I was recently blessed with the opportunity to visit Yap, one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia.  In my search for “the true, the good, and the beautiful”, Yap is solidly in the “beautiful” category.

Yap is due east of the Philippines, between Guam and the Republic of Palau, as you can see on the map below.

Here is a map of the major islands of Yap State.

I stayed in Colonia, the capitol, and had the opportunity to spend a day visiting some remote villages in the northern municipality of Maap.

A few days in this beautiful place hardly qualifies me as an expert, so I will go easy on the facts and opinions and just put up a few pictures with captions.

I was struck by two things during my visit.  First, I was amazed at how close these indigenous people were to the land and sea, and how they used the natural materials around them to their best use.  I was also struck at how traditional they have remained in the face of intense contact with the West.  I think we have much to learn from the perspective of these islanders.

Here’s a short clip showing what boys will do when they don’t have access to iPads or the internet: have a betel nut race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a very short clip of the island of Rumung (aka “Forbidden Island”) as seen from Maap in Yap:

Click here to see all of the photos I took during the trip.