26 February 2014

Week 74 - Banaue, Cambulo, Batad, Manila, Cebu (Philippines)

Our guesthouse restaurant was manic when we woke, full of people getting ready for one trip or another. We had time for a coffee before our guide turned up to collect us. His name was Johnny and we would be spending the next three days with him. Outside, we bundled in to a tricycle and head off for the starting point of our trek, a couple of kilometres north of the Banaue Viewpoint we’d been to the day before. We made a couple of stops on route including the point where the image for the 1,000 peso bill was taken from. At the start of the trail we left our tricycle and began the 24km walk to Cambulo where we would be spending the night. Other than an Israeli couple who we leap frogged for the first hour or so and a few couples coming the other way, the trail was quiet. We stopped for lunch by a river in a tiny village called Pula before pushing on to Cambulo. Although we’d been told the walk would take 4-5 hour it ended up taking 6 hours and we were the first in for the day (there were 7 of us at our guesthouse in Cambulo and the Israeli couple staying elsewhere), i’m not sure how 4 hours would ever be achievable unless you ran it. 
Rhys in the tricycle at the start of the trek, Banaue.
Newly planted Rhys terraces near Pula.
Our guesthouse was far nicer than we’d expected and after Rhys had had a quick dip in the ice cold river to freshen up, we showered and got the cards out for a few games with our new Dutch friends over dinner and lots of cups of coffee.
Cambulo village.
As we were the only people spending the night in Batad, we had a relaxed morning and waved the others off before packing our bags and eating humongous pancakes. Back on the trail we had a leg burning hour and a half into Batad. We entered the village over a ridge and were rewarded with the ampitheatre of rice terraces stretching out before us. At the moment it is planting season so rather than being a patchwork of green the terraces are a mix of brown - where they are yet to be cleaned and prepared, white - where they have been cleaned and the water reflects the sky, speckled green - where the seedlings have been planted 4 inches apart, and bright green - where the seedlings are clustered in nurseries awaiting planting. 
View of Batad from the ridge as we entered the village.
View of the rice terraces at Batad as we walked in to the village.
It was a good time to be there, we had perfect trekking weather, a little overcast but warm and no rain and as it’s planting time there are people working on the terraces as you pass and the town is busy as the younger generation have returned from the city to help (they have to work in the city to send back money to their families as the rice they grow isn’t enough and they have to buy more). We dropped our bags at a guesthouse in the centre of the village, the only one there, away from all the tourist hotels up on the ridge near the saddle where you enter the village if you come straight from Banaue. After lunch and a rest Johnny took us down the 937 steps leading to a waterfall where Rhys swam again before we climbed back up into the village. Leaving Johnny there we decided we hadn’t quite had enough of stairs for the day and continued up to the ridge to a guesthouse called Ritas with a little restaurant with views out across the terraces. We sat there with coffees and a puppy taking it all in. The rain started and we figured it was time to head back down to our guesthouse before the stairs and the mud walls of the terraces got too slippery, walking around the walls requires a lot of balance at the best of times. We ate at the guesthouse and went to bed.
View of Batad from Ritas, a guesthouse near the saddle.
After a bad nights sleep due to a mix of it being the hardest bed in the world and pretty chilly in the night, we were feeling a little less motivated than we had the day before. Nevertheless we packed up, ate our pancakes and laced up our boots ready to hit the trail again for the final push to Bagaan. It was another 14km, the same as the previous day but after an initially steep climb and lots of sliding about on wet paths from the rain in the night, the track evened out. We wound our way out of the valley passing a few smaller areas of rice terraces before meeting the road where our tricycle was due to collect us. In places the road is just a mud track and the rain had turned it in to slush. We ended up walking all the way in to the village to find the tricycle and just as we climbed in the clouds drew in and it started to really drizzle. A freezing 45 minute journey later with a couple of stops at view points and we were back in Banaue. 

We collected our laundry and walked back to our guesthouse where we’d left our bags, paid for a hot shower and repacked our backpacks. We had about 6 hours to waste so after lunch we sat in our guesthouse, drank coffee, caught up on admin and played cards. At 6:30pm we climbed the stairs out of the town to the bus terminal and boarded the night bus to Manila.

For once, Rhys managed to sleep and we pulled in to the city on time at 4am. We’d been a bit apprehensive about the journey as one of the night buses went off the cliff last week and was still laying there when we came in from Sagada. In response, our bus took a different route and went back to Manila via Solano.

