Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. Truk Lagoon. Warship cemetery Param-pam-pam. Where is it

Truk is a group of small islands in the Caroline Islands archipelago in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. They are part of the Federated States of Micronesia and are part of the state of Chuuk. Chuuk is translated from the local language as “high mountains”. Historical names - Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, Lugulus. The Truk Islands are located in the central part of the Micronesian Caroline Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean and are a small island group consisting of mountainous islands surrounded by motu and a barrier reef. In total, the group includes 19 elevated islands within the lagoon, 10 atolls and 225 motu, many of which are located outside the lagoon. In the center of the Truk Islands there is a large lagoon with an area of ​​about 2131 km² (land area is about 100 km²). The most important islands are Doubloon, Eiol, Eoth, Eten, Filo, Fanapenges, Fephan, Moen, Param, Pata, Pis, Polle, Romunum, Sis, Tariq, Tol, Udot and Uman. Sometimes the neighboring Hall Islands and Nomonuito Atoll are included in the group. Geographically and dialectically, the islands are divided into western and eastern parts: the Faichuuk Islands and the Namoneas Islands.

The climate on the Truk Islands is tropical with minor seasonal variations. The average annual temperature is about 26.7 °C. The average annual precipitation is 305-356 cm. The greatest amount of precipitation falls from June to August.

