Bohol Island

21 March 2012… up early in Manila..taxi to the airport and an hour ride on a Jest jet to the island of Bokol. The airport runway was next to the ocean and short.  The jet really had to brake hard.

A trik ride to the big mall and a jeepney ride along the coast and up a river valley into the hills to Loboc. No one knew where the Bohol Guesthouse was… One call to Thea in Manila and I found the place.. It is right on the river and made up of bamboo huts.

I walked up the road and went to a little store and got a cold beer and a bag of chips.  The 4 people there turned into 20 people.. Once I went around offering some chips I had 20 new friends.  Simple moments are the best.  They offered me homemade coconut and rice wine..I took a rain check.

The first nite a van took me, a Polish guy and a German couple to the rivet boat dinner and cruise.  This tourist thing cost 600 pesos $12.  The food was mediocre at best..the boat ride was nice..they have colored lights along the river..but the thing that made this worth it was a riverside music show by old ladies and kids.  They were all wearing matching native uniforms and most playing ukes…the sound was fantastic…they also had little kids dancing so good!!!! They had bamboo dancing..you know the kind where someone is on each end and people are dancing between the bamboo and it is very dangerous to peoples’ ankles.

uke band of Loboc

This morning I got to see 2 chickens eaten by the Hostels pet albino python.  The people on these islands are so gentle and nice.

Sunday I get a ferry to Cebu and will stay there a few days before I head back to Manila… Tomorrow I will rent a motorbike for the day.

Boracay Island

My second time in Manila was so much better than the first time.  I said goodbye to my driver,  Jess and he gave me a wooden Indian carved necklace and I actually got emotional.. . These drivers in Asia are the reason I have been able to really experience Asia.   I try to be generous to these guys. . I always buy them meals to show my appreciation.

My van took me from Banaue over some very scary mountainous/landslide-prone  roads to Baguio.   I  got my luggage I left at a hotel there,  and they did not have a room for me at the hotel so I got a bus ticket to Manila. This bus was  big and nice with WiFi.. .so it was just about 20 hours on the road to Manila. 

My friend Thea found a great hostel in Manila.. .a short taxi ride from the bus station.  So. .after midnite I was in bed with AC, cable TV and beautiful WIFI and slept  like a baby.

I walked around Manila and felt very safe and had a big breakfast at a very clean McDonalds.  Thea, her sister and  her aunt took me to a big mall and I saw some nice things to buy to send back.. .will do that before I leave the Philippines.

Thea helped me to get up to the northern mountains and rice terraces.   She also helped me plan a boat trip to Boracay,  an international tourist spot. 

I got a 3 hour bus ride from Manila to a port South of the city.  The big boat reminded me of the Greek ships.

Boracay Beach

Could not wait to post this picture which I took from the second floor of Starbucks.

4 nights Here at a good hostel and then back to Manila.  I also have some plane tickets to go to a couple more islands next week.

Thea is making my Philippine visit so amazing. Off to see the sun go down on the Boracay Beach.

the northern mountains of Pinoy

Baguio is a big town and I arrived in the middle of the annual flower festival.  I got lost in centro and took a cab back to the hotel.  On Sunday, I walked up to the Cathedral and went to mass.  Nice music and the place was packed..

The festival ended with a fantastic fireworks display.  On was on the top deck of the SM Mall overlooking the city and they shot them off from 5 locations… they know how to do it here.

my Pinoy ladies

My friend in Manila suggested a trip to Sagada…so I went.  5 hrs. on mountain roads.  These roads need to be experienced by all.  They hug the mountain sides or ride the crest of ridges… the vehicles are full size busses, jeepnee trucks and vans… some places are one lane, sometimes you go over dirt and stone.  They are always working on the roads…as they washout and have landslides.  I had no other way to get up here.

the rice fields are 2000 years old and are beautiful.

