The 80's party was actually really good fun. We met our new found friends at the pub and typically of Filipino's they were all very late. After a few beers there and them all insisting on me and Clare sharing a bottle of local Gin (80%) on ice, we got a taxi to the party. It was actually a school reunion for the class of '85 so being in our 20's and tall and white, we didn't blend into the crowd too much. Everyone was really nice there though and we had a really good night. Our friends bought our tickets for us and wouldn't let us buy them ourselves so we bought some drinks to say thank you in the only way they would let us. After the party we went back to the bar and had another late drink with the owner and his friends. The following morning we had to go back to Manila for our ferry that evening. After a long bus journey with some sore headaches we got their and took a jeepney to the pier. Clare, always the early-bird, insisted that we arrived early and as it turned out we arrived 6/7 hours before the boat was due to leave. Having our bags on us and not wanting to explore Manila too much at the point we decided to stay in the Port area and basically just killed some time eating and walking around a really nice hotel that has a 'champagne room' and a 24-hour live orchestra playing in the lobby. I don't think anyone believed we were staying there. The boat journey itself was pretty shite, there being around 500 passengers in two rooms. It was a series of bunk beds with no privacy and as soon as we got on we knew it would be a tough 27 hours. Furthermore, we were working on Filipino time so this journey was actually more like 30 or more hours. Arriving at Puerta Princesa at 3 or 4AM wasn't very pleasant and after making our way through the crowd of tricycle drivers wanting to transport us we walked into the centre of town. We waited in cafes until about 7 o'clock before heading to our pre-booked room just out of town (we didn't want to arrive too early and pay for the night we were arriving...we're tight like that). We had uncharacteristically booked the room because we found an amazing place online where you rent out a Bamboo house in the middle of a poor village just outside town. We eventu8ally found it (nobody had heard of it) and the place was really cool. We had our own balcony, a nice bathroom, a small kitchen area and a nice lounge. The guy who built it gives all his profits back to the village so it is for a really good cause too. The two nights we spent there we just wanted to make the most of the hut so we only made one small venture back into the main town. We bought loads of beer and stocked up our fridge and spent two days relaxing at our own little chalet...it was really peaceful and nice. Even the village kids outside were really nice to us, as was everyone else in the village. The only bad thing about the Bamboo house is the fact that you feel guilty because it is so much nicer than all the bamboo houses that the other villagers are living in. Anyway, we couldn't afford to stay there any more than two nights so we ventured early in the morning into town and found a cheap room with a broken fan (lethal in the Philippines). It was still early so we decided that we would spend the day island hopping around Honda bay, not far outside town. Not wanting to book through a tour office and to save money we made our own way to the pier and hired a boat. Luckily we met a French couple doing the same so the cost was split between four and our decision was definitely justified as it meant we could work to our own schedule and choose which islands we wanted to visit. Their are loads of choices of islands to go to but they do all have an entrance fee. There is bat island, which is full of bats, there is Starfish Island which is surrounded by Starfish and there is Snake Island, which has no Snakes on it at all. We went to a few and used our snorkel we had bought (cheap kids one), but the best was probably Starfish Island. Some of the Starfish were bigger than I thought existed. The French couple had already arranged a lift back to Puerta Princesa and said we could share it for free so we saved even more money and overall this day trip turned out way cheaper for us than it would normally have been. That evening we found a nice vegetarian cafe and had a good dinner. The next morning we checked out early and went to the office in Puerta Princesa that gives you a permit for 'the Subterranean Underground River National Park' and picked up our permits. We then got a Jeepney to the bus station out of town which cut the time a bit fine but got to the station in time to get the bus to Sabang (where the National Park is). Since we have been away we have used some really shitty buses, sat next to chickens and had various animals on top and inside the bus with us but I would say that this one was the very worst. It was really worn down and to get in you had to climb through an opening that was sort of just a large window. The worst thing though was not how busy it was, but how much it seemed like the roof was going to cave in. After finished loading the roof of the bus, the height of the vehicle had doubled and the ceiling was arching down above our heads. There was also loads of chickens in with the cargo on the roof which didn't make the journey any nicer. Luckily it was only a 2 and a half hour journey but we were happy to get off. Sabang was really beautiful on first impressions and we ended up spending three nights there, and still thought it was beautiful by the time we left. It has a longish stretch of beach, about 3 or 4 small local restaurants, 1 nice resort (but very quiet) and an amazing forest. We found some huts off the beach that were very cheap and made of Bamboo, but