When the Seven Eleven store has a security guard and he's 'packin' you know you're in a rough town. Manila is perhaps not the best first impression of the Philippines. As soon as we got off the airport bus, some barefoot children were begging us for money. Manila was hot, humid, dirty, dusty and very polluted. This neglect does not appear to be by the people; they are clean, proud of their homes, gardens, stores and stalls and have a real sense of responsibility and community. The neglect is at a higher level, most probably decades of corruption have led to economic decline and a poorly maintained infrastructure. We stayed at a Tune hotel in a newly developed part of town called Aseana. It was a pleasant respite from the grime. Evenings were spent at various eateries around: Lydia's - a buffet and lechon restaurant. Lechon is roasted suckling pig. We also were suckered in by the local fast food place Jollibee's which boasted a steak burger with creamy mashed potato and a mushroom gravy. Very cheap place, Paul had burgers but the cheapness shone through.
Manila's attractions include a few of Imelda Marcos' white elephants. The Coconut Palace built for an obscene amount of money $10 million, to accommodate Pope JPII on his visit. He duly snubbed the invite and chastised this waste of money stating that the money could have been spent on clean water for the people. The palace had a gala opening by 3rd rate celebs Brooke Shields and George Hamilton. Imelda also wanted to turn Manila into the next Cannes and ordered the building of the Manila Film Centre. During its construction a floor collapsed and it is believed that as many as 170 workers were killed. Many of the dead were rural workers, no note being kept of their names. The police cordoned off the site and work continued, some say that the workers remained entombed under the structure. The centre held only one festival and was believed to be haunted. Imelda had it exorcised apparently.
We found the transportation pretty accessible, there are jeepneys (stretch jeeps that seat around 14 people) these belch out a terrible amount of fumes, there are Trikes (covered motorbike with sidecars or trailers), there are also habal-habal (riding pillion on a semi-automatic motorbike), another option are the more expensive air con vans. We took a jeepney out to Rizal park and Intramurros on the waterfront. Rizal Park or Lunetta, as it is known locally is a tiny piece of greenery in the heart of the concrete jungle. It has fountains and lawns and landscaped gardens (Japanese) that cost 10 Pesos to enter. The parks appear to be real community places. We saw drama groups rehearsing and about 10 different groups of kids making up and practicing dance routines. Next on our walk was intramurros, once the residential area of the rich Spanish colonial settlers. The area was heavily bombed during WWII but much has been restored. I don't know about you, but I was unaware of the extent of the bombing in the east (Manila suffered more civilian casualties than Hiroshima). In Intramurros there are extensive colonnial residences and enormous churches. One we visited was San Agostin, which was like a Philippino Vatican as it was also home to an extensive collection of Spanish riches (art, portraits, gold and silver carriages and numerous religious artefacts). At the northern end of Intramurros is Fort Santiago, only the external ramparts remain today plus a museum dedicated to national hero Rizal. Jose Rizal was a writer and suspected revolutionary who was executed by the Spanish in 1896 for his involvement in an uprising, although his writings suggest that he was not supportive of a violent revolution. Catholicism is at the heart of Philippine life, the jeepneys and trikes are decorated with icons and bible quotes. Families sizes of 10 kids are not uncommon; contraception being a no-no. We watched a TV programme over here and they had blanked out the word "condom" from the dialogue. When we got back to the hotel after our day trip our nostrils were black with the pollution.
