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Hey Joe -
27/08/2006
Hey Joe! This
is the generic greeting given by many Filipinos to foreigners.
It comes from the GI Joes that were stationed on the US bases in
the Phillipines but is used to greet any foreigner regardless of
nationality. Hey Joe, every time I hear it I feel like I am in a
living Hendrix song!
We left you in Woodys hostel/brothel in Roxas, Mindoro. We
managed to escape the next day, although even that proved
difficult as two ferries were suddenly "cancelled" without
notice and the crossing to Panay was rough enough to suggest
that maybe all of them should have been cancelled! Our first
stop in the Visayas, the group of islands that make up the
central areas of the Philippines, was the island of Panay, or
more accurately the tourism hotspot of Boracay just off the
north-western tip of Panay, (in)famous both in the Philippines
and around the world for sun, sea and cheap beer. It is very
popular with Korean package tourists and is basically just
another Koh Samui or Langkawi. We actually thought at first it
was much more low key as we did not discover the main tourist
drag until our second, and last, night there. The beach is nice
and the water was clean, despite the typhoons, but it is not
exactly paradise.
White Beach, Boracay
Panay itself is a beautiful island, lush green paddies with the
mountainous interior rising behind it. Unfortunately,
despite the beautiful scenery, we did not see another reason to
get off the bus so we just admired it as we crossed the entire
island to the administrative centre of Iloilo city. This was
no more than a dingy provincial town, although the student
population added a bit of life and our grandiose (the interior
at least) guest house also housed a nice bar, the kind I would
turn my nose up at in England for being poncy with cushions on
the floor and mood lighting, but it had a nice atmosphere and we
did receive a free beer as well. Which was nice.
Just off the south-eastern coast of Panay is the small island of
Guimares which is developing a bit of reputation on the
eco-tourism and diving circuit. Worlds away from Boracay
the islands main industry is its mangoes, which are exported
across the world. The island is (was) dotted with deserted white
beaches and crystal clear water and the roads are empty which
meant cruising around on our hired motorbike was quite
enjoyable, hardly any traffic, just the occasional jeepney. We
based ourselves in a really friendly hill resort in the middle
and explored the island from there. Unfortunately, not long
after we visited, an oil tanker sunk off the coast with a cargo
of around 2,000,000 litres. It is becoming the worst oil spill
in Philippines history and so far only 10% has actually spilled
out, the tanker is lying at 900m and the rest of the cargo is a
natural disaster time bomb just ticking away. The government
combined ignorance and sluggishness in the usual dangerous
manner with their inability to deal with the problem. We just
hope it doesn't get any worse.
Arriving on Guimares
Guimares was a convenient route to cross from Panay to Negros.
Where Guimares is the mango island, Negros is the sugar island,
with the sugar cane farms creating millionaires across the
island. We had high hopes for Negros as it really seemed have a
lot to offer. The weather however, conspired against us. Our
first stop was the mountain resort of Mt Kanlaon. The first
resort, Buenos Aires, was full of Filipino weekenders, and it
seemed like a mountain resort in the Filipino style, i.e. less
about gorgeous scenery, nature and peace and quite and more
about just another place to drink rum and sing karaoke. The
second resort, the Kapot Twin Falls, was far more low-key and in
fact we were the only people staying there. There was not much
to do in the way of hiking however and although the falls were
pretty impressive, they were only a staircase away, and so we
left after just one night, heading for the fabled Sugar beach.
The descriptions of this beach near Sipalay on the south-western
coast have promoted it to legendary status, beautiful beaches,
clear water and nice low-key resorts.
Arriving
during a typhoon however does not present this paradise. We had
to scramble over a bamboo bridge that was one storm away from
dissolution, holding on and crawling on all fours for part of
it. Monika then lost her slippers in a swamp before we climbed
around the side of a mountain and across the rocks to the
beach. Which looked like Great Yarmouth on an ugly day. The
sea was rough and churning up filth, the beach was disgusting
and covered in rubbish and the rain lashed down constantly. The
first thing I needed was a couple of San Miguels. We found a
cheap teepee to sleep in but the food was extortionate and all
German, we had to request a plate of fried rice to share just to
keep the costs reasonable. The next morning we decided we were
fighting a losing battle with the weather and decided to leave.
