Would You trade a 1995 Japanese Nissan for a 1945 Tank?

Thursday November 11th
I wanted to sleep in, but I woke up bright eyed at 6:00am - which was aboutnoon Vancouver time. The first order of business was to rent a car. The locals recommended Cars Unlimited, so off I went. They rented me a 1995 Nissan Sentra that made the car I rented in Rarotonga look like a 2004 Mercedes. After the paperwork was done, I went out with the guy to mark the diagram where the car was already damaged.

This car looked like it had come in dead last in a demolition derby! I suggested we just mark the diagram with parts of the car that WEREN'T damaged - which essentially meant nothing! I was also warned not to park the car in any 'bad places' as the car wasn't covered for Vandalism. I wanted to know what self respecting Vandal would get within a block of this wreck. Further, I wanted to know what there was left on it to Vandalize? If this car was left in the worse neighbourhood in Watts they'd actually put parts BACK on it!! I was given a map to find my way back to my hotel and told it was physically impossible to get lost.

I got lost.

Because it's a small Island, I eventually found my way back to my motel. Driving along the road I was overwhelmed by the amount of Poker Parlors and Pawnshops, which sort of makes sense in a weird sort of way.

If you have a yen for suicide then Saipan's the place for you - with colourful places like Banzai and Suicide Cliffs to name just a few. These are places where the Japanese threw themselves off of during the war rather than surrender. Today I nearly witnessed a re-enactment as a Japanese tour was lining up at the edge of Banzaii cliff to have their picture taken and were having trouble getting everyone in the shot. I don't speak Japanese, but I think the jist of it was: 'I can't get you all in the shot. Everyone take one step back.'

Speaking of Japanese tours, they make up about 90% of the tourists. My next stop was at the last Command post. This is a ruin built into the rock where the last Japanese commander committed suicide. What I want to know is what happened to the 2nd Last Command Post? Was there a penultimate Command Post? Maybe if he'd held out another day, he'd have been famous and have people lighting memorial candles and lighting incence in his honour for sixty years. I voiced this question to the Japanese Tour leader who either ignored me or feined he didn't speak English.

I was taking a picture of a destroyed rusted out Japanese tank in front of the Last Command Post when one of the Japanese tourist asked me. 'Is that a Japense Tank?'

‘No,’ I told him, ‘It’s an Israeli tank. They were big during the Pacific War. Weren’t you guys there?? What does it look like? A 1995 Nissan?’ I said pointing to my car.

At that point he whisked away by the Janpanese Tour Leader who I’m sure was thinking about giving me a personal retour of the Banzaii cliff.

I also had a small probem with a security guy who was not happy with me wanting to move my rusted out Japanese Nissan next to the tank giving a graphic illustration that the Japanese haven’t made much progress on rust prevention in 60 years. I was seriously considering leaving my car there and driving the tank back to the motel and you gotta see the picture of the tank!!

I kept meeting people at these sights that I had met on the flight from Nagoya. I began to have a feeling that we are some sort of pictorial scavenger hunt: who ever gets the most pictures and gets back to the hotel first wins – and I’m determined that it’s going to be me even if I have to run every local guy on a bike off the road to do it! I just point and click – I’ll try and figure out what I actually saw when I get home and read the guide book.

If the projected monsoon holds off I’m going to take a boat over to manyagaha Island for some quality snorkeling.

By the way, it’s already tomorrow here, so I’ll give you a scoop on something - Yassir Arafat died. First Amelia Earhart and now Arafat – you get all the news first – from me.

More Tomorrow.