Any Travels

Palau is Micronesia's westernmost island chain and is located roughly speaking between Indonesia and the Philippines.

The islands offer great natural beauty, untouched wilderness, intact culture and remoteness; the ideal ingredients for a relaxing holiday.
Besides the beaches, the relaxing lifestyle and the diving, the main natural attraction are the Rock islands . This collection of mushroom-shaped islets are largely uninhabited and are located in a large lagoon that harbors one of the world's greatest concentrations of corals, fish and other marine life.

Babeldoab
Babeldoab is the biggest island of Palau but it's not very densely populated. It is now connected to Koror by a pontoon bridge. The main attracions on Babeldoab are the waterfalls, a large lake, rain forests, Japanese wartime ruins, ancient stone pillars, interesting caves and remote villages.

In Melekeok on the East copast you'll find ancient carved heads, a beautifully maintained bai (a thatched roof traditional meeting place for chiefs and elders) and an ancient dancing ground. The best beaches on Babeldoab stretch northward from here to the northern tip of the island. In the north are 25 meter high Taki Falls and the stone sculptures of Badrulchau, 37 enormous monolithic blocks in an extraordinary setting in the hills, overlooking the coast.

Koror
Koror is the most important island of Palau and the place where most travelers stay. The island is a good starting point for visiting Babeldoab and the Lofoten islands.

One of the main tourist attractions is Belau National Museum. It has a good display of the islands' cultural history. For nightlife, you'll find most of Palau's clubs in Malakal. Koror is the only place for local people all over the island to shop and doing business.It's said that its the heart of the island with different kinds of good and business are held that place.

Culture

Palau's social organization is highly complex and competitive. The race for money, prestige and power, the main thrust of which used to be for political power within a clan or village, was the focus from which most events occurred, such as sports competitions and wars.

Palauan villages were, and still are, organized around 10 clans reckoned matrilineally. A council of chiefs from the 10 ranking clans governed the village, and a parallel council of their female counterparts held a significant advisory role in the control and division of land and money.

Men and women had strictly defined roles to play in the continuity of the village. The sea was the domain of men who braved its fury to harvest the fish necessary to sustain the village and wage battle. Inter-village wars were common, so men spent a lot of time in the men's meeting houses mastering techniques of canoe building and refining their skills with weapons. Women, on the other hand, held sway in the home. They cultivated vegetables and harvested shellfish and sea cucumbers from the shallow reefs.

Until the late 1800s Palauans were tattooed, with more ornate designs on women of high clan. Men wore their hair in tight buns and rubak, the important chiefs, wore bracelets made from the vertebrae of dugongs.

Even today, despite the influence of generations of explorers, traders, soldiers and administrators from several nations, Palauans still maintain the cultural traditions that make it unique in the Pacific.