It was even harder to leave, the rocks were completely submerged
so we took an inland route and then realised why the bridge was
so high, the tide each day wipes the entire village out, the
road we had walked down the evening before was now 5 feet under
water and we had to hire a rowing boat to get back to dry(ish)
land. We fled to Dumaguete, the main city on Negros and another
student town. It was quite a pleasant town, just devoid of
anything to do. We did manage to indulge at an Indian/Middle
Eastern restaurant, where they actually had dishes without any
meat in them, a rarity in the Philippines. The nearby Twin
Lakes National Park was quite nice, the lakes were OK but there
was only 4km of walking trails and they actually had monkeys and
other animals in cages and tied to chains, hardly what you
expect from a national park, although perhaps in the Phillipines.
And so from the Sugar island to Siquijor, the island of
witchcraft. We nearly did not make it, the typhoon had
prevented any ferries going for a couple of days before. We did
go, although most of the other passengers fed the fish along the
way. Maybe one of the witches cursed us because we suddenly had
bad luck with accommodation. Our first choice was full
(probably of middle aged alcoholic Germans with 18 year old
Filipinas, not that I am bitter about the lack of rooms!) and
the second choice was a weird, empty, house full of expensive,
though tasteless, furniture and decoration. To our relief they
could not find the key to our bathroom so we managed to escape.
The next place was a hotel by the main port, but it was
expensive and the rooms were those where the walls do not reach
the ceiling. With a group of guys outside each with a bottle of
rum we decided against staying there as well. We eventually
decided to go to one of the beach resorts, which meant an
expensive trike ride. The first resort was the victim of a
ten-year high, high tide and all the huts were under water.
Finally we stayed at the Kiwi Dive resort, a nice place but a
little pricey, especially the, thankfully tasty, food. Our hut
was on the cliff which we were pleased about as it meant we were
safe from the tides. It did mean however that we were in the
best position to catch the wind, and that night the storm
felt as if it would rip the roof off of the hut. It was actually
really scary.
On the hunt for witches we hired another motorbike to tour
around the island. We did not find any witches but we did find
plenty of small churches in the inland villages, a debris strewn
road that looked like it was from a horror movie and a white
coral stone road that looked like the yellow brick road. At one
viewpoint we stopped for ten seconds to admire the view down the
coast, before I even had time to get my camera out a giant storm
blew over and all of a sudden we found ourselves hunting for
shelter and ended up under the roof of a hut, the family
surprised as they returned home to find us sheltering under
their gutter. They let us inside with the dogs and chickens and
we all sat the storm out. The people of Siquijor were really
friendly, every where we went we were greeted with smiles. It
was quite similar to Guimares that the roads were empty, not
many tourists on the island and not so many Filipinos either.
There were a couple of typically kitch Filipino resorts on the
coast, beaches with bars and karaoke.
On our last day on Siquijor we had our first dry, sunny day for
over a fortnight. We spent the day relaxing by the beach, the
sea still too rough for swimming, and waiting for the 9pm ferry
to Bohol. One of those really convenient schedules and we
arrived in Tagbilaran at 1am. With no cheap hotel in sight we
decided to head straight to Alona beach on Panglao island,
another beach whose reputation had preceded it. There was
nowhere open at 2am and nowhere to break a 500P note to pay the
trike driver. There was only a group of drunk Korean divers.
We eventually found a 24hr bar and decided to see the night out
there and find somewhere to stay in the morning. We sat there
all night, had a few beers and watched the nocturnal life of
Bohol go by, a few groups of people who still wanted a drink and
a crazy expat Austrian who we kept seeing all through the next
day as well, telling us how bad alcoholism was amongst
Filipinos, however from the moment he arrived in the bar at 3am
until the last time we saw him the next day at around 4pm, he
was holding a bottle of beer!
Alona beach was not so nice as the tourism literature would have
you believe. The resorts are horrid concrete structure, none
built with any regard for the surroundings. The sea was again
suffering from offshore storms and, well it just was not all
that amazing. We left and headed back to Tagbiliran.
Close by is the Tarsier centre at Corella, a rehabilitation
centre for the endangered Tarsier, claimed to be the world's
smallest monkey. There is debate whether they are actually a
monkey, or belong to another group of primate and if they are
even the smallest, but anyway they are beautiful little animals
and it is good to see them being protected and not exploited in
cages as in some restaurants and other domestic tourist
hotspots. The sunny weather continued throughout our trip
through Bohol and so the hot walk back from the centre was a
nice change.
