October 16, 2025

Got to love a place that sells shirts saying "Where the heck is Yap? "

Colonia (population 3,100) is the Capital and Harbor town of Yap State (population 11,600) one of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia. We are in the Pacific Ocean or Philippine Sea just north of the equator, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

This is downtown Colonia on a busy Wednesday afternoon. We are the 5th  cruise ships they have had here, in the last 3 years. Notice no overhead wires, no electrical traffic signals. What Yap is famously known for is their Stone Money. For centuries, they used giant crystalline limestones disks, as their currency; It's noted on their license plates. Today they use USA dollars for their currency but they  still used the stones for birthdays, weddings, funerals and in conflict resolution. The most amazing fact about the stone money is that it didn't come from rocks here on the island. They were transported here on rafts from Palau, 250 miles away! They are scattered all around the island, along walkways and in the forests. There are an estimated 13,000 stones on the four Yap Islands. Some are huge, as big as 12 feet in diameter and weighing 8,800 pounds. The stones stay in place even when they change ownership. Their value is based on the stone's size, beauty and history! (Note: I borrowed huge stone photo from Basia's @Basiak.blog for reference)

Colonia also has a Living History Museum in the downtown. The men still use the community house for their men only meetings!

By Patricia Patrick October 13, 2025
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.
By Patricia Patrick October 10, 2025
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.
By Patricia Patrick October 2, 2025
Today we were Cave explorers! We went to the one of UNESCO newly classified 7 NEW WONDERS OF NATURE - The Puerto Princesa Underground River.