taco Bell. So Sandy and I made up for lost time and ate the food three times. Oh how I enjoyed eating their chalupas and steak burritos. And for one meal I had the KFC which oddly was a dish with chicken, spanish rice and a fried egg.

Taco Bell and KFC together

Bloody Affair

Japan invaded Saipan in 1914 and used it as place to grow sugarcane. Due to its position in their inner defense circle, the Japan Imperial forces had it garrisoned with 30,000 troops during WWII.

When it became evident that the Americans were going to try and take the island in 1944, the Japanese soldiers proceeded to butcher the local population fearing they might help the American assault. Those who had time fled into the interior of the island and hid in the dense jungle and caves. The Japanese sent patrols to find them. It became so bad that the natives had to kill their babies when they cried, or risk being discovered.

The Americans first bombarded the island from sea, and marine landings followed. Three weeks of heavy fighting took place. At the same time Japanese naval forces attempted to resupply the island and drive away the attacking forces. This resulted in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and an American naval victory.

The American landing

After all hope was lost, and capture seemed imminent, many of the remaining Japanese on the island chose suicide over what they thought would be rape, torture and death at the hands of the Americans. They used grenades to blow themselves up or leapt from cliffs. Only 1,000 Japanese survivors were taken prisoners.

Left alive

Banzai Cliff Memorial

A boy survivor

Once Saipan was under their control the Americans repaired the airfield the Japanese had been using, and for the first time in the war had a base of operations from which to send bomber planes against Japan. Later on the Enola Gay flew from the island when it dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima, thus bringing the war to an end.

American War Memorial

Bike Rental

Across from our hotel was a car rental place run by a Chinese business man. Before even arriving on the island, Sandy and I had made up our minds to rent scooters and ride around on the back roads. So we went over and inquired about how much the rentals were. A young Chinese girl who spoke good English worked as the receptionist, and Sandy took an immediate liking to her. It was 35 dollars for the day she said.

Sandy and the receptionist

We rented a pair of Vespa knockoffs and rode north revisiting some of the places we had already gone with Jerry. On the way I chose a random turn that lead into the hilly interior of the island. The narrow road cut through thick jungle and dead ended in a loop. We headed back the way we came this time going downhill. Right away the scooter tires lost their traction on the moist, slippery road and we both skidded out. I let go of the bike as soon as I felt myself lose control, but Sandy held on and banged his hip hard against the ground. The scooters also took damage such as scrapes and dents.

Flame tree

Right before skidding out

After a midday rest at the hotel we went to the south of the island. I took the lead and headed into the villages. We rode around on residential roads and at one point a woman waived us over. She offered us water and local tangerines. I thanked her for her kindness. She was with her sister, niece and nephew, and though they looked local, they were in fact Micronesian. The neice was babysitting a little Chinese boy. I took pictures of everyone.

Machete and boy

Micronesians

Flowers near the shore

Our ride finished at sundown. We had decided to return the scooters the next morning but Sandy was intent on meeting the Chinese receptionist before then. He had her number and called asking what there was to do in Saipan at night, and she said not much on weekday. Anyhow, the way the conversation went, she agreed to show us around. An hour later Quine (that was her name) picked us up in one of the office's rental cars and drove us to Garapan. We had Chinese food and went to bar, and then ended the night talking on a long pier while boats rocked below on the water.

The following day we were worried that we'd have to pay for the damage we did to the scooters. Quine was at the office and we showed her the scrapes. But she merely shrugged them off. "Don't worry," she said. And so we didn't.

Buildings

Going around the island I saw plenty of old worn down houses and other interesting structures. Though many of them looked old, they didn't appear to have been built any time earlier than the 70s. The growth and humidity of the tropics had simply taken their toll on the walls and foundations. We even came across an abandoned mall. I went in for a peek, and it was like some jungle temple long forgotten by man.

No one here

Centuries ago, when the Spanish colonized Saipan, they didn't waste time converting the local populace to their religion. The mark of Catholicism, thus remains strong upon the island and I saw plenty of churches and symbols of the faith. On the lookout atop the Mt. Tapochau, for example, stood a statue of Christ, hands tilted upward, as if accepting the island as a whole. The same day we left Saipan the locals walked up to that statue in a religious procession. Unfortunately, our flight was early and we could not see it.

Church on main road

Lookout

Another church

The other interesting buildings that stood out for me were the 24 poker halls. I learned that as long as gambling occurs inside one of these places, it is legal. The majority of these poker spots were in small malls next to laundry mats and markets. It saddened me to see so many. The island could do without such an obvious social vice, but people will gamble regardless of its legal status. Not me though. I've never cared for it. 

Typical mall

Tank

Sandy I were walking along the beach, when on a quiet, uninhabited stretch we noticed at a distance an object sticking up from the water. I figured it might be a buoy. Out of curiosity I slapped a 55-300mm telephoto lens on my camera and used it like a telescope to zoom in on the object. It turned out to be a tank turrent. I assumed the rest of the tank was under the water.

Tank turret

At the hotel I asked a lifeguard about the tank. He informed me that it was one of three that remained in the sea from the Battle of Saipan. The Japanese took them out as they were brought in on boats, and there they sat all these years later. I next asked if it was possible to swim out to them.

"Sure," said the lifeguard. "But be careful not to step on any urchins. They have them on the sea floor between the rocks."

When Sandy and I went we heeded his advice. The tank was about 200m away, and for half that distance the water did not rise above our heads. We walked it and both kept an eye out for any urchins. I saw a few black ones but most the sea floor was covered by a grasslike seaweed. The second half we swam. I had to egg Sandy onward because he was spooked by the deep water. Luckily, he managed and we got to the rusted hunk of metal. Aquatic life had turned it into a kind of artificial reef with fish swimming in and out of the tread wheels. I'd find out on the Internet that it was a Sherman tank measuring nine feet tall.

Two nights later at the bar Quine took us to, I was talking to a pair of Japanese tourists. I told them about the tank and they seemed interested in seeing it for themselves. So I offered to take them. We set a time for the next day. On an impulse I bought some beer to drink on the shore after the swim. But once we got to the tank I decided it would be better to have it on the turret. The thought compelled me to swim back and get it. Much to my relief the case bobbed on the water's surface as I carried it in tow. And so it was that we had canned beer on a sunken WWII tank in the middle of a warm, blue sea.

Only in Saipan, I thought. Only in Saipan.

Tank beer

Island Paradise

Saipan was the first real tropical island I have visited and it looked exactly like all those pictures I'd seen in post cards and travel guides for whatever get away spot. Viewing it in person definitely had an impact. I kept telling the locals how amazing the place was, and how lucky they were to live there. They agreed but sort of shrugged at the same time.

Palms

Concrete pier

I paused for a moment in thought. We all come from different places and it shapes who we are. The Saipan people are accustomed to beaches, sea and nice year round weather. For them what I found so incredible was more of the same thing they's seen all their lives. So I wondered how they would react upon visiting New York or Tokyo in winter.

"Go to Japan," I said. "The place will blow your mind. And it's only a short plane ride away, you know." I now wonder if anyone actually took the words to heart.

Born to fly

In Conlcusion

Travel is the greatest. I can't sell it enough. Nothing else provides one with the opportunity to see and experience as many new things. Saipan for me was exactly that type of a trip. Sadly, not many mainland Americans go there. Hawaii and the Caribbean are more appealing tropical destinations due to their closer proximity. Yet if you ever travel to the other side of the Pacific check it out and enjoy the beauty of a breathtaking island.

Making waves