Scuba Jim
Contributor
MONDAY 12 MAY 2003
So, after breakfast at the Blue Lagoon Resort we headed off to the airport via the pot holes and small lakes that littered Interstate Highway 1, or whatever they call the only road on Truk! Truk is an interesting place to drive through - you ain't seen so many rusting bits of junk in all your life. Bulldozers, cranes, trucks, cars, huge piles of domestic waste are strewn everywhere. (In fact you can see this all round the perimeter of the Blue Lagoon - the dive shop is built by piles of rusting junk and domestic waste. Yuk. Reminded me of Yap, but without the Bud cans!
Check-in at the airport. They have no X-ray machine in Truk, so everyone's bag is checked by hand. This also affords them the opportunity to check if you have stolen anything off the wrecks. There is a $10,000 fine if you lift anything from a wreck in Truk. I heard of a guy getting fined $10k for taking a small lump of coal from one wreck. The moral of the story is - Dont Take Anything. It's not worth the risk!
I for one am feeling lousy. A raging temperature - no thermometer was available, oral or rectal, but I reckoned I was running at least 103F. I was sweating like a pig and shivering at the same time. I felt great! And nothing like a plane journey to make you feel even better.
The flight took us from Truk to Ponphei (Ponphei is worth a visit in its own right, if not for the diving then for Nan Madol, the ancient city made from hexagonal blocks of basalt - like those at the Giant's Causeway in Ireland - that can be found there.) Here we touched down for 45 minutes. We then took off again and went to Kosrae, capital of the Federated States of Micronesia. Here we touched down for 45 minutes. We then took off again and went to Kwajalein, the largest atoll in the world. Here we touched down for 45 minutes. We then took off again and went Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands! Yippee, we had arrived. A day's worth of flying for what is essentially a 30 minute train journey! (That's 30 minutes in a French train. An hour & a half in a British train and 4 days in an American train .)
In the time it had taken to fly from Truk to Majuro, we did not see the sun once, not even from the plane. It was raining at every single place we landed. Oh great, I thought. We're gonna have 2 days of sunny diving on this entire trip (we had had them already). And there was me saying May was a good time to visit Truk & Bikini!!! 
So, on landing at Majuro we queued at immigration and were each given a form to fill in about where we had been the last 14 days because they were worried about SARS. There was a list of countries (which included the US and UK) in which SARS was prevelant. I cant remember what all the questions were, but I am sure one of them was "Do you have any SARS like symptoms?" (Or words to that effect!). And then a list of SARS symptoms: fever (yup, I had that); temperature (yup, I had that); headache (yup, I had that); cough (yup, I had that); cold (yup, I had that). Oh my Gawd - I had SARS!!! So, all we had to do was fill in the form and hand it in. No one actually checked the form, and no one actually checked us, either! The fact that I had a some nasty body flu virus was really of no concern, it seemed. Why bother to ask us to fill in these forms if you're not going to follow them up. It gave a list of clinics and hospitals to visit, and their phone numbers, in case you had SARS symptoms. Not much use when you have to hand the form back in again Anyway, the last thing I wanted to do is get quaranteened for 2 weeks in an isolation ward in Majuro General Hospital. So (shhhhh, dont tell them!) I lied on the form and said I was in fine health. After all, I only had flu! (Or so I thought!)
So we went to the Outrigger, overlooking Majuro Lagoon. Interesting place, the Outrigger. It has a grand entrance, and has plenty of rooms, but is never mnore than 30% full. Not quite sure why the Outrigger chain built it From the rooms you can see the lagoon, and the town of Majuro to the right, plus all the ships, and to the left on the far side of the atoll the islands stretch away to the horizon.
We were staying for 2 nights in Majuro, as the flight to Bikini was not until Wednesday. On Tuesday 8 people were going diving with Jerry from Bako Divers, based in the Outrigger. I had planned to go, but as I felt so rotten I went to bed early on Monday night. I woke at 4.00am the next day, but I did feel 80% better. Phew, I thought! I don't have SARS after all! And gues what, my sun dance around the coconut tree had worked - the sea was calm and the skies were blue. Thank **** for that!