I ended up in Banaue… another Unesco site…I have been many.  My driver took me to a country music bar.   They had a great band and I got up and played the guitar.  It felt good and the band backed me up.

Banaue

So back to Baguio and then to Manila….all good with me.

the Philippines

Another easy flight from HCMC to Manila.  I sat next to a UK school teacher who was bringing over 8 young students for a math competition.

I ordered my veg meal 9 months ago and they had it ready for me. I meet an old Oz guy on the plane who was going to Subic Bay and he asked me to go along.  After taking a cab into a terrible/hot traffic jammed Manila, I decided to go along with him…..a mistake.  We took a train to the bus station and then a bus to Subic, then a jeepnee (like a pickup truck with a covered back), then a motorbike with a sidecar to the hotel.  I could not get a room and found one up the street…. never saw my friend again. I only stayed 2 nites in this little seedy beachfront hangout for old western guys looking for young ladies….  I got up enough courage to walk up to the mainroad and get a jeepnee to the next town which had a bus station. 

My friend from Manila suggested I go north up to the mountains.  She was right…after a long bus ride up the road where the Bataan Death March took place, I ended up in Bagiou, a retreat for the Pinoy people.

As always…I takes a little to get use to another country.  This is so much different than Vietnam..

Leaving Vietnam

Off to Manila. Great time here and I leave with a little regret.  My friend Cuong had to work, but he was able to take me for a couple of joy rides and some good meals.  I visited a cultural museum, mailed a package back home, and got to see the Saigon Zoo.

My friend Lynn took me for a couple of rides in the city.  I will not miss the motorbike rides in this city.  I have never had an accident but numerous close calls with other bikes and taxis.

I overstayed my visa by one day and passport control wanted $50.  I told them I just had a twenty and they checked me out.  I had to put the money in my passport before I gave it to him.  No paperwork…jeeesh!!!!

Saigon skyline as seen from School og Science

Well my next adventure is Manila…hope to find a place to stay tonite.

all is well and home in 80 days.

Sapa, Vietnam

Ha Long Bay is very famous and an industry has been created to bring thousands of international tourists from Hanoi out to see the islands. Hundreds of buses and boats to bring everybody out to see this amazing site… the same with Sapa way up in the mountains near China.  I got an overnite bus to Sapa and when I got off the bus in Sapa a motorbike rider came up to me and said..”are you Robert Simpson?”.. He took me up to the Sapa Summit hotel and when I checked in there was a guitar in the lobby and I played and sang  “I still miss someone” and “I’m gonna live forever”… the hotel food was great.. I had a couple of great treks through several villages.  the treks were long and dangerous but when they were over I was so tired and proud of myself to accomplish these treks.  Sapa is an amazing place which I am sure will no longer exist as it is for much longer.  The local people are turning to tourism and away from traditional village life.

my UK trekkers Sapa

At first I did not like Hanoi…that happens with many towns that I visit.. after a few days I began to like it.  I went to see the water puppet show…no strings.. the puppets are controlled under water by bamboo.  The traditional music was live and fantastic.

I hired another motorbike driver to take me around Hanoi.  I got to see some great museums and again some very old temples.  Hanoi has some great parks and plenty of lakes and rivers.  Not as many scooters as Saigon but they are working on catching up to them.

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my Hanoi fan club

Hanoi

After a great  ride in the rain from Hue to the ocean, A nite sleeper bus to Hanoi, a trip over 500 kilometers, I arrived in the very cold city of Hanoi.  Before I left Hue I bought a warm Northface coat.

My hotel was ok… I bought a ticket for a 2 day trip to Ha Long Bay.  We took a 3 hour bus trip to the port and got on a wooden boat.  It was cold and rainy, but this was my time to be here.

We had a great lunch on the boat, and then visited a beautiful cave.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

It was exciting to ride through these islands..there are over 2,000 of them.  The people on board were great and our trip was cold but fun.

