Chuuk

Chuuk is basically indescribable, but let me start off with how I ended up there:

Two days before my trip I was all set to go to Korea. I had a place to stay, people to meet up with, and I was pretty excited to go (although kind of dreading the cold weather).

The day before my trip there was a major change of plans, per my dad's suggestion, to go visit Micronesia. There's this one island in Micronesia called Pohnpei that has amazing ruins of a city built on coral reefs and I was planning to go see that.

The flight route from Hawaii is pretty interesting and brought me first to Majuro (Marshall Islands),

then Kwaj, 

and then Pohnpei. 

Due to poor weather in Pohnpei we actually didn't land there and went on to the next island, Chuuk. 

*In this photo I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting myself into*

Chuuk is the poorest state in the Federated States of Micronesia. It felt like a third world country (and I think it may actually count as one). The average GDP per capita there is somewhere around $3 a day, but I believe that your typical Chuukese person is making under $1 a day.

I could have gone on to Guam instead, but for some crazy reason I decided to stay in Chuuk. It turned out to be a terrible and great decision. hahaha.

I had no plan of what I was going to do and internet access was very limited (super slow in a restaurant I found that had it). I was planning to just stay for one night and was not going to spend $100 on a hotel room. I messaged some friends on facebook that had connections in Chuuk, but was basically planning to sleep at the small airport. Chuuk has three hotels, and two of them are associated with dive shops because of the great wreck diving.

As I was walking around, a little shocked at how crazy everything seemed in Chuuk, I saw a white guy! So I said hi and talked with him for a minute and as soon as he heard I got stranded in Chuuk he offered up his couch to me!

Jay. He's from Australia, he records and produces music, and he's living in Chuuk for one year as part of World Teach.

*recording studio at the high school made with torn up old matresses*

It's a really cool program where people volunteer to come teach at the high school (and trust me, Chuuk really needs it).










I ended up staying in Chuuk for a couple nights, and had a great time there. It was hot, humid, and definitely didn't feel much like a vacation, but it was also a really authentic travel experience and I'm grateful for the new friends I made!

At breakfast with a couple girls in Peace Corps. 

There's a lot more I could write about this place, but I'll leave it at that. 

Overall Rating: Don't visit. 

I loved it because I got to hang out with some amazing new friends and experience a really crazy place, but I think for your average person this would be a terrible place to go visit. If you have lots of money you could got there just for the diving.