What will be, will be

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First, an apology. I know it's been almost two months since I left the Philippines. My excuse is that I've struggled with writers block. No matter how many of these blogs I've written it doesn't get any easier. In fact, in many ways the more of these I write the harder it becomes because I'm looking for some way to dazzle my reader(s)! There's a lot I've already said. It's not just you the reader that I'm worried about, it's myself. I'm looking for something new to say, as much to entertain myself as anyone else.


Next, whatever else I may say in this blog, I love the people in the Philippines, which is why this was a return trip to the country. Philippinos are lovely, hospitable and friendly.

Strange Days

“Strange Days have found us,
Strange days have dragged us down.”

(The Doors: Strange Days)


But, this was a strange journey across the Visayas, mainly because I went partially deaf. It's quite a handicap when you have to keep asking people to repeat themselves, if you want to interact with local people. I felt like a deaf old man. The deafness was only temporary and I've recovered my hearing now. My temporary handicap made me appreciate how vital the sense of hearing is to me. It also allowed me time to begin to learn to lip read. Actually, I didn't totally lose my hearing - I just became hard of hearing. It felt as if I had ear plugs permanently stuffed into my ear canals. On the plus side my hearing ailment meant that I really couldn't hear the aggressive salesmen or touts in the busier tourist hot spots!

A Welcome to the Philippines.

I arrived in the Philippines with a bit of a sore throat. I let Liliram (who blogs on travelblog here )know that I was flying into Manila. She invited me out to a meal at the Mall of Asia as soon as I arrived. Thank you Liliram, it was good to meet up and I enjoyed talking to you and your niece.


After few days in Manila I made my way down to Tagaytay and then Mindoro. It was when I was booking into a hotel in the city of Calapan on the island of Mindoro that it became clear that I couldn't hear a thing anyone was saying. It was quite scary because I didn't know what the problem was. That afternoon I ate some fast food at Jollybee (a chain that is all over the Philippines) and had a very tasty supper at the hotel's restaurant after visiting the very interesting Mangyan Heritage Centre which is basically a library and research centre.


The next day I felt terrible. Not only was I deaf but I also had diarrhoea and felt sick. Despite that I still caught a bus to Roxas after a slow start in the morning. It was a mistake. I didn't throw up in the bus but I was forced to make the bus driver stop so that I could get out for a break. I thought I was going to be sick on the road side but wasn't. The journey was torture although it wouldn't have been a difficult trip if I had been well.

Re-decorating the bathroom

The bus finally arrived in the port city of Roxas which is where the ferry leaves for the island of Panay. The boat had already left which in a way was a good thing. A ferry crossing would have been hell in the circumstances. Near where the bus dropped me, just near the port was a cheap hotel.


As soon as I got into the room I had just paid for and had locked the door behind me; I rushed into the bathroom and threw up violently into the washbasin. Somehow I had managed to suppress my desire to vomit during the bus ride but as soon as I got somewhere private I could let it out. I spent the whole of the rest of the day snoozing between trips to the bathroom.


The next morning I felt a lot better, the sickness was gone although I was still as deaf as a post.


I continued my journey via Caticlan to the beautiful island of Boracay. It was there that I finally visited a doctor. She told me that I had an ear infection and gave me antibiotics to treat it. She told me that if it didn't clear up in a couple of weeks I might need an operation which would involve piercing the eardrum. In the meantime she told me that I couldn't dive or swim for the next few weeks. I was in the Visayas and I'd been told to stay out of the water!

The Ati

I continued my trip across the Visayas visiting the islands of Panay, Negros, Bohol, Siquijor, and Cebu. I kept out of the water and instead concentrated on cultural tourism. One of the highlights was a trip to a settlement of the Ati indigenous people near Iloilo. In this case I used a guide, specifically Daisy Yanson of Panay Adventures. She does a number of hiking and eco-cultural tours. She was very informative, even though she had to shout a lot of the time because I was still stone deaf. I had warned her of my temporary disability.


Finally I returned to Manila and visited the island of Corregidor which was the scene of fierce fighting during World War two.

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Photos

80 year old woman of the Ati people
This photo was taken at Nagpana which is a village of the Ati indigenous people

Magpana, Ati settlement.
This is a few hours by bus from the city of Iloilo.

Comments

[liliram]

hi stuart
Sorry to hear about your hearing problem. What a bummer. I can imagine you going through those islands in the visayas --- cebu, bohol, siquijor, boracay, iloilo ---- and not getting into water? Bad timing. Hope you are better now. Was wondering about you. Been off TB for quite a while now. I've been working in a campaign team doing.......guess what. Political blogs, among others. :)) I should be busy till May, our Presidential elections. So, consider me on leave from TB. But I do sneak in every once in a while. Happy to read your blog and view our pictures!! Safe travels.