Manila - Philippines (part two)
15th June - scarred in the slums
As we didn't go to bed until this morning, we were very thankful of our dark room and slept until about 1 o'clock. We then dragged ourselves out of bed to make our way to Rizal park. We plucked up our courage and decided to take the Jeepney, it only cost 7 pence each to get all the way into Manila center, because we were while they tried to charge us 10, but I was and am determined not to be taken advantage of anymore! it was pretty funny actually to be squashed between god known how many sweaty Filipinos on their way to work or what ever they were doing, people just jump on at any point, there is no bus stops and the jump of when ever the Jeepney slows in traffic, ofter almost getting hit by cars, I was gritting my teeth most of the way hoping that no one would get run over.
When we arrived we decided to have a look around the Japanese gardens, we paid 5 pence to get in bet were utterly unimpressed. It was filthy, most of the flowers were dead, there was a very filthy pond, where no fish could possibly live and a few tramps had climbed in over the wall for some peace and quiet. We left quite quickly and continued to wander around the park, checking out the statues and taking breaks to drink our water by the ponds, there was a phenomenal number of people around, so Jenna and I were the usual attraction, getting stared at and heckled everywhere we went. I am still so surprised that in this busy center there are no foreigners.
We made our way to the bay area with the plan to sit in the shade and wait for the sunset but there was a lot of construction going on so we realised that we probably wouldn't see much, as we turned to go and find another viewing spot we were approached by a man in a carriage being pulled by a manky looking horse. We had been told that the carriage tours are good but to make sure they are only going to charge you twenty pesos, not 20 dollars. I triple checked that it would only cost twenty pesos and the man agreed, telling us of all the things we would see so we excitedly climbed on board. He showed us a statue of the ex-Philippine president and round the other side of the park and then headed onto the main road, staying that he would take us to China Town. He then mentioned, that that would be a extra 200 pesos. I quickly said "No, you said 20 pesos, we were not paying more than that, just show us what you would for 20 pesos" He wasn't having any of it, he continued to say how sick his horse was and how we had agreed 800 pesos. I was ready to get off at this point but we were trapped in behind the man on a moving carriage on a main road and we really had no idea where we were. Suddenly he turned off the main road in to a very poor slums area. There were filthy people in hardly any clothes on everywhere. I felt like I was in the movie 'Dawn of the Dead' where by everyone turned and walked to us, muttering things that I couldn't understand and their hands out for money. At this point Jenna and I started to get nervous, but we didn't want to show it. I zipped away my camera and grasped onto my bag very tightly. Children were jumping up and trying to touch our white skins. Then I looked to my side and saw a man looking up at me with beady little eyes. As soon as I saw him he seemed to panic and lunged for my bag, which was across my body. My reactions were quick and I grabbed his robbing hand and I dug my nails into it as hard as i could, thankfully he soon let go, I had his skin under my nails and was pretty freaked out. My heart was pounding and i was close to tears, our driver again said "200 pesos?' and Jenna replied with "Whatever, just take us back to the park, now" I was so relieved to leave that area, even though the horse was bolting and bucking all the way. Once we were safely back in the park or driver moved aside we managed to get off. I then refused to pay him more than 20 pesos, and said what a bad person he was. In the end we stormed off with out giving him a penny. We decided from this moment on we would wear our money belts under our shirts with all our valuables and we wouldn't trust anyone. We couldn't face catching the Jeepeney home, we just got into a taxi. Everyone was making me jump and I was clutching my bag so tightly my fingers were almost blue, there are people with knives and guns everywhere. i was glad to get into my room. That night as I laid my head on my Micky mouse pillow that evening all I could see was the robbers beady little eyes, I hope I never have to experience something like that again anytime soon.
16th June 2007 -Pagsanjan falls
We got up this morning at 6.30 and headed out into the country again. We decided to eat breakfast this time, so on the journey we ate a mouldy cheese roll each, that actually tasted nothing like cheese and shared a packet of bread sticks. The journey was only supposed to take 2 hours but ended up taking more like 3 because of the dreadful traffic, but the further we got into the country the more Paradise unfolded. When we arrived at Pagsanjan falls we were shown to a canoe, with two men in it (one at each end) and we were to sit in the middle. The first bit of the journey we got towed up the river. We passed rice paddies, with water buffalo pulling along carts, women washing their clothes and small riverside villages with kids playing and washing in the water. Our tow boat soon left and the men in our boat began to paddle. The river was small and winding in some parts, others were open and wide and parts were surrounded by dense forest or shear cliff face. It really was beautiful and so relaxing. I saw a few iguanas, some turtles basking in the sun and hundreds of electric blue and green dragonflies and brightly coloured butterflies. Our boat men informed us that if you come to the river early in the morning you often see monkeys, I kept my eyes peeled but sadly I think that it was too hot for them. They also told us that many large eels lived in the river, some as big as 60 k, I kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn't see one of those or that we wouldn't capsize!!!
