From Manila to Puerto Princesa
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2009
1
4
Trip End
May 02, 2009
Manila, Luzon, Philippines
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Jason has been laid out with a particularly nasty cold and spent the first day and a half in bed. Luckily the hotel (Pensionne) has cable TV and an aircon. So I went and explored by myself ... diving in and using the local transport. A jeepney is described as a cross between a bus and a jeep. Basically there is the driver at the front, and eveyone sits in the back on two long benches. There are two really awesome things about jeepneys, one is that they are about 7 pesos (about 20 cents) and two is that they are decorated to look like gaudy christmas trees, and given names like "our lady of the road" etc. So I got on the Jeepney and headed to a local market. The first thing that really struck me about the Philippines is that there are very few westerners
Equal opportunity employment?
. Unlike Thailand where whole parts of the city seem to be set up for travellers, here you really stand out as different. I saw one other couple of anglos in the market and everyone else was local. The market specialised in cheap electronics, DVDs and various weapons (including those stars Ninjas throw), knuckle dusters, police batons and BB guns that look real. There is also an abundance of the real thing, in the form of security guards. Jason tells me that the guns they have are Italian shot guns. And there are some guys that just wear a shirt that says "shooter" and stand there with their Italian shot guns looking like they are ready to act out their shirts.Of course we have noticed loads of old, fat, eurpoeans with young gorgeous Filipinas. What lengths women will go to amazes me, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised!
So Manila was mainly just wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere while Jason got over his cold. Of course the cold wasn't helped by the fog of car exhaust and pollution that sits over the city.
We left Manila yesterday and arrived in Puerto Princesa, which is the "capital" of Palawan. It was a wild flight in with the most amazing views of gorgeous islands and coastline. Absolutely awesome. We are staying at the Puerto Pension which is a little pricey for us (god forbid we are shelling out $45 a night for a room) but has really awesome views of the Puerto Princeso Puerto (Port for those who don't habla espanol)!!
The "gangstas" by Manila Bay
! From here we are going to visit the Subterrean River which is a river running through a huge cave and meant to be quite amazing. Then will start to head up to El Nido where we have some accommodation booked.Of course I can't finish a post about South East Asia without commenting on the weather and the people. The weather is quite amazing, and I feel like I should be decked out like John McEnroe with sweatbands around the head, wrists, neck, elbows and wherever else I can fit them. Within about two minutes of leaving the air con of our hotel, we are both dripping wet with sweat from the over-the-top humidity, and it really hasn't been that hot!!! Of course, the girls reading this will empathise with the humidity frizz factor ... no matter how much time I spend with the round brush and my travel hair dryer, and no matter how much product I put there, I still end up looking like a fuzzy-wuzzy angel from PNG. Never mind.
Filipinos are a pretty cool bunch of people. A little more western, and a little more laid back than other SEAsian countries. Even the beggars don't try it on too much (and yes, there is loads of poverty). People seem to have an "oh well" attitude to things. Although, just like other parts of SEAsia, everyone drinks beer from about 9am.
