Wednesday 1st June
Got to the bus station at 6:04, I think I just missed the first bus of the day. Got the next one at 7:30. My only plan was to see how far around the Island I could get today, and just enjoy the scenery from the bus. Well, the bus was hot and cramped and I wondered whether it was worth it. But it was ok, some good scenery, defintiely rural Phillipines.
But when we got to San Jose at 11am, I had missed the last bus out of town, so had to get the only minivan. Well, thats much more expensive than a bus, and you have to wait for it to be full before it will leave, and today that took until 2:45pm. Pretty frustrating just sitting around waiting but I tried to stay calm. Sat under the bus station, watching Phillipinas got Talent, or some such show, which was quite entertaining.
From San Jose, we were on a bitumen road for a bit and then onto a rough bumpy uphill road. We passed some very isolated villages, and had some good views of the ocean. Bulalacao looks like a fishing village and perhaps I should have stopped there, but the minivan rushed through and I didn't know if there would be anywhere to stay.
At Roxas we swapped vans and it brought us to Calapan. I nearly made it back to Puerto Galera, but there are only tricycles running this late and too expensive. So staying in Calapan at a decent hotel.
The sweet lady receptionist at the hotel came and sat next to me while I was sitting on the sofa in reception. She said "Hello. Do you have divorce in your country?". I said "Hello, yes we do" and she said, "I don't like divorce", and we had a conversation about the pros and cons of divorce, which is not viewed favourably in this Catholic country. Her main problem with divorce is that "Divorce is bad for the woman because she won't find a new man because men won't marry a woman who doesn't have her......(long pause while she blushed)......virginity". I said "We don't care about that". It was a fairly random converstation.
All I ate today was 2 ice creams and a big bag of peanuts...
Thursday 2nd June
It seemed to take forever to get to Puerto Galera today, what with it being a long way and then roadworks. But the jeepney was decorated inside with reggae yellow, red and green vinyl, the old guy had Bob Marley playing on the stereo and the sun was shining; it felt more like the Caribbean.
Once we eventually got here I checked back into the same room as last week, with the kitchenette. Went to the supermarket, and got fruit from the market. Snorkelling was the best today, visibility was much better and I was a bit further up the beach. Lots of fishes.
Then I packed some fruit and walked around to the other side of the headland, to Coco Beach and sat there and ate my fruit while reading and looking out to sea, and watching the kids play in the rock pools, collecting critters in their sawn-off plastic bottles. Ice cream on the way back.
Watched the sun set from my verandah. Would be nice to stay another day, but I want to do some other stuff before I leave the country....
Friday 3rd June
I asked the staff at the pier yesterday what time does the first ferry leave tomorrow. '7am', they told me. So I got there at 6:45am and they tell me the first boat is at 7:45am. So I had a bit of a whinge and then shared my pineapple with them.
The trip back to Bantangas took an hour. From there I got two jeepneys to the bus station then the bus to Tanauan. The locals were very helpful, and directed me to another jeepney for the 15kms trip, here to Talisay. Tourists come here to see Taal volcano which is in the middle of the lake, and to take the 45 minute hike to the crater.
But the jeepney pulled up outside the Municipal House, and outside was a big yellow sign saying 'Warning. Taal Volcano is on Alert Level 2. The main crater is strictly off limits to the public.' Hmmm, well anyway I wandered down to the lake and checked into this 'beach resort', with friendly owner, right next to the lake.
For lunch I went to a Filipino restaurant. I have avoided them mostly but thought I should try again to find something I like, and I did. Another customer recommended Lumo, which is noodles in a thick sauce, with vegetables, meat and fish. The fish was pretty bad but the rest was delicious.
Anyway, so no hiking.
So I went along the road to find a jeepney to the next town, Tagaytay, from where there are said to be excellent views of the volcano.
It started raining heavily and the next jeepney clearly wasn't going anywhere for ages as it wasn't filling up, and I couldn't be bothered with the jeepney guys. One of them asked me not to open a window of the jeepney we were sheltering in even though it was getting pretty warm and steamy (fair enough). Meanwhile he smoked a cigarette next to a five year old girl. So I left in a huff in the pouring rain, walking barefoot back to Talisay, to save my runners getting flooded.
There are not many tourists in town. Phillipinos obviously heard that the crater is closed so didn't come here, but I had no idea. The locals keep calling out 'Hey Joe' to me. As in GI Joe? The hotel owner said that they call all foreigners 'Americano'.
Bought some mangoes and bananas and oranges at the fruit market near the hotel. Had some fun banter with the stall holders who looked at me funny.
For dinner I had fried chicken at a street stall and then went to Minute Burger, which is a chain, and got '2 cheeseburgers for the price of one'. Result. Kind of. The ketchup looked radioactive and tasted more like raspberry jam. The phillipino restaurant is now closed for the weekend!
The hotel owner said I need to get up really early tomorrow to get a jeepney to Tagaytay. So I asked him if there would be Videoke (Karaoke) here tonight, as that is normally popular at weekends, loud and goes all night. He said "Do you want videoke", I said "no", and he said "ok, no videoke". Party pooper?
