Philippines
Our first
impression of The Philippines was grand.
The ladies at the “Tourist Information” desk were more than helpful when
we rolled up with no clue where we wanted to go.
“What’s
easy, cheap, & available for tonight?”
“Where do you want to go Sir?”
“North... Or
South... Whatever is easy, cheap, & available?”
(While proof
reading, I see this quote could be easily misinterpreted.)
With great
help from beautiful Filipino people, we found ourselves on the next flight south
to Palawan. A guy from the south east
islands also planned to stay overnight in the airport, and so we stuck it out
together. What a friendly young
man... Interpreted for us when
necessary, even bought us a midnight snack!
Puerto
Princesa was our first stop on Palawan.
Not too much going on, but we managed to find a few things. Our room was a bit of a dive, but it was nice
to have A/C for a change. One of the
major adverts for P.P. is the 8.5KM underground river, why not? Pretty amazing, but at the end of the day was
a bit of a bore only because we have seen our share of amazing caves. Its location forces 3 different styles of
transport on you & not for a good price.
With not
much else to do, it was time to move north.
Our “plan” was to hit Port Barton, back track, and head up further to El
Nido. The price difference for travel
surprised us, so straight to El Nido it was.
What a beautiful place. Set in a quiet
bay, El Nido’s small town feel was exactly what we were looking for. We had spent the few days we had bumming
around, taking in the dirt roads, beach restaurants, & snorkelling the
many, many islands just off shore.
Travel &
accommodation has blown our Philippine budget pretty quickly forcing us to get
back to our searching the streets for a deal.
Ben & I strolled the beach for fisherman willing to rent their boat
& a driver for the day.
Unfortunately, because of El Nidos’ small size, they had us where they
wanted us. They justified the price for
their boat (afloat with Pepsi bottles & Styrofoam) as a “private tour”. Fair enough.
Although we wanted to explore on our own, away from the crowds of
people, the tour price was just right.
The
Philippines did not offer the gallery of Hostels previous countries had. Most of our stays were at hotel rooms where
the visitors don’t information share about things to do, places to go, or how
to get the best deals. Again, the budget
had us when it was time to make tracks so we cruised the streets looking for
the best rate to get to Coron, an island breaking up the trip back to
Manila. Even at the port, the attendants
don’t let you in on the local ferry information, forcing a tourist ticket for 5
times the price. Just when you think you
may have found a slight deal, you get on a boat only loaded full of the white
man.
A few
seconds after setting sail from the pier, we came to slow stop. One of the operators dove into the water with
1950’s dive mask looking for our... propeller... Should be thankful that it fell off only 10
feet from the dock? Sometime later, they
screwed ‘er back on, a little tighter, & we set sail through some of the
most gorgeous waters we’ve seen. Tiny
islands, beautiful white sand, turquoise waters, & all with no more than a
few fisherman huts residing on their fringes.
If only we could stop off... But we weren’t invited L
Just when we
were starting to really enjoy our trip through paradise, Ben drags himself back
into the cabin, tear in eye, head barely lifted. He had dropped his i-Pod into the
depths. Poor guy. Music is everything to him, especially on
those 10 hour bus rides.
We didn’t
know much about Coron, & so, were very thankful that a room was available
in town. Nothing special, but at least
it was a place to lay our heads. Island
hopping was a bit better priced & apparently the reefs had survived local
dynamite fishing better than around El Nido.
Unfortunately for us, the funds were already spent out in Palawan. But we were able to enjoy cheap food & a
great hike to the top of the towns’ hill for a beautiful sunset over the
outlaying islands.
Ben caught
sight of a sushi place just down the road from our hotel, a sign that a nice
lunch was deserved. Excited to enjoy
some fresh sashimi, we barely noticed a man saunter half drunk onto the
patio. Finally he asked to join us. With no real reason to say no, we nodded
& he plunked himself down. Well,
that was the end of our chilled out lunch.
This guy was unreal. As we ate,
our new Irish friend pounded back beer after beer as if he was the only one who
had underground news of an approaching beer ban.
“You guys
sure you don’t want one?”
Finally,
after the fourth decline, we accepted.
We figured he owed us something for our fabulous company!!
I won’t go
into too much detail about the statements that came out of this guys mouth, but
it was good for a laugh. He meant well,
but a little too sauced to make much sense.
At one point, he snatched my sandal, threw it down under his head &
with his best efforts, attempted a head stand, each time crashing down smashing
his knees into the tile floor. He also
proved his intelligence with the remark “I’m pretty smart too ya know... For
example, I know that E-MC2. I don’t
remember how I know that... I just know it, ya know? And that guy, well, he didn’t either... An apple
just dropped on his head one day, and he knew it, just like me.”
What an
interesting day that was. Nice enough
guy, but we needed a break from it after 6 hours. How random.
We had
underestimated the lengthy travel times between each place within The
Philippines, and time was ticking fast. It’s
a bit difficult to reach the corners of the country because Manila serves as the
hub for all travel. The shortest line
isn’t always a possible route. Based on
our last dealing with ferries, it was less time consuming & a better price
to fly back to Manila. From there, we
bussed north to San Juan, a small surf community a few minutes from San
Fernando.
San Juan was
surprising. For its popularity amoung
the surfer crowd, it was pretty small.
You could easily drive past & not take notice. Just a few km worth of beach front
accommodation, then back to typical Philippines. Because of this, if you’re not surfing,
you’re not doing much at all. We dove
right in opting out of lessons since we had a little experience from surfing
out in Tofino. Well, apparently that was
long, long ago... We didn’t accomplish
much & the next day came crawling back to the shop begging for a lesson. It turned out to be a wise decision, &
the next few days we were able to spend a little more time on the board instead
of in the “washing machine”.
Ben & I
have tried to stay with the times when a t.v. or English newspaper is around,
which isn’t very often. When we sat down
at a table & looked up to see that an earthquake had rocked Japan, we were
more than surprised. Everyone around us
discussed what they would do if the expected tsunami hit our side of The
Philippines. The general feeling was
that we were in the clear, which in the end, we were. Just when that scare faded, people were
running around with talk of nuclear poisons coming our way. Yeesh... What’s next??
The waves
eventually died down, & we were on the road again. This time out of the country, excited to meet
friends from home, Jason & Nessa, due to meet us in Indonesia.
Overall, the
Philippines was a great time. With a
little more time & money, we could have enjoyed all the things we wanted
to. In comparison, accommodation,
travel, & tours are on the expensive end (we’re ultra cheap, so expensive
meaning $15-25 rooms, $30-$50 boats, $20-$30 tours), while food, drinks, &
surf lessons are within our “ultra cheap” budget. Part of my love for the Philippines was that
there were not a million travellers like me within 2KM radius, & the locals
were not just crowding around to serve or sell you something. It was a nice change. There is so much more the country has to
offer & the people are amoung some of the friendliest we’ve met.
Can’t wait to
see Indonesia!!
Love to you
all.
B&B