Story

According to archaeological materials found on one of the islands of the group, the Truk Islands were inhabited about 2 thousand years ago. According to local legends, the first settlers came from the island of Kosrae, which is located approximately 1,300 km to the east. Initially, local residents settled only on the coast and were engaged in pottery, but about 1,500 years ago this culture disappeared, and the islanders moved to the interior and mountainous slopes.
The discovery of the Truk Islands by Europeans is associated with the travels of Spanish sailors: too high prices for spices forced the Spaniards to look for new lands. Six months after the signing of the Peace of Cateau-Cambresia, which ended the Italian Wars of 1494-1559, King Philip II sent a letter to Luis de Velasco, Viceroy of New Spain, demanding "the discovery of the western islands relative to the Moluccas." There was also talk about the seizure of the Philippine Islands. The answer was the equipping of a new expedition consisting of four ships under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, which left the city of Acapulco on November 21, 1564. On January 17, 1565, the crew of the ship San Lucas, under the command of Alonso de Arellano, a member of the expedition, noticed the Truk Islands on the horizon. The ship entering the lagoon was immediately met by local residents in canoes, who invited the strangers to land on land near the island of Tonovas. Headwinds and an alarmingly large number of islanders frightened Arellano, so he decided to turn the ship back. Before this, the team had prudently captured several natives. And only after a cannon salvo did the travelers manage to fight off the islanders, who began throwing spears. After spending the night on the inside of the reef, the San Lucas went out into the open ocean the next day.
For almost two and a half centuries, the Truk Islands remained undetected by foreign ships. The next European to visit the islands after Arellano was Manuel Dublon, whose brig entered the lagoon of the island group on December 10, 1814. No detailed information about this visit has been preserved.
On June 24, 1824, a corvette sailed to the Truk Islands under the command of the Frenchman Louis Duperrey, who explored the group for five days (the coordinates were clarified and the first map of the lagoon was compiled). Despite the fact that the traveler did not enter the lagoon during all these days, several natives were taken on board, thanks to whom it was possible to learn the names of individual islands. The two Englishmen were left ashore at their own request. Although Duperrey collected valuable geographical information, his notes still lacked information about the culture and life of the local residents. Four years later, the Truk Islands were explored by the French navigator Dumont-Durville, and then by the Russian traveler Fyodor Petrovich Litke.
The first most complete information about the local culture and inhabitants was collected by Dumont-D'Urville in 1838 during his second voyage. On December 22, two ships of the expedition, Astrolabe and Zele, entered the lagoon through a strait in the southeastern part of the island group. Over the next four days, the traveler collected valuable information about the local residents: about the decoration of houses, fishing nets, local canoes, weapons. On board the ships there was an exchange of goods with the natives. The islanders were friendly but very cautious, and in some cases showed a well-founded fear of strangers. For example, women, upon seeing foreigners, immediately rushed into the forest or swam to neighboring islands. Subsequently, the French were politely explained that local women were forbidden to approach strangers without the permission of their husbands, otherwise they would be immediately executed. Residents of the Truk Islands happily exchanged their belongings and food for iron products, bracelets, necklaces and other trinkets. However, Durville was somewhat surprised when he found out that the natives had never seen firearms. The shot bird amazed local residents.
Gradually, the islanders got used to foreigners, they became friendlier, but at the same time more curious. A few days after arriving on the islands, two French officers, who had spent the day collecting samples of local flora and insects, happily joined the company of local residents sitting around the evening fire. To show their respect, the strangers began to distribute to the natives the food they had taken with them. The Trukians greedily ate the cookies, but threw away the cheese and, wincing, drank the wine. The French found half-cooked fish and crabs inedible. The travelers then settled into a canoe house to spend the night. The islanders remained by the fire. Suddenly, one of the local residents let out a scream and began to sing. This surprised the French: one of them began to sing the Marseillaise in response. The islander began to dance. When he finished, he demanded that the foreigner also dance. The Frenchman reluctantly agreed and performed a quadrille naked.
Travelers' stay on the islands was not without danger. When the next day a small group of French went to explore the reefs between the islands of Féphane and Dublon, they were attacked by the locals. The foreigners fired a volley, as a result ten or twelve Trukians were killed. After this event, the French decided to leave the island group.
Since then, the island group as a dangerous zone has remained on the periphery of European interests for a very long time. Even whaling ships, which very often moored at the neighboring islands of Ponape and Kusai to replenish their supplies of fresh water and timber, bypassed the Truk Islands: between 1840 and 1860, only two ships sailed past the group, and none of them moored at shores.
Christian missionaries finally gained a foothold in the Truk Islands in 1879: all previous attempts were unsuccessful. This year the chief of the island of Uman (one of the high islands of the group), who was visiting the island of Nama in the Mortlock group, heard a sermon preached by one of the missionaries. Subsequently, the leader invited him to his island to found a Christian church there, and guaranteed him, like his other associates, personal safety. This is how the first missionaries appeared on the islands, followed by the first foreign traders.
In 1886, control of Micronesia, including the Chuuk Islands, passed to Spain. But after the Spanish-American War of 1898, by agreement between Spain, Germany and the United States, Micronesia, with the exception of the island of Guam, was purchased from the United States by Germany for $4.2 million. At the beginning of the First World War, in 1914, the islands were occupied by Japan, which began to manage them in 1919 under the mandate of the League of Nations.

During World War II, a large Japanese naval military base was located on the islands (there were about 40 thousand soldiers and civilians there), as well as an airfield. The island was strategically important for the empire: it served as a communications headquarters, from which radio commands were sent that directed the operations of all Japanese naval forces in Micronesia. In 1944, ships of the 4th Imperial Fleet and the command of the 6th Submarine Fleet were in Truk Lagoon. On February 17, 1944, the Americans launched Operation Hillston, which resulted in the sinking of more than 30 large and many small Japanese ships. Subsequently, control of Truk passed to the US Army.
After the defeat of Japan in the war, Chuuk became one of the six districts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which were administered by the United States under a UN mandate.
In 1990, the Federated States of Micronesia was recognized by the UN Security Council as an independent state. Since then, the Chuuk Islands have been the territory of this country.
The population of the islands is 40,465 people (2000). Of these, on the Faichuuk Islands - 14,049 people. and on the Namoneas Islands (north and south) - 26,416 people.