unfortunately only had power for one hour a day. Anyway, after arriving we dropped our bags off in the room and went to the pier to go to the underwater river thing (its actually just a cave that you paddle through and there are loads of cool rock formations). This is the main reason why people come to Sabang, as its the most popular tourist attraction in all of Palawan, but luckily most people who come here don't stay here, most people are day trippers or come on package tours. To get to the cave we wanted to walk but it was too late in the day and we wouldn't have made it in time, and our permit was only valid for that day. So the other choice was to do what most people do and take a boat to the entrance of the cave. We shared a boat and the cost of it with two Filipina ladies who were very happy to save money and even happier to take photos with an English couple. The caves were really beautiful and with some amazing formations of the rock. There are bats everywhere and birds flying above your head make it really loud, but its a really fun thing to do. The camera didn't get any good photos in the cave because of the darkness so to see it you just have to go by yourself. Every evening in Sabang we sat on the pier and watched the sunset with some beers, which was really nice as we had the whole pier to ourselves. As soon as it got dark again though we generally tried to find somewhere that could serve food (depends on whether they have their generator on as there is no electricity in town), and then try to find somewhere that had cold beers (or power for the fridge I should say). The next morning we walked to the waterfall about 1km out of town. It wasn't a very spectacular one to be honest and it was a difficult 1km walking on sharp rocks etc. We went to the beach and read our books and then I went off for a little adventure. I climbed over some rocks and found a really nice private strip of beach where nobody or no buildings were...it was all for me. the next day I took Clare here and we had it to ourselves again. The water was clear, the sand was white and the weather was amazing, it was just a really nice moment to be there. I went a little further round the coastline to get some nice photos and along the way saw some snakes while Clare found herself surrounded by thousands of fish (no exaggeration!). Our one week in Palawan was running out sadly and as much as we were enjoying it we had to go back to Puerta Princesa the day before the ferry as we didn't want to run it too close. We found a family making the journey who said we could have the spare seats in their minivan if we paid them the same price as a bus ticket. Needless to say, the journey away from Sabang was much nicer than the dodgy bus to get there. Back in Puerta Princesa we spent our last full day walking around the town and exploring ourselves. We went to the Museum which had good sections on Palawan ethnic tribes and another section on Archaeology which was good. The next day we had to get the same ferry back to Manila and this time we were in the Mega-Value section which was actually just as good as the more expensive section we used on the way there. Like before, we read to kill time, only we slept less because we had the misfortune of being in the section where all the kids happen to be sleeping. As soon as we arrived in Manila after the 27 grueling hours we wanted to move on so we got a bus from Pasay (district of Manila) to Tagaytay, where apparently there are amazing views of an active Volcano. After this short journey we took some time to find a room for the night and had to settle with the cheapest one around that we could find, that was still over double what we were paying in Puerta Princesa (we already missed Palawan). As it turned out, these breathtaking views were actually not breathtaking in the slightest (maybe poor visibility on that day I don't know), so our day here was a bit wasted in a way, but we aren't that keen on staying in Manila anyway so I guess it wasn't too much of a waste. Back to Manila the following day we used their very slow and very busy sky train system or whatever it is called to get to the area where we wanted to stay. We found a shitty little cheap room and then went out to explore. We found that we actually did quite like Manila in a way. The people here as as friendly as all over the Philippines and there is actually quite a good atmosphere around manila. That evening we had a good night going to a few bars and seeing some live music. The next day we decided was our 'tourist day' and we spent it walking around Manila doing all the 'touristy' things. The Rizal park in Manila was really nice and has the spot where national hero Jose Rizal was executed by a firing squad. They have an awesome recreation of the scene with statues of the firing squad. After visiting a few things dotted around the park we walked to the area where there is a big fort. The area is an old Town and the fort at the end of it is where Rizal was imprisoned for his final few days. After a long day walking around we went back to the area for a few drinks before bed. Our last day in the Philippines we sorted out all our things we needed to do, buy cigarettes to sell, wash our clothes, find out how to get to the airport etc. In the evening we went to a hostess bar full of women entertaining the male customers. I was the only one who actually bought a girl with them! You pay per hour of being there and you can have unlimited drinks so we stayed for only one hour but got our money worth as Clare had 3 beers and I had 4. So the following day we made our way to the airport (again, with a hangover...cheap Filipino beer) and went back to Kuala Lumpur, sad to be leaving one of our favourite countries of our trip.
