Rich cultural mix in paradise of Guam

BEAUTIFUL island paradise is just four hours from Australia. It's like Hawaii, but without the jet lag. Here's why you should go.

guam

EVERY Australian international traveller is familiar with the phenomenon of jet lag, or otherwise of simply being exhausted by long travel times upon arriving in a distant land.

It usually means that for the first day or so following arrival, your appreciation of a foreign country's wonders are dulled by weariness.

Among its many other qualities, the beautiful Pacific island of Guam offers whatever is the opposite to jet lag.

It's only four hours or so from Cairns, which means that it takes less time than do many domestic flights.

Australians for once can immediately experience the differences of a genuinely distinct culture without feeling as though they'd prefer to be asleep for half a day instead.

And Guam is very distinctive indeed, in ways that are brought about by its intriguing mix of ancient and modern.

The location doesn't hurt, either. Besides offering Australians relatively rapid access, Guam essentially enjoys year-round warm weather.

For that reason you could be excused for spending an entire holiday at either the towering beachside resorts or on the golf courses, but that would be a mistake. Guam has a lot going on.

Thankfully, it isn't quite as busy as it was from July to August in 1944, when US forces liberated the island from Japanese occupation at the cost of more than 20,000 lives.

The battles fought on and around Guam were among the most vicious and crucial of World War II, and in a way were still being fought many decades later.

Those stories you've heard about Japanese soldiers refusing to surrender and living in hiding long after the war's end are no urban myths. Guam featured several such cases, with the last holdout eventually emerging from his jungle home in 1972, nearly 30 years after Guam was finally, bloodily liberated by US troops.

Military museums there highlight extensive case histories of these never-say-die Japanese warriors, whose lives amid Guam's trees and waterways must have been utterly confounding.

What did they think, for example, when the first jet aircraft roared overhead? How did they adapt to modern life once they returned to Japan, which in the meantime had vaulted from a defeated imperial power to an industrial powerhouse?

Japanese tourists now make up the majority of Guam's visitors, although these days their stays tend to be much shorter.

The Japanese influence adds another layer to Guam's already rich combination of cultural forces, which is based around the 4000-year-old Chamorro society.

Giant two-piece rock structures, called latte stones, are dotted around the island. These were the platforms for thatched huts, and now serve as Guam's symbol.

The Chamorros lived well and ate like kings.

So will you, at any of the restaurants serving Chamorro-flavoured beef, chicken or pork, typically served with a side of red rice and tangy dipping sauces. Go straight for a big order of peppery ribs and earn the respect of your Chamorro hosts.

One local delicacy proved elusive during our visit.

The mighty coconut crab lives on land and is famed for its ability to clamber up trees to retrieve the food that gives the crab its name. These crabs can live for decades, if they can avoid humans eager for sweet coconut-infused crab meat.

Alerted to our coconut crab enthusiasm, a guide eventually sought one out at a woodworker's property outside of town, so we drove out to see.

These hefty creatures are able to carve through a coconut, husk and all, with their bare claws. Guam folk delight in stories of the crab's strength.

"They are very powerful animals," said one girl at a Guam historic village.

"They'll keep hanging on to you even after you've ripped the claw off."

She said this with evident pride.

Everyone in Guam seems to add the same comment to discussions of the great crab's sensational flavour: "Very high cholesterol."

Seriously, everyone says this.

They're like freelance government health agents on the whole crab-cholesterol issue.

We waited in the car while negotiations were under way. Then our contact returned.

"We're too late," he said, sadly. "They already ate it. They souped it."

It was delicious, apparently. But very high cholesterol.

Many Guamanians are devout Catholics, the result of Spanish colonisation during the 17th to 19th centuries.

Traditional islander culture bonded with Catholicism over a shared high regard for maternal figures, so that even today the family matriarch is a revered individual.

"They make the rules," said one young local, whose tattooed, tough-guy stance softened noticeably when asked about the influence of his mother.

Here's to a culture with proper respect for women and the elderly.

Pope John Paul II's 1981 visit to Guam was a high point of the church's influence. His Holiness led an open-air mass of 25,000 followers, possibly Guam's largest-ever crowd.

Statues and street names commemorate the Pope's visit, which consolidated Catholicism's spiritual significance throughout the current 160,000 population.

The Japanese influence is more evident in shop fronts and entertainment options, many of which are geared towards Japanese tourism.

These venues and shows can be puzzling for anyone unfamiliar with Japanese tastes, which in a way only increases their charm.

At the luxurious SandCastle dinner theatre, US magician Anthony Reed presents an elaborate production called Dream.

I have no idea what is happening before, during or after the show, pitched squarely at the Japanese market, but it seems as though two young girls are inspired by the vanishing and reappearance of tigers, people, various objects and a 1970s-era Pontiac. These vanishings are accompanied by acrobats swinging high above the crowd.

The big audience absolutely loved it, however, which shows how much I know.

Later, backstage, we get to meet the massive white tigers and their trainer, who warns us not to get too close to the big cats' generous confines.

"They look sleepy, but they can launch in a second," he said.

Although we aren't particularly close, we instantly back further away.

The tigers remain completely caged even during their stage appearances, which the trainer explains is due to an incident 10 years ago in Las Vegas, when an uncaged performing tiger mauled magician Roy Horn.

If it weren't for that one-off attack, suggests the trainer, the show at the SandCastle might be even more magical. And possibly even more perplexing for the culturally unaware.

Speaking of which, I don't dive and can barely swim, which cuts out a major part of Guam's offshore attractions.

Video, however, presents an underwater spectacle for the water-abled including the unique sight of warships from World War I and II nestled practically on top of each other on the sea floor off Guam's coastline.

Every hotel in Guam can line up diving and snorkelling trips with local operators, all of whom are up to high standards in terms of training and safety.

No Vegas-style incidents should be anticipated in Guam's warm waters.

Nor will anyone be gouged by Guam's general prices, which reflect the island's determination to draw more business from Australia. Check Guam tourist websites for seasonal bargains. Of course, there is another major cultural force in Guam besides the traditional Chamorro, Catholicism and Japanese.

The island is an unincorporated territory of the US, which first claimed Guam in 1898 and recaptured it 46 years later.

At street level, the island is a mini-America.

Vehicles are left-hand-drive. Road signs are in the same design and font as seen in mainland America.

A significant area of Guam's land mass is given over to the US military, which also accounts for the presence of US-sourced muscle cars rarely seen outside of the States.

Acting on a hunch, I asked a hotel counter clerk if Guam had a Denny's outlet. This classic US chain of restaurants is a favourite of mine, especially since it added bacon month to its list of attractions (they even serve bacon ice cream).

"Oh, yes," says the clerk. "We have two Denny's."

Within seconds I'm in a cab. Within minutes I'm in a Denny's - the closest one there is to Australia.

The menu is identical to that of a Denny's anywhere in the US. Chicken wings with buffalo sauce. Massive cheeseburgers. Apple pie.

I probably spent more than two hours there, chatting with locals about their preferred dishes and other crucial travel issues before walking back to my hotel along Guam's twisty streets.

That's the beauty of Guam.

It's a tiny tropical paradise that's big enough to give something to everybody. And it's close enough to reach in an afternoon.

The writer travelled as a guest of United Airlines.
 

Go2 - GUAM

Getting there: United Airlines is the only airline servicing Guam, the gateway to Micronesia. It flies twice weekly to Guam from Cairns year-round.

Ph 13 17 77 or see unitedairlines.com

Staying there: Pacific Island Club, Guam. See picresorts.com

More: See visitguam.org or discoverguamtours.com
 

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