Information

• Archipelago: Caroline Islands
• Water area: Pacific Ocean
• Largest island: Moen
• total area: 99.87 km²
• Highest point: 443 m
• A country: Federated States of Micronesia
• AE first level: Chuuk
• Population (2000): 40,465 people

There are regular flights to the Truk Islands from Manila, as well as from the island of Guam.
Diving safaris start from Weno Island or Moen as it was previously called, with airport transfer by liveaboard boat.

Truk Lagoon has a diameter of about 40 miles; in February 1944, about 180 tons of Japanese military equipment sank here: 250 aircraft, 60 ships and tanks. Over the years, the carcasses have turned into artificial reefs, densely populated by a wide variety of marine life. Due to the very intense wreck diving, many divers pay little attention to the reefs and channels of the local atolls, where you can see a large number of pelagic fish and sharks.

Conditions for diving in Truk Lagoon:

Air temperature: 29-32ºC - during the day, 21-24ºC - at night.
Water temperature: 28-30ºC all year round.
Conditions for diving in Truk Lagoon are very comfortable: the water is warm all year round, islands and reefs provide shelter from waves, winds and currents, visibility is good. The dive sites are very diverse, the wrecks are at different depths and the dives on them vary in difficulty, so it will be interesting for both beginners, experienced and technical divers.
A large number of dive sites and short distances between them allow you to plan a “day on the go”, focusing on the diving conditions and the wishes of the guests, so it is quite difficult to designate a specific route in advance with a list of dive sites “by day and hour”. Guests can freely choose their dive sites according to difficulty and number per day; below we list the main dive sites - wrecks.

Dive sites with wrecks in Truk Lagoon:

Fujikawa Maru
A ship with airplane fuselages and fragments of wings, densely covered with corals. Length - 133 m. Depth - 36 m.

Yamagiri Maru
Cargo-passenger airliner. In the hold are 45 mm artillery shells from the Battleship Musashi. Length - 133 m. Depth - from 18 to 36 m.

Nippo Maru
A cargo ship with two tanks and artillery pieces on deck. The picturesque wheelhouse is an excellent subject for photography. Length - 155 m. Depth - from 15 to 45 m.

Heian Maru
Large cargo-passenger airliner. Torpedoes and periscopes were preserved in the holds. Length - 108 m. Depth - from 10 to 30 m.

Sankisan Maru
Cargo ship. The masts are covered with soft corals. There is ammunition for machine guns in the hold. Length - 60 m. Depth - 30 m.

Hoki Maru
A ship with trucks, bulldozers and tractors in the hold. Severe damage to the bow of the ship. Length - 76 m. Depth - from 15 to 45 m.
Ankai Maru
A picturesque gun at the bow of the ship. The masts are covered with corals. Length - 110 m. Depth - from 10 to 40 m.

Rio de Janeiro Maru(Rio de Janiero Maru)
A passenger airliner with photogenic propellers and a large car compartment. Length - 140 m. Depth - from 12 to 37 m.

Hanakawa Maru
The hull of the vessel is covered with soft and hard corals. Length - 110 m. Depth - from 3 to 30 m.

Fumitsuki Destroyer(Fumitzuki Destroyer)
Bow and stern guns, torpedo launchers. Length - 97 m. Depth - from 24 to 36 m.

Betty Bomber
Twin-engine Japanese bomber. Length - 18 m. Depth - from 15 to 18 m.

Momokawa Maru
Airplane parts, truck frames and artillery shells. Length - 115 m. Depth - from 25 to 45 m.

Shinkoku Maru
The ship is covered with thickets of corals. Fantastic sea life. Inside the ship there is an excellent engine room. Length - 152 m. Depth - from 9 to 40 m.

Aikoku Maru
Severe damage to the bow of the ship. A picturesque gun on the roof of the aft deckhouse. Length - 82 m. Depth - from 30 to 60 m.

San Francisco Maru(San Francisco Maru)
Tanks and trucks on deck. Mines, torpedoes, bombs and many other ammunition in the holds. Length - 114 m. Depth - from 30 to 60 m.

