Swimming with Sharks

Another Filipino city didn't appeal to us, so upon arrival at Cebu we headed straight to the pier and caught the Supercat to Ormoc.
Security on the Supercat was Supertight, with the checks you'd expect at an airport (Passport, Metal detector, bag scan, body frisk) followed by sniffer dog inspection, palm swabbing and photograph. The absence of retina scan and finger printing made the whole thing seem a bit lapse. A few more security checkpoints later and we were on the Ferry. After we realised all the paranoia was due to a bomb attack on a similar ferry in 2004. After an overnight stay in Ormoc we went to the bus station to enquire about buses north to Sorsogon. There was one leaving at noon, that would, according to the driver take 9hrs to reach Sorsogon. It seemed a bit long, but we decided to bite the bullet and go for it. It was only after paying our money that we found out a more realistic estimate would put us at our destination 15hrs later. Perhaps the driver thought a motorway had just been built on our route.
It hadn't.
Instead we had a pot-hole ridden dirt track through the mountains, restricted at times to 1 lane, where the other had slipped away. Avg speed: 10mph. We looked for towns along the way where we could jump off, in order to break up the journey but each looked worse than the last with no hotels in sight. 13hrs later we arrived at the Ferry terminal to Luzon, feeling tired and groggy, looking forward to catching some sleep on the 1hr crossing. The Filipinos didn't seem groggy, but quite enthusiastic about boarding the Ferry, which we soon found was because there was a Karaoke machine onboard. We found a spot out of earshot of the beautiful singing and slept for the crossing.
Next day we made our way to Donsol, a small fishing village within shooting range of the very active volcano, Mt Mayon, but better known for it's plankton rich waters, which attract hungry whale sharks (the biggest fish in the sea). Upon arrival we were greeted by a member of the Filipino dept of Tourism, who prompty informed us of a great hotel deal we could avail of due to a cancellation. We decided to pass on the deal and head to the visitor centre and asked a tricycle driver to take us there despite the DoT guy telling us it was closed. When we arrived we were met by the same guy from DoT, and we soon realised we were at the hotel where this great deal was available. Again we asked to go to the visitor centre and again we were told it was closed and again we said we want to go there anyway. When we got there the centre was actually open.. what a surprise !
6:30am the next morning we got a boat with 5 others, out to swim with some whale sharks. And there was no shortage of them. We swam with at about 10. It was a great experience swimming alongside something that looked it it could swallow you whole. They didn't seem bothered by our presence, and while it would be easy to touch and even grab onto one, we were asked not to, so didn't. The biggest one we saw was around 10m long by 2m wide. We swam with the last one for about 20mins before having to head back to shore. It was well worth the pain of getting here. We thought about hanging around Donsol for longer but after seeing members of phivolcs (the crowd that monitor volcano activity) buying tickets out of town, we thought it best to follow, especially since the alert level of My Mayon has recently been raised.
Back in the beautiful town of Manila for one night and then on to the vice strewn town of Angeles, best known for it's sex industry. There was plenty of western men here with Filipino women about a quarter their age, weight and volume. I give a armless begger some money, and get warned by a Australian gentleman, that it illegal to do so, and the police love to catch westerners doing it, as it's a lucrative bribe for them. uuggghh.. Maybe it's just as well we were leaving the next day, I didn't want to end up in Jail for been Charitable, not to mention the embarrassment should I recognise one of the other western visitors

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During our 3 weeks in the Philippines we made some interesting observations:
 •  Portion sizes here for many consumable goods are super small (like a free sample you might get in a magazine in Europe). This is apparently because the Filipinos can't afford larger sizes. Eg: Washing powder, toothpaste, Phone top up (10c available)
 •  Filipinos seem to be lacking a culture of their own. I guess this is due to their colonial passed, at the hands of the Spanish and Yanks. More than a third of their language is made up of Spanish or English words. Most town names are of English/Spanish descent (Brookes Point, El Nido, Peurto Princesa). Vehicle registration plates are same format as US.
 •  Ketchup is spelled Catsup
 •  Fruit here is alot tastier than home.. especially their Mangos.. Yum!
 •  Filipinos are not known for their tasty pastries. We can understand why.
 •  Many vans/trucks display the sign "NOT 4 HIRE". I wonder are they available for hire ;-)
 •  Filipinos love cockfighting. For me this meant waking at 4am every morning no matter where I was; COCK A DOODLE DOO !


Some of the cheaper things we saw:
 •  Visit to the Doctor = 5EUR
 •  Visit to the Dentist, 2 false teeth made and fitted = 15EUR
 •  Custom footwear made with soles from car tyres = 10EUR

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On our way out at Clark Airport there was one large sign about a specific protected sea shell that was not allowed out of the country. And just as luck would have it, we had some in our bag. It was soon picked up by the bag scan, and a very courteous and professional customs official took it off us. We thought it best not to try bribe him. At least our bags are lighter.

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Some more photos here

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