Now back in Hanoi… off to Sapa tomorrow nite.

off to Hanoi

It is getting to be a long march up to Hanoi. Nha Trang was a great party town.  Took two bike tours with Duc who works at the hotel. The rides were so good that I bought him two great meals. One was a seafood hot pot which is cooked at the table and the other one was great squid.  We had some rice wine with the lunch.. a nice buzz…

I bought a $6 boat trip which took me to 4 islands off the coast.  The tour leader looked like Obama and
started the trip by getting up in front of the boat and singing the theme from the Titanic (and very well).

The islands were beautiful..lunch on the boat was plain but good…then I got a surprise… the cook played an electric guitar, a drum set appeared and we got a Beach Boys concert on the boat.. our tour guide came out with a wig and made us all laugh.  I  ended up dancing Twist Again on the boat. Later they served drinks in a water bar…

Then I got a bus up to Hoian..this is an old international tourist place…famous for making clothes.  I got a motorbike ride up to the Danang beach and was surprised to see golf courses and very large hotels. It is starting to look like Florida here.

The bus ride up to Hue was beautiful..over mountains, through a long tunnel, and near the ocean.
After I checked into my hotel, I hired a bike rickshaw to take me across the river to see the Citadel… the home of the Emperor and his 500 wives!!!!I

Tomorrow night off on another bus ride to Hanoi. I will take a mototcycle trip outside of Hue. 

Still excited to be seeing so much of Vietnam… this is a great way to do this..not seeing too many Americans over here.

Return to Vietnam

The sleeper bus from Cambodia turned out to be a regular bus and it was another long ride to Ho Chi Mihn City. The city was full of flowers and the motor-bikes are still here. I walked to my hotel and the next day off to Vung Tau with Cuong, my friend.

We took a hydrofoil boat to the ocean resort. We rode around Vung Tau and saw a dragon show which is an Asian drum thing to celebrate the New Year. I really enjoyed a seafood dinner there.. a long time since I ate crab.

Noticed many new oil drilling going on near Vung Tau.  The are building many new hotels there.

1930 French train station at Da Lat , Vietnam

I bought an open bus ticket to Hanoi and I plan to stop at 4 cities along the way…

first city was DaLat…the flower city.of Vietnam.  The french influence can be seen here.. this place is up in the misty mountains and is the honeymoon place for Vietnam. I got a driver to take me around for 2 days. I really like these little bike tours… got to see a very large happy Buddha..another waterfall, a cricket farm, a weasel coffee operation and a million coffee bushes..

After 3 days I took a 5 hr. bus ride out of the mountains down to the seaside resort city of Nha Trang. J Plenty of Russians here.  Hope to get some seafood here and take another boat ride.

Last Week in Cambodia

Left Batambang and a nice bus ride to Pheon Penh..changed bus at a very hot and crowded PP bus station.. Got to Sihanoukville late at night.. got a driver and bike to help me find a room.. as this was the start of a 4 day Chinese New Year most places were full. My driver, CatRay.. was a good guide. he took me to Victory Beach, 6 miles west of the city, and I got a great room with wifi.

The next day he took me to a beach which was just like Geribar Beach in Buzios. Near Rio…Brazil.

That afternoon CarRay took me to his Aunt’s house and I was treated to a real Cambodian New Year’s eve dinner and plenty of beer.

The next day I got a 50 mile bike ride to his family house east of Sihanoukville. I met his mom, wife, daughter and son…how amazing to stop being a tourist and to be able to visit real families…

They really celebrate New Years here…4 days of parties and World War Three explosions of fireworks all through the night.

I was told to visit Bamboo Island while I was here.  I spent 2 days at a little cottage on the water and I kept thinking I was in paradise.  Food and beaches were perfect. The little boats bring tourists to the island to swim and drink.  It was nice to spend a couple of days without cars… they start the generator at 5 pm and turn it off at midnite… pretty basic island living…

got a ticket for a nite sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City for 30 Jan. 2012

Catray and family