Pizion Reef
Dive wall. Large coral formations in shallow waters. Sharks. Depth - from 4.5 to 60 m and deeper.

Not all dive sites are accessible every week. When planning the route, the weather, water conditions, skills and experience of divers, as well as their wishes are taken into account.

Name

In the local language, Chuuk translates as "high mountains". Historical names - Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, Lugulus.

Geography

The Truk Islands are located in the central part of the Micronesian Caroline Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean and are a small island group consisting of mountainous islands surrounded by motu and a barrier reef. In total, the group includes 19 elevated islands within the lagoon, 10 atolls and 225 motus, many of which are located outside the lagoon. In the center of the Truk Islands there is a large lagoon, the area of ​​which is about 2131 km² (land area is about 100 km²). The most important islands are Doubloon, Eiol, Eoth, Ethene, Philo, Fanapenges, Fephan, Moen, Param, Pata, Pis, Polle, Romunum, Sis, Tariq, Tol, Udot and Uman. Sometimes the neighboring Hall Islands and Nomonuito Atoll are included in the group. Geographically and dialectically, the islands are divided into western and eastern parts: the Faichuuk Islands and the Namoneas Islands.

Story

According to archaeological materials found on one of the islands of the group, the Truk Islands were inhabited about 2 thousand years ago. According to local legends, the first settlers came from the island of Kosrae, which is located approximately 1,300 km to the east. Initially, the locals settled only on the coast and were engaged in pottery, but about 1,500 years ago this culture disappeared and the islanders moved to the interior and mountainous slopes.

The discovery of the Truk Islands by Europeans is associated with the travels of Spanish sailors: too high prices for spices forced the Spaniards to look for new lands. Six months after the signing of the Peace of Cateau-Cambresia, which ended the Italian Wars of 1559, King Philip II sent a letter Luis de Velasco, Viceroy of New Spain, demanding "on the discovery of the western islands relative to the Moluccas". There was also talk of the seizure of the Philippine Islands. The answer was the equipping of a new expedition consisting of four ships under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, which left the city of Acapulco on November 21, 1564. January 17, 1565 ship's crew "San Lucas" under the command of Alonso de Arellano, a member of the expedition, spotted the island of Truk on the horizon. The ship entering the lagoon was immediately met by local residents in canoes, who invited the strangers to land on land near the island of Tonovas. Headwinds and an alarmingly large number of islanders frightened Arellano, so he decided to turn the ship back. Before this, the team had prudently captured several natives. And only after a cannon salvo did the travelers manage to fight off the islanders, who began throwing spears. After spending the night on the inside of the reef, "San Lucas" the next day I went out into the open ocean.

For almost two and a half centuries, the Truk Islands remained undetected by foreign ships. The next European to visit the islands after Arellano was Manuel Dublon, whose brig entered the lagoon of the island group on December 10, 1814. Detailed information about this visit has not been preserved.

The first most complete information about the local culture and inhabitants was collected by Dumont-D'Urville in 1838 during his second voyage. On December 22, two expedition ships, "Astrolabe" And "Zele", entered the lagoon through a strait in the southeastern part of the island group. Over the next four days, the traveler collected valuable information about the local residents: about the decoration of houses, fishing nets, local canoes, weapons. On board the ships there was an exchange of goods with the natives. The islanders were friendly but very cautious, and in some cases showed a well-founded fear of strangers. For example, women, upon seeing foreigners, immediately rushed into the forest or swam to neighboring islands. Subsequently, the French were politely explained that local women were forbidden to approach strangers without the permission of their husbands, otherwise they would be immediately executed. Residents of the Truk Islands happily exchanged their belongings and food for iron products, bracelets, necklaces and other trinkets. However, Durville was somewhat surprised when he found out that the natives had never seen firearms. The shot bird amazed local residents.

