Final Leg: Corregidor Island and then Back Home

Thursday was my final day in the Philippines and it had me going on the tour of Corregidor Island.  This tour is run by Sun Cruises which seem to have a monopoly on the island through some sort of deal with the government.  Any way, I took a jeepney down to the ferry terminal.  The ferry left almost entirely filled promptly at 8 AM.  The trip to the island took 75 minutes.  Once on the island we broke down into seven prearranged (group number was on name tag) groups.  Each group had their own tram bus with tour guide. 

My only complaint here was "my" group consisted of about half French speaking folks who had an interpreter with them who repeated everything the tour guide said in French.  This led to big gaps in the tour guide narratives.

Now for a little history on Corregidor Island.  In Spanish colonial times, it was used as a customs port. Then once the US got involved, they made fortifications in in early 1900s.  They batteries were built to 1894 standards

and with one exception (a 1921 mortar).

These old batteries were still in place when the Japanese attacked the Philippines in WWII.  Still, the Philippines government fled to this island since the Allied Forces had set up their headquarters here. The Malinta Tunnel, a 253 meter long connected network of underground bunkers is where both co-existed. 

General McArthur was also stationed here and did not want to leave - "simply" on treat of a strike by the Japanese.  However the President was fearful that McArthur would be taken a prisoner, so in March 1942, he ordered McArthur to go to Australia to help fortify defenses there.

The Japanese knew that the island armaments were solely outdated and they knew they had superior number of troops, so when they did attack the island in April 1942 they really didn't expect much resistance.  But the Allied/Filipano troops were more than determined and dug-in to holdout a miracle of 27 days. At that point, they had no mortars or batteries left so they had to surrender.  This 27 day period was crucial as the Japanese had wanted to sweep across the Philippines and then attack Australia.  This delay allowed the Allied Forces to regroup and prevent a possible loss of Australia.

These are the American barracks - bombed by the Japenese.  

Note these houses with chimneys that were built for the married servicemen.  Why build a house in the Philippines with chimneys?  Because it met the Government standards at the time.  There were no standard to allow a house to be built without a chimney!!!

The tour concluded with a small buffet lunch at the only hotel on the island.  After lunch it was back to the ferry and the  75 minute trip back to Manila.

The next day (or rather that night at 3 AM), I left my hotel for a taxi to the Manila International Airport.  This airport was ranked at the worst airport of the top 50 airports in the world.  I can understand that as it is very old and outdated.  Also, there is only one bank (money changer) at the airport and it wasn't even open when I got there.

Oh well, the good thing is that I had a first class ticket for my return trip on Cathay Pacific.  This is the first time I have even flown first class on an International flight and it was very nice.  I got this ticket using miles and the booking agent got me the best seat, seat number one, aboard this Boeing 777.  I had the equivalent space to a single bed and a locker. There were also 3 and a half port holes in my 'seat'. And to top it off, the food was both good and plentiful.   I only wish that air travel could always be so nice.

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On to the Mountains and Beyond

On Tuesday morning I got to the bus station in Baguio at 7:10 AM anticipating catching the 7:30 bus.  But guess what?  Yes, that bus was discontinued for the day.  So I waited for and caught the 8:30 bus to Sagada.  

The bus ride went as advertised for 6+ hours before it made it into the mountain town of Sagada.  Upon arriving, my first task was to find place to stay.  So I went around town checking out rooms.  The best one was at the Guanduyan Inn 2.  It was a simple clean room with bath with two twin beds and wifi that actually was in the room.  The only really bad things about the room were the paper thin walls and inferior mattresses.  The mattresses on the beds were just a 3-4 inch form slab over a wood frame.  The foam was so thin I could feel the wood under the frame.  My remedy for this was simple, I stacked the mattresses on top of each other on one bed I used.  This worked very well.   

After I got my room I asked at the Information Center about what to do.  The man there told me I could do the walk to Echo Point to see the hanging coffins on my own still that afternoon.  So I went ahead out onto that trail.  Fortunately, I turned out that I got between two tour groups.  So I had no trouble finding the coffins and hearing the talk about them.  BTW, the last coffin to be placed here was in 2007 as there are several approvals needed.  On the way back it was getting to be dusk, and I followed the group in front of me.  It turns out that since they could a very different route back, so did I and got a free tour of a small waterfall etc.  