After a long day on various forms of transport we arrived at our room in KL and found that they offered free dinner on a Friday (lucky us). After food we had to travel across town to pick up our heavy bags, which now burden us with around 25kg each. The weather was terrible so we stayed in our guesthouse for the evening. The next day we did a few chores and then strolled around Chinatown and Bukit Bintang areas before heading back to our area and spending a few hours at a Reggae bar. After enjoying the Philippines so much KL didn't seem that fun the second time around. Our highlight was finding a cheap vegetarian street buffet. The following day we picked up some vege food for the road and got on a bus followed by a bus followed by another bus to Cherating, on the East coast of Malaysia. Its a very small place and after getting off the bus in the middle of nowhere, we had to walk through a small area of trees to get to Cherating strip. We were joined by huge monkeys and lizards and birds which looked deformed but eventually got to the strip and found a room. After settling in at around 5 we strolled down the street (from one end to the other takes around 5 or 10 minutes). We looked around to see what there was to do the following day and then killed some time before going to a place to watch the football (last Premiership games of the season, see you in the Championship Blackpool, West Ham and Birmingham). Nobody sells beer here so we got tanked up on Iced Milo chocolate drinks. That was last night anyway so today we have had quite a busy day. We slept in quite late and then got up and went to this workshop down the road where you can make Batik items. I have no idea what they are really but Clare wanted to do it and it was fun. You just get to paint onto cloth using watercolours and it looks really nice. After this we went to the other end of the road and rented a kayak for the afternoon. This is where it all went a bit Pete Tong. the first half an hour was fine, drifting down the river past the Mangroves, getting some nice photos etc. Then we realise that loads of water had started getting into the Kayak and Clare starts panicking. Not knowing how to solve the problem, we tried to throw water out of the Kayak, which in hindsight didn't help anything, maybe even let more water in because of all our frantic rocking. Then we tried staying still and figuring out a solution but couldn't find one because as soon as we started to move more water would come in. We were now very close to the water and sort of accepted capsizing as an inevitability so packed our camera into a small dry bag we had and just after it was sealed the boat toppled. Now we were in a really shit situation because we were floating in dirty water alongside snakes and lizards we had seen swim past us, with a capsized canoe and two oars with us, and Clare's shoes and the snacks we bought floating away from us. We had no choice but to swim to the side with the kayak and hold onto a tree. There was no bank along the whole river to get out so all we could do was wait. We tried a few times to get back in but there was no chance it was going to work, I think the Kayak might have been faulty as it just kept letting in water in whatever position we left it in. Luckily, after about 10 minutes 2 kayaks came past and stopped to try to help us. Even with their help we couldn't get the thing to stay afloat so we decided it was best to let them go and get help for us. So Clare and I were now left waiting in dirty water to be hopefully picked up by someone who could take us back, it wasn't a very nice place to be. Clare got back into the Kayak but as we couldn't both get in I just stayed in the water. Luckily, after about half an hour or an hour a fishing boat with an engine came past and offered to help. It was only a small boat so it couldn't take the kayak so we left it tied to a tree and got in the boat. They took us nearer to Cherating at a place we could get off and we were left to walk back with out paddles and life jackets, and Clare with no shoes, back to the Kayak hiring place. When we got back they were really nice about it and didn't mind that we left the Kayak and were very apologetic. They even let us have it all for free, a small consolation. Anyway, it turns out that the dry bag was actually really quite crap and our camera got ruined which means that we may have lost over a thousand pictures and also the ability to take any more for the next few weeks. We have to just hope that the memory card wasn't damaged so we may still have all our old ones...fingers crossed. So after a wash off and a swim in the sea we came to write this blog and are about to head out to the kayaking office and take a boat to see some fireflies...or is going into the river again is a bad idea.