Gradually, the islanders got used to foreigners, they became friendlier, but at the same time more curious. A few days after arriving on the islands, two French officers, who had spent the day collecting samples of local flora and insects, happily joined the company of local residents sitting around the evening fire. To show their respect, the strangers began to distribute to the natives the food they had taken with them. The Trukians greedily ate the cookies, but threw away the cheese and, wincing, drank the wine. The French found half-cooked fish and crabs inedible. The travelers then settled into a canoe house to spend the night. The islanders remained by the fire. Suddenly, one of the local residents let out a scream and began to sing. This caused surprise among the French: one of them began to sing La Marseillaise in response. The islander began to dance. When he finished, he demanded that the foreigner also dance. The Frenchman reluctantly agreed and performed a quadrille naked.

Travelers' stay on the islands was not without danger. When the next day a small group of French went to explore the reefs between the islands of Féphane and Dublon, they were attacked by the locals. The foreigners fired a volley, as a result ten or twelve Trukians were killed. After this event, the French decided to leave the island group.

Since then, the island group as a dangerous zone has remained on the periphery of European interests for a very long time. Even whaling ships, which very often moored at the neighboring islands of Ponape and Kusai to replenish their supplies of fresh water and timber, bypassed the Truk Islands: between the years and 1860, only two ships sailed past the group, and none of them moored off the coast .

Population

The population of the islands is 40,465 people (2000). Of these, on the Faichuuk Islands - 14,049 people. and on the Namoneas Islands (north and south) - 26,416 people.

Economy

Publications

Notes

1. Oceania // World Atlas / comp. and preparation to ed. PKO "Cartography" in 2009; Ch. ed. G. V. Pozdnyak. - M.: PKO "Cartography": Onyx, 2010. - P. 190-191. - ISBN 978-5-85120-295-7 (Cartography). - ISBN 978-5-488-02609-4 (Onyx).
2. Australia and Oceania. Physical map // World Atlas / comp. and preparation to ed. PKO "Cartography" in 2003; Ch. ed. G. V. Pozdnyak. - Correction in 2005, 2007 and 2010 - M.: PKO "Cartography": Onyx, 2010. - P. 190-191. - ISBN 978-5-85120-274-2 (Cartography). - ISBN 978-5-488-01588-3 (Onyx, green trans.). - ISBN 978-5-488-01589-0 (Onyx, syn. translation).
3. Truk // Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / resp. ed. A. M. Komkov. - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M.: Nedra, 1986. - P. 374.
4. Chuuk Historic Preservation Office. Location of Chuuk.(English) (unavailable link). Retrieved September 4, 2008.

The Chuuk Islands are a group of small islands within the Federated States of Micronesia. The historical name of these islands is Truk.
The Truk Islands began with their discovery by Spanish navigators and continued with the research of the French navigator Dumont-Durville, and then the Russian traveler Fyodor Petrovich Litke. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, by agreement between Spain, Germany and the United States, Micronesia, with the exception of the island of Guam, was purchased from the United States by Germany for $4.2 million. At the beginning of the First World War, in 1914, the islands were occupied by Japan.

Truk Atoll was a major Japanese logistics base as well as the home naval base of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet. In effect, the base was the Japanese equivalent of the US Navy's Pearl Harbor, was the only major Japanese air base within the Marshall Islands, and played a key role in the logistical and operational support of the Japanese garrisons forming a defensive perimeter on the islands and atolls of the central and southern Pacific.

Five airfields designed for almost 500 aircraft. In addition, patrol, landing and torpedo boats, submarines, tugboats and ship mine sweeps took part in ensuring the protection and functioning of the base.