The next day, Wednesday, I spent walking about the area seeing the local caves (from the outside), a another do all hanging coffin sight and a local town that still has some of their children live away from the parents as their ancestors did.

On Thursday, I met a fellow about my age at breakfast.  His name is Ludwig and is a professor from Munich.  I convinced him to join me in going up the the "big waterfall".  We planned to take a jeepney there and get a guide,  There was supposed to be a jeepney at 8 and at least one more before 9.  However by 9:50 we have given up.  We decided to charter a jeepney.  But while that was progressing we stuck up a conversation with an Italian girl in her 30s.  She was with a 22 yo Filipano girl.  We pointed out that if we all went together, we could go the tour much cheaper.  Fortunately, they agreed and we went ahead as planned.  We went by jeepney and got a guide who told us down into a small town (no road in) and onto the waterfall.  

Be careful little boy in taking candy from a stranger (Ludwig).

This was a very nice group as everyone was very congenial.  The Italian girl, Dorothy, is a stewardess for an Italian airline, and the Filipano, Erie (pronounced Irma) is a writer.  Anyway, we even had dinner together that evening back in Sagada.  

Btw, I spent three nights at the Ganduyan Inn 2.  It was fine EXPECT for the  neigbor's rooster.  This damn animal took to crowing at weird times.  The first night, he started at midnight and then again about every hour until 6:15 AM when he wouldn't stop.  The next two nights he slept through the night until 5:15 and 4:15 accordingly when he started up his non-stop act.  Needless to say, I am glad I only had to stay three nights near him!

On Friday morning, I took a jeepney to Bontoc.  This road ranges from pretty good to a mud hole but the jeepneys take it all in stride.  Once in Bontoc, I took a short detour and toured the Bontac Museum.  

It had a lot of interesting photos from the 1890  to the 1910 era.  

The museum sits right by this elementary school.  

Note the one little blonde girl.

After the museum, I caught a van to Banaue,  This is a nice road that was very scenic, at least up until it started to rain.  It was still raining when we got into Banaue.  Once again, my first task was to find a room.  So I stowed my bag at the bus office and went looking.  I think I saw about 6 places and all were bad to terrible.  I picked the best of the lot (People's Lodge).  This room was quiet but not only did I have to double up on the mattresses as I did in Sagada, but I had a leak in the bathroom which made the room constantly wet even with a drain on the floor.  This all was too much and I changed places for the second night.  I moved across the street at Wonder Lodge.  The two best things about this place was cheaper and dry!  Other than that, there wasn't anything to recommend this place either.

Any way, my first day in Banaue, I signed for a group tour of Batad.  This tiny town is a steep, rocky, 3k, 45 minute hike down into a natural amphitheater.   These rice terraces are incredible with ancient stone walls and a picturesque setting. 

A tradition home in Batad.

 Once we got into the town, the rest of the group hiked another 45 minutes up stairs to a waterfall.  I decided not to go on that part as I was a 'bit' older than the rest.  There were seven of us in this group but the rest were in their 20s.  Thus, when they continued on, I started my climb back out.  Even though I had over an hour and a half wait, I am very glad I did this as I was all sweaty.   There are thousands of steps on this trail.

On Sunday, I signed up with the same tour guide to go to Hapao.  He only convinced two others to go along and these were 19 yo European guys, one from Germany and the other from Belgium.  They turned out to be great company.  BTW, these rice terraces, like those in Batad, are listed in UNESCO .  But unlike Batad, most of Hapao rice has already been planted for the summer crop.  Thus, the fields here are nice and green.  

When we lefT Banaue for the 90 minute jeepney ride it wasn't raining but that didn't last long.  The rain started and so did the visibility.  When we got to Hapao, we took the fast route to walk to the warm sPrings.  There we sat for about two hours until the rain stopped.  Of course, our clothes, and more importantly our shoes, were still soaked from our prior walk.  Still, the good thing is that we got to walk on the terraces and see the rice fields up front and personal.  

