Pagsanjan Gorge and Whitewater

  I took a pricey day trip ($120) for some whitewater fun. My driver showed up on time and drove me (alone!) in his A/C car for 2.5 hours to the put in at a resort. I then got in a VERY tippy 19ft, 30” wide, semi-round bottomed canoe. My two man crew paddled up river to the first of many rapids and pushed off of rocks and boulders. They had to get out and drag the boat at times. I’ve often said that I am comfortable in most boats in most conditions but I was uncomfortable today. The boat would lurch back and forth as each guy scootered off a rock. Water was at the gunnels often and since I didn’t have a paddle, I couldn't‘t brace! For those that have paddled the Yough, it made Eddyturn look like the Doldrums. We passed a fine waterfall and continued dragging over rocks and pipe strainers. The pipes were to allow to boat to slide more easily but they were real strainers.

  We got to the second big waterfall (technical term -doozie) There was a bamboo raft in the pool below and two guys pulled a small group through the edge of the waterfall to the cave behind. needless to say, everything was soaked!  The trip back downriver was the least stressful as the two boatmen did a great job of guiding the boat through class 3 rapids using a lot of draw and cross-draw strokes. I ate lunch at the resort and my personal driver took me back to my hotel. I could get used to being rich and pampered!

  This will be my last blog for a while since I’m flying home tomorrow. Marcia and I are going to Ecuador in the middle of February and I might blog if I have time. I hope you enjoyed my travels.

   Chuck

Chinatown

   Manila has a vibrant Chinatown and not so vibrant cemetery. The Chinese are the business people and seem to be the richest part of society. Their cemetery has magnificent mausoleums and monuments to fallen soldiers. The Chinese fought against the Japanese during WW2 and lost many fighters.

   I took a cab to Chinatown and walked around. There were gold shops, fruit stands, booksellers with Feng Shui books and “good luck” stores. New Year has just past and you need to increase your luck for 2012!

   After Chinatown, I got a tricycle and went to the Chinese Cemetery.  We got lost again (maybe it’s me?) but finally found it. My driver was a woman and the only one I’ve seen. She had her 5 year old daughter on the motorcycle in front of her. NO ONE wears helmets here! Her trike was interesting since it was powered by a 6 HP lawn mower engine. She started it with a pull recoil cord and there were no gears, only a clutch and rear brake. I tipped extra since we had such a hard time finding the entrance to the cemetery. It was a warren of streets.

  The cemetery is 220 acres and I was told you PROBABLY should have a guide but the first guide wanted $12. The second, about 15 minutes later told me about the wild dogs attacking LONE tourists. His offer was $9. I had already seen 5 of the big 10 by myself so it was me and the wild dogs. The oldest crypt has a turtle in front since they are symbols of long life. 

 

 

 

 

 

The dogs must  know I’m used to big dogs so they left me alone. I found a taxi back to my hotel and treated myself to a better lunch. I discovered a Dim Sum place and had some “meatball” dim sum, soup, rice and lemonade for about $5. Quite good! The couple next to me were at a table with a gas hot plate in the center (mine had one too). The waiter brought a 1 gallon stainless steel bowl filled halfway with water. The diners added doughballs, sliced beef, and two types of leafy veggies. There was something fried and puffy on the side and a BIG bowl of rice. They ate a long time and took some home too. Tomorrow a two hour bus ride to a bamboo raft ride under a waterfall.

Manila Again

  Leaving Puerto Princesa was exciting since my 1pm flight really was 10am. I caught my mistake at 9am and hustled to the airport. I did make it in time. We flew out on an Airbus (450 seats?) that was full. The airline still serves peanuts but only water and coffee to drink but it’s only an hour flight.

   My cab driver again didn’t know where my hotel was but with the use of a map and a lot of driving, we found it. Lunch was at SevenEleven where I tried a pork kabob, two bowls of rice and a drink for $2. Barely worth it. The Security Guard there also bussed the table and even mopped the floor using a mop one-handed. This was in uniform and armed. All big stores have guards at the door and check packages and pat you down if necessary. Are we getting close to that yet? There are separate lines for male and female. Many banks have a guard near the ATM, sometimes with a shotgun. I’ve only seen an AK-47 a couple of times but it does get your attention.

  There is some begging on the street and there are homeless people sleeping on cardboard on the side streets. Venders are always hawking jewelry, coins, or Viagra pills. I’m close to the Red Light district so I must be in need, right?