We’d messaged our hostel in Manila to warn them we’d be arriving in the early hours of the morning and after a short taxi ride from the bus terminal we had checked in and were in bed by 5am. After a lay in, Rhys decided MacDonalds was calling and we wandered out for lunch and to head back to Market! Market! a shopping mall we visited on our last stay in Manila. This time we stumbled across a floor with market stalls and lots of cheap clothes and ended up buying more T-shirts than we needed. We walked back via the Bonifacio Highstreet, another area we seemed to have missed last time, lined with shops, posh malls, bars and restaurants. By the time we got back to the hostel we were shattered and ended up ordering a pizza delivery for dinner.

We left the hostel early the next morning and flagged a cab to take us to the airport. This was our 4th time through Manila Domestic Terminal and we were starting to feel at home. Our flight left early and we arrived in Cebu 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Another cab ride and we checked in to our hotel. We’d treated ourselves to a nice place with a pool thinking as we had a couple of days in the city to sort out our visas and to wait for Tim to arrive we wouldn’t be spending much money elsewhere. It wasn’t quite what we’d hoped for, the room was fine but was two twin beds and there was no wifi, the toilet seat was broken and the pool was out of order. After an hour of going back and forth to reception we had the beds pushed together and a wifi router put in our room. We popped out to the shopping mall next door to the supermarket and then later we wandered out again to the Terraces, an outdoor restaurant area of the mall, where we ate Japanese for dinner.

The next day we had arranged to meet an agent in the hotel reception to pick up our passports and the £200 visa fee to extend our visas past the 59 day mark (we will be in the Philippines for 71 days), it’s a bit nerveracking handing your passport over to a stranger in a hotel lobby but fingers crossed everything will go smoothly. We were going to head into the old town that afternoon but Rhys’s i-touch was playing up and he spent 3 hours putting music on it just for it to crash and he had to start again. Leaving him to it, I wandered over to the shopping mall for a while before we headed out again to the supermarket together to pick up some bread, pate, cheeses and pork for dinner. Rhys’s i-touch crashed yet again and I went to bed while he was sorting it out for the 3rd time, a 12 hour job and a very annoyed Rhys.

Tim was due to land in to Cebu airport at 11am the following day, by noon he was at the hotel. We had picnic lunch in the room before heading out to a random bar Tim had found in Lonely Planet. A bizarre shack with weird paintings and cheap beer. We didn’t stay long before wandering over to the shopping mall yet again, after a drink on the Terraces and a chat with a strange Australian we walked back to the hotel to freshen up. Despite telling us they’d put a third bed in our room when we got back we found out they’d been ‘looking’ for us and we had to change to an identical room a floor up. A few drinks in the room and a couple of rounds of penny can (thanks Tam, best present EVER!) and we went back to the random bar for dinner, stopping by another bar across the road with a live band and very hot fried chicken on the way back.

19 February 2014

Week 73 - Manila, Baguio, Sagada, Banaue (Philippines)

Our flight from Puerto Princesa to Manila wasn’t until 13:45 so we had time for a lazy breakfast. We wandered back to Neva’s where we’d eaten the night before and had coffee and eggs in the garden. Once at the airport we indulged in some more souvenir shopping (there are hardly any touristy shops in Puerto) and were pleasantly surprised when our flight left on time. 

We checked in to the same hotel in Panay, close to the airport, where we’d stayed on our first night with mum - although this time we got a room with some delightful (that’s sarcasm) planet decorations. Me and Rhys rushed out to buy bus tickets from the nearby terminal for the following day and on our return asked to move rooms to something less planet-y. After a brief visit to the mall next door with mum we headed back to the hotel where we ate dinner in the rooftop bar.

The next day Mum’s flight left at 11am so we jumped in a cab to take her to the airport. I think we planned a good balance of relaxing beach time and adventure, a bit less strenuous than when she came to Ecuador but just as exciting. Again, like in Ecuador, she was a pleasure to travel with, she just joins in with whatever we want to do and we don’t have to change our plans one iota for her to fit in. The only problem was that it all went too quickly!

We got the cab to take us back to our hotel from the airport where we had time for a yucky breakfast and chill time in our room before heading to the bus station. We’d bought deluxe tickets and had a very comfy 6 hour journey to Baguio. After asking a couple of policeman for directions our taxi driver finally found our hostel and we checked in. Baguio is a busy mountain university town and although there’s not a whole lot to do there, it has a certain appeal. We wandered out to check the bus timetables for our next stop and walked back to the hostel via Session Road, the main street lined with cafes and shops. As it was already dark we stopped for a £2 steak (food in the Philippines is so so cheap) before turning in for the night. Unlike in Manila and even Puerto we felt incredibly safe in Baguio and had no qualms about walking around after dark.

