I'll do my best to make up for lost time. I'm a bit braindead at the moment but have both free internet and time to kill so will do my best with what I have. At 4:30am yesterday, I woke up in Bohol, Philippines. A bit past 5am, a fellow traveler and I joined a 3 hour, very SLOW boat ride to Oslob, the place we'd been trying to locate for several days.
We knew that we were in whaleshark migration season and through some research determined that Bohol would be a good place to get some beach time and whaleshark swimming. Upon arrival in Oslob, we were helped ashore and ushered to a payment table. Naturally, we thought that we HAD paid. The payment we made for "whaleshark tour," was just for the ride across the water. We paid again for the actual swim, a bit more for some fins/masks, some more safe storage of our things and we were ready to go.
A small outrigger canoe-type (similar in stlye, smaller in size to the one we took across the water) picked us up an took us 40 meters to shore where we saw the first of many whalesharks. Abiding be the rules not to touch, ride or otherwise contact the beasts, we got the experience we'd paid for. Roughly a dozen swimmers twisted, turned and photographed all around the baby (ONLY about 25 feet long) whalesharks as locals fed buckets of krill directly into the gaping mouths of the animals. Underwater, one could hear the faint sound of bells and clicks as the handlers maintained the Pavlovian relationship that helped to build the attraction.
By later morning, the whalesharks would go to deeper water to live their normal lives, only to return for their breakfast with tourists. For some reason, I had the impression that we would take boats into the natural migratory path of whale sharks. We would put our faith in the skills of whaleshark trackers who would locate and follow them. At the right moment, we would be allowed to jump in and swim alongside the majestic animals as they continued toward their next home. Either way, it was pretty cool to swim with a giant whaleshark; seeing the suction created as it inhaled bucket after bucket while simultaneously spewing any excess via undulating gills the schools of tropical fish that surrounded. I also can't help to be a bit happy that each step along the tourist trap trail got a bit of the take. While I like to place myself more on the traveler side of the traveler-tourist spetrum, there is no doubt that certain events or activities will appeal to me.
An example of my traveler side is the bus ride that I took immediately following my snorkeling adventure. Slowly drying off, I sat in a bamboo bus terminal with three men as they chatted away. I was nearly dry when the bus arrived and paid the equivalent of $3.50 for a 3-hour, 150km coastal ride. Thirty minutes in, I was joined by a friendly man who quickly sparked up a conversation. The man was 82-years old and spoke at length about his experiences in the US. Having noticed my favorite moringa trees in the yard of nearly every home we passed, I couldn't help but ask what it was called and how it was used in the area. Muringue (best guess at spelling), was recommended by health experts and helps supplement the diets of communities on Cebu. We asked each other questions, talked politics a bit and eventually fell asleep. I learned that a daily wage on Cebu (one of the southern islands of the Philippines) for basic work is roughly 250 pesos per day (40 pesos to the dollar). Many families have 4-5 children and support themselves by fishing or unskilled jobs.
The man told me about the growing drug problem in Cebu. After asking me if the US had legalized drugs, he said that youth are spending 150 pesos to buy one (insert snorting action he made) for a drug that makes them feel like they're in heaven. He talked about how the drug came from China and is causing increased violence (I think heroin?). We talked about the common practice of western men moving to the Philippines, marrying young, uneducated filipinas and living like kings. Neither of us like the idea much, though we can see the appeal for each party. He pointed out several cliffside mansions owned by Americans, asking if I thought Obama would be re-elected. I let him in on the news update and listened as he proudly played a few 50s songs from his wireless Mp3 speaker. We both complained about body pains after napping (I felt way too much kinship with a man more than 50 years my senior) and he went on his way.
My day continued through horrendous Cebu City traffic to the airport. A delayed one-hour flight to Manila, a 3-hour layover and a 3.5 hour flight to Singapore got me here at 1am. Some 2am McDonalds and a decent floor sleep have brought me to this 7:30am post. I'm still salty (physically) from my swim with the whalesharks nearly 24 hours ago and won't be in Bangkok for another 7 hours (sorry plane neighbors). Though these days stress me out at times, a free blood pressure test in Cebu City confirmed that I'm solidly at 110/80. I'll update on Hong Kong, other Philippine adventures and my next plans soon. Perhaps within an hour or so as I have plenty of time to kill.
