Back from the other side of the world....

Well I'm finally back.  Still not quite adjusted to the massive time changes from a trip that literally took me 15 hrs ahead and back.  All things considered the trip went pretty well.  As far as the flight out is concerned it went about as well as a 25.5 hr series of flights can go.  I watched 3 movies and 4 TV shows.  When I finally got to Saipan and gathered all my bags I just wanted to get to the hotel and get to sleep.  I stayed at the Aqua Resort Club which turned out to be quite nice.  The next day I went up and scouted out the jobsite.  It was located at the top of Mt. Topachau, which is the highest peak on the island.  The view from there was amazing.  I could see the entire island.  After staking everything out and realizing I'd have to do all my work by hand because the excavator couldn't access the site I decided to go do some site seeing.  I went to a lookout and the southside of the island that views a place called Forbidden Island.  It's a small island off the coast that juts up of the coast line with all side made of shear rock faces 60-70 ft tall.  It was a really cool place to see.  I found a trail from the lookout that brought me down to the coast adjacent to the island.  I was able to get some really cool pictures and then headed back up.  From there I headed up to the North side of the island to Banzai Cliff.  It is a cliff that drops to the rough ocean approx. 50 ft.  After WWII all of the Japanese males and their children that lived on the island went to the cliffs and jumped off into the ocean, because they felt they were a disgrace for losing the war.  Pretty powerful stuff and a stunning sight to see as well.  After that I headed back to the resort and called it a night.

The next day I got up and got my equipment ready for what I expected was going to be a tough day and I was right.  I met the client and locals at the site and literally cut my way through the jungle with a machete to get to my exact test sites.  I spent the next 5 hours digging and drilling in rock taking samples to analyze for out report.  Needless to say, by the end of that I was beat and I had a wicked farmer's tan from the blazing hot sun.  Working that close to the equator makes an amazing difference that I hadn't really expected since it had been cooler the last time I was in Guam and Rota last year.  Thankfully I brought plenty of water and snacks to keep myself from dehydrating and cramping up.  After finishing up I headed back to the hotel to clean up and grab some dinner.  I called it a night early since I had a 4am flight the next day.  After another 25.5hrs of flying from the other side of the world, stopping in 4 airports, clearing customs, and finding myself amazed that my bags all made it to Raleigh; I headed home.  Finding myself never happier than to climb into my bed to try and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Here's a few pictures from the trip: (Hotel, Forbidden Island, View from the Top, Banzai Cliff, Sunset)