The only plan we had for the following day was to visit the central market. We found lots of souvenir stalls, lacking in Puerto before turning a corner and finding the fresh fruit and veg area. The aisles were stacked full with bags of the freshest looking veg we’ve ever seen with whole lanes dedicated to bright orange carrots and deep green brocoli heads. We bought a massive lemon and explored further, every turn taking us into another area of the market, meat and fish, shoes and sewing machines, flowers and sausages, we were blown way with how big it was and how clean and open, every part of the country we’ve been to so far has been incredibly clean and has fines for littering, it’s a real contrast to most of the other countries we’ve been to on this trip. We ended up buying lots of odds and ends, and I had a £2 haircut before we wandered in to the big modern shopping mall where we had a Taiwanese bubble tea.
Carrots for sale, Baguio Central Market.
As it was Valentines day we’d intended to head out for a romantic meal but the town was heaving. They take Valentines very seriously here and there are people selling roses and balloons on every street corner. We struggled to find a free cab and ended up choosing a little place on the highstreet thinking we’d never get a table at the restaurant we’d hoped to go to, my meal was good but Rhys’s was just mediocre. 

We had another 6 hour bus trip the next day, to Sagada. The road wound through the mountains and was incredibly scenic, passing over the Halsema highway. It wasn’t the most comfortable journey as the bus was pretty basic but it arrived on time and we headed in to town to find a hostel. We checked in to a cheap place on the main street and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town, peering in the souvenir shops and watching the weavers at work. We stopped for some yoghurt at a little place with views down the valley and ventured out again later for dinner. It’s a very quiet, relaxed little town, nestled in a valley lined with pine trees and vegetable terraces.

We spent the next morning out walking with a guide. It was only a 2 hour walk but the sun was shining and the fresh mountain air and the chirping of the birds made it feel a world away. Our first stop was at a view point of the Echo Valley from where we descended in to the valley to see one of the locations of the famous hanging coffins. It sounds quite morbid but was actually quite peaceful, a bit like a cemetery but instead of being buried, the coffins are mounted on the cliff face. There was only a small cluster of coffins there, dating from 200 years ago to 2 years ago and our guide gave us a bit of info about the practice, how the dead are put in their coffins in the foetal position having been carried through town and how the thinking is that the dead are closer to heaven up there rather than being trapped by the weight of the earth. Further in to the valley we saw another small cluster of coffins before walking across to the underground river, much smaller than in Sabang obviously but still a pretty impressive sight. We could only visit the entrance to the river before climbing back out of the valley to the Bokong waterfall for our last stop. As it’s dry season there’s not a lot of water but it still has a nice natural swimming pool at the base, too cold for me to brave though. 
Hanging coffins in Echo Valley, Sagada.
After our walk we stopped by a little coffee shop for lunch, watched the locals play baseball and generally just mooched about. We had dinner at the same coffee shop before retiring for an early night. The village has a self imposed curfew between 9:30pm and 4am and nowhere serves alcohol after 9pm so early nights are the norm. 

We met up with the same guide the next day and headed to the Lumiang cave to begin our cave connection tour. At the entrance to the cave was a burial mound with coffins stacked along the rock face at the opening. Lit only by the gaslight carried by our guide, we descended into the cave, squeezing ourselves through holes just big enough for one person and sliding down guano covered limestone ledges. There were a few points where the guide has to lower you down or pull you up and a couple of parts where you hang off of ropes to move between the caverns. Towards the end of the trip we arrived into the Sumaguing cave, it was pretty spectacular, a waterfall of calcium and limestone deposits forming bulging steps and terraces that continue down in to the lowest point of the cave. After two hours we returned to the surface and headed back to town. We left our guide at a little vegetarian cafe on route, Gaias, where we stopped for lunch, sitting on a bench overlooking the rice paddies in the valley below.
Burial mound at the opening of Lumiang Cave, Sagada.
A very happy Rhys scrambling through a hole on the cave connection tour, Sagada.
Limestone rock formations in the Sumaguing Cave, Sagada.
Rhys enjoying a well earned milkshake, overlooking the rice terraces, Sagada.
As the previous day, our morning activity had worn us out and we spent the rest of the day chilling, popping out to the Lemon Pie Cafe for, yes, lemon pie and endless cups of lemon tea. Dinner was at an empty little Korean bar and was one of the best meals i’ve had in the Philippines.