Got to the bus station at 6:04, I think I just missed the first bus of the day. Got the next one at 7:30. My only plan was to see how far around the Island I could get today, and just enjoy the scenery from the bus. Well, the bus was hot and cramped and I wondered whether it was worth it. But it was ok, some good scenery, defintiely rural Phillipines.
But when we got to San Jose at 11am, I had missed the last bus out of town, so had to get the only minivan. Well, thats much more expensive than a bus, and you have to wait for it to be full before it will leave, and today that took until 2:45pm. Pretty frustrating just sitting around waiting but I tried to stay calm. Sat under the bus station, watching Phillipinas got Talent, or some such show, which was quite entertaining.
From San Jose, we were on a bitumen road for a bit and then onto a rough bumpy uphill road. We passed some very isolated villages, and had some good views of the ocean. Bulalacao looks like a fishing village and perhaps I should have stopped there, but the minivan rushed through and I didn't know if there would be anywhere to stay.
At Roxas we swapped vans and it brought us to Calapan. I nearly made it back to Puerto Galera, but there are only tricycles running this late and too expensive. So staying in Calapan at a decent hotel.
The sweet lady receptionist at the hotel came and sat next to me while I was sitting on the sofa in reception. She said "Hello. Do you have divorce in your country?". I said "Hello, yes we do" and she said, "I don't like divorce", and we had a conversation about the pros and cons of divorce, which is not viewed favourably in this Catholic country. Her main problem with divorce is that "Divorce is bad for the woman because she won't find a new man because men won't marry a woman who doesn't have her......(long pause while she blushed)......virginity". I said "We don't care about that". It was a fairly random converstation.
All I ate today was 2 ice creams and a big bag of peanuts...
Thursday 2nd June
It seemed to take forever to get to Puerto Galera today, what with it being a long way and then roadworks. But the jeepney was decorated inside with reggae yellow, red and green vinyl, the old guy had Bob Marley playing on the stereo and the sun was shining; it felt more like the Caribbean.
Once we eventually got here I checked back into the same room as last week, with the kitchenette. Went to the supermarket, and got fruit from the market. Snorkelling was the best today, visibility was much better and I was a bit further up the beach. Lots of fishes.
Then I packed some fruit and walked around to the other side of the headland, to Coco Beach and sat there and ate my fruit while reading and looking out to sea, and watching the kids play in the rock pools, collecting critters in their sawn-off plastic bottles. Ice cream on the way back.
Watched the sun set from my verandah. Would be nice to stay another day, but I want to do some other stuff before I leave the country....
Friday 3rd June
I asked the staff at the pier yesterday what time does the first ferry leave tomorrow. '7am', they told me. So I got there at 6:45am and they tell me the first boat is at 7:45am. So I had a bit of a whinge and then shared my pineapple with them.
The trip back to Bantangas took an hour. From there I got two jeepneys to the bus station then the bus to Tanauan. The locals were very helpful, and directed me to another jeepney for the 15kms trip, here to Talisay. Tourists come here to see Taal volcano which is in the middle of the lake, and to take the 45 minute hike to the crater.
But the jeepney pulled up outside the Municipal House, and outside was a big yellow sign saying 'Warning. Taal Volcano is on Alert Level 2. The main crater is strictly off limits to the public.' Hmmm, well anyway I wandered down to the lake and checked into this 'beach resort', with friendly owner, right next to the lake.
For lunch I went to a Filipino restaurant. I have avoided them mostly but thought I should try again to find something I like, and I did. Another customer recommended Lumo, which is noodles in a thick sauce, with vegetables, meat and fish. The fish was pretty bad but the rest was delicious.
Anyway, so no hiking.
So I went along the road to find a jeepney to the next town, Tagaytay, from where there are said to be excellent views of the volcano.
It started raining heavily and the next jeepney clearly wasn't going anywhere for ages as it wasn't filling up, and I couldn't be bothered with the jeepney guys. One of them asked me not to open a window of the jeepney we were sheltering in even though it was getting pretty warm and steamy (fair enough). Meanwhile he smoked a cigarette next to a five year old girl. So I left in a huff in the pouring rain, walking barefoot back to Talisay, to save my runners getting flooded.
There are not many tourists in town. Phillipinos obviously heard that the crater is closed so didn't come here, but I had no idea. The locals keep calling out 'Hey Joe' to me. As in GI Joe? The hotel owner said that they call all foreigners 'Americano'.
Bought some mangoes and bananas and oranges at the fruit market near the hotel. Had some fun banter with the stall holders who looked at me funny.
For dinner I had fried chicken at a street stall and then went to Minute Burger, which is a chain, and got '2 cheeseburgers for the price of one'. Result. Kind of. The ketchup looked radioactive and tasted more like raspberry jam. The phillipino restaurant is now closed for the weekend!
The hotel owner said I need to get up really early tomorrow to get a jeepney to Tagaytay. So I asked him if there would be Videoke (Karaoke) here tonight, as that is normally popular at weekends, loud and goes all night. He said "Do you want videoke", I said "no", and he said "ok, no videoke". Party pooper?
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