On the way back to Banaue, we stopped at the Banaue Scenic Overlook:

After the tour, I had a bit to eat and then took the 7PM night bus back to Manila.  It turns out, this bus line ran four separate buses on that evening at the same time.  This was to make up for the lost of their competitor who was shut down by the Government after 14 people were killed on one of their unregistered buses!  Still, the bus I was on was so crowded that they had people sitting on portable chairs in the aisle.  Yuck!  The only good thing is that the bus ride was supposed to be 9 1/2 to 10 hours but we made it in under 9!  I couldn't wait to get off the bus and on to my accomodations back in Makati City.  I got a taxi and made it to the BW Oxford Suites before 4:30 AM.  Art met me there and gave me the keys to "my" airbnb suite.  I took a shower and then a nap.  Still, I didn't feel all that great.  The only real thing I did was to get a foot massage from the same franchise place I used in Puerto Princesa.  This time it was nothing special.

Today, Tuesday, I decide to check out Greenhills Shopping Center.  This is home of the Chinese imports of most anything you can think of.  I had fun looking about and actually even bought a few things.  I thn had dinner with Art tonight and paid for my accomodations.  He agreed to meet me about 3:20 AM on Thursday when I check out.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I have made a reservation to do the Corregidor Island day tour.  This will be my final day in the Philippines.

Baguio on to Vigan and Laoag and then back to Baguio

I haven't updated this trip since last Wednesday noting.  I tried to update last night but I had no wifi and somehow lost my entire effort.  So here goes another attempt:

On Wednesday morning I obtained a taxi and went to Camp John Hay.  This was an American rest and recreational camp named for Teddy Roosevelt's Secretary of War.  This camp was vacated by the Americans at the start of WWII as they knew they couldn't defend it from from the Japanese.   Before they left, they had all the local Japanese rounded up and imprisoned here.  Of course, once the Japanese arrived, they turned the tables and imprisoned the few Americans that remained as well as local Filipano American supporters.  Then at the conclusion of the war, Gen Yamashita surrendered to US forces here.  

In 1991, the US turned most of the camp over to the Philippines Government  for development into a upscale hote, country club, etc.  However the US still an ambassador's house here whose tight security won't even allow it to be view by the general public like me.

After Camp John Hay, I caught a jeepney back into town to the City Market.  It Is a very large market (maybe the largest in the Philippines) but is geared solely for the locals and not tourists.  Still it Is fascinating to see all that wonderful looking seafood, produce, etc.  It makes me wonder why is it that countries like this can produce such much looking produce than the US?

After I bought some cut up pineapple and mango for a snack at the market, I walked over to the Baguio Cathedral which was built in the Wedding Cake Gothic style.  It sits up above the city and has a steep staircase from the major road.  

Baguio City itself is very hilly or mountainous.  That is why the temperatures are so moderate here.  For example, right now the highs are around 72F and the lows around 55F.  So it is downright cold by Filipano standards!

I spend two nights at the High Point Inn in Baguio.  It was a nice place but could have been much better if the owners would update things a bit.  Any way, on Thursday morning I took the bus (2 hrs) to the city of Vigan.  This is one of the oldest city in the Philippines.  The old section of the city buildings combine styles from the Spanish, the Mexicans as well the Filipanos.  I spent two night here at My Vigan Home.  I booked this in advance as they had outstanding reviews but my review will not be so glowing.  It was bad from a bad bed to a giant water bug in the bathroom.  Oh well, it was in a grand old mansion that was converted to a hotel.  The lobby and outside were well kept if you overlook the Christmas decorations that were still in place.  

I found Vigan interesting but ran out of sights to see within a day.  After you tour a couple mansions and a couple museums, there isn't much here except the charm.  I did try the local empanada.  It is made by putting a scoop of coleslaw or a raw dough circle.  Then you pull a whole egg inside the coleslaw, pinch & close up the dough, and deep fried it.  You can also add sausage in addition to the other ingredients.  This does makes a good tasting snack but I found it way too greasy.

After two nights at My Vigan Home, I made my way to the city of a Laoag by means of a 4 hour bus trip.  Here I got a room at the Tiffany Hotel.  It wasn't great as it was a budget hotel but it was well located and was the best hotel I saw there.  Of course, that isn't saying much.  

