Nan Madol

The M79s at Nan Madol

Nan Madol from above

On Saturday, June 29^th, the Peace Corps took us on a field trip to Nan Madol.  Nan Madol is an ancient Pohnpeian structure built of large stones.  We had to drive about three quarters of the way around the island to reach Nan Madol, which took us about an hour and a half.  When arrived, we had to pay three different people for a total entrance fee of $10.  This is because Nan Madol, despite being a site of great national importance, is actually privately owned by a few different families, all of whom collect an entrance fee.  

Map of ancient Nan Madol

Nan Madol has a certain air of mystery surrounding its construction, not unlike the pyramids. While Nan Madol is not nearly as tall as the pyramids, the site is actually a sprawling structure that covers, “Approximately 1.5 km long by 0.5 km” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Madol).  The structure is made out of large, flat stones weighing several hundred pounds each.  There are many colorful legends describing just how ancient Pohnpeians were able to lift and precisely guide the large rocks into place.  Two of the more interesting ones I heard involved the assistance of dragons, while the other claimed that Pohnpeians used to be able to move objects with their minds.

See any sharks?

 For the entire week leading up to our trip, everyone who I asked about Nan Madol gave me the same advice on what to do before I went swimming there.  I was told that before I jumped into the water (I imagined from a high wall or a cliff) I had to first throw in a good size rock.  I should then wait for sharks to surface before jumping in.  This seemed quite counterintuitive to me: 1.) Why should I jump in the water at all if I knew there were sharks around?  2.) Why should I jump into the water on top of a bunch of sharks?  Upon further inquiry, I was told that you throw the rock into the water first so that the sharks know you are going to jump and wont be surprised by your sudden entrance into their domanin.  Personally I would feel much safer if I surprised a the sharks; throwing a rock in the water to alert them of my presence seems akin to ringing a dinner bell to me.  To make this adventure seem ever more perilous, I was told that the sharks near Nan Madol were often quite large and that the area now used as a swimming hole had once been used for making human sacrifices.  Needless to say, I had no intention of testing my fate by going for a dip.

Front view of Nan Madol's main structure.

Side view of Nan Madol's main structure.

The path to Nan Madol.

The channel I had to cross to enter Nan Madol.

I was a little surprised to find that the entrance to Nan Madol was actually a large dirt clearing, used as a parking lot, in front of a someone’s house.  UNESCO World Heritage Site (http://whc.unesco.org/) Nan Madol is not.  Around the back end of the house is a dirt path leading through a mangrove forest.  The path is punctuated by rotting, wooden bridges that cross over the shallow, muddy water.  After a fifteen minute hike, not easily navigated while wearing only flip-flops, we saw our first glimpse of Nan Madol.  After a cursory inspection of the channel, just enough time to convince myself that  large sharks could not possibly swim in such shallow water, I jumped in and waded across.

Nan Madol was awesome.  We spent hours climbing up, over, and around the rocks.  We even ventured out to the beach to get a good view of the ocean.  The entire time I kept my eye out for the shark swimming hole, but I was not able to find it.  As we were leaving Nan Madol, I asked Garrison, our Training Manager (or Training Master as we like to call him) about the sharks.  He informed me that we only explored a small portion of Nan Madol and that we intentionally avoided the infamous swimming spot.  He also was able to clarify the reasoning for throwing a rock before jumping in the water.  You are supposed to throw in a rock, wait for the sharks to surface, and then jump in as the sharks are going back down.  In this way you are neither catching them unawares nor jumping on top of them.  This explanation didn’t make me feel much better about swimming with the sharks; I don’t think I will be swimming at Nan Madol any time soon.