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The Japanese knew that the island armaments were solely outdated and they knew they had superior number of troops, so when they did attack the island in April 1942 they really didn't expect much resistance.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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