Serious rainstorms - perhaps a backlash from Typhoon Vongfong stopped play on our remaining time in Manila. We took an Air Asia flight to Tagbilaran, capital of the island of Bohol. Tagbilaran was another dusty dirty town, but we stayed at Vest Pension House, which was nice and dined at the very posh but cheap Gerarda's restaurant in the evening (when Paul wasn't indulging in 2 for 1 pizzas at Greenwich Pizza and Pasta at Island city mall). We wasted no time and headed out on the bus from Dao bus station to the Chocolate hills. The bus featured some ear-bleedingly loud music, so I had to put my earplugs in. People were so nice on the bus, they switched about to clear a space so we could sit together. There are no windows, in the event of heavy rain, boards are raised to cover the window spaces. The bus journey was about 90 minutes long to the Chocolate hills. These were so named as they were thought to resemble chocolate kisses. There are around 1268 drumlins stretching as far as the eye can see. They are thought to have been formed by the uplifting of coral reef deposits (we noticed the fossilised coral rock around) and the round shapes have developed through erosion. The hills are clear of trees and some have a brownish colour to them. You pay 50 Pesos (70 Pesos = £1) each to access the visitor centre which is on top of one of the hills and there are 207 stairs up to the viewpoint. Part of the platform at the top was destroyed in the 2013 earthquake and hasn't yet been fixed but we still were able to get great views. (See photos) The next day we got another bus out to the Tarsier sanctuary. We thought it important to do some research as we support animals being kept in their natural habitat. The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary Inc. is one of 8 run by Carlito Pizarras - Tarsier man and expert on this species. They charge only 50 pesos to get in, which I think is too cheap. Around 10 tarsiers are kept in a protected 1 hectare area (protected from non-indigenous cats who kill them). Every day the wardens search for a couple of them and point these out to visitors. No physical contact is allowed. We were told that research shows that contact with humans reduces life expectancy to months whereas tarsiers in a protected environment will live for up to 20 years. Some tarsier places illegally allow tourists to hold them and be photographed with them during the day when these nocturnal creatures should be resting. This of course means that once the tarsier's short life has ended the unscrupulous owners head off into the forest to capture another poor creature. We were led out into the forest where a female tarsier was sat only about 6 foot above the ground on a tree. We stood about a metre away from her. She was awake and absolutely the cutest creature ever seen. Like a cross between Yoda and Mogwai. Tarsier's eyes are fixed but their heads can turn 180 degrees in either direction. Tarsiers are the smallest primates and we share a common ancestor with them some 54 million years ago and they have been around for 44 million years (are you reading Creationists?). They have long tails and strong and long back legs that enable them to jump distances of up to 5 metres. They mainly eat insects and the sanctuary has special lights to attract them. We were shown two other tarsiers both male and pretty high up in the canopy. We then had a look round the visitor centre which featured a photo of Imelda Marcos with Prince Charles, he was holding a tarsier in his hand. Another bloody holiday paid for by the British taxpayer! hee hee.
After a few days at Vest Pension House we decided to move on to another part of the island. We got a bus (60 pesos each) for a 2 hour bus journey to Jagna. I had said Jagna several times over when paying for our tickets on the bus but the ticket guy didn't know what I was talking about. It is, of course, pronounced Hagna with a slight Spanish twang. I kind of expected the Philippine language to be a mixture of Spanish and English but was surprised to discover that Tagalog is actually more like Bahasa Malaysia mixed with English, but with a Spanish accent. Each town along the way seemed to follow the same set-up - a central concrete market/mall area outide of which was the bus/jeepney/habal habal station. Lining the road are stores including bakeries and supermarkets and stalls selling pizza, burgers and lechon. There was always an oversized church too. Clearly the Spanish wanted to convert the locals using a dazzling display of architectural wizardry and riches. Jagna also followed this set-up. It boasts an enormous church which seemed way too big for the town. Each town is split into Barangays, which are like parishes or community groups. This is a great example of grass roots politics. All members of the community can attend meetings and have their say in local issues. Barangay councils (locally appointed officials) act as facilitators in local disputes too. These Barangays appear to act as peer pressure groups and could be the reason why people take such pride in their home towns and homes.
In Jagna, we stayed at Idea Pension House which is a hotel providing jobs to deaf people on the island. It had a nice, albeit pricey, air-conditioned restaurant but WiFi was weak and could only be accessed in the restaurant. On 15 October at 8:15 am there was a memorial service at the local church; a year after the 2013 earthquake. Despite the church's size, extra seating was needed to accommodate the attendees. Paul took some photos inside the church after the ceremony, particularly of the ornately painted ceilings. The day had been declared a public holiday. We then headed north in an air con van (40 Pesos each) to Anda, a white sand beach resort with a coral reef. We sat at a cheap beach bar and watched locals who had gathered to have family picnics in the shade of the palms and trees. Blue skies, clear blue waters and a cool breeze, yet another day in paradise. This was Paul's birthday and he also celebrated it with a huge piece of belly pork lechon with crispy crackling at a stall in Jagna. Coming soon - Paul's piece on our ride to visit one of hill tribes of Bohol.