Philippines travel report februari / march 2001

Saturday 24 februari

After a long flight we arrived at the airport in Manila at 7:15 pm. Quickly changed money and took a taxi to Angeles, we were too late for the swagman bus.
Chaos on the road and halfway the taxidriver almost fell asleep and we had to keep him awake but we arrived safely in Angeles after almost 3 hours of driving (for only 80 km).
We quickly went to a hotel and we saw the first sex tourists. We had a laugh and went out.
The sex scene in Angeles is mind boggling. All the bars have girls dancing on the tables and girls who come to your table and ask for a ladies drink (most of them are actually quite good looking).
When we walked back to the hotel we passed a bar where they played really loud music. We went in and to our surprise we were the only foreigners. We drank a few beers and talked to the locals.
Luc went on stage to play guitar with some Filipinos.
Very good bar but only open on Saturdays.

After too many beers we went to bed at about 3 am. A really really long day came to an end.

Sunday 25 februari

The plan was to go to mt pinatubo today but we got up at about noon (with a minor hangover) and really didn't feel like doing anything today.
So we walked in the bar street, checked out the sex tourists and took it easy at the pool in the hotel.
We met another dutchman in a restaurant that he ownes (he married a Philippine woman). He gave us some useful tips and good stories about the Philippines (like the earthquakes, floods, volcano eruptions and typhoons - 'when god created the world he forgot the Philippines' is a popular saying).
In the evening we went to the girlie bars again and already got bored with them. Sad to see girls dancing all day and night surrounded by big fat ugly ageing men for only 180 pesos.

Monday 26 februari

Mt Pinatubo day !
Our first experience with the local transport, and boy, did that suck !
First we went to the wrong busstation with a tricycle. When we arrived at the right busstation we took a jeepney to another village. Jeepneys are old american army jeeps that are turned into public transport.
They leave only when they're full. So sometimes you have to wait for 1 hour.
To make a long story short, we had to take several other jeepneys to arrive and it took us about 2.5 hours to get to our destination (which is only 15 km from angeles).
But it was worth it, we had to take a guide because the area is quite dangerous (nature as well as people).
You feel like walking on the moon in that weird landscape, lots of quicksand and we had to wade through rivers.
The last village before mt Pinatubo is very poor. Unbelievable if you see the houses these people live in.
When we came back in Angeles it was too late to take a bus to Banaue and we talked some more with the Dutchman and went to the only non-girlie bar in Angeles to have a few drinks.

  

Tuesday 27 februari

Our goal for today was to get to Banaue in the north.
The Dutchman gave us the tip not to go via Baguio but go via San Fernando because the direct road between Baguio and Banaue is very very bad. And when people from the Philippines say that a certain road is bad …
We took his advice, we'd done some travelling yesterday and now knew that travelling around is far from easy here.
We got up at 4.30 am, had to take a triclyle, 3 different buses (for 1 bus we had to wait at the highway for 1,5 hour) and 2 jeepneys before we arrived. An exhausting trip of 12 hours (distance about 250 km).
Now we really knew what it was to travel around in the Philippines.
Checked into a hotel with a really nice (well… fantastic) view.
The place is dead however. A few karaoke bars and after 9 pm everybody's asleep. Good for a change but you don't wanna have too many of those nights.
We bought 6 beers from the hotel and a guy put it into a pink (!) basket and wanted to take that to our room.
He almost sticked his nose into Luc's ass when he walked up the stairs.

Another complaint is that there are way too many roosters (halve haantjes) here. A collegue of ours would never leave this place because he loves half roosters.