The next day we left the guesthouse and climbed the hill to the jeepney stop for a 7am jeepney to Bontoc. Rhys asked if we could sit on the roof so we braced ourselves against the fresh morning mountain breezes and climbed up. The 360 degree views were spectacular as the bus followed the Halsema highway back to Bontoc. The driver dropped us off by the jeepney for Banaue and we transferred our bags to the new bus. We had an hour to wait so hopped across the road for a coffee, meeting a Dutch couple who were waiting for the same jeep. At 8:30 the driver of the new jeep said that he wouldn’t be going to Banaue with only the 6 passengers he had so far and offered to take us on a more leisurely journey with stops at viewpoints if we hired the whole jeep. It cost an extra £1.40 each and was well worth it. We sat on the roof again and spent the 1 3/4 hour journey waving to everyone we passed and delighting at the ever increasing number of rice terraces wrapping the mountains. Once in town, he dropped us at the tourist info booth where we had to pay our entry and ended up booking a 3 day trek. We had the rest of the afternoon to explore Banaue.
View from the roof of the jeepney on the road leaving Bontoc.
After wandering around town we decided to grab a tricycle to head up to the main viewpoint, a couple of kilometres out of the centre of town. The view was stunning and even more exciting were the souvenir shops - we ended up buying yet another wooden bowl and a chopping board for stupidly bargain prices. Preparing to walk back in to town along the road, we ran into a local boy, Owen, who told us about a route that would take us through the rice terraces and past a waterfall. For a small fee he offered to guide us for the 2 hour walk and even carried our purchases for us. It was very peaceful off the road and surrounded by the terraces and we learned a bit about the rice farming process as Owen described the work that was being carried out around us.
View of the rice terraces on the way from the Banaue Viewpoint to Banaue town.
Me balancing on the edge of one of the terraces on the way to Banaue town.
Back in town we bought supplies for our hike, handed in our laundry and headed to our room for an early night after a freezing cold shower. Yet again, the Lonely Planet had let us down on our accommodation choice!

12 February 2014

Week 72 - El Nido, Port Barton, Sabang, Puerto Princesa (Philippines)

We enjoyed our “Tour C” boat trip around the Bacuit Archipelagic but felt like we’d spent a lot of time on the boat and not much time on the islands themselves. Rather than take another tour, Rhys suggested we book a taxi boat to drop us at a beach and pick us up later - we chose Paradise Beach on Cadlao Island. After buying supplies for a picnic lunch we boarded our taxi and set out for the island. Halfway there the captain asked which beach we wanted to go to and when we drew closer we pointed at one that looked tranquil. It turned out to be Natnat Beach rather than Paradise Beach and the perfect choice. With a pick up arranged for 3pm we had the entire day to relax in our own little spot of heaven. Other than a couple of kayakers and a few locals we had the beach to ourselves for most of the day with one small tour group turning up for 40 minutes in the afternoon. After being on a busy tour the previous day it was paradise. We whiled away the day reading, walking on the beach, snorkeling into the next bay and sharing our lunch with the scrawny island dogs. 
Me and mum enjoying the sun on Natnat beach, Cadlao Island, El Nido.
Back in El Nido we had a couple of hours before sunset so Rhys, having been there the day before, took us around the bay through the un-touristic end of the village to see some boulders that had been eroded at the base so they appeared to be sitting on tiny little pedestals. We enjoyed El Nido, a lot of the businesses seem to still be locally owned and the tourist side of things is intertwined with the every day life of the village. Everyone we came across was super friendly, people of all ages were waving and saying hello and although it is the most touristy spot in Palawan it still retains some of its rustic charm with electric only running from 6pm to 6am and community wells dotted along the streets, always in use.

Other than a man falling off scaffolding keeping mum awake we all slept well and were out of the guesthouse before 7am. We jumped in a tricycle to the bus station and boarded our shuttle bus to the San Jose junction. The 3 hour journey went quickly and after talking with the driver we were dropped at the bus terminal in Roxas, the better option for finding onward transport to Port Barton. At 11am we left the terminal and 5 minutes later pulled in to a garage where they loaded an engine on to the roof before heading back to the bus station for them to load a few more boxes of fish. Finally on the road and we stopped a couple more times to pick people up and when we finally thought we must be full and people were sitting on the roof we pulled over again to pick someone else up along with 6 sacks of grain to fit in the aisle. A bumpy drive down a long dirt track later and we pulled in to Port Barton. While Rhys waited for the bags to be unloaded me and mum ran around the one track village to find accommodation. After four places telling us they were fully booked we stumbled across one with two free rooms for a bargain price, right on the beach with dark wooden floors and a balcony area with sea views.

