I think gas prices on Guam are the highest in the United States.  The picture of Mobil Gas prices on the island of Guam was taken about 2 weeks ago, and I have a feeling the island is going to see another gas price increase.  Currently for Unleaded gas it costs $4.31 per gallon and for Super Unleaded the price is $4.44 per gallon.  Although Guam isn’t a big island the high gas prices have been hurting the people who try to budget on their gas consumption.  If you know of anywhere else in the United States where the gas prices are higher I’d be interested to hear about it.  Just post in the comments or send me an email.

I had the chance to visit a breathtaking beach on the eastern coast of Guam called Taga’chang Beach. The beach is located in a small cove surrounded by cliffs on all sides and only accessible from a small winding road paved along the cliff line. When I arrived at Taga’chang Beach it was completely empty with no one in sight, giving me the feeling I was stranded on a deserted island. Climbing up the rocks on one side of the beach to the edge of the water I could see fish as big as 2 feet long swimming in the shallow crystal clear water. The water was so shallow inside the reef you couldn’t really swim in the water unless you walked out to the edge of the reef and swam outside of the reef in the ocean.  This of course looked a little dangerous because of the waves beating on the reef and the strong current of the ocean.  Most of the eastern coast of Guam is rugged cliff line and the area around Taga’chang Beach makes for some great hiking along the rocky coastline of Guam for some great views.

Paseo Stadium is where Guam’s major league baseball teams play during the weekends. Paseo Stadium is located in the village of Hagatna in Paseo Park. Paseo Park is a great place to go during the weekends because there are a lot of things to do around the park. Also located in the park is Chamorro Village, the surf spot in Hagatna Boat Basin, the beach, and playground sets for kids. During the weekends at night you can find locals hanging around the park getting a bite to eat at Chamorro Village, watching the baseball games, fishing, or just getting together with friends.

Just when I was able to get some sleep the island of Guam got hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake at 7:51am this morning! According to the news reports the center of the earthquake was located 125 miles west-southwest of Hagatna and at a depth of 54.4 miles.

The earthquake was fairly strong as I’m pretty hard to wake up once I’m in a deep sleep. The earthquake lasted between 5-10 seconds from what I can remember and it shook everything in my room pretty hard. I was debating whether to run out into the street when it didn’t stop after a few seconds, but being the sleepy head that I am decided to lay in bed and just hope it stopped without getting much stronger.

The buildings on Guam are all made of reinforced concrete and are built to withstand a good beating due to the fact Guam is located in an area on the globe that receives many typhoons. Because of this, and the fact there aren’t many high-rise buildings on the island, there was no reported damage to any buildings. I’m pretty sure if an earthquake of this magnitude hit a major city in some other part of the world there would have been some damage created from the earthquake.

Here’s some links to news reports of the earthquake I found online:

http://www.kcra.com/weather/16219476/detail.html
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=331956
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080510/NEWS01/80510005/1002/NEWS01

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.

I had a chance to do some sightseeing in the village of Hagatna, and while at Fort Santa Agueda I took some great photos overlooking Hagatna. In the left image you can see the village of Hagatna, Chamorro Village, Paseo Stadium and park – all in the foreground in front of the water. The village of Hagatna is the main business district on the island and is the location of the majority of local business offices and government agencies on Guam. During the weekdays the village is extremely busy, but on the weekends it turns into a ghost town because everything is closed in the area. Chamorro Village, the group of buildings with red-colored rooftops in the right-center of the picture, really isn’t a village but a group of small buildings with local merchants selling Chamorro arts, crafts, clothing, and local food. It’s another great destination for tourists to visit while on Guam. It’s hard to see the actual baseball field at Paseo Stadium in the picture, but just behind Chamorro Village you can see the large baseball field lights that illuminate the field on the weekends when teams from Guam’s baseball league are playing a game.

The photo on the right shows the Hagatna Boat Basin where local fishermen and tour companies dock their boats when not in use. You can also see the entrance to the boat basin which is a popular surfing and bodyboarding spot for the locals. Just watch out for the boats entering and exiting the channel!

The topic of this post is going to be about Guam Latte Stones. I received an email from one of Traveling Project’s readers, named Jeffrey, for the “Ask TravelDude A Question” feature of this blog. Jeffrey, who wrote to me from Canada, saw the latte stone picture I posted in This Thread a few days ago, and wanted to know more about latte stones because he said the picture reminded him of the Maoi stone statues on Easter Island.

Latte Stones, although they look like some kind of monument, were stone pillars used to hold up ancient Chamorro houses. The latte stones are actually made up of two pieces; the top round piece or capstone is called “tasa” in Chamorro, and the longer bottom column is called “halagi”. These stone pillars can be found throughout the jungles of the island of Guam, and wherever you find them there was usually an ancient Chamorro village around the latte stone site. The local Chamorros respect the latte stone sites as part of their ancient culture, and it is important tourists visiting the latte stone sites also have respect while in the surrounding area. Archeologists who have examined the latte stone sites have found ancient Chamorro bones and burial sites, and the locals believe these sites are places where the ancient ancestral spirits of the Chamorro people, known as taotaomonas, are still present. Latte stones can also be found throughout the many islands in the Marianas, and they have become the signature of these islands.

A popular tourist attraction to see latte stones is at Senator Angel Santos Latte Stone Park which is located in the village of Hagatna. Eight latte stone pillars were moved to this park as a tourist attraction, and many tour companies now bring tour buses to the park. The pictures I took of the latte stones are actually from Senator Angel Santos Latte Stone Park.