Our next two nights were spent at a homestay near Sepilog. We were separated into pairs and assigned a host family. Some families were extremely large, with twelve children living under one roof. My host parents, Anidah and Ray, had a small family of only three children. We had been briefed on the homestay, and told that conditions were basic. We were also given instructions on how to eat with our hands, since there would be no cutlery available. The first rule is that only the right hand must be used. The left hand is used to wipe your bum, and [View Full Entry]

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After saying goodbye to Justine in Manila, I caught a flight to the steamy jungles of Malaysian Borneo. After a brief stay in the city of Kota Kinabalu, I headed to the Orang-Utan Rehabilitation Centre at Sepilog. This is where the Orang-Utans with drinking problems and drug issues come to be weaned off their dependencies. This is the Betty Ford Clinic for apes. Of course, I am only kidding. The work done here is heartwarming. The centre takes orphaned Orang-Utan babies which are found in the wild, or apes which have been captured as pets, or those which have been injured. [View Full Entry]

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A few facts and observations on The Philippines..... 1. Filipinos are the world's biggest users of text messages per capita. Close to 300 million text messages are sent each day. Text messages are used in the most unlikely situations. On the island of Mindanao, Muslim insurgents texted insults to the government soldiers during a lull in hostilities. The soldiers texted insults right back. Another example is where disgruntled soldiers took over a shopping mall, sealed it off and threatened to blow it up. The mothers of the soldiers heard about it on the news and texted their sons. Some mothers asked [View Full Entry]

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Mine and Justine's next destination was an island in the far north of Palawan. But getting there wasn't straighforward. There were two cargo ships a week, but the timings weren't suitable. Hiring a fishing boat was also out of the question because it was an 8-hour journey over open seas. We eventually found a private company that sailed a 40-person boat every Friday. Once again, this boat left at the magical time of 7am. The boat looked fairly seaworthy, which is always a good sign when venturing into rough seas. But when they fired up the engine, thick black smoke started [View Full Entry]

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Four hours by boat over choppy water and we reached the sleepy village of Port Barton. In hindsight, coming here was a mistake. There was very little to see or do. It was a haven for older men and their twenty-something Filipino companions. The men spent their days in the hotel bars getting legless. The men would sit at one table swapping tall stories and drink their beer and whisky chasers. Meanwhile the Filipino women would gather at another table with their orange juices and swap gossip. Finally, when the men could only mumble and barely stand, they would be escorted [View Full Entry]

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Our next stop was Palawan, an island province in the far Western waters of the Philippines. The island is 800km in length, and has been called "The Final Frontier" of the Philippines. Most of Palawan is an untouched wilderness and it did not disappoint! The only downside is that Palawan is the "cockerel capital" of the world. The little menaces are everywhere. Cockerels are supposed to crow at daybreak, but someone obviously forgot to give these ones a wristwatch. 1am... "cock-a-doodle-doo!" 2am... "cock-a-doodle-doo!" 3am... "cock-a-doodle-doo!" Every place we visited over the next two weeks was infested with the damn cockerels. I [View Full Entry]

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After seven months of travelling alone and meeting random travel buddies along the way, I was delighted to have a companion for the next three weeks; My friend Justine was flying out to join me. The past few weeks had been tough. I had only seen one other traveller in three weeks, and it had been quite lonely at times. So the prospect of travelling with an old friend was extremely welcome. We met up in Manila, and she brought me gifts from England which I treated reverently and almost kissed with joy: A large piece of mature Cheddar, a slice [View Full Entry]

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Why oh why do air-conditioned buses always turn the air-con onto full? It’s as if they only have two settings: “off” and “right, let’s make 'em freeze”. The direction vent above your head can’t be turned off, and so you are subjected to an icy breeze throughout your journey. I’m usually sitting there wearing a fleece, and I am used to cold weather. The poor locals sit there wearing blankets and wooly hats. Makes no sense. And the larger long-distance companies insist that you turn up an hour before your journey. Why? It’s a bus for gods sake, not a plane. [View Full Entry]

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Originally my next stop was the far North of the Philippines, to visit the former headhunter tribes of the Kaylinga province. But after speaking with several locals, I changed my mind. I had heard this area was a true wilderness, a remote mountain region which is rarely visited by tourists. A place where the tribes still live by traditional means, and you would see livestock running around everywhere and women wearing bones in their hair. But the first person I asked about the area said to me "don't go there". I enquired why, and he just shook his head and said [View Full Entry]

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Manila, one of my least favourite cities so far. I wasn't expecting much from it, but I was not prepared for the poverty, pollution and general seediness. The traffic congestion here is amongst the worst I have seen anywhere, and sometimes you can see the choking fumes in the air. In the area I was staying (Malate), there were mothers and children sleeping on sheets of cardboard on the streets and in the filth. And yet, just around the corner was a huge shopping mall with fashionable shops and an 11-screen cinema. The difference between the people's wealth in this one [View Full Entry]

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