The city of Laoag is rather dirty and doesn't have too much to offer the tourist.  It's one big sight I'd the sinking bell tower.  This tower was built by the Augustinian friars in the early 1600s.  At time it was built, a man on horseback could easily ride through its front door.  But as you can see from my pi, that is not the case today.  A man would have to stoop to enter on foot today - assuming the door was ever opened anymore.  I don't understand why they don't have this more commercialized as the door is chained and sits beside a busy road.

Although the city doesn't have many sights, it is the home area of Ferdinand Marcos.  He was from the small town of Sarrat which is about 15 K  to the east.  Sarrat was also famous as Marcos' youngest daughter got married there in 1983.  This well reported wedding ceremony cost over $10 million as they renovated the 200 year old church and had 3,500 workers tear down houses and reconstruct them so as to be in the old Spanish colonial motif.  I didn't make to Sarrat but I did go to Batac.  

Yes, I got a min-bus to Batac to see Marcos' Mausoleum.  The bus conductor was supposed to tell me when to get off but he apparently didn't even know what a mausoleum was.  Fortunately a lady behind me told me when.  BTW, I am rather amazed that the ordinary Filipano's English isn't better than it is as all the formal education here is in English.  Still I would guess less than half th people I have met are fluent in English.  

Any way, I made it to see what is suppose to be Marcos' refrigerated corpse.  I say it that way as many think this is simply a wax likeness.  Whatever, the government here must be footing the bill for this as it is a free "attraction".  Beside the mausoleum, there is a small museum deducted to Marcos.  It was much nicer than I expected but as you might expect here, it portrayed him as a national hero and all around genius.

After the museum, I caught a jeepney to the small town of Paoay.  Here I got to see a UNESCO listed church that was built in the earthquake Baroque style.  Although it took 90 years to complete and was completed back in 1894, it looks much older from the outside - don't you think.

From Paoay, I took a trike to go to Malacanang of the North.  This was a mansion Marcos built beside a beautiful lake that he knew from his boyhood.  Then he named the new mansion after the presidential palace in Manila.  The mansion has 7 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 2 kitchens, numerous studies, etc.  Needless to say, it is quite nice.  After I toured the mansion, I got the trike back to Paoay.  From there, I got a jeepney directly back to Laoag.  

I only spend one night in Laoag.   But I debated where to go next as Sagada, my next real destination, is a town in the mountains not near much of anything.  Despite after to backtrack yo Baguio, I decide it was best to go via the known route.  I know I can take a minibus directly to Sagada from Baguio.  The only possible ways involved catching a combination of buses, vans and jeepneys and making numerous changes along the way.

Thus on Sunday morning I headed off to catch a bus back to Baguio.  I got at the bus station at 8 AM which looked to be just in time for the 8:15 bus which they show on their schedule.  But atlas for some unknown reason, there was no 8:15 bus on Sunday.  So I got the 9:30 one.  Still, the trip wasn't as bad as I might have expected.  I got into Baguio at about 4:45 PM.  I had booked a room at the YMCA hostel which us near the bus station.  I couldn't get back into the High Point Inn and both Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor liked this hostel.  Well, another wrong pick.  Although the room was very very clean, it was very spartan.  To make matters worse, the Y had a big badminton tournament there and the announcer sounded like he was in my room.  Once the tournament ended (about 10PM), they had a basketball game which lasted until about 11:30.  I could hear each dribble of the basketball!  The soundproofing was terrible.  Also this hostel had no wifi anywhere!

Believe it or not, I decided to change hotels today as I want to rest up for my 6 hour bus trip to Sagada tomorrow.  So now I am at the City Center Hotel.  This is very nice, has wifi and just a couple blocks from where I need to pick up the bus tomorrow morning.  I don't have any reservations in Sagada or Banaue, another remote town I plan to visit before I head back to the Manila area.  I would call in advance but what what I read that won't do much good as they don't take reservations without prepayments and take no credit cards,  In fact, there is only one bank in Sagada and none in Banaue, So I will need to stock up on cash before I head off on this adventure.