Wednesday 28 februari

Hiking day. We hired a tricyle for the day and first went to the viewpoint.
Absolutely amazing. Rice terraces climbing up to the sky. Stunning views. The eight world wonder, a qualification I can only agree with.
After that we went to bataad. To get there we had to go over an incredibly bad road. I have seldomly seen such a terrible road. Unpaved, enormous potholes and sometimes it turned into a river (because of the rain). I've seen some bad roads in Australia but those were nothing compared to this.
Anyway after 12 km (1 hour) we arrived at the beginning of the trail. From here on it was walking for 6 km to Batad.
First part was uphill and exhausting in the very humid heat (35C).
Surprisingly there were almost no tourists. And this is one of the highlights in this country.
We walked to Batad and were stunned by the views. Incredibly beautiful, a small village between huge rice terraces. I'd say one of the top sights in the world.
We also got a good look at the farmers that work in the terraces.
One little boy pulled a pigs leg, and the pig made a screaming sound. We had a good laugh.
Walking back was strenuous, the heat almost got us, but we made it back and took it easy the rest of the day.

  

Thursday 1 march

My birthday but not a very good one. This turned out to be the longest day of our holiday. We wanted to go from Banaue to Bohol in the south (think twice before you wanna cover a distance like that in the Philippines in one day).
In the morning we went to the viewpoint again and walked back through the rice terraces to Banaue.
Fantastic trail and one of the best I've walked in the world. Fortunately the trail was only in the beginning strenuous and it was quite easy finding our way although we never saw any signposts.
Amazing how those rice people climb up and down all day with kilos of rice on their back or head.
Schoolkids walk up and down 3 times a day.

We took the bus to Manila at 5pm and arrived there at 3 am. Went to the airport to buy a ticket to Bohol. Unfortunately the plane was already full so we had to take a plane to Cebu.
This one left at 6am and at 7am we were in that other big city in the Philippines.
We took a taxi to the pier and to our horror we just missed the boat to Bohol. We had to wait until noon.
We were exhausted and killed the time with playing cards.
At 1.30pm we arrived at Bohol (the ferry didn't sink !) but we were still not where we wanted to be.
We took a tricycle to nearby panglao Island and went to Alona beach.
We took a cottage and met the friendly (female) hotel staff . Luc booked a diving trip and we drank a few beers in the bars on the beach.
Like in Banaue surprisingly quiet here as this is one of the beaches to be (if you're a backpacker).
Later we heard that Philippine tourism really suffers from the kidnappings and the very unstable government (one month ago there was a coup).

Saturday 3 march

Luc's first experience with real diving. He came back very enthuasistic. No wonder if you've only dived in Holland before.
I took it easy and didn't do a thing all day. Tired of travelling, so I read a lot and walked around the beach.
Great to relax once in a while.
We discovered 'the fuckers' in the cottage in front of ours (seemed like they were fucking all day).
In the evening we went to the only busy bar on the beach and played darts en drank san miguels and talked with the bargirls.

Sunday 4 march

A fun day but also a disastrous day.
When I went into the sea this morning I had troubles with my right ear. I couldn't hear properly anymore.
I knew that this could only mean one thing, my ear needed to be flushed, I decided to wait with that on Boracay where they should have a few doctors.
But I can tell you that it is an extremely annoying problem.
We rented motorbikes and they turned out to be really big (200cc). Fortunately we didn't have to show our drivers licence.
Luc never drove a bike before but he had no problems at all and drove like a king.
On the road it started raining and that didn't stop for the rest of the day and that's not a good thing if you know the roadconditions in the Philippines.
Sometimes it was really pouring and we had to take shelter.
Way later than planned we arrived at the famous chocolate hills, a lot of near identical hills.
It was raining but we still had a good sight at them. They are really photogenetic.
On the way back we wanted to go to Sikatuna to see the Tarsier (world's smallest primate).
We took a really bad road this time (this was definitely the worst one) and went halfway our goal. We both fell because it was slippery (I had some scratches and bruises) and we decided it was too dangerous to go on, besides it was getting late.
We came back to Alona beach just before sunset and we looked like 2 swamp monsters.
The rental guy was not too happy and we had to pay 1000 pesos for the damage.
Guess we were unlucky with the weather today.
We didn't make it too late at night because it was quiet at the bar (ever 'the fuckers' were not there).
We went back to the hotel and talked to the employees there.

