Luzon my bearings...

---

We had seriously high hopes for the Philippines, as we'd heard it described by a few people as an absolute beach paradise. So, back in August, we dug out our trusty Lonely Planet and found the following advice:

"If it's white sand, rum and coconuts you're after, look no further than the the Visayas...beach bums and divers should select a Visayan island and go"

Unfortunately, there was another section of the guide book that we didn't pay quite enough attention to:

"The Philippines certainly has more than its share of dangers. Typhoons, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, landslides and other natural disasters can wreak havoc with your travel plans"

As some of you will know, we don't always have the best luck with our travel plans vs. natural disasters, as we've had two long haul holidays scuppered by a volcano and a hurricane respectively. So, after feeling pretty smug that we hadn't had any catastrophes yet, we shouldn't really have been surprised when our trip was impacted by both an earthquake and a typhoon.

Fortunately both were near misses for us personally, and we know we are incredibly lucky that they were, as the damage caused by typhoon Haiyan especially has been unbelievable. The islands of the Visayas have been particularly badly hit, with Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) following closely behind an earthquake in Bohol only 3 weeks earlier. We'll definitely be coming back to the Philippines at some point in the future to try and find that perfect beach but, for now, we'll be making a donation to the DEC appeal (http://www.dec.org.uk/), wearing our Bohol earthquake fundraising Tshirts and hoping that the relief efforts go as smoothly as they can.

We arrived in the Philippines in Cebu, pretty much the capital of the Visayan region, after a long day flying from Jakarta and transiting via Singapore. Our plan was to spend ten days in the Visayas and then another week on Luzon seeing Manila and the world famous rice terraces in Banaue.

The Visayan island that we'd picked back in August was Bohol, due to its great snorkelling, cute tarsier, beautiful Alona beach and picturesque "Chocolate Hills". We had also decided to leave the better known tourist destinations of Borocay and Palawan as potential future holidays, and so thought we'd give some lesser known Filipino Islands around Bohol a try while we were used to roughing it a little!

Unfortunately the 7.2 magnitude earthqake on 15 October, with its epicenter at Bohol, destroyed much of the infrastructure including running water, roads and many houses (including the hotel we'd booked) leaving the island in distress and full of sink holes. We figured it was best to leave the island to recover, rather than getting in the way of the clean-up, and so made some last minute adjustments to our travel plans and extended our time on the nearby island of Negros.

We both had "Bali-Belly" after determindly trying to eat local food in Kuta (an error, it turned out...we should have stuck to take-out pizza), which made the long journey from Indonesia hard work. After carrying them around for almost a year now, we decided it was time to make use of our emergency travellers' antibiotics. Fortunately, these kicked in pretty quickly and we only really lost one sight-seeing day in Cebu, where we confined ourselves to shopping malls and western food establishments (i.e. we went to TGI Fridays for lunch and then went to the cinema in the afternoon...we know it's not exactly real travelling, but it was SO nice!).

From our trips through Cebu City to the airport/port we're not sure we really missed much though, as it looked a bit scruffy and run-down. It seemed to be used by most visitors as a travel hub, rather than a destination in itself. Sadly, it also wasn't really the kind of city you strolled around either, with the tourist hassle factor pretty high...even between the taxi and the hotel Mark had a couple of children thrust their expecting hands in his face, and they were literally banging on the windows as we drove away down at the ferry port.

After a short stay in Cebu we took the Oceanjet ferry to Siquijor, five and a half hours further south. After hearing about a sinking earlier in the year we decided to upgrade ourselves to the less-crowded business class, with the rationale that we would have a better chance of being able to get off the ferry if we needed to! We needn't have worried though, as we had a really smooth and comfortable crossing...so much so that we chose business class again on the way back, as the huge reclining seats were such a pleasant improvement on cheap buses and planes! The only bizarre thing about the ferry was that, after the usual safety announcement, there was a prayer wishing that we were all kept safe during the sea crossing. While we were ok with the concept of a pre-journey prayer in theory, it didn't fill us with the most confidence when it came from the crew of the ship.