I took it easy that day, while the others went off and did their two dives and Kapalan Pass. I popped into town to see Jack & Brenda from Bikini, and I had lunch with a gal called Jessica who I had met at ITB, the huge travel show in Berlin, who's family owned various enterpirses in the Marshall Islands, including Marshall Dive Adventures, the Robert Reimers Hotel, Robert Reimers Supermarket, Robert Reimers Casino and Knocking Shop, Robert Reimers This and Robert Reimers That. Yup, her surname was Reimers!
The good news from Jack was that the new Dash 8 they fly to Bikini, that can hold everyone's luggage no problem at all, was bust, and that we would have to fly out to Bikini on the old Dornier. Oh great - this meant I had to tell everyone they couldnt take all the clobber they wanted and that it was two sets of clothes and a toothbrush for the week!
After lunch I had a rest, and then the guys came back from their dives - lots of fish, some sharks and that sort of thing. All were happy. We arranged to meet in the lobby at 4.00pm so I could give them some news (I didn't tell them if it was good or bad!). So all gathered at 4.00pm and I told them the news. All were gloomy and despondent, especially the photographers. I knew this would make Ian happy, and I cut him off at the pass before he could start ranting.
"Shut Ian - there's nothing we can do about it. Live with it." Oooooo, they loved it when I was angry!!! 
I explained what they should and shouldnt take, and that I had bought two cheap bags so everyone could put their unrequird stuff in them, and store them ate the Outrigger for the week. In fact, most wre pretty good about things, and we eventually left about 8 bags. Ian had his stuff, so no cause for complaint!
By that evening I was feeling fine - we met in the bar for a few beers and then had a meal. We had to be up at 5.00am the next morning, as check-in at the airport for the flight to Bikini was a 6.00am. Nice.
So, with clear skies we had an earlyish night, everyone excited about the fact that they were off to Bikini.
So that concludes this part of the trip.
Dont miss the next exciting installment - Bikini or Bust (If you'll pardon the Pun!)
THIRD LEG (Truk - Majuro):
Distance: 1334 miles
Air Time: 6hr 20m
Accumulated distance: 11211 miles
Accumulated Air Time: 27hr 5m
So, after breakfast at the Blue Lagoon Resort we headed off to the airport via the pot holes and small lakes that littered Interstate Highway 1, or whatever they call the only road on Truk! Truk is an interesting place to drive through - you ain't seen so many rusting bits of junk in all your life. Bulldozers, cranes, trucks, cars, huge piles of domestic waste are strewn everywhere. (In fact you can see this all round the perimeter of the Blue Lagoon - the dive shop is built by piles of rusting junk and domestic waste. Yuk. Reminded me of Yap, but without the Bud cans!
Check-in at the airport. They have no X-ray machine in Truk, so everyone's bag is checked by hand. This also affords them the opportunity to check if you have stolen anything off the wrecks. There is a $10,000 fine if you lift anything from a wreck in Truk. I heard of a guy getting fined $10k for taking a small lump of coal from one wreck. The moral of the story is - Dont Take Anything. It's not worth the risk!
I for one am feeling lousy. A raging temperature - no thermometer was available, oral or rectal, but I reckoned I was running at least 103F. I was sweating like a pig and shivering at the same time. I felt great! And nothing like a plane journey to make you feel even better.
The flight took us from Truk to Ponphei (Ponphei is worth a visit in its own right, if not for the diving then for Nan Madol, the ancient city made from hexagonal blocks of basalt - like those at the Giant's Causeway in Ireland - that can be found there.) Here we touched down for 45 minutes. We then took off again and went to Kosrae, capital of the Federated States of Micronesia. Here we touched down for 45 minutes. We then took off again and went to Kwajalein, the largest atoll in the world. Here we touched down for 45 minutes. We then took off again and went Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands! Yippee, we had arrived. A day's worth of flying for what is essentially a 30 minute train journey! (That's 30 minutes in a French train. An hour & a half in a British train and 4 days in an American train .)
In the time it had taken to fly from Truk to Majuro, we did not see the sun once, not even from the plane. It was raining at every single place we landed. Oh great, I thought. We're gonna have 2 days of sunny diving on this entire trip (we had had them already). And there was me saying May was a good time to visit Truk & Bikini!!! 
