Nuttter and Groovespook go Philippine island hopping - Groovespook
From June 30 till August 3 2010 we will be back-packing the fantastical, tropical, untamed, 7000 island archepeligo of the Philipinnes.

NOT YET! NOT YET!
West Orange, United States
Hello there,
In the tradition that brought you Nuttter' s S.E Asia trip, Nuttter and I are about to embark on a 3 week strole through the Philippines. Journeying randomly through the major islands of the Philippines and taking in some of the awesome spectacles. Soaking up the tropical sun, snorkeling over coral reefs, boating around uninhabited islands and through 8 km long subtereanean rivers, drinking 25 cent beers and probably squeezing in a 90 minute $10US massage or 6.
Nuttter leaves on the 30th and I fly out on the 10th of July where we will rendezvous in Manilla.
written by  Groovespook on June 23, 2010 from West Orange, United States
from the travel blog: Nuttter and Groovespook go Philippine island hopping

Nuttter heads out today!
Newark, United States
So I, Groovespook, am about to assist my angelic and slightly nervous (remember this is the woman who back-packed Thailand, Cambodia and Laos last year before getting all soppy and sympathetic) Nuttter to the airport. In about ten minutes.
So the blog is officially starting now. We have had a tonne of well wishes from friends and family and are getting super excited. Well, I am not SUPER excited yet, but I am sure once Nuttter gets of the plane in Manilla, in about 24 hours time, she will be.
YAY!
Stay tuned.
Groovespook.
written by  Groovespook on June 30, 2010 from Newark, United States
from the travel blog: Nuttter and Groovespook go Philippine island hopping

Nuttter - safe and sound in Manila
Manila, Philippines
NUTTTER IS IN THE Philippines:
So I got word last night, which was the next morning for Nuttter (12 hours ahead), that all is well. An uneventful flight with only minimal amounts of bawling child over a 12 hour period at 38000 feet.
No issues with the expected taxi-scam-nightmare of Manila (thanks to a hotel shuttle bus). A quick clean out of the air-conditioner filters in the hotel room ensured a good nights sleep and now Nuttter sets off, in a wandering-no-set-agenda kind of gait for Naga City.
GROOVESPOOK AT HOME:
Has not made the bed... again.
Has almost finished consuming all perishables in the House.
Watched The Fifth Element... again.
Till next time!
Groovespook
written by  Groovespook on July 2, 2010 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Nuttter and Groovespook go Philippine island hopping

Nuttter: The first few steps
Sorsogon, Philippines
NUTTTER:
The Philippines and I got off to a rough start. But then my first impression was Manila after all. Manila is a distant relative to New York City. The relative who shoots up heroin, doesn't shower and just doesn't give a shit. It was crowded, polluted, noisy and just plain grimy. There were just as many buildings being constructed as there were dilapidated structures. I just wasn't in the mood for it. So, I left.
I arrived late Thursday night and by Friday afternoon I was on a plane to Naga in South Luzon. The area is known for its mountains. Sadly, Naga and I didn't get along too well, either. I had a terrific and inspiring chat on the plane ride over with a young man who grew up in Naga and was returning to visit family. He also, it turned out, used to work as a guide on treks through the mountain. He told me I could do a one-day hike easily. Unfortunately, when I went to speak with the guy who arranges such things he said that wasn't doable. He sketched out a map and told me how I could get near the mountain and do some jungle trek, but it involved taking a bus, then a motorbike, then finding a guide, then timing the return so I didn't miss the last bus. I couldn't be bothered. So I left. (Sense a theme here?)
I took a bus bound south for Legazpi. It's known for the looming, perfectly conical volcano. And it is a sight. It's breathtaking. But I was seeking a smaller town vibe. (While Naga was smaller than Manilla, it didn't feel that way with streets choked with traffic and pedestrians and major exhaust fumes). Legazpi had similar potential. So, just before I arrived to Legazpi, I transferred to another bus and headed further south to Sorsogon. I'm happy I did. It's a one-main road type of place. Granted there's still a buzz of traffic but it doesn't seem as claustrophobic. And the drive there was fantastic. The concrete buildings slipped away and were replaced by papaya trees, gorgeous blue waters, patches of rice fields and limestone covered mountains. And, I just found out, the place I am staying at has managed to track down a mountain bike for me to ride tomorrow.
So, it's all good. Well, until I get lost that is.
As for the Philippines, I'm finally getting into the rhythm of it. I'd forgotten how unsettling the staring can be here (there's no way to blend when you are white, tall and a solo female). That part sucks, but everyone has been very nice and kind. Most people speak English (some very well and some not so much). There's definitely a difference in culture here compared to Laos. In Laos, the people are very modest and reserved. Clothing that covers the shoulders and goes as low as the knees are required. Here, men wrap or tie their shirts above their navels. Sadly, it seems to be only men who look like they are six months pregnant. And why do they do this? Because it's HOT here. You know it's hot when even the locals carry around washcloths to wipe the sweat from their upper lip and brows. And they do their best to avoid the sun by covering their heads with umbrellas or whatever else comes in handy.
I'm hopeful my body will get used to the heat soon and I won't feel like I'm walking around in 90-degree weather with a wool blanket wrapped around me!
GROOVESPOOK:
90-degree weather? PAH! I say, it's 90-degrees here too, only I am pushing a lawn mower over my straw-like lawn instead of a mountain bike through a glistening rain-forest. PAH! Again.
written by  Groovespook on July 3, 2010 from Sorsogon, Philippines