   I went to the local mall which would do well in the US. Clean, well-stocked, and guarded. The Supermarket part was larger that most of our Giant Eagles. The pet food aisle was smaller though. I bought some tangerines for about 50 cents each. Bananas were more expensive than at home. No pictures from yesterday so I will recycle a few.

   Chuck

Crocodile Farm

  Well now I know where it is, it was easy to get to without worries. Like am I on the right bus? Will I see it before we pass it?

  I’m still fighting a dry cough that is VERY annoying. I’ve tried Robitussin, Vicks Formula 44 and some fizzy powder a druggist gave me. It gave me the runs and it sort of worked on my cough; I was AFRAID to cough.

   I picked up my laundry, returned it to my room and set out to the farm. If you sit behind the driver in the open bed and cab, you pass the money from the passengers in the back to the driver and the change back to the right person. The driver makes change while dodging trikes, busses and potholes. The driver went out of his route to take me to the Crocodile Farm.

  There are two types of crocks here freshwater and saltwater. The freshwater ones are smaller nine feet max and not considered dangerous. Salties can get to 22 feet and are considered dangerous. The farm raises both kinds for ecological reasons and meat. They really promote that aspect of the farm.

   There are other animals there all in dirty cluttered cages. Down the road a little was a penitentiary that you could visit and chat with the inmates. I passed on it

Irawan and Butterfly Farm

  Today I thought I would visit the Crocodile Farm near Irawan, then the Butterfly Farm on the way back. One can take the City Tour for $25 or public transportation for $2. Guess which one I took? The Jeepneys are like covered pickup trucks with 10 ft beds. There are bench seats along the length of the bed. If you feel the need for human contact, a jeepney is the place to find it. There were 23 people in mine but some were infants or tots so it wasn’t bad although I got my share of contact.

   The roads here are bad but they are working on them all the time. They concrete a 300 yard stretch every now and then. The rest of the road is stones and dirt. A lot of the riders put hankies over their nose and mouth to reduce the dust,

   After 45 minutes and 60 cents, we got to the crocodile farm. CLOSED!! Chinese New Year? or Mondays? I stayed on the jeepney and got off at the butterfly farm. It is fantastic with hundreds of flowers and butterflies. They also had other insects,arthropods  and a snake. The scorpions did have intact stingers!  It was the best $1 I’ve spent today. I walked to the end of the road to catch the jeepney and stopped for a Coke. Cold drinks hit the spot after walking in the sun. I chatted with the owners for a while and watched three cigarette sales. (They are sold one at a time) I jumped back on a full jeepney and got back into town for a late lunch. Maybe shopping in the afternoon? I bought some raw cashews yesterday that aren’t bad but I think I prefer them roasted.

Underground River

   This area is famous for it’s cave system. It’s about 5 miles long and is a tourist mecca for the first mile. The trip is in a 10 person wooden canoe with outriggers. The guide in the back paddles the entire way. I sat in the front so I got to use the spotlight. It was attached to a car battery at my feet. The cave is freshwater away from the ocean and is home to bats and swallows. We were advised to keep our mouths closed when looking up. Life jackets and helmets were worn.

  Getting there was difficult as I had to be picked up at 5am. There was a Fun Run in town at 5am so many of the streets were blocked off. We finally got out of town and drove an hour when we stopped for breakfast. It was a rice porridge with a hard boiled egg floating in it. Most cheaper meals have an egg in them somewhere as a protein source, I guess.

  Sabang, the town by the Underground River, was filled with tourists. I foolishly stopped to buy a bracelet and started a feeding frenzy of venders. I had 8 around me at one time. After the river trip we walked back on a trail past some Monitor lizards to where lunch was served at 10:15am. It was the usual BIG lunch with rice, three kinds of meat, and spinach? The meats are often very fatty and I became close personal friends with four orange cats who sat patiently at my feet waiting for the next fat package from Heaven!

  Most everyone on the trip fell asleep on the way back. We had the same group of Koreans and Filipinos. The Russians and other American left. I’m sure I’m on everyone’s camera since I posed with nearly everyone.

  I ate supper at a local Vietnamese place and had Po soup, a pork sandwich and a Pepsi for $1.10  More Animal Planet on TV and then to bed

Palawan

   I flew from Manila to Palawan, a large island 400 miles south of Manila. The airport carousel was packed three deep with people waiting for their gear and it took two trips around until I could get close enough. I went outside to get a taxi and the skies opened up. It lessened in 10 minutes and I got a trike to take me to my preferred hotel. it was others preferred hotel too so I set out on foot to find another. I’m in a really nice one but it’s only available for tonite. I’ll look for another tomorrow.