Photos will be added at some point.
We knew that we were in whaleshark migration season and through some research determined that Bohol would be a good place to get some beach time and whaleshark swimming. Upon arrival in Oslob, we were helped ashore and ushered to a payment table. Naturally, we thought that we HAD paid. The payment we made for "whaleshark tour," was just for the ride across the water. We paid again for the actual swim, a bit more for some fins/masks, some more safe storage of our things and we were ready to go.
A small outrigger canoe-type (similar in stlye, smaller in size to the one we took across the water) picked us up an took us 40 meters to shore where we saw the first of many whalesharks. Abiding be the rules not to touch, ride or otherwise contact the beasts, we got the experience we'd paid for. Roughly a dozen swimmers twisted, turned and photographed all around the baby (ONLY about 25 feet long) whalesharks as locals fed buckets of krill directly into the gaping mouths of the animals. Underwater, one could hear the faint sound of bells and clicks as the handlers maintained the Pavlovian relationship that helped to build the attraction.
By later morning, the whalesharks would go to deeper water to live their normal lives, only to return for their breakfast with tourists. For some reason, I had the impression that we would take boats into the natural migratory path of whale sharks. We would put our faith in the skills of whaleshark trackers who would locate and follow them. At the right moment, we would be allowed to jump in and swim alongside the majestic animals as they continued toward their next home. Either way, it was pretty cool to swim with a giant whaleshark; seeing the suction created as it inhaled bucket after bucket while simultaneously spewing any excess via undulating gills the schools of tropical fish that surrounded. I also can't help to be a bit happy that each step along the tourist trap trail got a bit of the take. While I like to place myself more on the traveler side of the traveler-tourist spetrum, there is no doubt that certain events or activities will appeal to me.
An example of my traveler side is the bus ride that I took immediately following my snorkeling adventure. Slowly drying off, I sat in a bamboo bus terminal with three men as they chatted away. I was nearly dry when the bus arrived and paid the equivalent of $3.50 for a 3-hour, 150km coastal ride. Thirty minutes in, I was joined by a friendly man who quickly sparked up a conversation. The man was 82-years old and spoke at length about his experiences in the US. Having noticed my favorite moringa trees in the yard of nearly every home we passed, I couldn't help but ask what it was called and how it was used in the area. Muringue (best guess at spelling), was recommended by health experts and helps supplement the diets of communities on Cebu. We asked each other questions, talked politics a bit and eventually fell asleep. I learned that a daily wage on Cebu (one of the southern islands of the Philippines) for basic work is roughly 250 pesos per day (40 pesos to the dollar). Many families have 4-5 children and support themselves by fishing or unskilled jobs.
The man told me about the growing drug problem in Cebu. After asking me if the US had legalized drugs, he said that youth are spending 150 pesos to buy one (insert snorting action he made) for a drug that makes them feel like they're in heaven. He talked about how the drug came from China and is causing increased violence (I think heroin?). We talked about the common practice of western men moving to the Philippines, marrying young, uneducated filipinas and living like kings. Neither of us like the idea much, though we can see the appeal for each party. He pointed out several cliffside mansions owned by Americans, asking if I thought Obama would be re-elected. I let him in on the news update and listened as he proudly played a few 50s songs from his wireless Mp3 speaker. We both complained about body pains after napping (I felt way too much kinship with a man more than 50 years my senior) and he went on his way.
My day continued through horrendous Cebu City traffic to the airport. A delayed one-hour flight to Manila, a 3-hour layover and a 3.5 hour flight to Singapore got me here at 1am. Some 2am McDonalds and a decent floor sleep have brought me to this 7:30am post. I'm still salty (physically) from my swim with the whalesharks nearly 24 hours ago and won't be in Bangkok for another 7 hours (sorry plane neighbors). Though these days stress me out at times, a free blood pressure test in Cebu City confirmed that I'm solidly at 110/80. I'll update on Hong Kong, other Philippine adventures and my next plans soon. Perhaps within an hour or so as I have plenty of time to kill.
Photos will be added at some point.