A Viscious Cycle.
Sorsogon, Philippines
NUTTTER:
Yesterday was a day of what was I thinking? I rented a mountain bike and was drawn a map of a route to take. The entire loop would be about 60 miles. Given I haven't ridden a bike in quite some time, I decided to turn back when I reached a particular sightseeing point. My goal was also to be back before it got too hot. Ideally, before 1.
Things didn't go as planned. I left at 8:30 and returned a very tired and roasted woman at 3:30. While the ride provided stunning scenery: papaya trees, mountains encircled by clouds, stunning blue waters and fairly empty roads, it was exhausting both physically and mentally. I reached the midway point of my ride around 10:30. I pulled off to stock up on bottled water and ended up chatting with a lovely family. Imelda is a mom of two, Kenneth and MaryGrace. She talked Kenneth, who is studying to be a nurse, to show me some magic tricks. He was amazing!!! I wish I could have recorded it. We ended up chatting for about 30 or so minutes and it was a nice break. It turns out Imelda lives in the town I'm staying in. She even offered me a ride back in her van if I was too tired and she wrote down her cell phone for me. I cycled onwards until reaching the beach area. There were several unmanned wooden catamarans along the beach, half of them dipping into the blue-green waters. It was quite a stunning place. The water was so warm. I dipped my feet and then noticed a middle-aged man had appeared near my bike and bag. I went over and we chatted for a bit. He, too, offered me a ride home. He invited me to his house on the beach for some coconut milk and to avoid the midday sun and to hang with his family, but my danger-stranger instinct was buzzing and I politely declined. He seemed nice enough, don't get me wrong. But I just felt weird about it and was leaning toward taking Imelda up on her offer.
As I cycled back, I knew I was beat. I was looking forward to putting my ego aside and accept Imelda's offer. But I'm fairly certain I rode right past her van without seeing it. I kept telling myself it was just around the next bend, the next hill, but after an hour had passed, I knew I had missed it. So, I sucked it up (and had some Gu thank goodness for that!) and cycled the whole way back. The heat was brutal. It was like cycling in an oven. I took lots of stops in the shade. During one break, a pedestrian struck up a conversation with me. He asked the usual questions: Where are you from? How long have you been here? How long will you stay? Where are you going? Are you traveling alone? He also asked me my age (not uncommon here to get asked that). I told him to guess and he said 13, then 20. Hmmmmm, my guess is he's not too good with the numbers. It was a pleasant conversation and gave me the break I needed. And while I had sunblock with me and did reply -- I swear I did -- but this morning, I awoke to sunburnt shoulders, hands and face. Ouch!
Needless to say, I opted to take it easy today. A hard thing for me to do -- I always feel the urge to keep going and exploring and doing. But after what I put my body through, I have to give it a day of rest. It's the least I can do!
GROOVESPOOK:
One of my molars fell out.
written by  Groovespook on July 4, 2010 from Sorsogon, Philippines