We had the afternoon to explore so after lunch at our guesthouse we walked along the beach. Rhys spied something flapping in the sand in the distance and ran over calling us to follow, it turned out to be a spotted ray stranded in the shallows, luckily a local walked by and dragged it back into the water and off it swam. We wandered back along the main road (a dirt track) and stopped at the guesthouse next to ours for a drink before returning there later for dinner. Port Barton is a lot smaller than El Nido and more relaxed. There are only a handful of places to stay and eat, all on one strip between the main dirt track and the golden arc of the beach. 
Helping the ray back in to the sea, Port Barton.
Rhys chilling out in a palm tree, Port Barton.
Our alarms were set and we had another early start as we’d booked ourselves on a tour of the nearby mangroves in the hope of seeing Hornbills. As the mangrove channels are only skinny little passages they can only take little boats through so we were alone with our guide. We were surprised how little wild life there was, no Hornbills but a couple of snakes in the trees, a big fat monitor lizard and lots of brightly coloured Kingfishers. It was very serene and worth getting up for. 
The mangroves, Port Barton.
Back at the beach we had a quick turn around before we headed out again. This time on an island hopping and snorkeling boat trip. Unlike the big boats in El Nido the boats in Port Barton are small and there was only us and another couple on our tour. Our first stop was at the Aquarium Reef, it was an off boat snorkel and was fantastic, possibly our favourite spot in the whole time we’ve been away (or at least top 3, Belize was pretty spectacular). It was quite shallow and the coral was fantastic, lots of different types and really brightly coloured. Although there weren’t many big fish the variety of smaller fish and the sheer number of fish was breathtaking, it looked like a scene from a Pixar movie. 
Rhys snorkeling, Aquarium Reef, Port Barton.
Our next stop was another snorkel stop at White Reef and for lunch we stopped at Paradise Beach, true to it’s name with only a handful of other people on the island. The captain cooked up a huge lunch of freshly grilled tuna and we whiled away an hour or so sunbathing and snorkeling. Compared to the El Nido trip it was all so unrushed and it felt like we pretty much got to leave each spot when we were ready rather than the captain gathering us up. We stopped at another island, German Island and another reef for snorkeling before heading back to Port Barton. German Island was a tiny island with expanses of sand, hammocks strung up in palm trees and a little house where they were rearing (or trying to) baby turtles to release when they were bigger. 
Rhys snorkeling at White Reef, Port Barton.
Mum on German Island, Port Barton.
Me in a hammock on German Island, Port Barton.
With two tours in one day we were pretty tired when we got back to the guesthouse. We stopped by a little cafe for dinner, played cards on the veranda with the waves crashing on the shore as the soundtrack and went to bed.

Leaving Port Barton was a bit of an adventure. As the boats to Sabang were really expensive we decided to take the local bus. We were told it left at 9am so arrived at the stop at 8:30am. It was full and the only option if we were to make it to Sabang that day was to sit on the roof, so up we climbed along with 11 other people. After an hour of touring the town to collect people, packages, boxes of fish and sacks of rice (all tied to the roof alongside us) we were off and braced ourselves for the first hour of the journey along a winding unpaved track. Considering we were squashed in, ducking electric cables and branches and balanced on the metal poles that formed the roof rack the ride was more enjoyable than it had been on the way down inside a jeepney. The track wound between rice paddies and banana plantations up and over the mountains to join the main road. We made a brief rest stop at a little cafe before continuing to the Salvacion junction where we waved goodbye to the bus
Me and mum on the journey from Port Barton to Salvacion on the roof of the bus.
At the junction we found a guy who ran a guesthouse in Sabang who had come to collect some people from El Nido who didn’t show up so he had an empty van. 40 minutes later we had wound our way over the mountain and down in to the bay. Instantly we didn’t like Sabang as much as Port Barton but it is the jumping off point for the Underground River so we collected our bags and walked along the track parallel to the beach to find some Lonely Planet recommended cottages. As in El Nido and Port Barton they were full and we ended up walking most of the way back to the port to find rooms. Although basic the cottages were right on the beach and cheap.

The day ended with a quick exploration of the town followed by a dip in the sea before a super strength cocktail with umbrellas at a posh hotel.
View of the mountains behind the posh hotel, Sabang. 
View of the beach with the tide out from the wharf, Sabang.
After spending hours the previous day trying to work out what time we were supposed to meet our Underground River guide (there’s no internet nor public phones in Sabang apart from at the posh hotel) and meeting a lovely lady from a tour booth who managed to call them for us, we were at the wharf at 8:30am. We wandered over to the boat waiting area to join the rest of our group who had come from Puerto and within 5 minutes were being herded to our boat. The ride was only short, it took us around the bay and to the entrance of the river where we disembarked and waited for our guide to register us before leading us to another boat. The second boat took us in to the caves. The Underground River has been voted one of the new 7 wonders of the natural world. It is the longest navigable river in the world at 22km and our trip took 45 minutes to cover the first kilometre or so. We rowed through ‘the cathedral’ and ‘the market’ with the guide pointing out familiar looking rock formations, Jesus, Sharon Stone and peanut butter among them. The highest point of the cave rises 65m above the river and the cave is home to around 47,000 bats and has a huge population of swifts. Seeing all the bats hanging around was one of the best bits! Back at the entrance we stopped to ogle some monkeys and massive monitor lizards before heading back to the wharf in town. Buffet lunch was laid out in a restaurant nearby and despite it only being about 11am we dug in. All up worth doing and although more expensive to do a tour than DIY it certainly made it easy and cut out any waiting time.
The entrance to the Underground River, Sabang.
Monitor lizards in the Underground River National Park, Sabang.
As we were staying another night in our basic Sabang beach cottages we had the whole afternoon to relax and enjoy the beach. After a quick swim and frolic in the waves (we haven’t seen waves in a while!), Rhys headed off for a smoothie in the posh restaurant to check the rugby/football scores and me and mum found a massage ‘tent’ right on the beach. For £5 each we had a one hour full body massage. Mine was blissful, mum’s was more like a deep tissue sports massage.
Me and mum having a massage on the beach, Sabang.
We met Rhys back at our huts, packed some bananas and walked along the beach and over some rocks to the next bay for an explore. We spent the rest of the day reading on the beach outside our huts before heading to a restaurant nearby for dinner. 