So, on landing at Majuro we queued at immigration and were each given a form to fill in about where we had been the last 14 days because they were worried about SARS. There was a list of countries (which included the US and UK) in which SARS was prevelant. I cant remember what all the questions were, but I am sure one of them was "Do you have any SARS like symptoms?" (Or words to that effect!). And then a list of SARS symptoms: fever (yup, I had that); temperature (yup, I had that); headache (yup, I had that); cough (yup, I had that); cold (yup, I had that). Oh my Gawd - I had SARS!!! So, all we had to do was fill in the form and hand it in. No one actually checked the form, and no one actually checked us, either! The fact that I had a some nasty body flu virus was really of no concern, it seemed. Why bother to ask us to fill in these forms if you're not going to follow them up. It gave a list of clinics and hospitals to visit, and their phone numbers, in case you had SARS symptoms. Not much use when you have to hand the form back in again Anyway, the last thing I wanted to do is get quaranteened for 2 weeks in an isolation ward in Majuro General Hospital. So (shhhhh, dont tell them!) I lied on the form and said I was in fine health. After all, I only had flu! (Or so I thought!)
So we went to the Outrigger, overlooking Majuro Lagoon. Interesting place, the Outrigger. It has a grand entrance, and has plenty of rooms, but is never mnore than 30% full. Not quite sure why the Outrigger chain built it From the rooms you can see the lagoon, and the town of Majuro to the right, plus all the ships, and to the left on the far side of the atoll the islands stretch away to the horizon.
We were staying for 2 nights in Majuro, as the flight to Bikini was not until Wednesday. On Tuesday 8 people were going diving with Jerry from Bako Divers, based in the Outrigger. I had planned to go, but as I felt so rotten I went to bed early on Monday night. I woke at 4.00am the next day, but I did feel 80% better. Phew, I thought! I don't have SARS after all! And gues what, my sun dance around the coconut tree had worked - the sea was calm and the skies were blue. Thank **** for that!
I took it easy that day, while the others went off and did their two dives and Kapalan Pass. I popped into town to see Jack & Brenda from Bikini, and I had lunch with a gal called Jessica who I had met at ITB, the huge travel show in Berlin, who's family owned various enterpirses in the Marshall Islands, including Marshall Dive Adventures, the Robert Reimers Hotel, Robert Reimers Supermarket, Robert Reimers Casino and Knocking Shop, Robert Reimers This and Robert Reimers That. Yup, her surname was Reimers!
The good news from Jack was that the new Dash 8 they fly to Bikini, that can hold everyone's luggage no problem at all, was bust, and that we would have to fly out to Bikini on the old Dornier. Oh great - this meant I had to tell everyone they couldnt take all the clobber they wanted and that it was two sets of clothes and a toothbrush for the week!
After lunch I had a rest, and then the guys came back from their dives - lots of fish, some sharks and that sort of thing. All were happy. We arranged to meet in the lobby at 4.00pm so I could give them some news (I didn't tell them if it was good or bad!). So all gathered at 4.00pm and I told them the news. All were gloomy and despondent, especially the photographers. I knew this would make Ian happy, and I cut him off at the pass before he could start ranting.
"Shut Ian - there's nothing we can do about it. Live with it." Oooooo, they loved it when I was angry!!! 
I explained what they should and shouldnt take, and that I had bought two cheap bags so everyone could put their unrequird stuff in them, and store them ate the Outrigger for the week. In fact, most wre pretty good about things, and we eventually left about 8 bags. Ian had his stuff, so no cause for complaint!
By that evening I was feeling fine - we met in the bar for a few beers and then had a meal. We had to be up at 5.00am the next morning, as check-in at the airport for the flight to Bikini was a 6.00am. Nice.
So, with clear skies we had an earlyish night, everyone excited about the fact that they were off to Bikini.
So that concludes this part of the trip.
Dont miss the next exciting installment - Bikini or Bust (If you'll pardon the Pun!)
THIRD LEG (Truk - Majuro):
Distance: 1334 miles
Air Time: 6hr 20m
Accumulated distance: 11211 miles
Accumulated Air Time: 27hr 5m
