Christmas in the Philippines

Finally! The time has come for my most anticipated vacation yet! We are very fortunate in South Korea to get two full weeks off of work for Christmas vacation. Yahooo! I have been planning for this vacation since July. We are starting our vacation in the Puerto Princesa which is located in Palawan Philippines. I am so excited!

We landed in the Philippines very late at night well after midnight. By the time we got out of the airport and located a taxi driver, it was after 1:00am in the morning. Tired but excited we hop in the taxi and give him the address to our airbnb. After a while of driving, the taxi driver cannot find our accommodation. We stop in the middle of the road and our driver gets out of the car to speak to some local teens who were shirtless and smoking. To be completely honest, it did not look overly welcoming. Eventually, we discover that our place is located very close to the navy base. I honestly was unsure of how I should be feeling about being close to a navy base. Also, who's navy? The filipino navy, an american navy or another country? I never actually got that question answered. Eventually, we pulled up to a seemingly regular house. We were told to ring the doorbell upon arrival. So we ringed the doorbell and waited. As we waited, I unloaded our luggage from the taxi. We continued to wait. Eventually, we rang the doorbell again and finally, a woman came out to show us to our room. Upon walking in, the room was very simple. There was a queen sized bed, a single bed, and a bathroom. There was also a tiny television on the wall and a small, uninvited guest. It was a small, creamy colored lizard (gecko?) that scurried under the bed before we could make any moves to catch it. Accepting defeat, we went to sleep but not before naming our guest Mandy.

Day 1: I tried to sleep in the first day since we arrived so late but, as I usually do when I travel, I woke up early around 9:00am. After taking some time and getting ready, we decided to go for a quick walk to pass some time before our city tour which started at 1:00. Before the tour, we got the chance to meet and get to know Michael (pronounced like Miguel) and Ray. Michael was a very friendly Italian man who offered to cook us real Italian spaghetti. Our mouths began watering just at the thought of pasta. Then we began the city tour. This tour only costs about 8 to 10 dollars and it was totally worth it! We started at a WWII historical site and a church that was built to resemble the churches in Spain! It was a beautiful place.

Our guide described the Spanish influence and the American influence that the Philippines feel. She also described why Puerto Princesa was specifically a great location from a military strategists point of view. The port was very well protected from natural disasters and a good location in South East Asia. We then went to a crocodile farm! We got to see crocodiles from the time they are little babies until the point they are released into the wild. Then we got to see the big boys. This farm was only breeding crocodiles that could be released. They did not keep any crocodiles for themselves to show to tourists. They did, however, have some very large crocodiles. How is this possible? These are crocodiles who "got into trouble" as our guide would say. One of these large crocodiles (seriously 16 feet long) had killed 10 villagers in the Philippines. This was like a crocodile prison. There were about 6 or 7 crocodiles in this "prison" and we were stood right over the top of them about 8 feet from their enclosures. We were only 8 feet above a 16 foot crocodile who has killed and/or eaten ten humans. That thought alone was enough to make our stomachs turn.

After the crocodiles we got to look at some of the other animals that this organization has rescued. These animals included pythons, bearded pigs, a bearcat and these lovely birds that would speak to you. Seriously, these birds would mimic your voice and tone and speak back to you the exact words you said in your voice! They were wildly cool and also mildly creepy. It was similar to listening to a recording of yourself. To wrap up the crocodile farm, we got some good pictures holding a young crocodile.

After the crocodile farm, we went to Baker's Hill. Baker's Hill is a very picturesque place! It was full of art and located at the top of a very large hill so it had a wonderful view from the top. After Baker's Hill, we traveled to a famous politicians house. This politician was a very big fan of cock fighting and designed his house in a similar style to a cock fighting arena. Overall, his house was very cool and located at the top of a mountain overlooking the sea. Thus the tour was finished and we came back to the airbnb. After a quick shower and a change of clothes it was time to eat! The spaghetti was delightful and Michael had purchased some local beers and yellow watermelon for us to enjoy.

