By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

Living a simple life , that is what President Remengesau learned from his two-day voyage aboard the Hokule’a.
In an interview with the media, the president said that that the experience was also a spiritual voyage and gave him the opportunity to get away from the excesses of modern life.
Hokule’a arrived in Palau on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. from Yap with President Remengesau on board.
The voyaging canoe was welcomed by a huge crowd at the Neco Marine dock- the crowd trooped to the dock as early as 6 a.m. to get a glimpse of the canoe.
Hokule’a was accompanied by Alingano Maisu with a large Micronesian crew.
The voyaging canoe will be in Palau until April 5 and its crew will be touring Palau and the canoe will be opened for tours.
Last week, Remengesau flew to Yap to join the voyage to Palau. The canoe left Yap last Friday.
The president said the trip taught him simplicity and that material things are not important.
He said the fish for food but always consumed just enough and kept the rest of the supplies for future use.
He said , life is so simple aboard the voyage that they took showers using salty water.
He said that there were no signs of modern technology aboard the ship, no television and no cellular phones.
Even the style of voyage was very traditional.
During the trip, the voyagers treated each other like a family who looked after each other and helped one another in getting the vessel to Palau.
He said the main theme of the voyage was "one ocean and one people" and that the trip was to conserve knowledge of the culture.
He said will be joining the voyage again next year.