Kolonia

Pohnpei was settled by seafarers from further west in the Pacific perhaps two thousand years ago, and for most of that time it was a society of chiefdoms tied together by kinship, land, and a tribute system centred on feasts. Oral history tells of a dynasty called the Saudeleur, who ruled the whole island from a ceremonial centre on the south-east coast. The Saudeleur are remembered as powerful and, in the end, harsh; tradition says a chief named Isokelekel arrived from across the sea, overthrew the last of them and divided the island into the chiefdoms that exist today.

The Saudeleur seat was Nan Madol, whose construction appears to have begun around the 12th century and grown over the following centuries; archaeologists date most of its structures to somewhere between about 1200 and 1600, and the sequence is still debated. The chiefdoms that replaced the Saudeleur have their own paramount chiefs, the nahnmwarki, who still hold titles and feast obligations. The island has therefore always been governed by both a modern state and a system of titles and land, which is one reason visitors need permission for sites.

European ships began to call in the early 19th century, bringing whalers, traders, missionaries and disease. Epidemics reduced the population sharply, and outside interest in the island grew. Spain, which had long claimed the Carolines on paper, sent a garrison and a governor to Kolonia in 1887, and the fighting that followed with the people of Sokehs is one of the reasons the wall was built. Germany bought the islands in 1899, Japan took over in 1914, and after the Second World War the United States administered the islands under a United Nations trusteeship until the Federated States of Micronesia took over its own affairs in 1986.

For a visitor, the history is not far away: it is in the wall on the low rise, the bell tower, the harbour where cargo ships still tie up, and the family names, some of which are Japanese or German. A guide who is willing to talk about it turns a walk into a lesson.

Nan Madol is the reason most people come. It is a complex of about a hundred small artificial islets, laid out in a grid of canals on the reef off Temwen island, and it is built of basalt columns stacked like logs, filled with coral rubble. Some of the stones are very large, and the question of how people without metal tools or draught animals moved and lifted them has drawn wonder for generations. The islets served as residences, temples, tombs and food-preparation sites for the Saudeleur elite. The name is often translated as 'spaces between', a reference to the canals.

The site is divided into two parts. Madol Powe, the upper part, held the ritual and funerary buildings, and Madol Pah, the lower part, held the residences and administration. The tomb complex on Nandauwas, the most impressive of the islets, was walled with massive stones and was probably the burial place of the rulers. Most of the site is covered in mangrove and forest, so a clear view is rare, and the best way to see it is on foot or wading with a guide, at low tide, when the canals are shallow.

UNESCO inscribed Nan Madol on the World Heritage List in 2016 and, at the same time, placed it on the list of sites in danger, because of the pressure from mangrove growth, erosion and the difficulty of managing a site owned by many clans. That ownership matters for visitors. You need the permission of the landowners, there is a fee, and your guide will probably ask you to follow custom, including not stepping on certain places and not taking anything away.

Allow at least half a day, and plan around the tide: at some hours the boat approach is easy and at others you will need to wade. Wear shoes that can get wet and a rain jacket; the site is exposed and the showers are frequent. Take water and a snack. Do not climb on the walls, and treat the place as the tomb complex and sacred site it still is to many islanders.

Few places of Pohnpei's size have been ruled by four different powers in a little over a century. Spain came first, building a small garrison town at Kolonia in 1887 with the wall that still stands. The Spanish presence was short and troubled, and further conflict with the people of Sokehs in 1890 led to a siege of the town. German rule after 1899 brought copra plantations, roads and a mission with a bell tower, and it ended violently with the Sokehs Rebellion of 1910–11, in which Sokehs leaders resisted forced labour and were defeated.

The Japanese period, from 1914 to 1945, transformed the island. Japan ran the Carolines as a mandate and then as a military zone, brought thousands of settlers, built roads, ports and a town, and introduced farming, fishing and food that remain part of daily life: raw fish with soy and wasabi, noodles and rice-and-fish plates. At the end of the war, most of the Japanese population was repatriated, though many families of mixed background remained, and the island's Japanese-era roads, ruins and family names are still visible.

After 1947, the United States administered the islands as a Trust Territory. Roads and a hospital were built and an English-language school system began, and in 1986, under a Compact of Free Association, the Federated States of Micronesia became self-governing. The compact provides US financial assistance and lets citizens live and work in the United States, and it is the reason the dollar is used here and English is the working language of government.

The colonial layers are not a tourist attraction so much as a background. They explain why the food, the signs and the buildings are mixed, and why a conversation may switch between Pohnpeian and English. A guide from the island can point out the traces; ask about their family's story if the moment is right.

