Furthur into the Philippines

Furthur into the Philippines - 

Fun things we've discovered during some deeper exploration of the Philippines. 

 
My first observations were true, the Pinoys are a fun and beautiful people, but also much friendlier than I first gave them credit for. We are out of the big city of Puerto Princesa and discovering all the differences that are obvious between any big city and rural area. It's the same story here - the Pinoys are less interested in our money here and more interested in making friends and getting to know us.  

Petrina and I shared a kayak (for some reason) to paddle (or rather, I paddled) towards a small village, Maytigued, that we'd anchored near. As we got to the anchorage at around 4pm we had plenty of time to get to the village and back to the boat before it got too dark. Even so, it felt like I was trying to manoeuvring us for hours before we got close enough to make out the people on the shore. A whole crowd of people were waiting there to welcome us. At first they just stared, before their curiosity got the better of them and they came forward to speak. We found that most of the adults spoke at least enough English to ask us a few questions:

Where are you going?

   Just walking around.

Where are your slippers?

   Err...on the boat. 

Oops. I wonder if the practice of walking barefoot outside is bad mannered here as it is considered in other places. You should take off your shoes before entering someone's house (sometimes restaurants and stores too) to avoid making their clean floors dirty. We were reminded time and time again of our lack of 'slippers' (something you don't tend to wear into a kayak so naturally we didn't realise we didn't have them until at least half way there). It was a great way to bond - they gawped and wondered about our strangeness in Tagalog (Filippino) as they pointed at our bare feet and laughed with their friends. 

We walked around the concrete paths and wondered why they were necessary in such a tiny place with a population of 600. There are no vehicles to speak of - not even a single scooter. As we completed the circuit of the village we came to the top of the hill. Looking down, we finally saw why the roads were necessary. An ox was pulling a cart up the steep slope. Instead of having wheels, it was built like a sledge. There were two bamboo poles that came into contact with the ground and took the weight of the cart and it's contents. Wheels are impractical during the rainy season and much more likely to get stuck in the mud than sticks. 

By this time we'd collected the proverbial bus load of kids, so we stopped to play games for a while. Petrina did an excellent job of demonstrating 'Simon Says' - we soon had at least half the village kids playing along. One very obvious difference between the Philippines and neighboring countries is the absolute abundance of kids here. A 'small' family has 3 or less kids.  An average number is 4-6. Families are only considered large when there are around 10 children! This is sadly a reminder of Spain's occupation - Catholicism is rampant in the country; therefore birth control (and education about it) is very difficult to get hold of. Condoms are banned by the government/Pope and the pill is too expensive for many of the people here. This is an interesting spin, as many of the kids' parents are not married (divorce is illegal, and finding a new partner after separating can be punished by 6 years in jail if you fail to meet the requirements agreed upon by your marriage partner and the intervening police force). 

As we were walking back to the kayak, Petrina and I giggled to ourselves about the fact that we would both be squeezing into one kayak - the villagers would think we were crazy. Actually, they were interested in following us around, but didn't laugh or find it at all strange that two of us were getting into a single kayak - why would it be weird? Of course, this same nation doesn't struggle to regularly put 5 people on a motorbike or 10 into a tricycle.

 

Whilst being in Coron we've finally seen some damage from the typhoon. Exploring the town on our first day, we stumbled into the recreation centre - piled high with stacks of boxes and sacks. We quickly realised it was a distribution centre for aid for the typhoon victims. A large map covered in post-it notes showed the most damaged areas. The other side of the island was directly in typhoon Yolanda's path - although the casualities were not nearly so high as the ones in the Tacloban area, the devastation is just as bad. Our friend told us over 10,000 families have been affected in the area - by damage to their houses, either partial or complete, a lack of food, water, electricity and roads to manage the distribution of the supplies. There has also been a few outbreaks of water-borne diseases although the official we questioned told us these had been controlled quickly and hadn't turned into epidemics. As we can see clear evidence of Yolanda's destruction in Coron, such as fallen trees, collapsed buildings, missing roofs - sheets of corrugated iron stuck up in the tops of the trees... it's difficult to imagine what things must look like further north, where they are more exposed. There were 15 casualties in Coron, despite them having 3 days warning before the typhoon. An eyewitness who lived on the other side of the island explained that much of the destruction was done by the waves - he estimated they were higher than the top of the basketball backboard in the recreation centre. 

Further out, in Concepcion Bay, many of the yachtees were very lucky their boats remained unscathed at their moorings. Only one captain was crazy/brave enough to stay on board during the typhoon - the others were either abroad or checked into hotels away from the water. He is adamant that it is not something he would do again if there were other options. One of the dive boats is in a less happy state - it's partially sunken now after it was lifted 20feet into the air before being dropped by the wind.

Petrina and I bust out the Crocodile move...