We weren’t due to leave Sabang until 1pm so after a lay-in we walked along the beach to find a spot for a relaxed pancake breakfast. The pancakes were huge (literally cakes cooked in pans) and by the time we’d finished it was time to pack up and head to the road in the village to find our van. To pass the time before the van left we bought mum a fresh coconut to drink (she’d never tried one) and sat with our feet dangling over the port wall. A few more pearl and semi-precious stone bracelet purchases (it’s so cheap!) and we were on our way. We pulled in to the San Jose bus terminal 6km out of Puerto Princesa proper and jumped in a tricycle to take us to one of the guesthouses recommended in Lonely Planet. As seems to be the norm, yet again the place was fully booked, as was the next place we tried. Luckily our tricycle driver knew of another place and although basic we checked in with a bit of awkwardness when the lady asked if she could put more people in our room if they turned up later and we refused.

As it was only early and we were a bit down because the guest house was basic, we decided to head into town to see what it had to offer - answer, nothing. It’s a busy, dirty town, not really set up for tourists. After walking past a modern, blue, pretty ugly cathedral we stopped by the Plaza Cuartel, which was actually a nice little garden square kept as a memorial to American POW’s and then walked to find the non-existent centre. After a detour through a market we wandered down to the bay before circling back to the hostel, by this point we were even more unimpressed with the place. A bit of internet research later and we decided we’d risk the weather (storms have been forecast all week but haven’t emerged) and we found a tricycle to take us the 45 minutes out of town to Iwahig for Firefly boat trips in the mangroves. It started raining on the journey but we pushed on and were there as soon as it opened. We registered, collected our fetching bamboo hats and ponchos and were in the second boat out, beating all the tour groups from town. The fireflies were mesmorising. They cluster on the flowering trees and when you shine a red light at them they hold their breaths and glow to warn you off, thinking you’re a threat. They looked like twinkling Christmas lights and despite them hiding from the rain under the leaves, we could still see hundreds. Back in town we asked our tricycle driver to drop us off at Kinabuch’s, an American style bar and grill in town that everyone seems to go to.
Our only photo of the fireflies, Iwahig, Puerto Princesa.
We woke early the next day and were surprised to see blue skies. We spent too long procrastinating, deciding how to spend the day and ended up heading out for another explore without really having any aim in mind, it was a bad choice. We walked along the main road, pretty much to the other side of town and found nothing that would keep us amused for a whole day. As the sun was shining and the town is pretty horrid we jumped on a tricycle (an old, falling apart tricycle that got a puncture on our journey), rushed back to ours to grab our beach bags and headed out to the Honda Bay Port on the outskirts of town. We ended up chartering a huge boat just for us that gave us the option of choosing any three islands in the area to visit. By lunch time we were pulling up at our first stop, Pandan Island. We found a spot under a tree on the white sand beach away from the tourist hordes and settled in. Although there wasn’t any worthwhile snorkeling, the beach was beautiful and the sea was clear and warm and the shallows were littered with starfish and that’s no exaggeration, every where you looked there were more. We spent three hours there soaking up the sun and watched the storm clouds roll in over the other islands we’d chosen. Rather than visit Luli Island and Starfish Island we decided to head to Cowrie Island, a more touristy stop but further from the clouds. We had time for a fruit shake before our boatmen called us back to the boat to head back to port to avoid the storm.
Mum and Rhys paddling in the sea at Pandan Island, Honda Bay.
Back in town, more internet research had suggested another nice restaurant, Neva’s, for dinner, this time just around the corner from our guesthouse. We ordered a stupid amount of brick oven pizza, ate a dessert meant for four people and enjoyed the atmosphere of the candlelit garden restaurant, an oasis from the hustle and dirt of Puerto.

