Transpacific 2016 STOP 15

June 28, 2016

Flight distance: 296 nm
Hours in the air: 0.50

lI was a short ride over to Guam. Now being on US Territory handling was very professional and fast so we were at our hotel already before lunch.
Besides being home to Andersen Air Force Base, one of the largest US military bases outside the 50 states, Guam enjoys all year round summer temperatures. Unlike Saipan, Guam is a favourite for mainly Japanese and some Koreans seeking a beach or a honeymoon getaway. Like in Saipan we enjoyed being back in civilisation with good food and wine while mingling with happy tourists and locals.
The north of the island looks like anywhere in Florida, where as the south is still pretty untouched by developments and mass tourism with white sandy beaches and empty bays. More WWII sights were also on the program, notably the surroundings where one Japanese soldier was holding out for 27 years past the end of the war, hiding in a self built cave in the woods before local Chamorros found him in 1972.

Facts & figures

Guam is the most populous island in Micronesia and some would call it cosmopolitan and a modern American colony. However the island is large enough and especially the southern part still boasts sleepy historical villages.

The indigenous people, called Chamorro probably migrated from Indonesia (they share pieces of language and customs with Southeast Asia) around 1500 BC and inhabited most of the Mariana Islands until a certain Ferdinand Magellan sailed into Umatac Bay on Guam in 1521. However the Spanish took control in 1565 for centuries until the Spanish-US war in 1898 and with the signing of the Treaty of Paris the same year fell under US occupation.