Sakau, called kava elsewhere in the Pacific, is made from the root of a pepper plant that is pounded on a flat stone until the juice can be squeezed through a hibiscus fibre into a coconut-shell cup. The drink is grey-brown and earthy and numbs the lips and tongue. It is not alcohol, but it is mildly sedating, and in Pohnpei it is the centre of a ceremony that marks feasts, apologies, titles and important guests. Rank determines who drinks first, and the cups are passed in order.

The ceremony belongs to the traditional system of chiefs. Each of the five chiefdoms is led by a paramount chief, the nahnmwarki, with a second title-holder, the nahnken, and the structure of titles, feasts and offerings gives the system its shape. Feasts involve a large amount of yams, pigs and sakau, and gifts of food flow up to the chief, who redistributes them. These customs are not a performance for visitors; they are part of the island's social and political life.

Modern Pohnpei has sakau bars, small open huts where people gather after work to drink, chat and unwind. It is common for a visitor to be invited, and many people are pleased to explain the custom. If you go, follow your host's lead: greet the elder first, take the cup in both hands, drink it in one go if you can, and do not photograph without asking. A small cup is enough for a first try. Sakau can interact with medicines and affect the liver, so if you take medication, have liver disease or are pregnant, decline politely, and do not drive or take a boat afterwards.

Respect also extends to land. Sites, beaches and paths often belong to specific families or clans, and a sign or a chain across a path means the owner's permission is needed. Your hotel or guide will know whom to ask and what a small fee or gift should be.

Pohnpei is one of the wettest inhabited places in the Pacific: the coast around Kolonia receives well over four thousand millimetres of rain a year, and the peaks in the interior receive far more. The result is a dense rainforest, a set of clear rivers and waterfalls, and mangrove stands along the coast that are among the best in Micronesia. The island's highest point, Mount Nahnalaud, rises to a little under eight hundred metres, and clouds sit on the ridges most days.

The forest is home to birds found nowhere else, including several endemic species, and to plants that have long provided food, medicine and building material. The mangroves shelter fish and crabs, and provide a natural buffer for the coast. Sakau, breadfruit, taro, yam and banana are all cultivated in the gardens that ring the villages, in a system of agroforestry that has fed the island for centuries.

The reef around the island and the outer atolls form the second great habitat. The barrier reef encloses a lagoon, and the passes through it hold fast currents and abundant fish. Ant Atoll and Pakin Atoll, a boat trip to the west, are the best-known snorkelling and diving destinations, with clear water, healthy coral and, in season, manta rays and sharks. Diving here is best in the calmer months from January to March, and only with an established operator that briefs on currents and weather.

For a visitor, the practical consequences are simple. Carry a rain jacket and a dry bag, expect mud on any trail, wear shoes with grip and do not attempt a stream crossing after heavy rain. Waterfalls are lovely and slippery, and the rocks around them cause more injuries than the rain. Apply sunscreen and insect repellent, and use a rash vest in the sea.

Ask your guide which trails are open, since landowners and weather change access from week to week, and never leave litter or cut plants along the way.

Pohnpei's traditional staples come from the garden and the sea. Breadfruit, known as mai, is the classic: a big green fruit that is boiled, baked, fried or pounded and stored as a paste. Taro and yam are the other roots, and banana comes in many varieties. Coconut, both eaten and drunk, is everywhere. Fish, from reef fish to tuna, provides most of the protein, and pork is saved for feasts.

The yam holds a special place: the giant yams grown for feasts can weigh many kilograms and are presented to chiefs as marks of respect. A feast involves a large mound of yams, roasted pigs and sakau, and its preparation can take days. Most visitors will not see a feast, but a simple local plate in Kolonia shows the same ingredients.

Japanese, Chinese and Filipino influences appear in daily eating. Raw tuna with soy and wasabi is a common lunch, rice is a staple alongside roots, and Filipino noodles and adobo are on many menus. Imported foods, from canned meat to packaged noodles, are also widely eaten, and the health effects have been a concern in the Pacific for some years.

The practical advice is to ask what is fresh, eat where the turnover is fast, and carry small notes. Menus are short and hours are informal. Sundays are quiet, and some eateries close for the day. Try a plate of local staples once, taste the tuna, and have a coconut opened in front of you.

Eating with others is central to island life. If a family invites you to share a meal, accept a small helping of everything, wait until the elders have started, and thank the cook. Bringing a gift such as fruit, rice or a small treat from the shop is appreciated, and leaving without eating can be read as a slight. When you buy fish at the market, ask how it was caught and when; the answer will tell you a lot about the day's boats and the state of the reef.