Whether we have God or the calm weather to thank for it, we arrived in Siquijor safe and sound and were taken by tricycle to our bamboo hut on the beach. Tricycles are one of the two main forms of transport on the island, and in the Philippines generally, the other being a jeepney. The tricycles look pretty similar to a tuktuk, although they are actually a motorbike with a sidecar attached, along with a roof that goes over the motorbike as well as the passengers. The jeepney, on the other hand, looks like a kind of stretched out jeep and is generally stuffed full of people (with a few riding on top for good measure) and painted with all sorts of crazy pictures and slogans.

The beach at our guesthouse can only be described as a bit of a disappointment sadly...it was really narrow, shallow and covered with leaves, seaweed and little sand flies. Not exactly the Robinson Crusoe effect we were looking for (although really, we can't blame Siquijor that we didn't make it to the lovely Alona beach on Bohol) 😞

We were determined to find a better white sand/turquoise sea combination though, so we decided to go on an adventure and take a tricycle tour around the island. We found a man with a bike who took us to the many ancient churches (which look more like huge barns) interspersed with an old tree and the oldest house on the island. As usual with arranging drivers, we had to persuade him that he wanted to drive us where we wanted to go and not just where he wanted to take us! There weren't any beaches included in his tour, but he eventually agreed to drive us to Salagdoong, the best beach on the island, so we could swim in the clear blue waters...if only we'd remembered to take the snorkel, doh!

The following day, snorkel in hand, we finally found a small stretch of white sandy beach at the upmarket Coco Grove Resort. Hurrah!! This is the only "international standard" resort on the island and there were hardly any people around so, after relaxing in the bar with a cocktail, we sat on the deserted beach under a coconut umbrella. The resort was right next to a dive center which had a marine park in front of it, and there was no one around to collect the marine park fee, so we just dived straight in and took a look around. (There is nothing like "free" to a backpacker!) The tide was on its way out which meant shallow-snorkelling and staying afloat on the surface was the name of the game. This is apparently difficult for people like Mark who don't float easily - watch out for those prickly sea urchins! After a year of being spoilt by excellent snorkelling, the clear water and many fish we saw were kind of expected, so it was the unusually bright blue and other massive star fish (or sea stars) which really caught our eye.

All too soon, it was time to leave Siquijor (and the amazing pies they served in our guesthouse - the owner was an expat Brit who didn't really seem that keen on the local cuisine and so had meat pies made especially for him and his guests by the butcher in Dumaguete...as you can imagine, the guesthouse owner was not a small man) and take the one hour boat across to Negros, where we spent a night in Dumaguete ourselves. It is a relaxed student town, so had a nice buzz in the day, and a lovely little coffee shop where could while away a few hours catching up on our correspondence, but it felt a little sleazy to us in the evening as the only other tourists we saw were middle aged western men with young Filipino girls. Needless to say, we left for Dauin early the next morning and the smart resort (a bargain in the low season) which was the replacement for our Bohol hotel.

From the moment we arrived at the resort we were treated like royalty. Fresh juice was presented to us and our backpacks were immediately whisked to our room. We had paid for their cheapest room (as we do) away from the main pool, but the German owner upgraded us to their best (penthouse) room, on the understanding that we would move if someone else booked in. This was a no-brainer for us and made our stay all the better. The room was bigger than our 2-bedroom flat back in London and there was a huge balcony overlooking the sea... Welcome to paradise! After our first night, everyone else checked out (nothing to do with us, you understand) and we spent a day lounging around the pool in our "private" resort...bliss!

Nearby Apo Island is known for being the best diving/snorkelling in the Philippines and, as it was only a 40 minute boat ride away from our resort (what were the chances?!), we thought it would be rude not to take a look. The weather was overcast for our trip and the island was pretty quiet as everyone was bracing themselves for tropical storm Wilma (Wilma never actually arrived though and instead turned into a 'tropical depression', which turns out is a fancy term for 'lots of grey clouds'😉. As we spent most of our day in the water, it didn't matter that the skies were grey but we were glad that the storm held off during the journey across - we're not sure our small cobbled together boat, powered by a lawn mower engine, would have been much use against big waves!