  I’ve booked a trip to Hondo Bay which tours three islands with sight seeing and snorkeling. It’s an all day trip so I will store my backpack here until I return. The town Puerto Princesa (PP) is a resort town and there are a lot of restaurants and bars at least on my 15 minute walk. I ate at a local hole-in-the-wall place. There was a cut up meat dish that looked like beef but the owner kept saying “lun”? I had some over rice (big surprise there), and a coke for 48 cents!! After chewing for a while, I think it was lung! I probably won’t order it again

   Good news! My room was not booked so I’m still here. The trip to Honda Bay was fun with a great bunch of travelers. There were Koreans, Russians, Filipinos and two Americans. There was snorkeling, swimming and a great lunch. The coral is beat up some with the number of people swimming over it but it is still OK.

This area has a strict, enforced anti-litter law and the streets and beach are very clean. We could use that in the States!

   The boats are all sizes but they always have outriggers attached. A lost native!

      Tomorrow I hope to go on the Underground river trip,

Apirri and Musings

  Since the raft trip fell through, I had a day to fill and the tourist Bureau suggested a ride to Apirri, a town on the north coast of Luzon. It’s shrimp season and there is the pier to see. Well the shrimp boats were a shrimping and the pier was a big empty block of concrete. I went the other way from the pier to the end and then went through a squalorous shanty town. Everyone said “Hello Sir” which is the standard greeting here. The sun was baking me so I stopped for a cola and got a “Cola Pop” for about 10 cents. It was cold and not bad. I walked around town for a while, then headed back to the van ride back to Tuguegarao. A young woman got in next to me and started talking about her job. She is a Social Worker with a Masters degree. I explained Marcia and we talked social work for the two hour trip except for the Born Again part! People are very interested in you, your  family, and the interaction. They are often surprised to find whole families don’t live together. And Nursing Homes are unheard of.

  Yesterday while waiting for the bats to wake up, I chatted with the guides. The 16 year wanted to know what flying was like. Was it hard to breathe when you are way up there? He also wanted if I knew Oprah, (I don’t) did I know Bill Gates? (I don’t) He seemed quite disappointed like I was a social failure so he asked me if I knew ANYONE famous. I told him I knew Bill Heuser and he seemed satisfied. His friends had a girl hanging around and suggested that I could talk to her. She was very shy and kept her eyes down. They said she was a good worker. I asked if she were strong and had good teeth. She remained shy and demure in her womanly fashion.

    i suggested that if she would consider marriage, she could get a husband and a grandfather in one deal. That idea excited her so much and she ran away, probably to pack her things for the ceremony. Unfortunately she must have had too many things to pack since she never returned.

   The back of taxis here have “How am I driving” Text….. There is a real mix of vehicles in Tug and close by. There are cars, busses, vans, two types of trikes, motorbikes, horse drawn carts, water buffalo carts, sleds, riders on buffalos (real cowboys not our horseboys) There are also some tractors driven by Chinese diesel engines. They are the cheapest, most reliable thing around since there are so few moving parts

  The elevator says 10 people max but you have to average 154# Maybe 8 Americans? I’m flying to Palawan tomorrow where there definitely is a beach!

Tuguegarao

  Where in the heck is that? It’s in northern Luzon maybe 350 miles from Manila. I came up here for the rafting but its only on weekends. Sometimes playing it by ear doesn’t work, Tug is a fairly big town and it’s claim to infamy are it’s motorcycle tricycles. Most of them are two cycles that are poorly muffled and burn oil.  the streets reek of exhaust of oily smoke and the noise bounces off of all the walls. It’s like riding next to a chain saw, a loud chainsaw!

  i took one today about 30 miles to a local river where I toured a cave. The way up was 184 steps and then it got hard. The floor was unimproved, rough and muddy. \The lighting was from cave openings through the ceiling. I didn’t slip but it was close. My 16 year old guide hasn’t seen his mother for 15 years.  She left for Singapore then and hasn’t returned but he still wants to see her.

  My driver, Ricardo is separated from his wife (no divorce here but there is civil annulment) He brought me to the river, cave and hung around all day (8hrs) and returned me to Tug for $12! I ruined the economy by tipping him $7.

   The kayak trip was up a nice calm stretch of a very clear, shallow river. The area is a karst limestone and is loaded with 300+ caves. I hung around until dusk to watch the bats fly out.

  The ride on the way back was exciting since Ricardo had an aversion to using his headlight (wastes gas?)

Hippydom is alive and well here. I used the bandana on the bike ride to keep the hair from my eyes.