To get back to Manila we had to connect through Guam so, in the finest tradition of travelers with no specific place to be, we decided to stop in and have a look around. We had been forewarned that Guam was effectively a U.S. military base with all of the good and bad that comes with that much American influence. Nonetheless it was as though we had entered some sort of Star Trekian worm hole when we left Yap and arrived in Guam- worlds apart despite the proximity.

And for anyone hanging on for a United Airlines sequel, they were only 2 hours late for the 2:30am Yap to Guam flight but given sleep deprivation and a tiny Yap airport that had us waiting in the parking lot/lounge, the unexplained delay was painful all the same.

When in America, do as an American, so our first order of business after our early morning arrival was to seek out the nearest Denny’s (which through sheer good fortune was just around the corner from our hotel) and select the biggest plate of comfort food we could find on the menu. Denny’s isn’t quite in the league of our favourite breakfast eatery, the Cedar Kitchen in Tottenham, but it’s probably as close as we’re going to get on this trip. We built on our little slice of Americana by heading directly to a movie theatre to catch a matinee, jumbo popcorn firmly in hand (ever try to find popcorn in Asia??), and dropped by K-Mart in order to restock some of DH’s wardrobe (I’m buying replacement T-Shirts from the bargain bin in airport gift shops and DH is wandering the aisles of K-Mart looking for the latest in fashion; what a high class couple!).

We spent the next day wandering from one end of the main beach area to the other. In much the same way that Canadians have come to dominate the beach areas of Cuba, the Japanese have apparently adopted Guam (beach and shopping areas at least). As a result, everything is aimed at Japanese tour groups, and there is very little on offer for the independent traveler- we even tried finding scooters to rent for a self-guided tour of the island but it would have been quicker to just build our own. No one knew, wanted to know, or cared enough, even at their Tourism Office. Island life does move at a different pace but I think the dollars pouring in from the U.S. military have created an entitlement/expectation that has the people of Guam ignoring their tourism potential. Perhaps you don’t want to go as far as the Polynesia meets Disneyland flavour of nearby Hawaii, but Guam could use a bit of a kick in the pants.

We did find one outfit that offered English day tours of the island but the downside was that we had to have Chan as our guide. There isn’t a credible vocational aptitude test in the world that would have suggested that Chan become a tour guide (or work with any sharp instruments or dangerous machinery for that matter). Our first big stop of the day was Two Lovers Point, the spot of a tragic love story in which the two main characters tied their hair together and jumped to their deaths rather than be forced to marry others. Chan’s big value add was a long winded explanation of how they would open the gate to the on-site Chapel if we paid money- it went downhill from there (btw DH did ‘lock’ us together as well on the fence provided but she only used a flimsy luggage tag rather than the rugged heart shaped combo locks that were available??). Using the historical signage (and tuning out Chan) at each of the other sites we visited actually made for a pretty interesting island tour taking us through the Spanish and American eras and the horrific battles fought during WWII. Thumbs up for the War Museum that seems to have been a labour of love for one former U.S. Marine.

Released from Chan purgatory, we made for the Denny’s once again for a last tasty and enormous meal of absolutely no nutritional value and then headed to the airport for our final tussle with United Airlines before heading back to Manila.