Another Trip to the Middle of Nowhere
I spent March 11th through the 15th traveling to Pohnpei, Kolonia in the Federated States of Micronesia and Majuro in the Marshall Islands (3442 miles from Manila).
The plane ride to get from Manila to Majuro is almost longer that going back to the U.S. since you have to take the “Island Hopper” on Continental Micronesia. We left Manila for Guam and then continued on to Chuuk, Pohnpei (spent the night there and left the next morning), Kosrae, and Kwajalein and finally arrived in Majuro.
At each stop you are required to depart the plane with your carry-on so a security check can be performed. This is what really adds to the travel time since each stop is around 45 minutes to an hour in duration. For our lunch we got served a “hockey puck” sandwich which consisted of a mustard packet and a bun with a microscopic, paper thin slice of ham. We also had some peanuts and a drink which I missed out on since I was asleep during serving. That is just my luck.
The flight back to Manila was a little better since we got to fly business class but still took forever to arrive. However we got some decent food with actual silverware! The flight attendants were pretty funny also. We were asked what we would like to drink and my co-worker said, “what do you have?” The flight attendant responded, “we have just about everything.” So he asked for a Mountain Dew. She said “I’m sorry, we don’t have that.” So he then asked for a Dr. Pepper to which the response was “you read the list of available drinks, didn’t you?” After awhile and some continued joking one of the other attendants who overheard our conversation said “I think we have Mr. Pib.” Sure enough, a few minutes later we were enjoying a nice glass of Mr. Pib. The flight attendant who we were giving a hard time came back and said “you are lucky” and we both started laughing and thanked them for their hospitality. It is funny how something can be so entertaining when you are stuck in a confined space for long periods of time with other people. Well at least it made the flight interesting.
Here is a map of Majuro to let you know how small it is and what is located on the atoll. Click on the image to make it larger.
The plane ride to get from Manila to Majuro is almost longer that going back to the U.S. since you have to take the “Island Hopper” on Continental Micronesia. We left Manila for Guam and then continued on to Chuuk, Pohnpei (spent the night there and left the next morning), Kosrae, and Kwajalein and finally arrived in Majuro.
At each stop you are required to depart the plane with your carry-on so a security check can be performed. This is what really adds to the travel time since each stop is around 45 minutes to an hour in duration. For our lunch we got served a “hockey puck” sandwich which consisted of a mustard packet and a bun with a microscopic, paper thin slice of ham. We also had some peanuts and a drink which I missed out on since I was asleep during serving. That is just my luck.
The flight back to Manila was a little better since we got to fly business class but still took forever to arrive. However we got some decent food with actual silverware! The flight attendants were pretty funny also. We were asked what we would like to drink and my co-worker said, “what do you have?” The flight attendant responded, “we have just about everything.” So he asked for a Mountain Dew. She said “I’m sorry, we don’t have that.” So he then asked for a Dr. Pepper to which the response was “you read the list of available drinks, didn’t you?” After awhile and some continued joking one of the other attendants who overheard our conversation said “I think we have Mr. Pib.” Sure enough, a few minutes later we were enjoying a nice glass of Mr. Pib. The flight attendant who we were giving a hard time came back and said “you are lucky” and we both started laughing and thanked them for their hospitality. It is funny how something can be so entertaining when you are stuck in a confined space for long periods of time with other people. Well at least it made the flight interesting.
Here is a map of Majuro to let you know how small it is and what is located on the atoll. Click on the image to make it larger.
posted by Newbster at 10:27 PM
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