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also took the old Church bells to forever deprive the town of the means that had been used to signal the start of the massacre. There is still a lot of high feeling in Samar over the incident.
16 Oct 2003 saw us up early. Yesterday's late afternoon weather change had brought rain that had grown worse overnight, now engulfing the entire nine miles of San Pedro Bay between us and Tacloban. Visibility was only just sufficient for us to dodge innumerable fish traps and nets market by bush poles, bamboo or flags. Small bancas normally occupied by just one man, were scattered across the placid sea in all directions.
We rounded a point occupied by a luxurious looking resort hotel fronted by a beachside boathouse and jetty. Beyond was the bustling port where a dozen Philippine coastal traders unloaded cargo with teams of laborers. We tied astern of a small navy patrol boat at a wharf under construction where a jack hammer operated 12 hours a day. Along the inner basin dozens of boats were moored in the shallows or drawn up on the beach. Bumper to bumper traffic moved slowly on the waterfront past a large MacDonald's. Beyond the basin the waterfront slums began.
The port officials cleared us in relatively easily although we did pay a $50 backhander that was a bit steep. You are generally given 29 days 'free' entry. After that you may purchase as many 30 day extensions as you like, but only one at a time. As is usual here we were given our clearance papers immediately because ports that can issue them are so few and far between. The port doctor invited us to his home for dinner with his lively family. He also gave us a tour around.
Dr. Blanco drove us to the MacArthur Monument. We arrived at dusk. In the dying light the gilded, greater than life sized figures of eight uniformed men wading ashore was very impressive indeed. Some historians say that the photograph on which this monument is based once had an Australian officer in it. Mac Arthur reputedly had him airbrushed out, not wishing to share the glory. I happened to notice that our charts were drawn by an Australian in 1944.
Tacloban is a noisy, sprawling town with narrow lanes and lots of old, but hardly gracious wood houses. There were however a couple of very grand palaces, owned by the Imelda Marcos family, one of which is now open to tours to view its treasured art and furniture. No mention of shoes.
20 Oct 2003. 59th Anniversary of Douglas MacArthur's landing at Leyte. Ambassadors and dignitaries arrived for celebrations. We were anchored just offshore and happened to be introduced to some of them which led to us being invited into the official enclosure to view a spectacular presentation of folk dances done by a professional company that tours the world. Early the next morning we witnessed President Arroyo in the flag raising ceremony.
A Brit that we met there, Gary Johnson made our acquaintance. He is building a dive resort in the locality that "I may never open". He suggested we hire a banca to take us to spectacular Sohoton Caves on Samar. At about ten knots the trip by way of Basey took more than two hours through swamps of sego palm and past bamboo fish traps that almost blocked the
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