A destination of choice

Saipan is billed as a “destination of choice” to Sinosphere visitors. The CNMI declared May as Tourism Month, with improved infrastructures so visitors drive through urban roads with sidewalks, walk in a lit lagoon pathway, and swim in lifeguarded hotel shores, along with driving adventure in rustic back roads on rugged terrain.

Heavy duty four-wheelers with drivers geared with crash helmets in addition to the vehicles’ sturdy chassis, drive on the imagined safari wildness, never mind that the architecture of houses along Mt. Tapuchau Road are akin to any gated community in the world.

Four-wheelers abound along the path fronting farms on the leeward side of Mt. Tapuchau, displaying even female drivers on the steering wheel! With the tall bush and gutted roads, the roughriders think themselves in the wild, an exciting experience for young city folks from Korea and Japan (the southern Chinese are not as interested except to drive youthful cars out to the beach with duos hauling a kid or two around favored SUVs to the Grotto). The distinctive vroom-vroom-vroom assaults do not seem to bother the tranquility of indigene dwellings.

This small 5×12 mile part—navigable from Marpi to Obyan and return in two hours through decent roads with reasonable speed limits that allows local drivers to let pedestrians cross safely—takes longer to circumnavigate by sail, the Pacific side tending to be rough. The pathway walk between JP Center and Vicente “Pacho” Masga Sablan Susupe Beach Park is great for the joints and the muscle tones.

The upland “wilderness” will last long as the drive-in-the-wild is kept to the rugged back roads while the planned cable-and-lift from Garapan accesses Mt. Tapuchau, leaving the top’s road to residents’ SUVs and 4x4s to vie with the four-wheelers, bikers, and the Good Friday procession of the faithful!

What have we got to offer visitors mostly from China, Korea and Japan? The beaches and the lagoon are givens, Mañagaha a gem to be protected. Tinian and Rota are adventures, and a sailboat ride on a three-person catamaran is a special treat, if one can still find a reliable navigator. A mile out offers endless exploits.

Humvee (H2), Camaro, Mustang, and the door-flying Corvette for 6/12-hour rentals are available to the tourists. Homeland Japan zeroes in on the 5 percent of Chinese who have passports, and extra renminbi to burn at the boutique stores, so Ginza and Shinjuku are awash with ¥uan turned ¥en.

Guests also discover that shopping on Saipan offers no break compared to Shanghai, Seoul, or Tokyo. T Galleria’s Marian Pierce might want to double check the shopping angle! But clearly, the waters of shores and wildness of a tropical isle, if left clear and clean, are our assets to protect.

The boat ride to Mañagaha is a must while the seasoned guests snorkel and scuba dive in shores with currents. Locals still get a Mañagaha free ride, but a call for reservation is needed, and guests dole out an Andrew Jackson to get on board. A destination of choice, indeed. © 2015 Saipan Tribune