It's also refreshing being here in the Philippines because of the nightlife - we've had a few opportunities to explore the options and are very happy with what we've seen. Men AND women dancing TOGETHER! Not just dancing, but fairly explicit 'MTV-style' at that. We also crashed a staff Christmas party at one of the large hotels in Concepcion Bay. We were warmly welcomed and quickly given scorecards to judge the various team efforts at a talent competition. Once that serious business was out the way (we watched one group dance to a catchy local song, a fire dancer and a group sing-a-long) the organised party games began. Madara volunteered herself for the first game before fully understanding the rules. Six guys were sat in chairs - in a ring with the backs towards the centre. Seven girls danced around until the music stopped, at which point they had to sit on one of the guys to stay in the game! It was hilarious. Maddy did very well - she was the third last in the game. The second game was even more inappropriate although it followed the same format. Eight men were given aubergines, and told to clasp them tightly between their legs. They stood in a circle while the women had to grab the aubergine when the music stopped! The craziest part was when we asked our Italian/Pinoy friend if she'd ever played it before, whilst growing up in the Philippines. She told us she'd probably first played it when she was around seven years old - the only difference was that the girls were given wooden spoons to balance an egg on. While the girls were trying to make a grab for the boys' aubergine, he was using it to poke them with (still held between his legs) to make them drop the egg!!! Can you imagine playing anything even remotely like this in your primary school? 

Finally we were all invited to play a game which required a partner of the opposite sex (it's amazing they had any volunteers at this point, but practically everyone played). Sheets of newspaper were spread over the floor. You danced together with your partner until the music stopped, at which point you jumped together onto the sheet. Easy enough so far. To make it more interesting, at every round, the newspaper was folded in half, so it became progressively more difficult, until there was so little space that the man would have to pick up the woman whilst keeping his balance on the small square for 5 seconds. Or that was the theory. In practise most of them fell over. My partner and I quickly established a game plan -  we'd have to rely on whoever was the strongest. I had my doubts about the strength of the lovely but slightly chubby munchkin Bernie, so we surprised everyone when the music stopped: I balanced on the sheet, and he jumped onto my back! Surprisingly, it turned out to be a winning formula and we were awarded first prize. 

We've used the short amount of time we've had here wisely - diving in the many fantastic dive sites that Coron has to offer. Courtesy of Japanese invasion during WWII, many of the best sites here are dilapidated wrecks that were sunk during the battle of Coron. These are very eerie places to dive - the ships make fantastic underwater scenery lurking suddenly out of the depths as you descend the line. Some parts are overgrown with corals and reefs protruding; it is not immediately obvious as to what the original shape of the ship was. In others, the twisted metal remnants are a horrific reminder of the fierce fighting that happened. It's difficult not to think about the lives that were lost here, on these boats, as the chaos of a lethal hit became a desperate reality for everyone aboard them. It is not difficult to imagine there are ghosts wandering the wreckage. On one of the wrecks it's possible to see the remains of a huge machine gun, bolted to the ship and abandoned to the sea. In another, you can see hundreds of bags of cement, in transportation to the next base, although they were ultimately used to bring the ship to its watery grave much faster.  As we slowly drift among the ruins I think about the desperation that must've been prevalent in the last moments of the ship's life. We penetrate gloomy passageways where batfish appear from the shadows and poke into the places where hundreds died. Many lives were tragically lost here on both sides - whoever won and lost is irrelevant in the face of the suffering that those soldiers, sailors, pilots, mechanics, cooks, captains and crew must have gone through. Let's hope we always remember the sacrifice that was made so we can avoid doing it again.

We've also dived a few other sites - beautiful coral reefs and a first for me: lake diving. Although it's only separated from the sea by a few metres, I've never had to climb up stairs before to get to a dive! The lake is a really interesting phenomena - it's brackish water and completely different temperatures in different layers. The highest reading I had was 38Celsius! Probably a good place to do a naked dive... Anyway spectacular scenery, interesting fish and something I hope we'll get another chance to do. 

Petrina and Madara swimming in 'Twin Lagoon' - again, a mixture of salt and freshwater. If you snorkel just below the surface you can see the difference in the layers, and also feel the temperature range. 

 We had fun kayaking through the opening - a very narrow gap (you had to get completely inside the kayak and keep your head ducked in to avoid scraping your face off). 

 On the boat, we're celebrating Christmas in a quieter way than usual - no big dinner, heaps of presents or going out to Christmas parties. My Christmas present to everyone else is a day of hard labour - the money that would have bought presents for the girls and Brian has gone towards books, toys, clothes, materials for building and everything else we need to help this family rebuild their house after Yolanda completely flattened it. There are seven kids in the family (and one more on the way) and they're desperate for help. The father earns only 225 pesos a day (4000 pesos is around $100USD) - the kids haven't been attending school because they literally don't have clothes to go in. Despite this, they are a loving, beautiful family with smiles for everyone they meet. We are asking all of our local friends to come and help out too - not that the community needs any encouragement from us to pull together and work as a team. Everyday we see countless examples of people pulling together and lifting a fallen tree from someone's house, or replacing basketball hoops in the local high school's court. The way this community comes together to help others when most of them have nothing by our standards is a very positive, powerful example of the beauty of human nature. This Christmas is going to be everything it shouldn't: hot, tired, dirty, hard work - but perhaps the most meaningful I've ever had.  

We've been spending the evenings making decorations for our little Christmas tree - it's got lights now and is starting to look very sweet in the corner. We're having fun making the wierdest decorations possible. A strong sea theme is emerging - not surprising based on the available materials in this environment. It's also great to show our appreciation of the sea which supports us on the boat - literally - and also our lifestyle of travel, diving, snorkeling, kayaking and swimming in the many seas we've sailed in this year. 

We'd all like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year - lots of love from everyone aboard Furthur. I'd also like to say thanks to everyone that has made the last year as fantastic as it's been - families real and adopted, past and present crew, old and new friends discovered and re-discovered in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. Wishing you all a great 2014 with lots of love. 

Crew supermarket shopping challenge in Puerto - who can make the best outfit