  

Monday 5 march

Travel day but a short one.
Boracay is the next destination. To get there we had to go to Cebu first. We didn't wanna have a long travel day again so we decided to spend the night in Cebu.
Nice city actually, not too busy, like Manila, and a good night life.
I had my first massage in the Philippines in the hotel. Funny thing is that you can choose the girl whose going to give you the massage.
We also heard the first few 'hey joe'on the streets. A way to greet travellers.
At night we went to some bars but they all turned out to be girlie bars (and we only went to bars mentioned in the lonely planet).
Anyway, once in a while a girlie bar can be a funny place, the girls have a good sense of humour and speak english very well.

Tuesday 6 march

Today Boracay, the vacation island everybody talks about. We took a flight from Cebu to Kalibo on Panay and went with a minivan to Caticlan and then the short pumpboat ride to Boracay.
The beach is indeed fantastic.
I went looking for a hotel and Luc stayed at the boatstation.
After 1 hour walking in the heat I finally found a nice and cheap one (600 pesos). White beach on Boracay is surprisingly long.
After checking in we went to a doctor for my ear. Got some medicines and had to come back on friday.
Boracay is the place where Luc was really bothered by the mosquitos and every afternoon at 5pm he started to hit himself and clap in his hands while cursing out loud (hehe very funny to watch).
In the evening we checked out the nightlife and unfortunately it was not much busier than Alona Beach. We found a disco that was quite busy (the place to be on Boracay) but the music was terrible.
House, techno and more of that shit.
We also got bothered by girls again. So we had to go through the same routine time and time again (whats your name, where are you from , how long are you going to stay etc etc).
Luc was chased by a lady boy again.

Wednesday 7 march

Walked the trail to the viewpoint. We were the only visitors and had a nice overview of the island. We carved our names (harko & poa) in the wood.
After that it was relaxing on the beach and drinking a few beers until sunset (nice colors).
Funny thing is that, after the afternoom drinks and dinner we fell asleep everytime and woke up at about midnight.
At night we went to that same disco again (bazzurra) and we didn't make it too late.

Thursday 8 march

Basically same routine as yesterday. Relaxing and enjoying the beach and sun. Luc went diving this afternoon and also booked for tomorrow morning.
Life on a paradise island isn't so bad and Boracay IS a paradise. Beautiful white sand, a blue and green sea and no motorized traffic. Boracay is a must see in the Philippines.
In the evening we started with rum cola in our pre disco bar (almost next to barracuda). Big mistake, we didn't stop drinking rum cola anymore and got very very drunk.
Can't really remember the last part anymore but we had girls all around us in Barracuda. Fortunately nothing happened.

Friday 9 march

Terrible hangover. Woke up at noon. Luc had to go diving this morning and felt like he was dying on the boat. His diving buddy also had a terrible hangover and supposedly the dive master also (hehe, this is Boracay).
He came back when I woke up and went straight to bed again.
I had an appointment with the doctor today and wasn't too happy with that. Went there at 2pm and it took them 2 hours and 3 nurses (one very good looking) to flush my ear.
But finally I could hear again, what a relief...
I guess she had an indication that I had a hangover.
But a big shock came after that. She prescribed antibiotics for 1 week, and alcohol and antibiotics don't mix...
At that moment not a problem but I knew that the hangover would disappear sometime.
So I returned to the hotel not really happy.
Shortly after that I threw the medicines away.
In the evening a full moon party (sigh...) so we checked out the various parties. Not really what we expected because there was not really a difference from other nights.
Almost drank no beer and went to bed quite early.

Saturday 10 march

The last day on Boracay came and went as the previous days. No activities and enjoying the beachlife.
I had some really really hot thai food and my taste organs were out of order for at least 2 hours.
A few beers in the evening and didn't make it too late.

