Visiting Tumon Bay In Guam - Micronesian Island
- November 19-23, 2005 (Guam, United States)

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Guam was a Spanish island until 1898, when it was ceded to the United States.  Located between the Philippines and Hawaii, though much closer to the Philippines than to Hawaii, the island is a favorite tourist attraction for Japanese tourists, while a big part of the island is occupied by American military bases.	Most of the hotels on the island are in the extremely tacky Tumon Bay, and we stayed at the Hilton.  While I could provide a review of this crappy hotel on this page, I decided instead to post a short summary of my stay in the November 23 entry in my blog.  Rather than a review of Hilton Guam, the entry is more like a trashing of the hotel.

 

Since most Japanese tourists going to Guam do not speak much English, many of the locals seem to have learnt enough Japanese to get by.  The Japanese get scammed, of course, and the prices they pay will invariably be much higher than those paid by the locals.  One example of the many scams is the "Talofofo Falls Resort Park Yokoi Cave", a tourist attraction in the southern part of the island.

In addition to the two unspectacular waterfalls seen above, this is also the site where Japanese soldier Sochi Yokoi was found in 1972.  He had been hiding since the end of the war, read more about this fascinating story here.  Except from a crappy museum and the remains of one of the caves in which Sochi Yokoi lived, this attraction does not have much to offer.  Still, tourists get charged $20 a person to see the waterfalls and a hole in the ground, while locals get in for half the price.

Guam claims to have one of the prettiest sunsets in the world.  Yuka and I enjoyed a couple of nice ones while in Guam, though the sun setting in the ocean invariably will look relatively similar most places in the world.	While the main activity for Japanese tourists on Guam is shopping at K-Mart and swimming, some other activities are also available.  Horseback riding at Southern Comfort Ranch is one alternative, though you need to be willing to splurge $75 per person (includes pick pick-up from hotel).

 

When I say horseback riding,  it should be mentioned that I actually was riding a mule.  Wikipedia provides some knowledge about mules that at least I did not know before.  Since there were lots of tourists around, the horses and mules had been out riding all day.  As a result, they were tired and would hardly move.  Despite that, the tour offers a very nice view of the island.	Finally, a picture of Tumon Bay where all the major hotels are located.  Most of the big chains are represented, and the tourists are mainly Japanese with a few Chinese & Koreans thrown in.  Guam is a descent island to visit on a short weekend from Japan or East-Asia, but making a effort to visit from anywhere else is a waste of time.

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