At the rocky parts of the river the men had to actually get out of the boat and push it up the rocks, I felt so lazy but, they do this trip most days so were extremely strong. When we arrived at the waterfalls there was the option to go under it and explore the caves the other-side, most people were declining the offer, Jenna and I couldn't understand why and were ecstatic at the idea that we could go into the falls. We boarded a raft and off we went. As we passed under the waterfall I couldn't believe it, It was absolute agony as the watter pummelled against every part of out body pulling our shorts and t.shirts down in the process. I couldn't believe it, I felt like I was being bombarded with rocks. Once we eventually got to the other-side we understood why most people, had sensibly, stayed safely at the side of the river. We had a look around the caves and then it was time to go back. This time the raft man persuaded us that it would less painful if we lay down on the raft. He clearly found the whole situation hilarious. I will tell you, it certainly was no less painful. This time it was my face that was submerged in water and pummeled against the wood. It was all good fun and very beautiful, but probably something I won't be too keen to do again. My t.shirt was utterly ruined and my shorts were stretched out of shape and my hair looked like one big dread-lock but I still enjoyed the journey back.
It was mid-day as we headed back down the river, this time it was far more crowded. This time with boat loads of Koreans. I think they are following us. They were covered from head to toe in rain coats and were holding umbrellas in their gloved hands, so as not to get any sun on them or even worse to get wet! They were surprised as they passed us and we cheerily shouted 'hello, how are you?' in Korean. We passed a group of young boys dancing on the river side and listening to music, they were delighted when Jenna blew them a kiss. It seems such a lovely and peaceful way of life to be living as they did. Out of the hustle and bustle of Manila, and they seemed to have everything they needed. Everyone looked so happy and gave such a pleasant vibe. It was definitely what we needed after the horrendous 'attempted robbery' incident yesterday.
When we got back to the beginning we joined a few other Koreans for a very Korean influenced lunch, including Kimchi (something I haven't yet missed) We gave our boat man a forty pence tip (a fortune to them) and headed home. We spent a couple of ours in the PC room trying to update our blogs and replying to emails and had an early night.
17th June 2007 -Intrmuros
We had had such a fantastic day yesterday but I was still haunted by the incident that happened the day before so I must say the thought of heading back into Manila was somewhat daunting. Never the less we headed into town to visit the famous "Inramuros". We walked around Fort Santiago, which is one of the oldest fortifications in Manila, built back in 1571 (although it has been rebuilt again numerous times since then because of wars demolishing it etc. We also looked around a Museum about Jose. P. Rizal, who basically inspired Filipinos and organised a peaceful revolution against the then Spanish rulers, among many other fantastic things. We also looked around a chapel and a cathedral, where we were lucky enough to see a traditional wedding going on. Inside these buildings they were very beautiful, however outside they were filthy and so badly maintained, I still can't believe they let their buildings in such a state! After a long walk around everything we could find and along the city walls, we looked at our watches and realised that it was 4 o;clock and we hadn't eaten a thing, or even had a sip of water, we darted for the first place we could find and had a salad, then were still hungry so had a burger and chips each too.
We then felt a lot better and headed to 'Bay walk', I watched nervously around me of any men in carriages being pulled along by a manky white horse and was relieved when we got there. I felt safe there, it was a totally different calibre of people. They actually wore shoes, had on clean clothes and even had bags. There were still no foreigners but I felt we could blend in a lot easier. We found a space to sit on the wall and waited until the sun went down. The sunset across the bay was beautiful, reds, pinks and oranges filled the sky. I wondered to myself where in the world the sun would just be rising up in.
That evening Jenna and I decided to go back to the 'Hobbit bar' (our favourite place so far), we were greeted with a warm welcome by the dwarfs that we had been talking to a couple of nights previously. They were happy to pose for a few pictures with us. When I stood up, most of them didn't even reach my waist line, now I know they are short and I am tall, but still, I felt like a real giant! We shared another traditional Filipino dish, called 'Chicken Adobo' served with rice, again it was delicious. I do really like Filipino food, maybe that is because I got so sick of Korean.
