Philippine There, Done That!
We only have ONE MORE WEEK left in South East Asia! Where on god’s green earth has the time gone?! (okay, so we know the answer to that – India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, but who’s counting?). This week we were brought back to civilisation after our time spent on the Philippines’ finest desert islands, and got a taste of what life is like around the rest of the country.
We spent a couple of days hanging around town in Coron, enjoying dinner with some of our TAO buddies and trying to catch up on anything we had missed out on when we were wifi-less (i.e. hopping from café to café to see which had the best wifi signal). The connection in the Philippines is sketchy at best so take note and buy a sim card when you arrive if you tend to rely heavily on internet connection in life. There are limited options for getting around the island, unless you fancy being a passenger in a tin-can side car type structure attached to a motorbike, which is what serves as the Philippine version of tuk-tuks (they call these “tricycles” but they are anything but), so we hopped on a scooter and went exploring. Although lush, green and beautiful, the island was a stark contrast to the experience we had last week, as the poverty of people was really apparent, many people living in what looked like shanty huts built cheaply from bamboo with corrugated iron roofs. It was a real eye-opener, seeing small unkempt children playing dangerously close to the side of the road, begging for money or trying to sell you miscellaneous items from their tiny muddy hands, and it was a stark reminder that the Philippines has a long way to go before it can start seeing the fruits of the tourism industry, which has sprung up relatively recently compared to its more popular South East Asian neighbours. But as we explored hidden waterfalls and luxurious hot springs, we were glad to be contributing to these small businesses and hope that we could make even a small impact in some way to sustaining the livelihoods of these poor people.
Next stop was the island of Bohol (we stayed on its tiny sister island of Panglao, at a lovely B&B tucked away from the touristy crowded beaches and town centre). Bohol is another lush green island, with hills and views for days, but the most striking of which are called the “Chocolate Hills”. The name immediately became apparent when we saw these hills, known famously for being a rare geological formation of strangely shaped humps, that were formed millions of years ago from limestone that was pushed up from the seabed to form strange bulbous hills that are the colour of chocolate during the dry season (we saw them in wet season so they were rather green, but an amazing sight nonetheless). There are thousands of these hills spanning the Chocolate Hills Complex, and the view was breath-taking – definitely a must-see if you are in that part of the world.
Perhaps the most famous thing about Bohol though, are the Tarsiers. These are tiny primitive creatures (although not monkeys), that are extremely sensitive to any changes in light, sound or movement, and spend most of their time during the day asleep. We visited a Tarsier sanctuary and saw a few of these in their natural habitat (these tiny creatures each require a about a hectare of land to live, but we were able to spot around three or four!). We had to walk around the sanctuary completely silent, making no sudden movements and turning off the camera flash. The disturbing reason for this is that Tarsiers become suicidal if placed under any type of stress – they hit their heads against objects in order to smash their skulls – so obviously we had to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible as we didn’t want to trigger a Tarsier apocalypse!
The following is a 8 second video clip of a Tarsier. It’s a must see! Best enjoyed with your screen rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise
We finished up our time in the Philippines in the capital of Manila – not the most attractive or inviting of cities, but I’m sure it’s probably a grower – although we didn’t really hang around long enough to find out, as luxury awaited us in Bali, where we’ll be spending our Christmas week.
Festive greetings lovely readers!
Much Love,
The Resignated Survivors
Highlight of the week: Bohol was a truly beautiful island and a real contrast to the turquoise waters of the previous islands we had visited. But by far the best thing was witnessing the Tarsiers and we fell in love with those tiny, fluffy, sensitive little things.
Other notable things: We drove through a manmade forest which was simply stunning and surreal – as soon as we entered on our bike, we were struck by the magical feeling of the place and it was incredible to think that this forest had been planted there by humans as it felt so natural. I also half-expected some fairies and elves other mythical creatures to emerge from beyond.
Lessons Learnt: Shopping malls are your friend. In both Cebu and Manila, we found ourselves looking to kill some time away from the rain outside. Both of these cities also didn’t feel particularly safe or welcoming, so we discovered that a mall can really brighten your day and give you an opportunity to immerse yourself into a different aspect of the local culture. We tried the finest Filipino fast food, people watched whilst sipping on coffee and soaked up the chaos (it was maybe a mistake to have visited one of Asia’s largest malls two days before Christmas – mental!).
Looks amazing guys. Have a lovely Christmas! Xxx
Tarsier, what an amazing animals.
As always, very much enjoyed reading the blog and the pictures … What can i say, but again the pictures captures the true essences of Philippines. look forward to your next blog !!
Lovely read! What I’m most impressed by is the fact you proved… using photographic evidence…. that buses do actually come in threes. Your experience sounds amazing. And those cute little monkeys with their tiny bodies and tiny feet… omg tdf (literally). Enjoy Christmas. We miss you more this festive season x
Amazing those chocolate Hills. When I am travelling I always get fascinated when someone tells me this thing or that thing has been here for x amount of time but a million years. Wow!!!