Moving on to the Island of Palawan

On Thursday afternoon I took a PAL Express flight from Cebu to Puerto Princesa.  For some reason, you are suppose to checking 2 hours before domestic flights here.  Considering the degree of searching is much less intense than in US (for example, bottles of water are okay), this is another one of those things that don't make any sense.  BTW, PAL Express is the budget sub of Philippines Airlines and on certain flights like this one they code share.  I guess there must be some circumstances where it make sense to book under the Philippines Airline flight even though it cost more.  Anyway, the flight was over an hour late so I didn't arrive in Puerto Princesa until after 4 PM.  There I took a "trike" to my hotel, Voyager's Palace, which it turns out is about 6 km north of downtown.  A trike is a motorcycle with a fiberglass frame around it to incorporate a sidecar and third wheel.  It can accomodate up to 5 (small) people and or merchandise.

At the hotel, I signed up for the next day's group trip to the Underground River (UR) Park.  The UR is the Philippines most publicized sightseeing stops and is listed as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  The tour itself started with about a two hour van ride to its first stop, Ugong Rock.  Here we had a chance to climb through part of the cave system that also incorporates the UR site.  The really notable aspect of the rocks in the cave here were the  haunting echoes some of them have when struck.  They actually give you gloves so you may play the rocks.  After the trip through the cave and a little climbing up the rocks, a zip line brings you back to ground level.  This is supposedly the longest zip line in the Philippines but seem a bit tame compared to Costa Rica.

After Ugong Rock, we stopped for lunch at one of those buffet places that seem to cater to bus tours. As I found to always be the case, this place proved to be an example of form over substance as the food wasn't very good but they had a nice atmosphere.  Right after lunch, we walked over to the boat dock to start our UR tour.  This first leg of this tour is to take a 8 man catamaran to a small island where you wait.  Then you get another boat (15 man canoe) that takes you into and around the UR.  The canoe has a guide who also acts are the paddler.  You then go in the cave for about 20 minutes and then then return the same way.  The cave is massive and goes on for miles but only a small part is accessible by the public.  Still, the portion we saw was very impressive as some of the room ceilings seem to go up to the heavens.  However I didn't find the formations themselves all that special - especially compared  to US caves such as Carlsbad or Luray. 

After the cave tour, we returned back to Puerto Princesa and our hotels.  That evening, I was hoping to get some more fresh tuna.  However I discovered that all the restaurants I checked out only serve frozen tuna - even though it is a local fish.  Why? I was told because the tuna is caught for export.  Huh?  This is another mystery to me.  Any way, I discovered a great Vietnamese restaurant nearby so I was happy with no fresh tuna.

On Saturday, I was planning to take a van or bus trip up to a small town, El Nido,  which is on the north part of the island of Palawan.  However the only way up there and return is via a 5-6 hour trip over a bad road.  While I might be up for one such trip, two such crammed trips like that over a couple days would be too much for me and my bad back.  So I decided to stay here in Puerto Princesa for the duration of my time in Palawan.  Thus with a shorten agenda, I was hoping to fly out on Monday morning but all those flights were sold out.  So I decided to stay until Tuesday.  I then made a reservation on the first flight Tuesday morning to Manila.  There I plane to get a taxi and go directly to the bus station.  I want to get a deluxe bus to Baguio where I have hotels reservations for Tuesday and Wednesday.

After making these plans, I spent the rest of Saturday looking around the town, such as it is.  Then on Sunday, I decided to sign up for the city tour.  It was scheduled to be 5 hours long but it was clear from the start that over an hour would be at shops!  Also, although there were 11 of us on this tour, I was the only one that didn't speak Tagalog.  So the rest of them and the Tour Guide, Choy, would be talking in Tagalog even though the tour was supposedly in English.  Any way, we did see a few interesting sights, such as the Plaza Cuartel where roughly 143 Americans prisoners lost their lives in WWII.  These men were burned to death or shot fleeting from the burning by the retreating Japenese forces in wake of McArthur's return.  Somehow 11 Americans managed to escape this massacre as they swam out in the ocean away from the machine guns.  This statute is decimated to those who lost their lives here.