Tarsier
Inland from Tagbiliran runs the Loboc river. Close to the town
of Loboc itself is a small resort called Nuts Huts, run by a
Belgian guy and his sister, 6 months each per year. It is well
run, perfectly situated by the river and yet designed so the
huts become in harmony with the surroundings, indeed from the
river they are almost invisible. There is no karaoke and the
menu is a perfect mix of Filipino and general travellers
favourites. It was a nice place to stay and recharge our
batteries. It is also perfectly situated to visit the Chocolate
hills, just a few kilometers away. These are one of the
Philippines premier tourism sites, along with the rice terraces
of northern Luzon there is always a photo of the Chocolate hills
on any tourism brochure or leaflet from the Philippines. They
truly are an incredible sight as well. It is such an unusual
experience to drive through them and then to gaze over them from
the viewpoint atop on of the hills. They reminded me of
Kelimutu on Flores in that there was not anything to do there,
you wouldn't exactly go trekking around either place, but they
are just amazing to look at.
Chocolate hills, Bohol
Back on the
coast of Bohol, this time along the western coast facing Cebu,
we stopped with relations in the town of Clarin. This was a
lovely, colonial little town. The family is actually famous in
the town and we did not need the address, just to mention the
surname to anyone. Opposite the family house is the old family
house, an amazing wooden building in the traditional style with
sliding windows and thick wooden floors and furniture. It was
nice to see a different side to the Philippines. After a day
with the family we crossed the Bohol straits to Cebu City.
Cebu City.
Well, it is nicer than Manila. I can say that. The old town is
quite nice and it was some religious birthday celebration in the
Basilica de Santo Nino so there was some sort of party which was
nice to see. Magellan's cross was unimpressive but a must-see,
although I would pretty pissed off if I had gone exploring the
world, charting the oceans and then I ended up being killed in
Cebu! One of the highlights of Cebu city for me was
roller-skating in the park outside the fort, it was only 5P per
person. Actually I am being harsh about Cebu because I had
a bit of a hangover ( the beer is just too cheap here) and it
was another hot and humid day, the traffic and resulting
pollution terrible. I should be glad we were there on Sunday
where walking around the street markets was quite nice and the
traffic actually was not as bad as midweek. We left on the
Monday which was also OK as it was Ninoy Aquino day. He was the
national hero who was shot at Manila International Airport (now
Ninoy Aquino International Airport) in 1983 after returning from
self-exile to talk to
President Marcos, who promptly had his goons gun him down on the
tarmac.
We finished our island hopping across the Visayas as we started
it, on a small resort island. However Malapascua, off of the
north of Cebu was poles apart from Boracay. There is only
electricity in the evening for 6 hours and the villages on the
island are miraculously unaffected by tourism, as we walked
through on the Monday everyone was outside celebrating the
national holiday with rum and inviting us to join in, which we
politely declined. We did go to a local "disco" on our first
night, which was actually a few disco lights hung across a
basketball court with a sound system at one end. It was a like a
wedding reception in England. The first half of the night we
watched all the village children dancing, the girls practicing
all their moves and the boys fighting and jumping around, if it
was a polished floor no doubt they would have been doing
"skids". Later on all the adults came to dance but it was
really nice, there was no trouble and everyone just had a good
time. Monika danced with one of the local women, Esther, a
48-year old who was proud to tell us repeatedly that she had a
35-year old husband, who was proud to share his Tanduay rum with
us. I must just add that the rum is just as cheap as the beer.
One small bottle of San Miguel lager sets us back around 20p,
with litre bottle going for 50p. The rum is around 25p for a
375ml bottle, or 90p per litre, which should last longer than
the beer.
Malapascua
The resorts on Malapascua are very low key and there are no
concrete monstrosities. The sea was clear and calm and perfect
for swimming. We snorkeled at a couple of places around the
island including a wreck of a Japanese tanker which sunk at
about 5 metres depth and has since been really wrecked by
dynamite fishing. We also saw the black-and-white striped sea
snake just swimming around some blue coral reef on the other
side of the island, it is one of the most poisonous creatures in
the world but he was absolutely disinterested in us.
We were joined on Malapascua by a Dutch girl called June who we
met at Nuts Huts. She arrived just as the weather finally
changed and the rainy season came back with avengeance. We left
her on Malapascua yesterday after a day of rain convinced us it
was time to leave our beach bum hideaway and return to
Philippines nautical highway.
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