We got chatting to Edward the dwarf (from last time) and he was able to explain about why we were hearing so many different words in the Filipino language. He said it was because throughout the Philippines and on the islands they have more than 20 different languages, with influences from many other countries, like Spain, Japan and Korea. They all write in romanized alphabets but it can be very confusing, so many of them speak in English. So to make sure that everyone can understand, signs, announcements, menus, adverts and all those sorts of things are in English (which is grate for us) Thant explains why everyone we speak to can speak to us and why we hear them using English to each other. (despite their very strong accents).
After a little while we realised that we were the only people in the bar, so despite the good company and nice music we decided to head back to 'Bay walk' to see if anything was going on there. When we arrived we saw that that was definitely the place to go, it was lively any each bar had a band or some kind of entertainment going on. As we walked along deciding where to have our next drink we saw a stage full of me dressed up as babies dancing on the stage. It looked a little disturbing, but were were intrigued, before long we were ushered in and placed at a table right by the stage. It was all very strange to be honest. At one point a little boy came on stage to dance too and as he danced his nappy fell down so by the end of it he was actually naked, I'm sure the police would be called if something like this happened in England. As usual we were soon made a spectacle of, the announcer on the stage poined out the two "white chicks" and proceeded to tell everyone how great it was that we had come here and how generous white people are. Then the little boy came round to collect money for their performance. The spot light was on my as I put about 6 pence into his bucket. There was more performances but a little deformed man, and groups of awkward looking teenagers, after not too long Jenna and I managed to sneak out and head home.
18th June -Goodbye Manila, hello Negros.
We spent the morning sorting out all of our stuff and packing our large bags again. I was not amused to find that my pile of clothes had been lying in an ants nest all week but was happy to be leaving Manila. We went for some lunch. Chicken teriyaki, rice, mixed vegetables and a coke all for less than 40 pence and then headed to the airport. I can't say that I will miss manila, but it has certainly been an experience.
As we drove through the badly maintained and busy streets I watched all the armed guards everywhere, outside the Mcdonalds, or the Newsagents, (basically if you miss-behave you just get shot and that is that). I was also informed of another disturbing policy, whereby if you are hit by a car, both taxi drivers and bus drivers are told to run back over you and make sure you are dead, because it would be their duty to pay any hospital bills, any they wouldn't be able to afford it. Also there are rumors that if you wear any jewelry that looks decent they will rip it off you, including cutting off finger to get off rings, people here just seem so desperate and that has made them ruthless. It is scary, but also sad that a people have to do such dreadful things. I also felt sad as I saw once again all the poverty, all the stray animals, and the naked kids sifting through rubbish covered in rashes and no doubt riddled with disease. This is definitely a county with two huge extremes, while the rich get richer the poor are definitely getting poorer. I hope that they begin to realise this and start sorting their country out.
When we arrived at the airport, we were informed that we were not allowed ANY liquids at all, so we spent a couple or minutes trying to shove out deodorants, lip balms and drinks into the top of our back packs then went to the departure lounge, with its two small shops to find that our plane had been delayed of over an hour. I couldn't wait to get to Bacolod, in the small island of Negros. I also hoped that it wouldn't be so hot there. Apparently it had been 39 degrees, all week!!!!! It was all an experience and as you know we saw some beautiful volcanoes, some amazing waterfalls and found the cutest bar that I have ever been. Also we were taught the hard way about the importance of carrying our money belts, but I can safely say I won't be going back again. I am excited to move on but I actually miss the safeness and trustworthiness of Korean people!
When we eventually got to Bacolod, we realised that Jenna's cousin's (also called Brian) wife had been waiting for about four hours for us, we felt dreadful, especially that the flight took less than an hour as it was. The airport was crazy. You step off the plane and immediately you see a small bus stop where your bags gt piled and that is it. Now I thought Manila airport was small, but I never imagined anything like it. We all boarded their own Jeepney and headed back to their house. Jenna's cousin lives with his wife (Fatima) their gorgeous little boy (Joshua), their cute dog (Snoopy) and then Fatima's brother, sister, two cousins and another helper all live there too to help around the house. The grand parents also live just down the road. It really is lovely. Jenna and i were shown to our HUGE bed in a room with air conditioning and then all sat down for a lovely dinner. The place is in the middle of nowhere, and definitely cooler with out all the traffic and so quiet, apart from all the frogs, crickets and wild dogs outside. As I snuggled down into my cool bed that evening I watched the lizards on the ceiling and knew that I would be happy there!
- Posted by emily1183 on 22/06/2007.
- emily1183's site
Please sign in or join etribes to add comments.
