Tags: Palau

Palau is called "Easter Island of Micronesia" for a good reason. Actually, for more than one.

If you are a history buff on vacation in Palau, you should seriously consider visiting places listed below.

And we guarantee that most of them will be interesting also for those who come to Palau just for fun and the tropical vibes.

Badrulchau

Badrulchau is Palau's largest and most ancient megalithic site (dated to 150 AD). Here you'll find 52 basalt megaliths, some of them weighing over 5 tonnes. They are believed to be the pillars of what could have been the largest bai (meeting house) ever built in Palau. But the visitors come here to see the enormous stone heads. There are six of them - can you spot them all?

Ancient Palau  - megaliths in Palau

Odalmelech

Odalmelech is the largest (about 2,5-meter high) and the most famous stone head in Palau. It is located on Babeldaob Island, in Melekeok state, only five minutes by car from the capital, Ngerulmud. 

Believed to depict the god-king, Odalmelech stares mutely toward the ocean, resting maybe 15 meters from the beach.

Initially, the site contained nine megaliths. Some of them were moved, though. Not far from Odalmelech you will spot two more interesting stone faces, but smaller in size. 

Mengachui

The Mengachui head was excavated on property belonging to the Omenckngkar family at Melekeok. Besides the small (42 cm) but intriguing stone head, the family possesses a large collection of traditional paintings and a small museum to accommodate them. 

Mengachui in Palauan legends is a god who eats the hair of passing women if their hair is not properly combed. 

Avoiding visits to the site on bad hair days is highly recommended. 

Mother and Child Stone

There is another Palauan legend related to a megalith - this time Mother and Child Stone in Ngermid (it is hard to find on your own, better take a taxi). It is said that once upon a time there was an unruly woman who peeked inside bai (the men's meeting house) and for punishment got turned to stone along with her child. 

She looks like this nowadays:

Tet el Bad Stone Coffin

Tet el Bad is a stone coffin or sarcophagus located on top of a small hill on a stone platform for the chiefs’ meeting house in Ollei traditional village in Ngarchelong State (near the northern tip of Babeldaob from which the ferries to Kayangel island leave).

Near the sarcophagus, there's another colossal stone head and a stone trough of unknown purpose.

Metuker ra Bisech

Metuker ra Bisech is a place in Airai state where the quarry for the famous Yapese stone money was located. The money was produced in Palau and transported 400 kilometers in simple canoes to Yap.
Not really the megaliths, nonetheless the giant"coins" are definitely the stones everyone should see on their trip to Palau.

If you want to learn how we managed to see all the above (and more) places in one day, go to our article How to plan a trip to Palau.

And if you want to know what else you can do on your vacation, visit What to see and do in Palau.

 Ancient Palau

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