Detailed Trip Report Federate States of Micronesia (Pohnpei) August 2018

As the lazy guys at LP stopped covering the Federate States of Micronesia in their guidebooks a decade ago I think it might be worthwhile to share a detailed report of my recent trip to Pohnpei. I will cover Chuuk in a different post.
Guidebooks are hard to come by. FSM was covered in the 2006 LP South Pacific & Micronesia so if you can get hold of that book it still gives you a worthwhile overview. On Amazon I found another book called “Micronesia and Palau” which was published in 2010. That book gives a better introduction to the history and culture of the islands but the practical information for planning and sightseeing proved disappointing. It contains even less info on that than the much shorter LP. There is another guide called “Micronesia’s Eastern Caroline Islands” published in 2012, I did not try that one.

How to get there? Pohnpei is currently served by three airlines, United’s Island Hopper from Hawaii to Guam (expensive, four times weekly), Air Nuigini flies weekly from Port Moresby (Thursday) and Nauru Airlines connects Pohnpei to the South Pacific (Brisbane, Honiara, Nadi) once a week (coming to Pohnpei on Fridays, leaving for Nauru on Sunday).
Where to stay? I was looking for the cheapest place to stay and that seemed to be the South Park Hotel. They have fairly bad reviews on booking.com. The hotel has actually a really nice setting with good views but it is fairly run down. I booked the cheapest room for 40$ per night and was expecting to end up in the super run-down old wing. To my surprise the room was big, really nice and with good views from the balcony. Turns out they had so many complaints from international travellers in the old wing that they put you in the newer rooms even when you book the cheap ones. The people running the hotel are friendly and the restaurant is good (usually breakfast and lunch only). I did not inquire about many other hotels, I was told though that the Cliff Rainbow (next door to South Park) offers nicer rooms for 45$and the Island Palms Hotel has nice rooms for 80$.

Where to eat? For breakfast you are mostly consigned to your hotel. Alternatively you can try the Café Ole in the centre of town. For a cheap lunch you can get rice or potatoes with some meat and vegetables for about 3$ on the street or at the gas station on the main street. There are not really any other snacks that you can get around town. In the southern part of Kolonia you can find Angie’s where you can get burgers, pizza and a few other fast food things. For dinner I tried for different restaurants. Oceanview seems popular with locals and expats and has the best food I ate in Pohnpei (starting from 12$), the Cliff Rainbow Hotel has similar prices, less selection and is not as busy. The restaurant at the Joy Hotel has a mixed menu of Japanese and American food (starting from 10$). Good chicken curry. The place I kind of liked most was Arnold’s which has the usual island stuff like grilled fish but also offers pizza. It is a fairly down-to earth place which I enjoyed. Meals start at 10$.

Other stuff to know:
At the airport you only get your boarding pass after paying a departure tax of 20$.
SIM cards are available at the Telecom building. They cost 10$, data and phone packages are more expensive than elsewhere (I ended up not buying one so I do not remember the details).
There is free Wi-Fi at the airport, handy if your hotel forgets to pick you up.
There are three ATMs on the island. One is inside the telecom building (Bank of Guam), another at the Bank of Guam itself and a third at the Bank of FSM. The Bank of Guam charges 3$ per withdrawal and the ATM at the BFSM never worked with my card.
Postcards are available at the Philatelic Collector Corner at the post office (1-2$) or cheaper (50cents-1$) at the tourism office. International postage is 1,20$, to the US 35 cents.

If you do not know what to do in the evening try the Cinema. Two halls and popcorn is available.

What to see and do?
The girl at the tourism office did not seem too knowledgeable. She though gave me a few nice brochures about different parts of Pohnpei with plenty of information including detailed maps.
Kolonia is worth a day just to get a feel for the island. This is the most happening place in the whole country ;-). There are a few churches, a rusty Japanese tank next to the tourism office, an old Spanish wall at the softball field, the bell tower left standing from an old German church (there is a staircase inside to climb the tower but it is badly deteoriated). Behind one of the churches is a small cemetery with a few old German graves and at the northernmost tip of Kolonia a small mass grave containing victims of a revolt against the German colonial masters. At the Southern end of the main street is a botanical garden with a nicely ruined building of the Japanese administration. All these sites are marked on open street maps. If you love tanks head to the ACE Hardware store. To the right of the store and behind of it is an area with plenty of trucks and other machinery. Ask your way around there (and get permission) to have a look at about 10 old Japanese WWII tanks that are lined up at the end of the property. Quite funny to see them all in a row. Apparently they also have one in good condition outfitted with an engine that they can drive around with. You have to meet the right people to get to see that one. Inside the office at the ACE Hardware store is a showcase with more WWII artefacts. Along the causeway to the airport you can take good pictures of the ships there with Sokehs Island in the background. Talking about Sokehs Island which is fairly close to Kolonia. Cross the bridge and turn neither right nor left but head on straight, the road is paved until the last houses and then goes on to a viewpoint where it turns by 180 degrees and then climbs steeply up onto the ridge. When the road reaches the plateau it turns right and if you go a bit further east at this point (small paths) you will find an old watchtower and two old Japanese anti-aircraft guns from WWII. Following a path from the turning point south (fairly wet at the beginning) you will come to another big gun that is well hidden under a concrete roof and only the end of the barrel sticks out. Further south are a few rifle pits and another viewpoint (to the south this one). Back on the road you can follow it up the ridge to the highest point and a radio tower with views over Kolonia. Getting around Kolonia and Sokehs Island is fairly painless as there are plenty of shared taxis and the standard fare around town is 1$.

