North Beach Cottages
Ilii (Hello) From North Beach Cottages
Greetings from the North Beach Cottages in downtown Choll on the longest beach in Ngaraad. This is your Palau correspondent Papa Mike reporting in on his first field trip beyond happy hour at the Storyboard Bar and Grille in Koror. I have been dispatched to this outpost of humanity to experience one of only four lodgings on the island of Babeldaob. The trip here was two hours over what is known as the compact road, a 53 mile, 150 million dollar project which will link all of Babeldaob with the folks down in Koror. For now it is a half finished project, with nasty detours through swampy land and enough serious bumps to knock loose the fillings from your teeth. Get this; the project is being built by the Korean conglomerate Daewoo, (that’s right the same people that built that ill-fated car briefly imported to America) and they appear to have subcontracted the actual work out to a host of Vietnamese workers. As you might have guessed it the project is behind schedule and dogs are disappearing all over the island.
The cottages themselves are authentic Palauan style, with green corrugated roofs and all wood interiors, the four cottages are set on a long deserted white sand beach. There are more kayaks than cottages so that guests can enjoy the lagoon. Food is served on an open-air covered patio with views of the garden and lagoon. Ever since my first meal the waiter has taken my order for the next meal and I have already had three different kinds of fish, parrotfish, tuna and another one with fins and scales. All have been pan-fried and fresh from the reef with a green salad, rice and fresh fruit. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with bacon and pancakes. There is a cat that shows up at mealtime; needless to say he has given up getting scraps from my table. There is a reef a quarter mile off the beach, it is just a picture perfect setting
That is until the rain started shortly after breakfast and continued on until noon. I was going to wait until what I thought was a brief shower passed over, but ended up watching senior golf from Valencia, California on ESPN Asia. Did me good to watch Mike Reid three putt from two feet, while I sipped my papaya juice and laughed. So that pretty much took care of my morning and I returned to my cottage to take a nap before lunch.
That is until the electricity went off, which shut off the air conditioning and created the largest sauna on Babeldaob. So I did what any sane person would do under the circumstances, began drinking the beer before it got warm. So that is where I sit on my adorable little deck overlooking the lagoon, I sure am glad this laptop has a three hour battery so that I can record this dispatch to my friends and family back home. I learned later that afternoon that the electricity was off between 11:00 and 3:00 each afternoon. (Darn, guess I can’t use that excuse tomorrow)
Papa Mike
Tags: Travel
Papa Mike