A Very Special Blog Edition: Rota

So, now that I am in Alaska - living in the last frontier and all - here is a post that is not only completely unrelated but somewhat old. Unfortunately, there were many things that happened over the past five months that were not immediately recounted on this blog. As time marched on, events, such as the one I attempt to remember bellow, continued to not only occur with surprising regularity, but ultimately became entrapped by sort of intercontinental time vacuum. Time itself was destroyed, vaporized, exterminated, stolen. I would go to sleep on a Monday and would wake up on Thursday - this would happen every week. One time I went out for lunch on a particularly beautiful day and when I finished my meal it was 2009. Recently, as I was preparing to post a new blog entry, I realized that unless I included some older adventures, they would be forgotten - perhaps lost forever. So to address this issue I will weave older adventures along side the more contemporary and future Alaskan adventures under the heading: "A Very Special Blog Edition." So, for your reading pleasure, here is the first Very Special Blog Edition - Rota.





About once a year the Guam Hashers take a trip to a remote tiny tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean - lucky for them it is only about 76 miles (or a 15 minute flight) away. Rota, along with Saipan and Tinian, is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Last November I went on the annual trip to Rota.



Rota is the smallest of the inhabited Mariana Islands, yet rises dramatically out of the sea, boasting the highest elevation of the entire island chain. Although 3,000 people call the tiny island home, Rota remains largely uninhabited. For the first and perhaps only time (until I visited Iwo Jima), I truly felt that I was on a tiny isolated island surrounded by a vast ocean.





We took the Friday evening puddle jump out of Guam, rented a car and drove to the capitol of Rota, Song Song Village. 'Song Song' is a Chamorro word meaning village so in effect the place is called "Village Village." As we drove toward the hotel in the dwindling twilight I noted two unusual things - the almost complete absence of streetlights and everyone of the few people we passed gave us a big wave. Rota is know for its friendly people which is personified by waving at anything and anyone. It was so pervasive that I would not be surprised if there was some sort of local statute that made a failure to wave a jailable offense. Despite the evident hospitality, when we arrived at the hotel - no one was there to check us in. After an extensive search of the village, we found someone to check us in - but I'm still not sure if she actually worked there.



After checking in, we walked over to Song Song's bustling restaurant district - there were three "restaurants" one of which also served as a livestock feed store and gentleman's club. Like all business establishments in the Mariana Islands, each restaurant was equipped with karaoke. Needless to say, I had very low expectations for the culinary arts practiced on Rota. Nevertheless, the most surprising thing about Rota was the outstanding food - seriously. We tried out Rota's pizza place - I had the blackened shishimi pizza (outstanding) - and would visit it again many more times over the weekend. After visiting every bar on Rota (all three of them) we called it a night and went to bed.

The next day we drove around the island. We first stopped at the bird sanctuary. Unlike Guam, Rota actually has birds - birds native to Guam. The bird sanctuary is one of the last protected areas on the islands. Next we went to the ancient latte stone quarry. Before Europeans messed everything up, the Chamorro people would construct houses atop stone pillars called latte stones
Some of them were quite large.


Next we decided to go for a swim in the crystal clear water Pacific and unlike Guam, there was no garbage strewn across the beach.


Finally, after a brief sojourn back at the hotel, came the Rota hash. It was fantastic. We began at the top of the 1,600 foot peak of the island and raced down the steep slopes through thick jungle. Immediately we came across large heaps of crushed and broken blue glass - the remnants of Japanese sake bottles. Unlike the other Mariana Islands of Guam, Tinian, and most famously Saipan, Rota was not attacked by U.S. forces during World War II. Instead the Japanese garrison of Rota was allowed to languish unsupplied for nearly a year and a half with only the occasional bombing raid to break the tedium and near starvation. The garrison finally surrendered after Japan surrendered in September 1945. The most remarkable feature of Rota are the largely intact Japanese fortifications and bunkers located throughout the island. The trail continued but I was surprised at terrain differences between Rota and Guam. The ground surface of Guam is largely covered with soil providing for an easy running experience. The ground of Rota, however, is covered with jagged razor sharp limestone rock - once coral reef. Making matters worse was the generous growth of thorn bushes throughout (Guam also has few thorn bushes). With this in mind, the terrain of Rota was certainly more painful. After climbing down through the jagged rocks for a while we emerged at a vista overlooking Song Song Village just as the sun was making its final approach bellow the horizon.


After a break to savor the view, we again ran through the jungle and much to my excitement, into a Japanese bunker. The bunker was tastefully lit with tea candles courtesy of the hares. It was awesome. The bunker was long and included several different tunnels - a very impressive accomplishment. Those guys must have had a lot of free time.


The trail finally ended at an abandoned water park. The celebration was somewhat excessive, but then again when is the next time we are going to be in Rota? Perhaps a year for some, perhaps never again for others...

The next morning we again awoke to yet another beautiful day.


Again we ventured out to see some of Rota that we had missed. Lucky for me we came across this Japanese coastal defense gun. It was in near mint condition and still pivots with only a light push. Note the red tape - if it is pushed all the way out it blocks half the road in front of it.

Next we explored the large Japanese command bunker complex - fantastic. Afterwards, we boarded the evening flight back to Guam. Rota was by far the most beautiful island in Mariana Islands. Its small, friendly, and trash averse population are truly stewards of Rota's resources. Yet despite the beauty and historic remains, I probably could not live there very long. It is very small and there is nothing there in terms of many modern conveniences and establishments. Like I said at the beginning - Rota was the first time that I truly felt that I was actually on a small island in the middle of the Pacific.