Day 2: We began the day bright and early with another tour. This time, we are heading to the underground river! I'm not too sure on what I should be expecting but Zoe had been looking forward to this the entire trip. The caves were an hours drive away on the curviest roads imaginable and our driver was not afraid of the gas pedal. It wasn't long before we both were feeling car sick and we were very thankful that there was a rest stop halfway there so that we could get some fresh air and some water before flying around the bends again. Soon we arrived in a harbor. There were Filipino style boats everywhere. The Filipino style boat looks like a regular boat but the put two long pieces of wood out on the sides of the boats. This wood keeps the boat from swaying side to side too much. Soon we were on the sea! We headed out from the dock and then veered right into this beautiful beach nestled into a cove. Here, there was a short walk to the underground river. Along the walk we saw monkeys and one very large reptile (the reptile looked similar to a Komodo dragon but was much smaller). Soon, we were on a boat with a river guide and a headset on to describe what we were seeing. Inside the cave was completely dark with the exception of our guides head lamp. We learned about different rock formations, many of which took on biblical shapes including a nativity scene and one rock that looked eerily similar to Jesus himself. Also there were bats. Lots and lots of bats. This cave was deep! We went 2 miles into the depths and we barely scratched the surface of what this cave holds. We could see many caverns that split off into the darkness and I could definitely understand why it has not yet been fully explored. It was pitch black inside. There was no light whatsoever. Our guide turned off his lamp at one point just so we could see the extent of the darkness. It was eery. Thats without even considering the various dripping noises and bats wings flapping around. It was incredible to see the magnitude of these caves and to be so close to bats in their natural habitat was a real treat as well. After the underground river, we went back to the boats and rode back to the marina for lunch. After lunch, we got the opportunity to go to a zip lining! We had to trek through the jungle to get to the zip lining location. As we walked, I saw a few snakes slithering by on the trail. Eventually, we made it to the zip line and I hopped on as soon as I could! The zip line was very long and stretched over a long body of water. It was awesome to fly over the sea like this!

Day 3: Disaster has struck. At the end of day 2 my stomach decided that it had enough! We still do not know for sure what caused this case of travelers tummy. It could have been the food we ate, or maybe some water that we drank or any number of other things. All I knew was that I had to know where the nearest bathroom was at all times! Today, Michael and Ray took us to one of their favorite beaches. It was absolutely beautiful. The water looked almost like glass it was so clear. Even from chest deep in the water, I could easily see my toes. Michael cooked an amazing pasta along the beach and we relaxed and enjoyed a chill beach day.

Day 4: Its Christmas day in the Philippines. It was incredibly strange to spend Christmas so far from home. I had never spent Christmas anywhere other than Kansas my whole life. I have loved my traveling experience so far but Christmas day did not feel real without having family around. It was very nice to call them and my family had a good chuckle at my expense (I was still very ill from the food or water). After speaking with our families, Zoe and I decided to go to the mall and see if we could find a place to get massages. On the way to the mall, we had many local children come to us and wish us a Merry Christmas. It was such a breath of fresh air to have children speaking English and for the children to be so open, friendly and welcoming to obvious foreigners. Throughout the day, we would be wished Merry Christmas by a lot of locals and at night we would even get some carolers singing near the accommodation. Eventually, we reached the mall. We were in luck! A massage place was open and we happily got massages and relaxed for Christmas day. We ate dinner at a new restaurant! The decorations inside were very nice. Other than the travelers tummy, it was a wonderful day.

Day 5: We are leaving the Philippines and heading to our next destination. This was by far the worst day of the entire trip for me. I had to sprint to the bathroom every 5 minutes and was a miserable human for both of our short flights. To give you an idea of how bad this travelers tummy was, I ended up using the airplane bathroom four times on a one hour flight. It was a very difficult day and I was beyond happy to land in Singapore and find the next accommodation.