warwass:
Yapese Stone Money Quarr - Chelechol ra Orrak, they call it Metuker er a Bisech.
elsslots:
Still a bit in doubt if this is the right location. Metuker er a Bisech lies on Metukerabisech Island, while Chelechol ra Orrak is on Korak Island.
There is no doubt that these (Metuker er a Bisech and Chelechol ra Orrak) are 2
different places and that, for some reason Palau has NOT included Metuker er a Bisech within its T List site proposal as it currently stands
(A problem in searching on any of these names is that there are considerable spelling variations in converting from Palauan to "English" - from here on I will refer to the 2 sites simply as Metuk and Chelechol!!)
Also that Metuk has been "developed" for tourists with railings etc as described by Warwass whilst the situation regarding Chelechol is unclear - at least from any searches on the Web I have been able to make.
For the fact that they are different sites see
a. This official document of 2010 - "Airai Master Plan".
www.palauconservation.org/cms/images/stories/.../Airai_Master_Land_Use_Plan.pdfSection 2.3.1 lists 15 of the state's historic assets. Metuk is number 3 and Chelechol number 13. It also lists Metuk as being one of the 6 which had been "restored" (in 1993 and 1997). Notice also that the "village"/area address differs within the state!
b. This Palau travel site also lists the 2 sites separately -
http://www.palau-travelguide.com/category/things-to-do-in-palau/palau-things-to-do-in -airai/This rather nice site with map places a pointer with a mouse-over title for each of the sites - Chelechol is one of the 3 pointers on the island of "Orrak" approx in the centre and Metuk is on the peninsular (it may just be an "island" - Google Earth seems to show a possible man-made (??) cut at one point) to the west (the more northerly of the 2 pointers -
https://www.mbendi.com/attraction/chelechol-ra-orrak-burial-site-1000-bc-917777This page from Palau Travel Guide also contains a map (scroll down) showing the location of each site -
http://www.palau-travelguide.com/metuker-ra-bisech---yapese-quarried-sone-money-site- 37.htmlThis site contains references to BOTH sites and has a detailed map of Metuk together with a photo of Orrak Island - (which it describes as "probably the best quarry site where you can still see the remains and the platforms and the living areas where they were.") -
http://www.pacificworlds.com/palau/native/native5.cfmMetuk seems to be offered as a tour but I can find no mention of any tour to Orrak. Here is a report by someone else visiting Metuk - different prices from those of Warwass but similar details regarding need for permits etc etc -
http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/oceania/metuker-ra-bisech-stone-money-quar ry.htmlNote that their boat (and that of Warwass) departs from the bridge connecting Koror and Babeldaob. Metuk is "across the bay" from there towards the end of the peninsular. To get to Korak you would need to depart from the road which ends at the Biota Marine Life nursery (see Google maps) a bit beyond the US embassy on the other side of the airport and right round the peninsular and across another bay so any boat from the same company and location would have a lot further to go to get to Chelechol.
Which leaves the other T List site of 'Uet el Doab ma Uet el Beluu'!! This doesn't get even the same mention as Metuk on the Visit Palau web site but is mentioned in the Airai Master plan as historic site No 8 (also undeveloped at the time). All I can say is that, if you feed the UNESCO coordinates into GoogleMaps you finish up on Korak island!!!