The church across from the plaza was then destroyed by American troops as that is where the Japanese hid after they killed the American prisoners.  The Japanese reasoned that American would never bomb a church, only to be proven wrong in this case.  This church, Immaculate Conception Cathedal, was rebuilt in 1960.

Also these stops, we went to a crocodile farm which although in poor repair still had a good supply of crocodiles on hand - both kinds:  fresh and saltwater.

They also had a few Palawn Bearcats in residence.  They look a bit like a bearish raccoon - don't you think?

Next up was the Traditional Palawan Straw Weaver.  Believe it or not, their final product looks and feels a lot like the coarse nylon they use to make luggage.

Finally at the end of the tour, they dropped us off at the Bay Walk Park.   I didn't know existedabout this place before but it is a nice area by the bay that the government made into a park.  They have food booths set up here that sell seafood and other food to eat as you enjoy the evening after the sun goes down, Funny thing though, I discovered at this seafood was also frozen before it was put on ice.  Still, it is a nice idea that you can pick out what you want and they then grill it for you.  I guess they, as well as the restaurants here, are worried more about spoilage than the taste - as fresh fish always taste much better than frozen.

Since I really didn't have anything planned on Monday, I decided to use my time to get a few personal things done.  First up, I went to a tailor to see if I could get her to make me a couple of pillowcases for my travel pillow.  Through her broken English, she promised she would have the pillowcases completed by late afternoon.  So with that accomplished, I went and got a haircut as the weather here is just too hot.  I need shorter hair.  I discovered the price of haircuts here in Puerto Princesa may be some of the cheapest in the world.  Although it certainly wasn't the best cut I ever had, the haircut and shampoo together cost about 80 cents!  This was in a air conditioned shop that wouldn't look out of place in the US.

Any way, it was then time for a treat so I decided to get a massage. I never had a Thai massage before so this is the type I selected.  It was a good choice too.  I had a young Filipano guy who put me through the paces.  I don't really know if this was a traditional Thai massage or not as it seem to contain elements from both the Swedish (muscle rubbing) and Shiatsu massages (pressure points) as well as what I expected from a Thai massage (body stretching).  Whatever, I consider this massage was one of the best I ever had.  And to top it off, it cost about $5.50 for the hour.  A real bargain.

To conclude the pillowcase story, I returned in the afternoon and the pillowcases were done - but done weirdly.  One fits the pillow fine but the other is way too small.  I really don't know how she could made a mistake like that since she had the pillow to use as a guide.  Still since I got one that fits, I consider my $2.25 well spent.  That evening,  on my way back to the hotel  in a jeepsey, all of the sudden the clouds broke loose and it poured rain.  I guess the jeepsey wasn't up to this as it only went a few more blocks after the rain before it stalled out.  It just wouldn't start.  To me, it sounded out it was out of gas but I guess it is also possible that water got into the gas.  Whatever, all us passengers stayed on immobile jeepsey until the rain let up and another jeepsey picked us up.

On Tuesday morning the owner of the hotel, George, drove me to the airport.  My flight left on time and I arrived back in a Manila about 10:40 AM.  From there, I immediately got a taxi and went to the Victory Lines Bus Station for a deluxe bus to Baguio.  The bus left at 12:20 PM and it took about 5 1/2 hours.  Actually, it was a pleasant trip even though my 'deluxe seat' was more or less broken.  At the bus station in Baguio, I got a taxi to my hotel, High Point Boutique Inn.  The good news about Baguio is that it is in the mountains so it is cool here.  After the hot and humid days in Manila and the smaller islands, it seems even cooler than it is.  I plan to stay here tomorrow before heading further north to Vigan.

I have had an issue in publishing my blogs the last few days.  The owner of hotel in Puerto Princesa told me that his Internet supplier is having problems with the speed.  So although I had an Internet connection there, I couldn't upload any photos or publish my blog.  Then last night here in the hotel in Baguio, I seem to have gotten the only room without a decent wifi signal.  I had no wifi at all in my room.  Thus here I am doing the blog at the hotel coffee shop over breakfast.   I expect to have more Internet problems in most of my future travels here as I will be staying mainly in smaller towns that don't even have a bank or ATM.  I doubt if they will have high speed Internet.