THE PINKI VIEW: Nan Madol and Kepirohi Falls, Pohnpei

My trip to Nan Madol and Kepirohi Falls took place on Saturday, September 19, 2015, while we were still in Pohnpei. I am currently in Palau and have just found the time to write and post this blog.

The ruins of Nan Madol are considered to be one of the great wonders of the world. The magnitude and complexity of the site has been compared to the building of the pyramids of Egypt. Nan Madol is a huge complex constructed entirely by man and includes a number of islands, temples, living quarters, pools for sacred eels and turtles and a complex maze of canals. It is thought that humans occupied the area as early as 200 B.C.

This picture gives you an idea of the size of the area that we saw when we first arrived.

Just when Nan Madol was built and exactly how it was constructed remain a mystery. The stones used to construct the buildings are very large and it is thought they came from a different part of Pohnpei, perhaps somehow floated on the water by tying them to wood. Today the complex is mostly covered by jungle. I believe we saw only a small portion of the ruins.

Many of the stones appear to have a pentagon shape. It is not clear whether they were found this way or cut into this shape.


Here's a part of a large wall.

Nan Madol is located on the Eastern side of Pohnpei, running down the side of Temwen Island and out onto the reefs. There are 93 man-made islets ranging over an area that covers 150 acres. It's on the opposite side of the island from Kolonia, I'm guessing a distance of 20 to 30 miles.

How did we get there? (This is one of those stories that Connie thinks I make longer than necessary.) During training we had an hour of language instruction each day. We each had our own instructor because we were all going to different islands, each of which has it's own native language. My instructor was Hasintha Omura, a Palauan married to a Japanese man. They have lived in Pohnpei for about 25 years. There are lots of Japanese residents of Palau, and also quite a few in Pohnpei. Their relatives originally came during the Japanese occupation before and during World War II. In any case, I happened to ask her at our lesson on Thursday (I'm a terrible language pupil and spent a lot of time asking Hasintha questions) whether she knew of anyone who could give me a tour of Pohnpei - just a drive around.

She hesitated for a moment, then said perhaps her husband Ken could take me. I was to call her on Friday to confirm. I called and spoke to Ken, who apparently had a bus and offered tours on the side. His main business was working as a dive instructor. It turns out he was already taking 5 Japanese tourists on a trip to Nan Madol on Saturday, and I could come along and bring others of our group. I already knew Michelle was interested in a tour, but Eric had planned a climbing trip and Ron was going with him. Since Marshall was staying in Pohnpei, he had no interest in doing any activities now. He would have the whole year to explore the island.

There was a heavy rain Friday night. Eric's guide for his climb called to say they would not be able to make the trip because of the conditions on the mountain, so Eric and Ron joined our tour. We set out in Ken's bus at around 8:30 a.m. and drove to Nan Madol. Several times during the tour we each needed to pay local residents $1 to $3 to enter their land - to get to various sites we had to cross private property. But the fee was worth it because the owners do a good job of maintaining the trails.


Here we enter a trail leading to the part of Nan Madol we visited.

The path crossed lots of mangrove swamp.

There were several larger bridges.

Here's a closer look at mangroves. The mature trees are in the background. The spikes in the foreground are new mangrove.

I really had no idea what the conditions were going to be like in reaching Nan Madol. As a result, I was poorly prepared in the shoe department. I wore my waterproof Salomon's (they served me well in Romania), but now we had to wade across a large but shallow inlet. I would have worn my reef shoes, if I had known. I took off my shoes, left them on the bank, and crossed barefoot, then proceeded to walk around the ruins barefoot. It was painful! Finally, one of our group retrieved my shoes and I made the rest of the trip, including wading back, in shoes.

Here's the water I had to cross barefoot to get to the ruins.

Another view of the water separating the ruins from the trail.

Once across the water, this is what we found.

Here we are (Eric, Michelle, me, and Ron) after wading across to the ruins.

Following are more pictures of the ruins:

Michelle taking a photo of Eric

After touring the ruins we walked out toward the Lagoon.

Ken never mentioned we would be seeing the Kepirohi waterfall on the way to lunch until we got there. The falls are on private property, so once again we paid the gate keeper a small admission charge. We walked for about a quarter of a mile from the road along a very well maintained trail. Here's what we saw:

Kepirohi waterfall

The pools below the falls are deep enough for swimming, but it is not recommended. Freshwater eels are said to be found in the waters here. Eels are considered to be sacred by the Pohnpeians.

There was lots of interesting flora along the trail to the Falls.

Ken had mentioned we would stop for lunch on our way home. The restaurant was an unusual place, located at waters edge. They offered a fixed price, all you can eat lunch, delivered on a moving conveyor. The conveyor was around the edge of a circular bar. You could eat at the bar or take your food to a table. The person in the center of the circle constantly restocked the various dishes being served by placing them on the conveyor. The set-up looked very much like a small version of a baggage claim area.