Saipan

The day began with the sound of the pilot boat beneath our cabin, the motor churning loudly. Like an alarm clock for cruisers, I bounded out of bed to see where we were. It is always fun to wake up to a new port. The sky was heavy,  grey clouds all around.   I got dressed and went for coffee, the usual, please. I went to the back of the boat to check out where we we would be spending our day.  A new adventure!   The feel of the ship is different as we reach a new port. The dining room has a silent buzz of excitement and anticipation as people ready for their day.   You just feel a different energy in the air on port days.   The rain started ever so slightly and I was not going to have that today. The skies listened. When I went back to the room,  a rainbow welcomed us to Saipan, always a good sign :).












 Once again dancers welcomed us to Saipan, along with a downpour. We waited for a break and headed off the ship to find our tour guide, Walt, for our private tour of Saipan. I found him on the internet. We traveled with another couple, a two car parade. Our fellow cruiser was a WWII vet who was stationed here, 90 years old. Together we spent the day seeing the War sights and listening to stories about when Lloyd was last here. When we went to The American Memorial Park, after a short film, Lloyd was given the American Flag, a medal and a short ceremony in recognition for his service. People here remain very appreciative of the vets who were here and during the war. We spent the day learning and hearing stories about the War and its impact on Saipan. David loved being here, being the buff that he is on WWII.

 





After our first stop we stopped at a local grocery store to load up on fresh fruit for our long journey. I have never had green tangerines. My God, they a taste of heaven. They are all wrinkly on the outside. When you open them they look like a tangerine I would buy in the States. These were so very sweet. I LOVED them. We also had mangos and papayas.

 

There are ships stationed and anchored here that are on guard 24/7 should the US need them. I can't imagine this being my station, living on this ship as my base. Talk about boredom. Saipan and Guam remain a heavily guarded military base for the US. High level security for all visitors. We were heavily searched coming back to port. We were required to carry our passports.

 

 Here is a tank still left where it sank, just off the beach. People now swim around it.

 

This is the beach where US troops first landed in Saipan. In the distance is Tinian Island, an island where the US constructed two long range B-29 bomber airfields, the largest in the Pacific used for the atomic bombs "Little Boy" and "Fat Man". "Little Boy" began its journey to Hiroshima from Tinian.

 

Japanese bunker. Inside is a bunch of beer cans.

 




Lloyd with our guide, Walt describing how it came down when he was here.

Next stop, Amelia Earhart's disappearance and what the government is keeping from us....

 

 We traveled where no man has gone for over 50 years, it seems, no tour buses at least.

 





Bombs were stored here by the Japanese

 

Our guide told us Amelia was kept in this prison for about 7 years, and then executed by the Japanese as a spy. There are stories by locals who claim they saw her and found evidence of her belongings here after the war.....

 

Banzai Cliff one of the sites were Japanese killed themselves rather then surrender to the evil US Empire.

 

And Suicide Cliff, higher in the mountain where people also jumped. Now I see a cactus where people carve their names... "Joe was here"...

 

 Last hold out. Last command post taken. Carved out of a mountain high on a cliff.

 

 We saw Bird Island

 

Our tour ended on a high note. Who would have thought we would have run into Obama in the I Love Saipan store.... :)