The flight times are really a punishment. Starting at 01:30 from Yap, I arrived Guam at 03:00 and had to wait for my Island Hopper Flight to the Marshall Islands at 09:30. In Yap all the locals had beautiful flower chains on their head or around the neck and the waiting room smelled like in a florist.
After the arrival in Guam, I was surprised that I had to go through immigration and customs although I had a transfer flight. Well, obviously Big Brother is collecting fingerprints wherever he can.
Passing by the foodcourt my heart suddenly made a huge leap when I saw a big „Wienerschnitzel“ sign. Hey only 3 o´clock in the morning, but who cares after 5 weeks abstinence of German food. I was prepared to order the biggest „Schnitzel“ they had, just to find out they only sell hot dogs. Damn, why the f… do they call the place „Wienerschnitzel“ and then disillusion me like that. I´m sure that´s still the American revenge because Germany did not participate in the Irak war.
After 3 stop over in Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kwajalein (thats why they call the flight the Island Hopper, it´s even going further to Honolulu) with some beautiful views of the atolls I finally arrived the Marshall Islands after a very long day.
Weird conversation of the day:
Stewardess: „What would you like to drink?”
Me: „Black Coffee and Orange Juice, please“
Stewardess (looking very serious): „Mixed?“
Me (ironic): „Of course and can you add some Coke as well, please?“
Stewardess (still serious): Regular or Diet?
…I already suspected a hidden camera somewhere, but suddenly she smiled and I got my Coffee and Orange Juice separate. I have to admit, she had a good sense of humor.
There was no major reason why I wanted to come to the MI, beside it´s on the way to Nauru and Brisbane and the next flight was only in 4 days. The Majuro Atoll is the capital of the MI, made up of 29 coral atolls and 5 single islands. MI is one of the youngest nations in the world, independent since 1985 but still having close links to the
US. Majuro downtown is a dusty and outdated place. Everything feels a bit run down and shabby. Nevertheless walking around town in the soft afternoon light reveals a bit of charm, with good foto opportunities. I especially liked the old signboards everywhere in town, somehow reminding me on the 60th or 70th.
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I was told that the MI have the second biggest ship register worldwide, so there must be some special benefits for the ship owners, but I couldn´t find out more. There were also many ships in the lagoon, mainly fishing vessels.
What are you doing to spend your free time on a small atoll surrounded by water? Right, fishing is a popular thing in the Marshalls. When I took some pictures in the soft afternoon light on the beach I saw a group of men fishing with a net. I walked over and started a chat. The guys were nice and it took not long to find out that Matt and Richard have German routes and even a German name (Muller). Richard is a airplane mechanic and a couple of years ago he even was several weeks in Munich and Berlin to get trained in maintaining a Dornier plane that was planned to be purchased by the government. But for whatever reason (he didn´t know) the deal never happen at the end. I took the opportunity to take some picture of the guys. Matt, Richard if you read this, I hope you had a good catch this evening.
There can only be one answer. FISH!!! I´m usually not a big fish eater but here the fish was so amazing and quite affordable, that I had it every day. I enjoyed grilled tuna and marlin, fish cevice and tuna sashimi at its best.
The Bikini Atoll´s name became well-known world-wide as a result of the nuclear tests from the US. Five days after the first nuclear explosion in 1946 over the atoll, Louis Reard introduced a new swimsuit design named the bikini after the atoll. Réard said that “like the bomb, the bikini is small and devastating“ The locals were resettled several times as the new settlements didn´t proof to work out. Today lot of the people and there relatives are living on Majuro and thus there is the town hall of the Bikini Atoll on Majuro. Nowadays Bikini is said to be a great place for diving with many wrecks to explore as result from the A-bomb testing. Unfortunately as it´s a very remote place diving is extremely expensive and flights totally unreliable, so I decided against a visit.
Even in the the poorest countries, the government buildings are normally some of the most representative buildings. Well, not so in the MI (and I don´t mean this negativ) When I saw this building with the entrance door I had to smile while picturing Alexander Dobrindt (the German minister for transport and digital infrastructure) arriving in front of his ministry with his luxury car and entering it through that door followed by his entourage. What a picture, ha, ha.
I rented a car and went all the way to the end of Majuro to Laura Beach. On Majuro there is basically one long road, thats it. The road is more than 50 km long, and in some parts just as wide as the atoll itself. It´s a scenic road, with lots of palms on each site, some houses and villages and frequent churches and small cemeteries. The only radio station I got was broadcasting christian songs all the time and to be honest, I liked them. Praise the Lord, I was spiritual touched. Nevertheless the scenic road could not hide a big problem of the MI. Car wrecks everywhere, even on the beaches.
Eneko Island is part of the Majuro Atoll and just a 30 min boat ride away. It´s owned by the Robert Reimer Hotel and as there was not much to do on the main island I gave it a try. It turned out to be a nice excursion. The lagoon site and the open sea site are just 100 meters apart across the island and completely different in character. Snorkeling was better than expected, good visibility and big schools of fish. (It´s a shame I couldn´t go diving, as there must be min. 2 people I was told from the dive shop.) There was also a local group staying for 4 days on the islands and I chatted with one of the girls. I was really surprised when she told me that her father is an actor and is playing in MI movie series. Hey, there are MI movie series and even a MI television channel. Now I´m impressed.
It´s depending on the situation and my confidence level at the very moment, if I approach somebody to ask for a picture. I never had a really bad experience and over the time it became much easier for me. Still sometimes I just feel uncomfortable and miss out a good opportunity regretting it afterwards. Same with these guy, when I passed him the first time. On my return I nicely greeted him and as he smiled back I thought now or never and just asked him, saying that he looks very photogenic sitting on his chair with the Bob Marley shirt and that I really like Bob Marley. He gave me a big smile, agreed immediately and started posing like he was just waiting for me (probably he was ;-) He later mentioned by himself that I can put all the pictures online: „no problem, no problem, man“ and that he hopes his relatives will see them as they all live abroad. A lovely and cool guy.
© 2026 Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret
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