 |
| Port of Call - Yap. Ahead, you can see the old Chinese ship that is now the hot bar in town. |
While we were on Yap, we were thrilled to get off the boat
and walk around. The crew laid out BBQ dinner on the dock. Afterward, we went down
to a neighboring boat that has been converted into a bar and restaurant. It was
lovely, having beers on the top deck with a refreshing cross-breeze. Old movies were projected on the sails and
the moon and stars were out.
On our way home, we saw some of the famed stone money –
large disk shaped stones as tall as 12 feet! The value of the money is based on
the difficulty in acquiring it. Although
they accepted our US$ at the bar, they still use stone money for certain
transactions to this day! To read more about the stone money, check out the
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yap_Islands
 |
| Chad, Maryann, Louis, on the top deck. |
Well, Your mom (we're old friends) told me I could keep track of your voyage, and not to worry about you - ("You would be the most dangerous thing in the water!" lol) I'm based out of Bangkok, and have done some docs on the Sea Gypsies in the Andaman Sea, but their population stretches to the archipelagos near you. Looks like your enjoying yourself, and doing good work. Thought you might be interested to know we're watching. You may be interested in this photo and link: http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-together/317994/photo-of-the-day.
ReplyDeleteStay safe.
Jim Coyne
Bangkok, TH
Hi Jim -
DeleteThanks for following!
I watched your Sea Gypsies piece. It is lovely.
I really hoped to meet some of the Micronesians, as I am sure you did the Malaysians when you shot your piece. Unfortunately, as a woman, I am not allowed to take part in the meeting of the chiefs: Chief Scientists meets Chief Woleaian. But I did meet the chief and his subordinates when they showed us where the big corals were and when they gifted us with coconuts.
Keep in touch! I would love to see more of your work.
Whit
Thanks Whit; If the Sea Gypsies were animals they'd be on the Endangered Species List, only an estimated 4-5,000 population, scattered from near you to the Andaman Sea in small groups of 80-100. As it is, they're just adrift in time. No written language, nobody understands what they're saying - limited vocabulary even in their own language, a few words for color, rudimentary stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou can see some of my old (and not so old) stills at www.coynephotos.com, but mostly I've been hanging out with AsiaWorks Television, and haven't updated my site in way too long.
Make a discovery! Stay safe!
Jim
Heading down to Bali for a few days at the end of the month.
The stone money sounds really interesting. I will read about it. The photo of the Chinese ship is really neat. To watch movies on the sails of the boat .... how cool is that? It sounds like such a fun trip. Love, MOM...
ReplyDeletePS: this is the scarey part because now that I am done writing, I have to figure out the secret code when I pulish my blog. Uggggggg.....they are really, really challenging. Here goes.....