So, this is a bit of a side trip, I left the bike back in Cairns. This is a trip so I can get some teeth work done, cheaper than Oz.

A small stopover in Port Moresby before arriving in Manilla, early evening Tuesday 5th August. Our dentist chap, Alan, picked us up from the airport and took us to our Hotel, just up the road from the clinic. The we went out on the town, as you do, a late night of course 🙂

It turns out I am glad I left the bike at home, the road rules are there, just not sure what they are??

The cars are everywhere and if your horn or lights don’t work, you will have buckly’s chance of riding around here with a big bike, time for a Stebal air horn I feel

Ergon Energy would have a field day here lol!

After a few days of teething, we took a day off and headed to Corregidor Island for a day trip, this is a small Island that protected Manilla harbour during the wars and was in a very strategic position. It was a great day and very interesting.

Dragon boat training

A nice outrigged fast cruiser, very nice 🙂

Our tour guide, Carlos

The barracks and some of the different gun batterys

The top of the Island where the yanks dropped in and tricked the japs

In this map you can see a small inset at bottom left. In that you can see the Island right in the middle of two penisulars of Manilla bay, the top one is Bataan Peninsular, of the infamous Bataan death march fame, only 2 miles from the Island

And this is a view of Bataan from an old Spanish lighthouse

Then we had a light and soundshow inside Malinta Tunnel which was a storage area and then a hospital, lots of side tunnels, but the main one was big.

And finally we escaped from the tunnel

An excellent day and Carlos was a great guide, very funny.

Next day a bit of decadance, pedicure and manicure
And haircuts for those that needed them, as you can all guess, I skipped this part, being folically challanged 🙂

I could not find my virginity but I did find the box it came in and only 130 pesos, which is about 3 bucks 🙂

I was intrigued by this sign, it looked bad but not for anything major, I found out you cannot dump rubbish here at all, or else!!

Our local pub, one where we were not constantly bombarded by hawkers and bar girls, this place was cheap pleasent and very relaxing, and had beer and rhum , that is not a spelling mistake and excellent service, it is called the Woodmans Head, it is down there on the right just before the 7/11

And later when we left, the sun was down, how strange 🙂

This is a picture of the Osmond Family, Aussie style, all flashing our brand new fangs, and Al the dentist on the right.

And lovely Michelle, one of the pubs waitresses

And that concluded the first week, all teeth were done, but we would need to get a quick checkup prior to leaving the country the following week. Our plan was to now head out and take a boat to a resort Island. This involved an early start and I saw my very first car accident, right in the driveway of our hotel

We took a long taxi ride for about 2 hours, taxis are cheap, but petrol isn’t go figure? The way they do Taxis over here only accounts for distance, not time, so because of all the traffic jams, you are not wasting money, but the car is wasting fuel. The taxi drivers rent the cab for the day and pay a flat rate of around $30AU, then keep whatever they make for the day.

We got to Batangas and hopped on an outrigger taxi boat, they hold about 80/100 passengers and are all over the place between all the Islands, of which there are about 7000+

Our Captain

It pissed down with rain and we had lightning strikes hitting the water within a few hundred meters of where we were sailing, I tried to get a photo of one but dipped out

We arrived about an hour and a half later at a place called Sabang That link will give you a better idea than what I could describe in the time I have available.

After a bit of back and forth we managed to get some rooms at the Seashore resort, at $20 a night, great views, great beer and food prices and taste and the service was excellent, we lucked in I think 😉

We hired some bikes one day, XR200s and as you can see, ATGATT free, the skid lids are plastic, old ice cream containers by the looks , they may stop a bit of gravel rash, not much else.

We took some hairy roads up to a waterfall, crazy drivers with loud horns, my bikes horn was buggered, unfair!

One real bad track led to this secluded bay where we stopped for another beer

Ther trees are looked after here

But the roads are a bit underdone 🙂

Some of it is OK

It rained on and off all day, so a combination of no safety gear, unknown roads, beer and bad roads in the rain lead to what? Well, nothing really, surprisingly none of us had a bingle at all, we got a bit sloppy in some of the soft sand though 🙂 Here are some action shots

The we arrived at the Ponderosa Golf Club where had a great view and some great beers. My dad would love this 9 hole golf course, except it is nearly vertical and lots of climbing, a 2000ft par 1, straight down, LOLOLOL 🙂

The we repaired to the Yacht Club,after a few wrong turns, no map and no navigation skills

The we went to Puerto Galera, or the Port of Galleons where a Spanish Armada actually anchored with hundreds of boats

The onto another place called White Sands resort where we had a beer, surprise before heading back

That concludes this episode, it may be added to, in a few days or so.

Cheers
TravellingStrom
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