After a long day on various forms of transport we arrived at our room in KL and found that they offered free dinner on a Friday (lucky us). After food we had to travel across town to pick up our heavy bags, which now burden us with around 25kg each. The weather was terrible so we stayed in our guesthouse for the evening. The next day we did a few chores and then strolled around Chinatown and Bukit Bintang areas before heading back to our area and spending a few hours at a Reggae bar. After enjoying the Philippines so much KL didn't seem that fun the second time around. Our highlight was finding a cheap vegetarian street buffet. The following day we picked up some vege food for the road and got on a bus followed by a bus followed by another bus to Cherating, on the East coast of Malaysia. Its a very small place and after getting off the bus in the middle of nowhere, we had to walk through a small area of trees to get to Cherating strip. We were joined by huge monkeys and lizards and birds which looked deformed but eventually got to the strip and found a room. After settling in at around 5 we strolled down the street (from one end to the other takes around 5 or 10 minutes). We looked around to see what there was to do the following day and then killed some time before going to a place to watch the football (last Premiership games of the season, see you in the Championship Blackpool, West Ham and Birmingham). Nobody sells beer here so we got tanked up on Iced Milo chocolate drinks. That was last night anyway so today we have had quite a busy day. We slept in quite late and then got up and went to this workshop down the road where you can make Batik items. I have no idea what they are really but Clare wanted to do it and it was fun. You just get to paint onto cloth using watercolours and it looks really nice. After this we went to the other end of the road and rented a kayak for the afternoon. This is where it all went a bit Pete Tong. the first half an hour was fine, drifting down the river past the Mangroves, getting some nice photos etc. Then we realise that loads of water had started getting into the Kayak and Clare starts panicking. Not knowing how to solve the problem, we tried to throw water out of the Kayak, which in hindsight didn't help anything, maybe even let more water in because of all our frantic rocking. Then we tried staying still and figuring out a solution but couldn't find one because as soon as we started to move more water would come in. We were now very close to the water and sort of accepted capsizing as an inevitability so packed our camera into a small dry bag we had and just after it was sealed the boat toppled. Now we were in a really shit situation because we were floating in dirty water alongside snakes and lizards we had seen swim past us, with a capsized canoe and two oars with us, and Clare's shoes and the snacks we bought floating away from us. We had no choice but to swim to the side with the kayak and hold onto a tree. There was no bank along the whole river to get out so all we could do was wait. We tried a few times to get back in but there was no chance it was going to work, I think the Kayak might have been faulty as it just kept letting in water in whatever position we left it in. Luckily, after about 10 minutes 2 kayaks came past and stopped to try to help us. Even with their help we couldn't get the thing to stay afloat so we decided it was best to let them go and get help for us. So Clare and I were now left waiting in dirty water to be hopefully picked up by someone who could take us back, it wasn't a very nice place to be. Clare got back into the Kayak but as we couldn't both get in I just stayed in the water. Luckily, after about half an hour or an hour a fishing boat with an engine came past and offered to help. It was only a small boat so it couldn't take the kayak so we left it tied to a tree and got in the boat. They took us nearer to Cherating at a place we could get off and we were left to walk back with out paddles and life jackets, and Clare with no shoes, back to the Kayak hiring place. When we got back they were really nice about it and didn't mind that we left the Kayak and were very apologetic. They even let us have it all for free, a small consolation. Anyway, it turns out that the dry bag was actually really quite crap and our camera got ruined which means that we may have lost over a thousand pictures and also the ability to take any more for the next few weeks. We have to just hope that the memory card wasn't damaged so we may still have all our old ones...fingers crossed. So after a wash off and a swim in the sea we came to write this blog and are about to head out to the kayaking office and take a boat to see some fireflies...or is going into the river again is a bad idea.
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