Sunday 11 march

Travel day again. The day started with rain and hard winds.
Took the pumpboat to caticlan. The flight to Manila was delayed because of the weather. So we had to wait 3 hours at the airport.
At 3 pm we arrived in Manila after a short flight in a small plane.
In Manila we took a direct taxi to Batangas but unfortunately we were already too late to catch a boat to Puerto Galera.
Batangas was a really shitty city with a lot of favelas (shantytowns or whatever the name is) and drunk people.
Fortunately we could hire a boat to Sabang for 800 pesos (which was a ripoff because the crew was going there anyway, but what choices do you have ?)
In Sabang is was really busy and the hotel we wanted to go to was already full so we went to another one and got a fantastic room for 1200 pesos, our most expensive room but also by far the best room we got in the Philippines.
After dinner we went out and checked out the places.
Most of them were girlie bars.
In the first bar we could sit without being harrased by girls and could look at the dancers.
Quite a disturbing place because there were a lot of sex tourists and most of the girls looked really unhappy. But the music was allright and we could sit at the bar.
In the second one we immediately were assualted by 2 girls (they were actually fighting off other girls to talk with us).
So here we went again, what is your name (Harko and Poa), where are you from (Iceland - really funny because they don't know where that is), what do you do (fisherman).
One of the girls was a tickler (we called her 'de prikker' afterwards). And she just didn't stop. She was actually quite nice but we left after 2 beers.
In the next bar we had a beer and suddenly a big mama came to us; 'which girl do you like' ? We don't have money, we have to change first, 'you can pay tomorrow, no problem', no thanks.
I looked at a gorgeous girl and she came to me immediately. I told her I'd be back tomorrow and we left.
There was one bar (actually a disco) left where we could go. The music in that disco was quite allright.
We got drunk and partied all night.

Monday 12 march

Hangover day. We couldn't walk through town anymore (hey Poa and hey Harko everywhere).
De prikker immediately jumped on me when she saw me.
Anyway we didn't do much until the evening.
I walked along the beach and helped out an old swedish lady who didn't remember the hotel she was staying in and didn't speak english.
At night we went to only one bar, we didn't feel like going to the disco again.

Tuesday 13 march

Reading, Playing cards, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view.
Sabang is a diver's paradise during the day but I can't dive with eartrouble and Luc didn't wanna dive anymore.
Laundry was done by the hotel so tomorrow we could wear clean shirts again.
We had some hot thai food again, that came out the next morning the natural way and left a really burning feeling.
At night we went to all the bars again we didn't make it late.

Wednesday 14 march

Took a jeepney to Puerto Galera. According to the lonely planet a highlight.
Well, that book needs some serious updates.
Puerto Galera is a shitty litte town with nothing to do (I guess lp means the surrounding area).
Changed money (we were running short on cash now with no atm's on the siland) and I made an appointment with a friend of mine who lives in Cavite.
Played cards at the yacht club, where we were the only visitors and went to bed at 9 bacause there was absolutely nothing to do.

Thursday 15 march

Took a boat and bus back to Manila. Luc talked to a girl in the bus who works in LA café.
When you come to Manila in a bus you get a good idea of how poor this country is. Kilometers and kilometers of favelas, people living in carton houses.
We took a hotel in the backpackers area around adriatico street and checked it out.
I found Manila rather quiet. Nothing compared to other big cities in asia like Bangkok or Bombay.
We went to LA café and that turned out to be the place to be in Ermita.
It is some kind of a disguised girlie bar. From the ouside it looks normal but once you're inside the girls are all around you.
Later on we went to a few other bars, but they were not much fun. Manila is also expensive compared to the other places in the Philippines we've been to. Everything is at least twice as expensive (but still cheap for us europeans)

Friday 16 march

I went to Cavite to meet an american friend who lives here now.
Arrived way too early because the bus ride was easy and quick and I had no trouble at all finding his restaurant.
Turned out to be a great day with a lot of interesting people. He lives here with his girlfriend and really lives the good life.
Returned to Manila at 9.30pm.
Luc stayed in Manila to do some shopping for his girlfriend.
Later we went to LA café again and went upstairs this time. I didn't stay too long though because I was exhausted from my trip to Cavite

Saturday 17 march

Our Last day. 3 weeks is always too short, especially in the Philippines where travelling around is such a pain. We saw less then we wanted to see, but the places we did go to were all very rewarding and fun to visit.
Went to the airport in the afternoon and flew back home.
Have to return to this country some day and see the rest.