To provide air and sea support for the upcoming Enewetak offensive, Admiral Raymond Spruance ordered an attack on Truk. Vice Admiral Mark Mitscher's TF 58 consisted of five aircraft carriers (Enterprise, Yorktown, Essex, Intrepid and Bunker Hill) and four light aircraft carriers (Bello Wood, Cabot, Monterey and Cowpens), which carried more than 500 aircraft. The carriers were escorted by a large fleet of seven battleships and numerous cruisers, destroyers, submarines and other ships.

Fearing that the base had become too vulnerable, the Japanese had moved the Combined Fleet's aircraft carriers, battleships and heavy cruisers to Palau the previous week. However, numerous smaller warships and cargo ships remained at anchor, and several hundred aircraft continued to remain at the atoll's airfields.

Codenamed Operation Hailstone, the attack took the Japanese military by surprise, resulting in one of the most successful American battles of World War II.

A Japanese freighter off Truk Atoll after being hit by a torpedo dropped by the USS Enterprise's TBF Avenger during a raid on Truk, February 17, 1944.

The American offensive was a combination of air raids, surface ships and submarines over two days and seemed to take the Japanese by surprise. Several daytime, along with night, air raids, including fighter aircraft, dive bombers and torpedo bombers against Japanese airfields, aircraft, coastal infrastructure and ships in and around the anchorage of Truk Island. American surface ships and submarines patrolled possible escape routes from the anchorage and attacked Japanese ships that were trying to escape air raids.

A total of three Japanese light cruisers were sunk during the operation: (Agano, Katori and Naka)

four destroyers: (Oite, Fumizuki, Maikaze and Tachikaze), three auxiliary cruisers (Akagi Maru, Aikoku Maru, Kiyosumi Maru), two submarine bases (Heian Maru, Rio de Janeiro Maru), three smaller warships (including including sea hunters Ch-24 and Shonan Maru 15), air transport Fujikawa Maru and 32 cargo ships.

Some of these ships were destroyed at anchorage, and the rest in the vicinity of Truk Lagoon. Many cargo ships were loaded with reinforcements and supplies for Japanese garrisons in the central Pacific. Only a small number of troops aboard the sunken ships and a small portion of the cargo were salvaged.

Maikaze and several other ships were sunk by American surface ships while attempting to leave the Truk anchorage. Those who escaped from sinking Japanese ships, according to reports, refused to be rescued by American ships.

The cruiser Agano, damaged during the raid on Rabaul and which was already on its way to Japan when the raid began, was sunk by the American submarine Skate. Oite, who had raised 523 sailors from Agano, returned to Truk to take part in the defense with his anti-aircraft guns. It was scuttled immediately after the start of the air raid with all the surviving Agano sailors; only 20 Oite crew members were saved.

Over 250 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, most of them still on the ground. Many of the aircraft were in various stages of assembly, having just been delivered from Japan in disassembled condition aboard cargo ships. Only a small part of the assembled aircraft were able to take off to repel the attack of US aircraft. Several Japanese planes that took off were shot down by US fighters or bomber gunners.

The Americans lost 25 aircraft, mainly from intense anti-aircraft fire from the Truk batteries. About 16 American pilots were rescued by submarines or seaplanes. A nighttime torpedo attack by Japanese aircraft from Rabaul or Saipan damaged Interpid, killing 11 crew members, forcing the ship to return to Pearl Harbor and then to San Francisco for repairs. The ship returned to service in June 1944. Another attack by Japanese aircraft resulted in damage to the battleship Iowa by a bomb.

The Truk raid ended Truk's existence as a major threat to Allied operations in the central Pacific; The Japanese garrison on Eniwetok was unable to receive real help and reinforcements that could help them defend against the invasion that began on February 18, 1944 and, accordingly, the raid on Truk made it much easier for the Americans to capture this island.

The Japanese later transferred about 100 remaining aircraft from Rabaul to Truk. These aircraft were attacked by US carrier forces on April 29-30, 1944, as a result of which most of them were destroyed. American planes dropped 92 bombs in 29 minutes, destroying Japanese aircraft. During the April 1944 raids, no ships were found in Truk Lagoon, and this attack was the last raid on Truk during the war.