Unfortunately, Apo's marine sanctuary was closed while we were there, due to a typhoon in 2012 (are you getting the impression we should have realised what was coming?) but the reef just beside the jetty was in immaculate condition. The water was teaming with all sorts of fish and we swam along the beach in search of turtles that we had been promised would be there... we must only have been in the water for 10 seconds before we spotted our first one! He was grazing the sea grass at such a shallow depth that we could have stood on the bottom waist high to see him. Moments later we saw four turtles all together, one of which was absolutley huge. Despite seeing turtles on almost a monthly basis at the moment, we can't get bored of swimming with them. We had to watch ourselves swimming around to make sure we didn't get in their way in this "virtual aquarium"!

Fingers crossed Apo island continues to be a great destination for snorkelers and divers to visit - although we paid a marine park fee on arrival, we struggled to see any real protection for the marine life in effect. Boats still threw down anchors, locals were fishing in the supposedly protected waters and fins were being rented out to us amateur snorkelers... Oh well, one thing at a time - at least the government has realised the need for these marine parks, it just might take a while before they learn how much protection such lovely areas need.

We spent another day by the pool in Dauin, although the weather was already a bit mixed. When we caught the ferry from Dumaguete back to Cebu on 6 November, we apparently took the only boat that went that week - the ferry had been cancelled for the previous two days due to Wilma and then didn't go again that week as Yolanda was already approaching. As it was, our return journey to Cebu was much bumpier and we were glad to be inside in the comfort of the cabin and not outside braving the wind and spray. Similarly with our flight from Cebu to Manila on the following day, we were very lucky to have booked to leave the Visayas before the arrival of Yolanda - when we were at the airport, flights were already being cancelled to Tacloban, which has since been identified as the worst hit area of the Philippines.

We arrived at Manila airport feeling like seasoned travel pros; we made our way straight for the meter taxi queue, bypassing all of the airport staff trying to point us in the direction of the more expensive coupon taxis. Unfortunately though, we weren't as seasoned as we thought...Hazel made the rookie mistake of handing the driver our 'complaint' ticket, as she thought he wanted to see the address written on it, doh! He then proceeded to attempt the 'broken meter' scam on us...more fool him! While Mark took a photo of his taxi licence and registration details, Hazel loudly demanded the return of the ticket whilst standing in the street outside our hostel. Suddenly, he was all too keen to help and offered to let us choose how much we paid (on account of his 'broken' meter, you understand)...as long as we didn't report him to the cops! In the end we got the taxi for half the price we were expecting, after starting with a low number and expecting to be bartered up...hurrah!

What can we say about Manila??? Well, again, it's not really a place you go to for itself but more as a hub to see some of the fantastic sights the Philippines has to offer. We used it as a means to getting a bus to Banaue, nine hours further north...

Our trip to Northern Luzon to see the famous UNESCO Rice Terraces was quite an adventure, as we got off the beaten track and stayed in an Ifugao Hut on the side of a mountain. While we were very lucky not to be anywhere directly in typhoon Yolanda's path, we did still have the resulting the torrential rain to contend with.

We had prepared ourselves for the overnight bus journey with supplies of food and warm clothes but underestimated the pouring rain and got completely drenched before we even left Manila and were on our way back to the hostel - we thought we'd been so clever too, as we'd spent the day inside in a shopping wall (and maybe at the cinema again) trying to keep dry! We had time for a quick change and bagged our wet clothes, leaving them behind as a fruity surprise for when we returned...

Night buses were the only option to and from Banaue, so we had to suck it up and embark on our last long-distance bus trip. We can't even pretend that we are sad about this, especially as we are still feeling the pain of being squashed in a small seat for so long, with the air-con blasting out on full power and exacerbating the effects of our soggy feet!

We arrived, bleary eyed, in Banaue at 6:30am and stumbled off the bus. It was still raining and the clouds had set in, obscuring the view of the rice terraces. We had been warned that Banaue was unlikely to be the "wow moment" that most tourists hope for, so we bundled into a local cafe for a spot of breakfast without worrying too much about taking photos for the time-being. We had arranged our guide, Janny, in advance, so we could sit back with a coffee and enjoy watching the other tourists trying to negotiate a good deal.

After breakfast, Janny checked we were prepared with rain coats and walking boots (you would be surprised the number of tourists we saw trekking wearing flip-flops) before leading us to a tricycle for the next leg of our journey. We set off up the hillside where the motorbike was put through its paces on the steep concrete track. The clouds seemed to roll through the hills, so one moment it was clear enough for a spectacular view and minutes later it would be back to the obscuring mist.