...to be continued...

Around the island:
Getting around Pohnpei is more difficult as there is no real public transport. To be more mobile I rented a car from budget, 44$ per day bought me a nice little Toyota Yaris which even had the steering wheel correctly on the left side (most cars in Pohnpei have theirs on the right). Driving in Pohnpei is slow, everybody moves in island speed and the roads have a lot of curves and some nasty potholes. The complete ring road is nowadays paved. I describe the sites clockwise.
Lududuhniap Falls: A beautiful waterfall, you can get there by car, 3$ access fee, after some rains it was fairly impressive actually.
Nett Point: Good views back towards Sokehs Island, nice sunsets, one of the places where the locals swim and have a picnic. Some boats seem to go from there to the small islands around Pohnpei but they seem to be running on a family basis.
Pahntakai Falls: A small waterfall over a rocky overhang. You can walk behind the water coming down. You have to walk 15 minutes from the road, by far not as impressive as Lududuhnioap or Kepirohi. 3$ access fee.
Pohnpei Petroglyphs: A few petroglyphs on the rocks. 5 min walk from the road, 3$ access fee.
Kepirohi Falls: Another beautiful waterfall. 10 minutes from the road, 3$ access fee.
Nan Madol: Certainly a highlight of Pohnpei. Shattering all the assumptions I had about Pacific Islands where people live easy lives based on what nature offers them without much hassle. Suddenly these people carry heavy basalt slabs around the island and pile them up into impressive structures. For what reason I still do not know. Visiting Nan Madol can be done from land but you will not be able to see the whole sight this way. You pay a total of 7$ (1$ for parking, 3$ at one place, 3$ at another) and then follow a footpath across a few islands that were part of Nan Madol but are not very impressive. Just as start to think that this site is highly overrated you reach the wonderful main island (Nan Douwas) with its impressive and very photogenic high walls. To the southwest of that there are more islands with well-preserved structures (the brochure from the tourism office has details) but getting to them by land seems to be impossible. I timed my visit to be there at low tide with the idea of wading to these islands but I gave up after I was sinking into the ground 30-40cm with every step between the islands. Better to go there at high tide with a boat, not sure though if a boat is that easy to organize. Should be possible though and I was even quoted a price of 25$. I did some snorkelling out from Nan Douwas, the fish were okay, visibility was low but it felt like diving around the ruins.

More Japanese Guns: Nan Madol is situated on Temwen Island and this island also hosts a few Japanese guns. You have to follow a dirt road towards the interior and the friendly police officer Robert will take you to the four guns plus watchtower for the usual 3$. Unfortunately, no views from the guns anymore.
Lehnpaipohn Waterfall: I did not go there, but it is supposed to be nice, especially good for swimming below the falls. I was advised though not to swim in any rivers as they might be contaminated by pig feces.
Pwusehn Malek (Chickenshit Mountain): This beautiful pillar of basalt appears suddenly into your view. I tried to climb it but could not really find the path, people at the nearby house were unable to help and as it was all wet anyway I aborted the attempt.

Palikir: I enjoyed a walk around FSM’s government complex. Peaceful place.
I tried to hike to two other spots that I found in the brochures I got at the tourism office. Nan Karaopwung, a rock overhang with good views and Nipai Rock, a rocky outcrop with good views. In both cases I was able to find the way at the beginning but then the paths disappeared and I had to make my way through dense vegetation. That, steepness and wetness proved to be too much for me.
Outer Islands:
Lenger Island is full of WWII stuff but it seems you need to book a tour (I was quoted 80$) to get there as there are no public boats.

All outer islands are difficult and expensive to reach. No easy ways to get anywhere. Heard good things about Ant Atoll but you also need your own transport to get there.

Happy travelling!

Great,thanks for the report! One day I'll make it there...

Thanks for sharing it will help me next year

I'm looking forward to more posts. Did you get to Yap?

Just posted something on Chuuk: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/australasia-pacific-pacific-islands-papua-new-guinea/micronesia-federated-states-of/detailed-trip-report-federate-states-of-micronesia-chuuk-august-2018#post_22950365

I did not go to Yap, sounds interesting though but you can only get there from Guam I think.

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for your report! It helps a lot.
Which way did you booked the Soth Park hotel?
thanks again,
Anastas

Booking.com

Thanks, hope to visit on September 2019!

This is great! Thanks a lot for sharing!