Truk was isolated by Allied forces (mostly the United States), who continued their advance against Japan, capturing islands in the Pacific Ocean, including Guam, Saipan, Palau and Iwo Jima. Cut off, Japanese troops on Truk, like those on other islands in the central Pacific, were short of food and facing starvation at the time of Japan's surrender in August 1945.

Some 20 years later, adventurers Jacques Cousteau, Al Giddings and Klaus Lindemann discovered the delights of this lagoon, which combines sunken military vehicles with strings of coral and a variety of underwater life.
The Chuuk Islands, with their shallow and picturesque lagoons, are a true mecca for divers. Truk Lagoon is undeniably one of the best wreck diving sites on the planet, with a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes attracting divers from all over the world for both day and night dives. But not all of the historical side of the lagoon is hidden under water. The Japanese lighthouses, located on the peaks with the best views of the lagoon, can be reached by car or on foot. In addition, experienced guides can show you old airstrips and command posts, firing positions and cave networks, hospitals and libraries.

» Truk, Federated States of Micronesia

There is nothing cooler than an evening on a good Micronesian island: with white sand, almost without even the usual marine debris, with palm trees with coconuts removed so that a tourist doesn’t get hit on the head, with a beautiful sunset promising tomorrow’s adventures. The repellent does not cope well with mosquitoes, but this is not visible from the photo.

The morning is even more beautiful. We are divers in a dive hotel in one of the most important dive sites.

A good Micronesian island of the day is Truk, until 1944 the largest Japanese naval base in the South Pacific, and now a worldwide mecca for wreck diving.

Truk

From a dive hotel with a closed area with grass and palm trees, you can and should only go out into the sea, but we take a car and drive around Truk, and Truk turns out to be absolutely beautiful.

Independent since 1986, but the postal code system remains American for now:

On the shield on the left is the heavenly Truk, which is in our heads and hearts (it is worth noting the marked asphalt roads, the collected garbage and the trimmed lawn. No one drinks), on the right is Truk, our days:

The real situation is this: Truk is not an island, but a lagoon in which there are several islands of approximately the same size. We are not going around Truk, but around Weno - the island with the airport, all the business and tourists. Veno is an island, a city, a state capital, and a village, gradually turning into each other.

Veno

The main road:

Veno is fighting for the title of owner of the crappiest main road around the island in Micronesia, but loses to the main one: on Tarawa there is an insane number of potholes and you drive nervously, as if on a grater; on Truk, the potholes have already merged into single half-flooded channels of sorts and the driving has become calmer.

The main road has narrowed, how can you miss an American school bus?

The jungle is gradually digesting the machines and units that could not cope with the Truk road:

But in much better condition.

Village.

A man walking towards you with an empty bucket seems to be hinting:

Good-natured locals hang out. Good nature ends with sunset: Truk is the most dangerous, most vile place. Micronesians have the same problems with alcohol as some aboriginal peoples, Indians, and residents of northern Siberia, but alcohol is not limited to anything other than church propaganda, and by the evening fights begin, robbing rich strangers, or worse.

They are buried in the yard if the site allows:

The young man stands under a canopy and hides his hands:

Fiber-optic communication line has been extended:

The young man was carrying coconuts, got tired and sat down:

Girls posing:

Soft Borders:

There are very few historical houses of European and Japanese colonists left, but they are incredibly beautiful:

Here are the churches, like everywhere else, in large numbers and in perfect order:

The turtle above the gate is straight out of pre-European history, when public façades were decorated with something cool, like drawings (or skeletons) of useful sea creatures. Actually, modern churches usually stand on the site of temples demolished by the first missionaries.

Sometimes the main road emerges from the jungle village and winds along the crystal turquoise waters of the lagoon

So that the diver does not forget why he needs all this, every license plate, T-shirt and souvenir reminds: