NAGA TO MANILA - PHILIPPINES

Naga was the next stop on the way to Manila and the weather was getting worse the further north I went. The capital had been hit by massive flooding and I was catching the bottom end of it. I did however meet a few people in the accommodation and we had a night out at a local pool hall. I also found a bar owned by an English person, the first one I had spoken to for weeks.

Returning back to the hotel one evening to find my room ankle deep in water was horrible. The fact I was on the second floor and that's just what had dripped through the roof gives a good idea of how bad it was. The water had come through right next to where my laptop was charging up and completely ruined it. I did later attempt to get it fixed in Taiwan but they wanted more money to fix it than the thing cost in the first place!!!!!!!!

I was not in the best of moods after that, the hotel owner just moved me to a different room with no sorry or anything like that. After drying my clothes and having a scare with my camera I headed out to Mt Isarog national park. The bad weather cut short the day out and none of the pictures I taken turned out very well.

I had another day checking out Daet and the nearby surfers spot of Bagabas. I hoped to find somewhere a bit more lively but everywhere on that seafront seemed to be boarded up and closed down.....the place was empty!!!!!!


The final stop before Manila was the town of San Pablo next to a scenic lake. As with a lot of places in the country it was cheap, in walking distance to the town and the locals were very friendly.

What was missing again was a few other people to go on daytrips with and to talk to at night. It was at this point that I made up my mind to leave the Philippines and head for Taiwan. Nothing wrong with the country but it was at the wrong time of year to be there. At the time of writing it's a country I would like to go back to.

Last bus ride and last stop was Manila and it was as horrible as everyone told me it was. I got a bit lost on arrival and got a few funny looks of groups of local youths. The taxi driver told me to lock the door going through one area which worried me a bit.

I done Manila the right way, got to my accommodation near the airport in the afternoon, left it only to buy a bottle of water. The sight of loads of homeless kids and beggers was awful. Spent the evening talking to an Australian who had done the whole country by motorbike then left for the airport first thing the following morning!!!!!!!