5 February 2014

Week 71 - Kuala Lumpur, Manila, El Nido (Malaysia, Philippines)

The week started with a very early 3:45am alarm and a taxi ride to Adelaide airport. We flew to Melbourne then on to Kuala Lumpur where we caught a bus in to the city. By the time we got to our hostel in Chinatown we were shattered. One look at the bunk beds in our fan room and we decided that we weren’t quite ready for such a step down from the house in Adelaide and upgraded to a double room with air con. After dropping off our bags we wandered out to reacquaint ourselves with the main streets and the markets before settling at our favourite BBQ hawker stall for a quick, cheap dinner.

The last time we were in KL the weather stopped us visiting the famous Petronas Towers, the tallest building in the world until Taipei 101 stripped it of it’s title (now taken by Dubai’s Burj Khalifa). When we woke the sky was blue so we jumped on the MRT and headed to the centre. After the obligatory photos from the park with the towers in the background we headed in to the mall in the basement of the complex before walking straight out again when we realised it was all luxury shops, way out of our price range. Back in Chinatown we had some shopping to do, t-shirts, football shirts, Mulberry handbags, Omega, Bulgari and G-Shock watches, all genuine fakes of course, and a huge wooden bowl that my mum will be lugging home for us. Surprisingly, Chinatown was really quiet despite it being the start of Chinese New Year and a number of the restaurants and market stalls closed early. We ended up eating at a little street stall where you choose all different meats and vegetables on sticks and boil them in a pot in the middle of your table or request them to grill them. 
The Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur.
Dinner from a food stall, Kuala Lumpur.
Another early start and we were headed to the MRT to KL Sentral where we caught a bus back to the airport for our flight to the Philippines. As we were flying Air Aisa, we landed in the domestic terminal and flew through customs and immigration. Outside, the security guard put us in a cab and we headed to our hostel on the outskirts of Makita, a built up, modern area of Manila. Immediately we noticed there was something different about the Philippines from the rest of Asia, as a result of the 400 years of Spanish rule there’s a real Spanish influence and it feels almost like you’re back in Latin America, but with English being the official language (thanks to the US who bought the Phillipines from Spain and ruled before they gained their independence). Even the religion, being 82% catholic, puts the country at odds with the rest of Asia. 

Our hostel was pleasant enough, we were in a big spacious dorm and there was a roof terrace with views out over the city. Once we’d settled we headed out into Bonifacio Global City (a nearby modern, urban area of Metro Manila) to explore. We felt a bit duped when we reached the ‘Market! Market!’ which wasn’t a market at all but a crazy busy shopping mall, but ended up staying there to eat in the super cheap food court. Back at the hostel we watched some fireworks from the roof terrace and had a brief chat with some other guests, trying to wait it out until a reasonable bedtime came around so we could head to bed without looking like wallies.

Although we had a whole day in Manila before my mum was due to arrive we decided to skip seeing the sights, partly because we’d traveled a lot the last few days and wanted some down time and partly because the sights of Manila are few and far between and we’ll be passing through the city so many times on various flights around the country we thought we should save some bits for later. The lack of sights isn’t a reflection on any lack of Filipino culture but on the devastation wrought on the city during WWII, Manila is up there with Hamburg and Hiroshima as one of the worst hit cities of the whole war.

We went out to MacDonalds for breakfast and to use the internet before packing our bags and catching a taxi to Pasay where we checked in to a hotel, close to the airport for our first night with mum. The hotel was decent, the location on the other hand was a bit hairy, you wouldn’t want to walk about at night with any valuables that’s for sure. After a circuit of the block and a stop in the Metro shopping centre next door for another food court lunch we headed back to the hotel to make use of the freezing roof top pool. We ended up eating cake in the room for tea while watching a movie and tracking mum’s flight online. 
Me in the roof top pool, Shogun Hotel, Manila.
Although she was delayed on her connection in Hong Kong we headed to the airport early thinking we’d be able to grab a cuppa while we waited. Error. Our cab dropped us in departures and we had to walk down the road to get to arrivals where we had to join the throng of meeters and greeters in an area across the road and barred off from the terminal building. The security guards were particularly unhelpful and we were a bit confused how we’d ever be able to find mum. We ended up waiting over an hour watching screens and the exit ramp for her to make an appearance before being allowed through the gates to go and get her and to order a taxi back to the hotel. By the time we got back to the room it was getting late and we had an early start again the next morning so we pointed her in the direction of the shower and jumped in to bed.

Another taxi ride and another airport. This time we had a 7:35am flight to Puerto Princesa in Palawan, West Philippines. Poor mum had been traveling for 26 hours with only 5 hours sleep at the hotel and we had a long travel day ahead of us. We checked in and headed through to the departure lounge just to find out our flight had been delayed an hour and a half so the early start was for nothing. We had plenty to talk about though having not seen mum for a year so the time passed quickly and we were soon on our way. In the arrivals lounge at Puerto Princesa there were two tables selling tickets for minibus shuttles to El Nido, both apparently departing immediately. We bought tickets, grabbed our bags and headed out to the van. An hour later and we were still waiting, the immediate departure didn’t materialise and we ended up waiting for the next flight to land to fill the van. Finally, we were on our way and 5 hours later we rattled in to El Nido.

