We left the capital and went to Tagaytay, where Jonas spent his birthday. The only thing to see in Tagaytay is Taal volcano. The main sale pitch is that it?s an island within a lake on a large island. In the crater of the volcano there is another lake with another tiny island. Got it? We took a boat ride to the volcano and trekked up to the crater, sweating away in the tropical heat.
On Boracay Island we wanted to tan and relax on the 3-km long White Beach, but a lot of heavy rain prevented that from happening. Underneath an overcast sky we tried to entertain ourselves by canoeing, but the pouring rain slowly filling up the insides of the boat became worrisome. Jonas rented a mountain bike to go around the island; he returned covered in mud from head to toe.
We spent the rest of the days waiting for Happy Hour to kick in. People drank copiously from 5 PM onward. With not much else to do, we joined in the fun and drank many local San Miguel beers, 2 for the price of 1. We found many bizarre specimens of western and Korean tourists in all the bars along the beach. Our favorite type was the Michael Bolton-looking, fat Northern Europeans in mesh undershirts and a snazzy mullet. They spent the evening buying drinks for their Filipino dates, clueless to the fact that she might be a he. We felt we could always peg a lady-boy by his / her broad shoulders. Michael Bolton seemed to drunk to notice, or bother...
We arrived in the Philippines with some apprehension considering the strong liaison between Osama Bin Laden and the Abu Sayyaf guerilla group based in the south. Therefore, we thought it might be a good idea to register with our embassies. The French embassy almost scared us away when they provided a long list of places we should avoid at all cost. They told us to leave Manila because of the crime, avoid the south because of the militant Muslims that like to kidnap people, avoid the north for the same reasons, stay away from some areas close to volcanoes about to erupt, etc, etc. As a result, we barely had a taste of what the country has to offer and sadly concluded that the bad reputation deprives the world of the assets and treasures of this gorgeous archipelago. The people are the sweetest and most honest nationality we have met along the way. They don't always have the best of lives, but that doesn't keep them from smiling, laughing and flirting. Guillaume had gotten very tense after our confrontations with the touts of Egypt and India; the Filipinos put him at ease again. It's a pity that many people don't dare to visit this country. The Filipinos deserve better. |
