Biak, Papua used to be known as one of the battle grounds during World War II.

There are many housing, military bases, medical area and sites in this tiny island that are left by the Japanese and some occupied by Americans.

Geographically, Biak is also close to the Philippine, Palau, and even Hawaii, making this a strategic place during the end of WWII.

This is why, even today there are many remnants of WWII scattered throughout the area albeit unmaintained by locals.

However, their underwater monument remains to be something they like to boast about.

I heard stories about the vastness of WWII relics under the water that some of it is called catalina wreck. There are also plenty of diving points to see underwater cars, and everything that the Japanese left behind after they lost during WWII.

But one place that attempts to serve as a reminder of the atrocities that happened during WWII is this monument built by the cooperation of the Indonesian and Japanese government.

The Second World War Monument Biak Numfor

From the outside of the area, it looks quite normal. There are words inscribed around it telling why this monument was built.

That being said, it looks quite like any other war monument.

Up until a local pointed out a hidden bunker-like area just behind the monument.

This bunker hosts the ashes of the Japanese. From the entrance, as you can see below, it looks quite sunny and quite "harmless".

However, once you stepped into the bunker even a few steps away, all you could see was darkness.

It's not the darkness that is physically seen but also the unseen. As much as I might not have believed in such, the energy of the place was different.

I was sensing something sinister lying in this bunker so I didn't really explore further. I stepped back before I even explored everything.

When I glanced inside, I felt like there were eyes watching, greeting but not in a friendly way.

Even when I was accompanied by the locals, I didn't even dare to check further. One person from our team stayed a bit longer and was not sure how he could stand being there for so long. Later, he told me he felt the same sinister energy around the area.

This feeling was the same way I felt checking out a war museum in Malang but this one was a lot more sinister, darker and something that’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

Interestingly, since that was our first point and first day in Biak, during our stay for the last 4 days, all of our team just couldn't sleep well. Some of us including myself had constant nightmares. I wondered if that energy from the place affected us. But, who knows. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't really enter the place or stepped into that room. It's fascinating how even in my camera, the picture looks so inviting but I can tell you as much, being there physically was dark, eerie and creepy.

It's not that we're physically tired but we felt something was off after that experience.

Maybe some places are not meant to be explored further. And I believe some places are best to keep it that way, hidden from the rest of the world and to never be unveiled.

This place is quite okay to be visited just on the front part. Afterall, it is adjacent to the beautiful beach where you can see turquoise water. But don't dare to enter the place.