First Stops on the Pacific Hopper

United Airlines has a route from Hawaii that hops through multiple stops in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia, terminating in Guam. It’s a carryover from Continental Airlines, and it’s a reasonably economical way to travel through multiple stops in the South Pacific. This is the route we’re moving through, and we’re now a couple of stops in. We overnighted in Honolulu and then caught an early morning flight to Majuro, Marshall Islands.

This trip is our first time actually staying in Hawaii, and we both found it interesting and charming. The little sample we were able to experience was very multinational and far removed from life in mainland USA. We arrived in the early afternoon and caught a taxi to our hotel, which was on the very far end of Waikiki, near Diamond Head State Park. A twenty-minute taxi ride was $50!! You can really eat through some cash quickly hopping around in taxis. On our timeline though, walking or waiting for buses just wasn’t the best option. We hiked up Diamond Head and enjoyed some amazing views and grabbed some Hawaiian-Japanese fusion afterwards. Don’t knock the Spam avocado bacon sushi roll until you try it! Really though, we just didn’t have all that much time in Hawaii. It was just enough time to know we need a return visit.

The flight from Honolulu to Majuro was four hours or so and a fairly comfortable flight. We’ve both managed to get our sleep schedules on track at this point, so the rest of the island hops should be manageable. We’d both read less than favorable descriptions of the Marshall Islands from the standpoint of a tourist destination. Maybe these people were unduly harsh though, I thought, as I started to feel my ears equalize and caught a fleeting glimpse of rocky coral jutting out of the bright turquoise waters during our descent. Out on the tarmac, it’s immediately apparent how remote of a destination this is. There’s basically one flight that arrives, and we were it. The airport is on one end of a big horseshoe-shaped atoll with a single paved road that runs from end to end. Parts of the atoll are narrow enough that there were beachfront houses on each side of us. By no means is this a luxury destination. It’s not exactly underdeveloped, but there really isn’t industry to support new development either. Other countries have gifted many of the nicer structures (besides USA, Japan and ROC were responsible for many of them). I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this in prior posts, but we usually try to stop by a local grocery store, even if the stop isn’t totally necessary. Granted, it’s also usually quite helpful, but we’ve found that these stores often tell a story of local life. The local groceries here are essentially filled with a very odd jumble of surplus junk food. The obesity problem in this region comes into relief with the aisles dedicated to generic Kool-Aid and flavored drink mixes and other processed snacks. Actual sections of meats, breads, fruits, and vegetables are a pretty sad spectacle. I can see how public health outreach focused on dietary choices might fall a little flat here.

When it came time to grab some dinner on our first day here, we consulted the glossy printouts that name all the local restaurants. We went with the largest restaurant on the island (seats 100+!!) that specializes in local cuisine and “theme meals” (whatever that means). The most generous assessment of local food here is that it is “nourishing,” and I’m certainly not the first to say so. At the largest restaurant in town, there were two other tables of people and they only had a few beers between them. The menu had a selection for an MIR (Marshall Islands Resort) platter, which purported to have a varying assortment of local dishes. We were told that they were out of supply for that. Soooo…. Let me repeat this: The largest restaurant in the capital of the country was unable to cook ANY “local” dishes. Hamburgers and ramen were the nourishing substitute in this case. But really though, shouldn’t food be one of the cultural touchstones that draws you back to a place? It’s more than just sustenance; it can be part of a fabric that provides common ground for everyone. When that is lacking, well, I’m just at a loss. There needs to be some degree of joy expressed in cooking. I’m just not seeing much of that here. Rather, my assessment of the RMI version of a “local favorite” for breakfast called “loco moco” (hamburger over rice with egg, covered in gravy) is that it is a tale of human suffering in a bowl. Is that how you want to start your day, every day?

But again, we’re only passing through, so it’s really just first impressions. What’s the value of first impressions? Like, how about the first impression of hopping in a taxi with a young lean guy with home made “prison tats” running down his forearms playing an Alvin & the Chipmunks rendition of “Love me do” at a loud volume and enthusiastically tapping out the beat on the steering wheel? We’d already been treated to the sonic abuse and bad karaoke that is the one and only local music station. I thought to myself: “what have they done to this poor young man?” He’s made to listen to this day in and day out, until one day he decides he likes it and starts tapping along. But then I realized it was playing through a USB stick he had in his car stereo. I mean, this was his personal playlist! In a few minute taxi ride we were hit with the most eclectic mix of 80’s love ballads I can recall. It topped the Beijing taxi driver playing country music for sheer weirdness. Oh, and with the driver looking like he might be a charter member of some Polynesian MS-13 variant, I didn’t let on that it was at all strange.

Today we caught a morning boat to the private Eneko Island on the very end of the Majuro atoll. It was a nice change from the “city” part we’ve been staying. The island has a postcard perfect lagoon side where we did some snorkeling and kayaking. They have a few basic facilities there but you have to pack a picnic lunch. There is a path cut through the island that leads to the ocean side, which was pretty cool. The vegetation was thick enough that in this setting it seemed like the smoke monster might come rattling through the foliage at any moment. As for the ocean side, it’s dramatically different. It was this expansive rocky tropical hellscape with really crazy waves just roaring away. If you slipped and fell on this beach you’d be gashed open in a dozen places. It was very interesting to see the contrast, and the muffled roar of the waves as heard from the lagoon side seemed all the more relaxing. There’s not a lot to do in Majuro, but spending a day relaxing at Eneko Island was pretty nice.

Hawaii Slideshow:

Marshall Islands Slideshow: