So we leavc Boracay and take an extremely concerning ferry boat ride back to the island of Mindoro (the port town of Roxas). We are headed for Sabang beach in the north of the island, but first must make it across the tempermental sea. Aboard the ship we rock back and forth and side to side over the choppy whitecapped waves underneath. The boat literally leaves the surface of the water and crashes back down, sending giant bursts of white water up to the top of the ship. Perhaps it's my inexperience in the nautical arena, but I don't think this is a good thing. However, as you've probably guessed, we survived.
We make our way up to Sabang via very mini-van and jeepney. A nice lady named Puri takes us to a great little cottage that sits just a few feet from the lagoon's edge. It's a bit rough inside, but there's a wonderful patio in front where Mel and I enjoyed some drinks and song. (I brought the mini-guitar hoping for this kind of scenario.) The "touts" are quite prevalent and offer us various goods and services, but they always seemed to meet our declines with a "bahala na" sort of attitude. Quiet in the day here, but a bit scandelous at night with the strip clubs ( or "discos"), many bars, foreigner-seeking Filipino women....and ladyboys.
Off after a couple nights in this very interesting town and bound for Borneo. We meet Ronald Go, our trusted taxi driver in Batangas who escorts us back to the International airport in Manila. We didn't find him right away and found the local police a bit sketchy, what with the knife-sharpening friend and the police allowing us to use their phone if we paid a price that was "up to us." Not all fun and games in the Philippines. But, we arrive to the airport safely and are soon airborn toward Malaysia.
Safely landed, we deboard in both Mel's and mine first Islamic country. We didn't know quite what to expect of Kota Kinabahlu, the capital of the western state of Sabah. Met a German who met two Malaysian ladies who took us into town for a few Ringgit each (Ringgit being the currency here.) Stay at the Hotel Holiday, a nice bare necessities type place in the city center. We walk around and immediately notice the cultural diversity of this country. There are men in tunics, women in burkas, Chinese and Arabic signs, Indian restaurants, Filipino influences and so much more. The people are an eclectic mix and seem to be all smiles when you exchange a glance. We are greeted by quite a few "hellos" and "where are you froms", as well as, many waves from the locals. The city is also surprisingly well developed. The Malaysian economy, although apparantly not doing very well at the moment, is clearly superior to the Philippines. It reminds us a lot of Taipei with nicer buildings, fully-paved roads and artistic landscaping.
We start off the following day for Sandakan, a city in the Northeast part of Sabah where we are to begin our tour to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center and cruise through rain forest along the Kinabatangan river, near the town of Sukau. In Sandakan we stroll the streets and take in the grittier, but possibly even friendlier, side of Sabah. It's a dusty little town center by the port and the smiles and waves are quite frequent. And the cultural salad is evident on every street corner. We had a nice dinner on the waterfront and headed to bed, early 740 rise the next day.
Morning came and we met our guide Mirwan who began the day by guiding us through a very interesting market outside of the hotel and to the van. He is a great guy, very laid back, but enthusiastic about his country. We also met our tour-mates Mark and Mel, Jocelyn and Di. All great folks, indeed. Mirwan or 'Wan' gave us the lowdown on the events of the day and some background about the Sepilok center.
Sepilok finds and rescues orphaned orangutans (which means 'people of the forest' in Malay) and rehabilitates/reintroduces them into the wild. It is a gradual process that takes years, but it is working to restore the numbers of orangutans in the wild. The deforesting through logging and palm-oil plantations has widdled down the population to endangered and left many orphaned. Sepilok, working with the government to help educate the country's residents, has done amazing things. The tour visits help bring much needed funds and increase awareness. Plus it's pretty radical for us, too.
Anyway, you walk along a boardwalk through the forest and find an open area that resembles a large house deck in the middle of the forest. Surrounding are several platforms, ropes and wild rainforest. No cages. No bars. Soon we spot a few of these incredible creatures swinging aptly by hands and feet. They seem so comfortable swinging from branch to branch. With incredible luck, an alpha male comes to the platform and gives everyone a rare treat. He is enormous and looks more like a gorilla than an orangutan. The crowd is stunned. A few pig-tailed macaques make their entrance, but don't get much from the big daddy. Wan tells us there would be more, but the other males don't dare come round when poppa is there.
Beautiful creatures.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Bahala Na!
October 30th/31st- Boracay Island, Phillipines
We couldn't be happier to have arrived at our intended destination. As we walk along the beach path we are greeted by friendly faces willing to show us to their guest-house/hotel/or hostel somewhere nearby the stunning beaches on the island. We decide to stop into a place called Serge's Palace, nearby to Boat Station 3 (a bit cheaper, and closer to the port to and from Caticlan). It's a nice place with a hot shower and air conditioning. Glad to have some relief from the thick humidity that hangs in the air like a damp blanket, we decide this will work for us. Pesos are the way here, and we part with a thousand for a night stay here. Not bad at all.
With a place to ditch our exuberantly overweight packs, we quickly head out to a beachside restaurant for some much needed sustenance. Pizza and beer does the trick, although not great for our 'beach bods.' Sitting at the 'Nigi Nigi Bar' we scope out the local vendors selling necklaces, sunglasses, foot-sandal-triangles (no idea) and lots of delicious snacks. Woman walk around with baskets of fruit atop their heads. Boatmen and vendors offer sailing trips or ATV rides. Women offer various massages and henna tattoos, or corn rows! We also take notice of the many aging white men with their younger Filipino counterparts. Thoughts of sex tourism can't be helped from entering our minds. But, live and let live (Bahala Na)!
Swimming becomes very important as we take a stroll along the beautiful white sand beach, enjoying the clear blue waters of this part of the Visayan Sea rush over our feet. We change into our swimming duds and head out into the water. We continue to see the bottom even at chest level. Amazing! Easily the best beach I have ever seen (not that I'm an expert in the area or anything, but still...wow). Small white fish dart around and into our ankles. We watch and ponder their strange behavior, or maybe they are pondering ours. Swimming, sunning, swimming, Mai Tais, more swimming, sleep....and so on. Perfect opposite to the previous days activities.
Showers and new clothes and we're ready for a night out. We stroll along until we find an all-you-can-eat Mongolian Barbeque restaurant with interesting techno music bleating from the attatched dance-club. Very delicious meal, and cheap too. Afterwards we walk some more and feel the wind whipping stronger than before. We hear some good rock-n-roll coming from a slightly tucked away beach-bar called 'Charlh's Bar.' We grab a seat and watch the band playing behind the bar. Meet a great couple named Francis and Nena who live in Manilla and are on vacation due to the holiday of 'Unas.' 'Unas' is somewhat of an equivalent to Halloween. Some celebrate the passing of the dead with prayer and some celebration. These two are such wonderful people, and we pass the hours singing along with the band, talking music and drinking San Miguel (the beer of choice here). Several hours, songs and beers later we part company. Best of luck Francis and Nena! Great people.
We head back to Serge's and notice a strong wind blowing even harder than before.
The next morning is filled with the deafening sounds of strong wind and rain pounding on the roof of our hotel room. There is a typhoon slightly to the north. It will not hit Boracay too hard, it's the north on the island if Luzon that suffered so much from the last typhoon. We are hoping this one moves along quickly so no on else is hurt.
The rain clears so I stumble down the beach, with sleep still in my eyes, in search of a shake for Mel. She's been wanting one since we got here. Found Choco-peanut-banana...this will definitely do. Talk to a couple guys on the beach path, find that the wind is far less strong on the other side of the island.
Mel and I walk across the island past many deshevelled homes of the locals. It's a much different scene than the beachfront resort atmosphere of White Sand Beach. To be expected I guess. However, and this in all likelihood could be my own ignorance, the people still seem to be relaxed and living life for whatever it brings them. Bahala Na. Mel and I wonder what the impression is of the foreigners to the locals. Is our presence here liked? Despised? Not thought much about? We wonder and we wander. I guess we mostly just reflect on the knowledge that we are so lucky in so many ways. It may not always be so, but....Bahala Na.
We couldn't be happier to have arrived at our intended destination. As we walk along the beach path we are greeted by friendly faces willing to show us to their guest-house/hotel/or hostel somewhere nearby the stunning beaches on the island. We decide to stop into a place called Serge's Palace, nearby to Boat Station 3 (a bit cheaper, and closer to the port to and from Caticlan). It's a nice place with a hot shower and air conditioning. Glad to have some relief from the thick humidity that hangs in the air like a damp blanket, we decide this will work for us. Pesos are the way here, and we part with a thousand for a night stay here. Not bad at all.
With a place to ditch our exuberantly overweight packs, we quickly head out to a beachside restaurant for some much needed sustenance. Pizza and beer does the trick, although not great for our 'beach bods.' Sitting at the 'Nigi Nigi Bar' we scope out the local vendors selling necklaces, sunglasses, foot-sandal-triangles (no idea) and lots of delicious snacks. Woman walk around with baskets of fruit atop their heads. Boatmen and vendors offer sailing trips or ATV rides. Women offer various massages and henna tattoos, or corn rows! We also take notice of the many aging white men with their younger Filipino counterparts. Thoughts of sex tourism can't be helped from entering our minds. But, live and let live (Bahala Na)!
Swimming becomes very important as we take a stroll along the beautiful white sand beach, enjoying the clear blue waters of this part of the Visayan Sea rush over our feet. We change into our swimming duds and head out into the water. We continue to see the bottom even at chest level. Amazing! Easily the best beach I have ever seen (not that I'm an expert in the area or anything, but still...wow). Small white fish dart around and into our ankles. We watch and ponder their strange behavior, or maybe they are pondering ours. Swimming, sunning, swimming, Mai Tais, more swimming, sleep....and so on. Perfect opposite to the previous days activities.
Showers and new clothes and we're ready for a night out. We stroll along until we find an all-you-can-eat Mongolian Barbeque restaurant with interesting techno music bleating from the attatched dance-club. Very delicious meal, and cheap too. Afterwards we walk some more and feel the wind whipping stronger than before. We hear some good rock-n-roll coming from a slightly tucked away beach-bar called 'Charlh's Bar.' We grab a seat and watch the band playing behind the bar. Meet a great couple named Francis and Nena who live in Manilla and are on vacation due to the holiday of 'Unas.' 'Unas' is somewhat of an equivalent to Halloween. Some celebrate the passing of the dead with prayer and some celebration. These two are such wonderful people, and we pass the hours singing along with the band, talking music and drinking San Miguel (the beer of choice here). Several hours, songs and beers later we part company. Best of luck Francis and Nena! Great people.
We head back to Serge's and notice a strong wind blowing even harder than before.
The next morning is filled with the deafening sounds of strong wind and rain pounding on the roof of our hotel room. There is a typhoon slightly to the north. It will not hit Boracay too hard, it's the north on the island if Luzon that suffered so much from the last typhoon. We are hoping this one moves along quickly so no on else is hurt.
The rain clears so I stumble down the beach, with sleep still in my eyes, in search of a shake for Mel. She's been wanting one since we got here. Found Choco-peanut-banana...this will definitely do. Talk to a couple guys on the beach path, find that the wind is far less strong on the other side of the island.
Mel and I walk across the island past many deshevelled homes of the locals. It's a much different scene than the beachfront resort atmosphere of White Sand Beach. To be expected I guess. However, and this in all likelihood could be my own ignorance, the people still seem to be relaxed and living life for whatever it brings them. Bahala Na. Mel and I wonder what the impression is of the foreigners to the locals. Is our presence here liked? Despised? Not thought much about? We wonder and we wander. I guess we mostly just reflect on the knowledge that we are so lucky in so many ways. It may not always be so, but....Bahala Na.
Bye Bye Taiwan, Hello Philippines!
So our time in Taiwan has actually ended. After two years, we've quit our jobs, sent home a big box of stuff we've acquired over the years, sold the scooter, packed up some clothes into a backpack, and got on a plane to Manila. We're taking a month-long backpacking trip around Southeast Asia, starting in the Philippines, then Malaysian Borneo, and after that northern Thailand. From there we will travel overland through Laos and into Vietnam. From Hanoi we're flying into Hong Kong, our last stop before returning to Taipei for a few days. On November 30th, we'll be on a plane back to the good USA in time for the holidays. I'm so excited to be eventually getting home after being abroad for so long, but right now, we're in the Philippines.
First stop: Boracay, known as one of the world's most beautiful beaches. Boracay is quite a ways from Manila, and we decided to take the cheaper route overland instead of fly there. Flying would have taken two hours. When we finally got to Boracay it had been about 24. Probably wouldn't take that same route again, but the trip was really interesting.
Our flight out of Taipei took off at 1:30am and landed in the Philippines at about 3:30am on October 29th. We didn't sleep before that, so we were pretty tired when we got in a cab that took us two hours to a port called Batangas. We hopped on a pumpboat that ferried us to Sabang beach in Puerto Galera, which is in the island of Mindoro. It was about 8:00am at this point, and we were already feeling wrecked. We didn't stay long in Sabang. We asked the locals how to get to Calapan, the next leg of our trip to Boracay. They directed us to a jeepney, which is like a small bus with bench seating on the inside. At first glance, it looked able to hold about eight people. After being on the road for a while, picking up people here and there, we ended up completely crammed in with round about 20 other people. This jam-packed ride lasted about two hours through twisty, wet, terrifying jungle roads. John and I were so tired at this point that we could not keep our eyes open, despite being constantly jostled around, weaving through the dirt road.
When we made it to Calapan, we had to find a way to get to the next town, Roxas, still on the island of Mindoro but quite a ways south. A couple of ladies on the jeepney were headed there too, and said we could follow them. Let me just say that the Filipinos are probably the friendliest, most genuine people I've ever met. We really had no idea how to get to where we wanted to go, and without everyone else's help, we would have been utterly screwed. There were many times when we could have gotten scammed or led in the wrong direction, but that hasn't happend at all. So we followed the ladies and got into a van (a welcome change from the jeepney) and headed two hours south to Roxas.
We arrived in Roxas in the afternoon, about 2:30 or so. From there we wanted to take a ferry to Caticlan, the jumping off point to get to the elusive Boracay. We thought we'd get to Roxas, get right on a ferry, and be in Boracay by 7:00 at the latest. Turns out the next ferry away from Roxas was at 8:00pm. We were so incredibly wiped out at this point that we got a small hotel room for a few hours to pass out before the four hour long ferry ride at 8:00. The hotel was sparse but did the trick. There was a bed and a toilet with no flushing mechanism, and all for just about 4 US dollars. The hotel owner said we could stay the night for about 8 dollars if we needed to, but we wanted to get on that ferry.
So after a much needed nap, we got on a really big ferry and made the four hour trip to Caticlan. The ferry ended up leaving Roxas at about 10:00 instead of 8:00, so we got to Caticlan much later than expected. The ferry was really nice though, not jam-packed, with nice, big, soft seats. I was so afraid that the boat to Caticlan would be some creepy pumpboat like the one we took earlier that day, and thank goodness it wasn't. The pumpboat was fun, but probably not for four hours over open ocean.
We finally landed in Caticlan at about 2am on October 30. We got in a tricycle that took us to a 24 hour hotel, which was a welcome sight after not knowing if we would be taking turns sleeping in some port terminal. The hotel was a hilton compared to our napping house from before. It was a little bigger than a shoebox, but was clean and had a flushing toilet. No hot water, but that didn't really matter. We were just happy to get a full night's rest after 24 hours of jostling, uncomfortable travel. We got up at about 10am, jumped on a small pumpboat, and took the 10 minute ride across crystal clear water to Boracay. Finally, we were there!
Like I said eariler, if given the opportunity to come to Boracay again, we'd definitely spring for the airplane, but I'm glad we got the experience of the overland route. I was amazed at how helpful the people were, and I'm reminded of their friendliness and openness constantly. People also don't seem to be phased by diversity at all. Even in the small dusty town of Roxas, where we were the ONLY Westerners in sight, nobody treated us like the weird foreiners we were in Taipei. They'd say hi and go about doing their thing. You don't get the glazed over stares, and unabashed gawks like in Taiwan. It's a nice change, that was starting to get old.
We're planning on staying in Boracay for a few days, not quite sure yet. There's a place west of here called Donsol where you can swim with wild whale sharks. We're hoping to get to do that. But man, Boracay is so laid back and beautiful. White sand and clear water, we could easily end up staying here for much longer than we first expected. We'll see!
First stop: Boracay, known as one of the world's most beautiful beaches. Boracay is quite a ways from Manila, and we decided to take the cheaper route overland instead of fly there. Flying would have taken two hours. When we finally got to Boracay it had been about 24. Probably wouldn't take that same route again, but the trip was really interesting.
Our flight out of Taipei took off at 1:30am and landed in the Philippines at about 3:30am on October 29th. We didn't sleep before that, so we were pretty tired when we got in a cab that took us two hours to a port called Batangas. We hopped on a pumpboat that ferried us to Sabang beach in Puerto Galera, which is in the island of Mindoro. It was about 8:00am at this point, and we were already feeling wrecked. We didn't stay long in Sabang. We asked the locals how to get to Calapan, the next leg of our trip to Boracay. They directed us to a jeepney, which is like a small bus with bench seating on the inside. At first glance, it looked able to hold about eight people. After being on the road for a while, picking up people here and there, we ended up completely crammed in with round about 20 other people. This jam-packed ride lasted about two hours through twisty, wet, terrifying jungle roads. John and I were so tired at this point that we could not keep our eyes open, despite being constantly jostled around, weaving through the dirt road.
When we made it to Calapan, we had to find a way to get to the next town, Roxas, still on the island of Mindoro but quite a ways south. A couple of ladies on the jeepney were headed there too, and said we could follow them. Let me just say that the Filipinos are probably the friendliest, most genuine people I've ever met. We really had no idea how to get to where we wanted to go, and without everyone else's help, we would have been utterly screwed. There were many times when we could have gotten scammed or led in the wrong direction, but that hasn't happend at all. So we followed the ladies and got into a van (a welcome change from the jeepney) and headed two hours south to Roxas.
We arrived in Roxas in the afternoon, about 2:30 or so. From there we wanted to take a ferry to Caticlan, the jumping off point to get to the elusive Boracay. We thought we'd get to Roxas, get right on a ferry, and be in Boracay by 7:00 at the latest. Turns out the next ferry away from Roxas was at 8:00pm. We were so incredibly wiped out at this point that we got a small hotel room for a few hours to pass out before the four hour long ferry ride at 8:00. The hotel was sparse but did the trick. There was a bed and a toilet with no flushing mechanism, and all for just about 4 US dollars. The hotel owner said we could stay the night for about 8 dollars if we needed to, but we wanted to get on that ferry.
So after a much needed nap, we got on a really big ferry and made the four hour trip to Caticlan. The ferry ended up leaving Roxas at about 10:00 instead of 8:00, so we got to Caticlan much later than expected. The ferry was really nice though, not jam-packed, with nice, big, soft seats. I was so afraid that the boat to Caticlan would be some creepy pumpboat like the one we took earlier that day, and thank goodness it wasn't. The pumpboat was fun, but probably not for four hours over open ocean.
We finally landed in Caticlan at about 2am on October 30. We got in a tricycle that took us to a 24 hour hotel, which was a welcome sight after not knowing if we would be taking turns sleeping in some port terminal. The hotel was a hilton compared to our napping house from before. It was a little bigger than a shoebox, but was clean and had a flushing toilet. No hot water, but that didn't really matter. We were just happy to get a full night's rest after 24 hours of jostling, uncomfortable travel. We got up at about 10am, jumped on a small pumpboat, and took the 10 minute ride across crystal clear water to Boracay. Finally, we were there!
Like I said eariler, if given the opportunity to come to Boracay again, we'd definitely spring for the airplane, but I'm glad we got the experience of the overland route. I was amazed at how helpful the people were, and I'm reminded of their friendliness and openness constantly. People also don't seem to be phased by diversity at all. Even in the small dusty town of Roxas, where we were the ONLY Westerners in sight, nobody treated us like the weird foreiners we were in Taipei. They'd say hi and go about doing their thing. You don't get the glazed over stares, and unabashed gawks like in Taiwan. It's a nice change, that was starting to get old.
We're planning on staying in Boracay for a few days, not quite sure yet. There's a place west of here called Donsol where you can swim with wild whale sharks. We're hoping to get to do that. But man, Boracay is so laid back and beautiful. White sand and clear water, we could easily end up staying here for much longer than we first expected. We'll see!
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