The track had sections of sticky mud and occasionally there would be a waterfall across the road. We had read that the tricycles only made it as far as Batad Junction, and were unable to manage the steep deteriorated "road" that lead another 3km up to the "Saddle", but the driver had obviously not read the same guide book as us, as he switched to full throttle and powered the bike up the windy slope. We only stalled twice... The first time we jumped out to help push and the second time we just walked the rest of the way up! At the Saddle there was a little shop situated between two hills. We could hardly see what it was selling, as we seemed to have travelled right up into the clouds themselves.

We stayed in the village of Batad, which was a two hour trek away from the saddle point, along a rocky path that meandered up and down the muddy hillside. The clouds came and went all afternoon, and we did another two hour hike around the rice terraces in the village and down to a nearby waterfall, which was flowing at quite a pace due to all the rain. The terraces themselves are pretty incredible - to think that they were built over 2,000 years ago is amazing, as they are still in fantastic shape. We were walking all along the ancient walls and down the original steps and the only reason that it was all a bit precarious was because we were nearly dropping with tiredness, not because they aren't still going strong.

We had decided that staying in an original Ifugao hut overlooking the stunning terraces might be fun, but we hadn't appreciated that the lack of bedding, electricity, shower and heating wouldn't be so fun when we were completely soaked from our walk! We were SO glad when the owner of the homestay decided to light a campfire after dinner, and we enjoyed stretching out our feet and finally drying our shoes while he told us about the local history and some of the local culture.

Luckily, our second day was much better, and we awoke to a small patch of blue sky and some sunshine, so we could retake our photos of Banaue! It was also much more pleasant hiking without getting wet, which was a good thing as we had to go back up the 413 steps leading to the saddle! We were pretty glad when we saw the shop at the top, as we discovered that it sold some much-needed water and sugary drinks...and was also where we managed to arrange a lift back to town on the local jeepney, phew!

Back in Banaue, we revisited the cafe from the previous morning and sat out on the balcony overlooking the town and rice terraces. Janny had promised to take us up the hill to the viewpoints, but he never made an appearance, so we took a tricycle ride up with another local instead. With the clouds now completely gone, the views across the rolling rice terraces were amazing. At the top was a group of traditionally dressed Ifugao OAPs, who apparently always dress this way and were "conveniently" sitting there because they like eating their lunch with a view. We were persuaded to have a photo with them and as our guide counted backwards... 3, 2, and then on 1 they all came to live with a roaring "whoooaaay" and gave the peace sign to the camera! This was the funniest thing we had seen for a while, especially when one of the old guys got his hand sign backwards and kept flipping the bird!

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating fried rice and trying to stay awake until our 7pm bus back to the capital. We arrived in Manila at 4am and were thrilled when the kind hostel owner gave us our room early, which was fantastic as we were in desperate need of a shower and a real bed! Hazel was so pleased she didn't even mind the cockroaches who wanted to share hers. Looking back now, it was really great to see the terraces but Hazel's not sure she'll allow Mark to persuade her into something like this trip again. There was a lot of pining for a roaring log fire and a large glass of red wine...

After recovering from 3 sleepless nights, we had one final day in Manila. The mass poverty doesn't make it a particularly appealing city for wandering around, but with Intramuros only a short walk away, we decided to check out the old cobbled streets and stone buildings left from the Spanish era. The walk from our hostel wasn't too bad, with the Rizal Monument and park part way along to break up the sketchy neighbourhoods. Intramuros was worth the walk though, as it was certainly the nicest part of Manila we saw. There were horses and carts waiting along the stone streets and small courtyards lined with cafes and craft shops. The buildings looked in fairly good shape, or so we thought, until we saw a top part of the stone wall crack off and dent the car parked below, oops! After that we did our best to walk on the outside of the pavement along the main street, keeping well clear of the crumbly walls. The main sight in Intramuros was the lovely San Agustin Church (another UNESCO attraction) which we managed to sneak into before mass to check out its impressive ceiling, which has been painted in relief so it looks 3D. We spent another couple of hours in Intramuros looking around Fort Santiago and the cathedral before heading back to our more salubrious area for a blast of air con!

---