Places you've never heard of and can't find on a map.

This weekend, I had the good fortune of going to work. Seriously, it was absolutely stunning. I did a trip known as "The island hopper". It starts in Guam and goes to several islands before finishing in Honolulu for a couple days and then making our way back to Guam afterward. Hawaii was good and all, but the islands that we stop at were the most amazing places I've ever seen. Prisitne, jungle-like untouched except for a few small villages of people. Mostly fishing communities, I guess. We bring supplies and some tourists between these islands. Just for the record....We start in Guam. Next is Chuuk (pronounced Chooook) and formerly known as Truk (like a vehicle). Next was Pohnpei, Kosrae, Kwajalein ("Kwaj"), Majuro, the Hawaii. The ones you've never heard of are part of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Basically, they are volcanic islands with crazy lush tropical forestry and jagged rock mountain or they are almost totally flat atolls that were once volcanoes and have since imploded and collapsed leaving a ring of land extending 1-10 feet above the ocean. These places are literally in the middle of nowhere. Isolated in the Enormous Pacific ocean halfway between Hawaii and Asia, nearer the equator. I've never felt more isolated and awe-struck as I was in Majuro. The Atoll is long and thin and averages maybe 100 feet across, but is many miles round. You'll see it in the pics on flickr. When you're standing on the ramp at the airport and can feel the waves' mist on your skin from crashing on the barrier 20 feet away and a few feet below you. You get the feeling that this place is temporary. The Pacific is going to take it back and you just hope you aren't there to see it when it happens. ( I later found out that Wake island north of there had just that happen in a storm. The entire island was under the sea and is finally reemerging and rebuilding. WTF?) I'll blog more about these crazy places separately later. But there is such contrast in the pics from Kosrae and Chuuk to Kwaj and Majuro. Words and pics won't do any of these places justice. But, hopefully you'll get an idea of them. Make sure to read the tags on the pics too.