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With the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China just 3 months away I started doing some research online to see if it would be possible for me to make it to the Olympics. It would be a great opportunity for me to travel to China and cover as much of the Olympics as possible for Traveling Project.

Well, within a few hours of my research I noticed that hotel prices in Beijing around the time of the Olympic Games cost between 6x to 10x as much compared to the regular rates. Hotels in Beijing that would normally cost approximately $50 per night are around $500 during the Olympics! I’m pretty sure all other types of accommodations are inflated as well during the Olympic Games. Below is a screenshot I took of the rates for one of the hotels in Beijing:

Seeing the inflated prices pretty much killed the possibility for me of going to China during the Olympics. When I started doing my research I was already hesitant of even considering traveling to China for the Olympics because of the short time frame I had to prepare for the trip, but I thought to myself, “What the heck, if the prices are reasonable then I might as well go for it”. Well they weren’t, so no Olympic Games in China for me. You can be pretty sure wherever the Olympics are going to be 4 years from now I’ll be there to cover it for Traveling Project.  You can quote me on this!

I went to the northern most point on the island of Guam to a beach called Ritidian Beach this past week. The location of this beach was really out of the way from civilization, but the drive to the beach made for some spectacular views of Guam’s untouched northern coast during the last leg of the drive when I descended down from the cliffs to the coastline. I don’t think anyone lived in the surrounding area, and the only reason people would go there was to spend some time at the beach. While walking along the beach I noticed movement in the sand, and upon closer examination there were hundreds of hermit crabs like the one pictured below all along the beach. I’ve been told by the locals that there are huge crabs called coconut crabs on the island that can grow the size of car tires. I doubt I’ll ever get to see a coconut crab but I’ll keep my eyes open for one just in case!

While visiting a memorial park on the northern part of the island of Guam I got an exciting surprise when overhead I saw a strange flying craft in the sky. In the northern part of Guam there is a large Air Force Base, and the craft I saw was a B-2 Spirit Bomber owned by the US Air Force. The only reason I was able to spot the B-2 bomber was because it flew directly over the park at such a low altitude and it was such a clear day with almost no clouds in the sky. Once these bombers are way up in the sky and at a distance you can barely see them because the bomber is so thin. I guess the Air Force was doing training runs because the bomber actually passed overhead 3 times while I was at the park. Here are pictures of the B-2 bomber:

Umatac village and bay is located on the southwestern coast of Guam. Umatac Bay is considered the location where famous Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan first landed on Guam, and it was used as a stop for ships along the Spanish trade routes. The remnants of two Spanish forts on both sides of the bay still sit on top of the hills. The two forts were used as lookout points and were equipped with cannons which were used to protect the Spanish ships docked in Umatac Bay from other enemy ships trying to loot the cargo. Today the forts are a popular tourist attraction.

While exploring Umatac Bay this past week I had a chance to visit one of the forts and take some photos overlooking Umatac Bay. There are quite a few bays around the coast of southern Guam, but I have to say Umatac Bay is one of my favorites because of its scenic beauty and the number of historic sites around the area. Below are a few pictures I took while at Umatac Bay along with some descriptions that follow:

Left Image: A photo of Umatac Bay from one of the Spanish fort lookouts. You can also see the San Dionisio Church along the coast of the bay.
Right Image: A photo of the northern coast of Umatac Bay. The second Spanish fort is located on top of the rock/hill jutting out towards the ocean.

Left Image: Photo of San Dionisio Church which is the Catholic church for Umatac village.
Right Image: A photo of a cross in front of the San Dionisio Church with Umatac Bay in the background. In addition, if you look closely you can see the Spanish fort, known as Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, on top of the hill in the background.

Left Image: A photo of the Spanish cannons at Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad which looks over Umatac Bay.
Right Image: Photo of Fort Neustra Senora de la Soledad overlooking Umatac Bay with the opposite coastline of the bay also visible.