The Philippines! I am here, I made it to a real vacation. There is so much to say, yet, so little. How can I describe my 9 day adventure with a few lines on a computer. I think it can not be fully expressed as I would like it to, but I will do my best.We started in Manila, the capital, where we had to stay for one night. It was rough, and the people were poor and hungry, so we did what we could for them, wandered the streets aimlessly into the night, and waited for the morning to arrive.
We then traveled by plane to Puerto Princesa, where we met a girl from Spain, who lived in Thailand, who needed some people to hitch a ride to get her to Il Nido to meet some friends. Unexpectedly, we decided to jump in a private van and road trip 8 hours across the island of Palawan. We arrive in the darkness of the night, find a place to lay our head, and sleep again waiting for the sun.
We wake up and relax for one day. We meet a girl; an English girl, who wants to go on an overnight island hopping trip. We say "deal" let's go, and the next day we are packed up again and jumping on a tiny boat headed out to the sea. We see a few islands. We are escourted by a young man; about 18 years old, who knows the land, but is not a professional. He is our friend. He drops us off on a remote island, sand white as snow. We walk the beach of a place left free from human trace. We stay alone on the island for a few hours. No food, no water, just the 3 of us and the rain, and the moonlight. They arrive late that night, they bring food; an entire delicious meal, tents and blankets, and music. We eat, talk, and sing songs through the night on the quiet and empty island.
We wake up the next day and jump on the boat again, only to be taken and dropped off on another remote island. We sunbathed, snorkeled, and made friends with the ocean life breathing down below. We became sun babies and floated around the ocean floor connecting with the life around us.
The night comes. We spontaneously decide to take another van back across the island to Sebang. We have to keep traveling, keep seeing. Hours pass, I sit curled up on the back seat, peering out the window at intervals to make sure time is passing. I'm on this very bumpy, unpaved road. I am seeing my life flash before my eyes. Okay not that dramatic, but still, it was very dangerous I'm sure.
We arrive in Sebang in the middle of the night. It is 2 a.m. and all of the hotels are closed. Luckily our very nice driver allows us to sleep in the van until morning. I am on this land, I can't see it, because there is no electricity, but I can feel it all around me. The sun comes up and we get a hut. It is a small one room place, with a hole in a room to use the toilet, and a pipe coming from the wall for a shower. It's great, it's splendid. It's REAL.
We spend a few days in Sebang. We see the land. We talk to the native people. We hike out into the jungle with a 72 year old man who can run miles around us. He is wise. He talks to us about things, he is weary at first, but later he comes around. We become friends. We go to meet natives in the jungle, but they are not there. Only the President of the tribe is there. He is watching over the camp. The others are out gathering. They will be gone for weeks. So we have some local coffee, bathe in the river, and hike home in the pouring rain/darkness of the night.
The next day I wake up sore and exhausted. This is it; the last day of adventure. What shall we do? We go on a 3 mile hike through the monkey jungle so that we can find the underground river. It is touristy, but hey, it is a wonder of the world after all. So we wander through the monkey jungle, visit the monkeys with their babies, and find the caves of the underground river. We travel through the cave for an hour and see bats, and birds, and open rooms the size of cathedrals. We make it back in time to have an awesome dinner and rest before the long drive/flight of tomorrow.
