Time of visit: August 2018

Duration of visit: 3 hours

Mode of transportation: within Pohnpei - a 1.5hr drive from Kolonia, followed by a channel crossing by foot; to Pohnpei, from San Francisco, then Honolulu, via the United Pacific Hopper flights through Majuro, Kwajalein, and Kosrae

Review and experience

The primary focus of my 2 days on Pohnpei was scuba diving - truly a diamond in the rough and underrated dive location. I was so close to choosing Chuuk over Pohnpei, as Chuuk had some impressive WWII dive sites and I could only select one stop-over along the United Pacific Hopper flights without extra costs, but Nan Madol ended up being the tie-break for selecting Pohnpei. 

I'd like to think of Nan Madol as a sleeper hit WHS. Despite having taken a handful of archaeology courses in college, I hadn't heard of Nan Madol and the Micronesia dynasties! Perhaps I was asleep in class if one of my professors covered it for a brief few minutes, and if so, shame on me... While Nan Madol may not be as impressive as the likes of Machu Picchu, Chichen Itza, or the Great Pyramids, its truly lives up to its OUV in my perspective - a one of a kind cultural masterpiece. An added bonus to the experience was that I was the only visitor (aside from my guide/driver) to the site during my time there, so the experience was intimate and undisturbed by others. Venice of the Pacific may be an understatement for Nan Madol. There is still so much yet to be re-discovered and learned about Micronesian history, and I hope new findings from the site can shed light to a piece of human history that is often left out or forgotten!