From the bus terminal we jumped in a tricycle and roared about town trying to find accommodation. It being Chinese New Year and the start of peak season, the town was pretty full and the first few places we checked had no room. The tricycle driver suggested another option on a side street and whisked us there where we found two rooms for a decent price. They seemed to be perfect, away from the noise of the main drag and newly built. Mum’s room wasn’t free until 9pm so we dropped our bags and headed out to explore. Our first impressions of El Nido were good, a little beach town tucked in a bay surrounded by towering limestone cliffs. Although it was already dark, we walked the length of the beach and stopped at a little restaurant at the end with tables overlooking the bay for a cocktail and an appetizer. Walking back along the beach we chose a restaurant on the sand displaying the days catch for dinner. We chose four fish to share and settled down to wait for them to be cooked. After a long day of traveling we were all pretty tired and walked back to the guesthouse to sleep.

We woke refreshed and ready to explore, having decided we’d spend the day around town rather than taking an island hopping tour straight away. After a lazy start and a coffee at the guesthouse we went to check out the beach in the light, stopping at another restaurant on the sand for lunch. Rhys had oragnised for a guide to meet us at our guesthouse at 2pm for a cliff climb. We left mum relaxing on the beach, dozing and reading her book and pulled out our hiking boots for what I thought was going to be a hike to one of the peaks above town. It wasn’t a hike, it was a proper climb that I did almost entirely on all fours. At some points we were clinging to the rock face over unbelievably sharp, protruding rocks balancing on tiny ridges no bigger than the width of your finger - it was one of those “you would never be allowed to do this at home” health and safety moments. After an hour we were at the top with stunning views out across the bay and to the Bacuit Archipelago, it was well worth the sweat and bruises. Coming down was much easier and after a shower back in our room we headed out to find mum on the beach. To round off our first full day in El Nido we caught a tricycle along the coast to the Las Cabanas resort on Corong-Corong beach to watch the sunset. It didn’t fail to impress, the beach was a beautiful stretch of golden sand with views out to the islands with the setting sun making the sky turn a beautiful orange. Back in town we ate on the beach again before calling it a night.
View of El Nido.
Me clambering up the cliff, El Nido.
View from the top of the cliff overlooking El Nido and the Bacuit Archipelago.
View of the bay, El Nido.
Mum and Rhys watching the sunset on Corong-Corong Beach, El Nido.
Sunset on Corong-Corong Beach, El Nido.
Mum’s room didn’t have windows and there was a cockerel right outside (and another thousand scattered throughout the town, we think for cock fighting), along with the blaring TV next door playing all night long and people talking at the top of their voices she didn’t get a great nights sleep. Despite the lack of sleep we were up and slathered in sun cream and waiting at the tour office in town where we’d booked ‘Tour C’ one of the four island hopping options offered at every tour booth in El Nido. After paying our park entry fee we bundled on to a boat with 9 other people and headed out into the archipelago. Our first stop was Helicopter Island (imaginatively named as the shape of it vaguely resembles a helicopter). The beach was beautiful, lined with palm trees and hemmed in by towering cliffs. We snorkeled off the beach, spotting our first sea snake, before being called back to the boat, a bit prematurely, we could happily have spent another 30 minutes or so there. Our next stop was at the Mantiloc Shrine, not really our cup of tea but quite pretty, a few catholic statues and a nice view. 
View of the Bacuit Archipelago from the Mantiloc Shrine.
Me and mum near the Mantiloc Shrine.
For lunch we pulled up to a small beach, heaving with people from other boats and claimed a small patch of sand. We had a brief snorkel (plenty of Nemo’s) before buffet lunch and headed out again for a post food snorkel before being called back to the boat again. It felt like we spent a lot of time on the boat and not so long at each of the beach stops. After lunch we pulled up at the Secret Beach and jumped in to the sea to swim through a small gap in the rock wall into a lagoon with a small beach. The Secret Beach wasn’t so much of a secret and was packed when we got there. We had one last stop, this time at Hidden Beach. It was getting late in the day and the sun had moved behind the cliffs, we swam from the boat in to the cove but it was too chilly to get out of the water. Back in town, after a shower, we went out for BBQ meat on a stick. We were worn out from all the sun and turned in for another early night.
Nemo's. snorkeling at the Hidden Beach, El Nido.
Rhys relaxing ont he boat back to El Nido.