Ferried About.
Davao, Philippines
NUTTTER:
And so following my crazy day of cycling in the heat for far too long and becoming crispy I gave myself a day to rest. The following day was a travel day.....a very long one. I left Sorsogon feeling energized and peppy. I got the 6:30 jeepny (very artistic open air long vehicles) to Matnog, the tip of the island I was on. After that scenic and bumpy journey I got onto a ferry to cross over to Samar, another island. Unfortunately the Davao ferry didn't leave for two hours. After the two-hour ferry ride I climbed aboard a very packed non-air conditioned bus. I sat shoulder to shoulder in a three-seater. Fortunately it rained so it wasn't too hot. But it was slow going on the roads as we had to stop whenever large vehicles came our way to let them pass. It was a scenic ride with water on either side at times. And a strange ride with the chirps of a chick and the loud sounds of a rooster coming from the bus. Because it was a regular bus this meant it stopped frequently. I did not arrive to my destination until 6. What time did I leave again. Needless to say my brain and body were fried and I spent yesterday recouping as best as I could.
GROOVESPOOK:
Dentist glued tooth back in, watched The Dark Crystal, had a beer.
written by  Groovespook on July 7, 2010 from Davao, Philippines

Air Supply in the Phillippines
Liloan, Philippines
Horses. I saw horses surrounded by lush greenery, eating and in the middle of nowhere. Free. It nearly made me weep. Nearly. And so I feel I am officially in the Philippines. The past couple of days have been a bit of a haze for me. It's been hard to get inspired and I'm not sure why. The heat? The effects of a long travel day or long bike ride? I'm not sure. But today I feel like it all clicked into place. A rhythm if you will. I left Catablogan this morning, taking a min-van for two hours and change to Taclobgon. It looked like a town with some charm (I use that word lightly) as most towns I've been in have been void of any personality (and full of pollution from all the vehicles). From there, I took a tricycle (it's basically a moped with a sidecar attached, quite fun to ride in) to the bus station. Found the van I needed for my next stop, got in and then....waited. Often the vehicles here will wait until they are full before leaving. Fortunately it only took 90 minutes before we were on the way. I also lucked out as I was able to secure a seat in the front, in the middle with a view of the road. I did not have this option on my first van ride. I was in the second row from the back, next to the window. And while we passed amazing views, I only caught glimpses as there was a large "Air Supply is performing in the Philippines" poster blocking my view. And the road twisted quite a bit. The man in front of me took out a small bottle and started sniffing it. I knew that trick all too well. Peppermint for travel sickness. You know it's bad when the locals are struggling.
On my second van ride, I was fortunate enough to sit next to a nice Filippino guy. His English was very good and we chatted the whole way. He was great and my only regret is I didn't give him my contact info as he is planning to be in NYC later this year. He is a seaman (he he he) and travels on the seas for long stretches of time. He was coming home from one of this trips. We talked about the local culture, politics, the land, etc. It really was a pleasant time. And it's the longest conversation I've had in a week! When we got to his final stop, I jumped off to use the Comfort Room (ie bathroom) and he paid for my entrance fee. He has three older sisters and they raised him well!
After he got off, I continued on for another 45 minutes. I could have gotten on a ferry that was leaving in 30 minutes. It would have been a three-hour ride, but I opted to spend the night in town and take the ferry (6 am) tomorrow. From there, I plan to take another ferry to an island I am trying to reach. The town I'm staying in is very small. And the room is definitely one of the cheapest I've stayed in. It's about $5 and it's very, VERY bare bones. I'll spare you the details. I've been spoiled by air-con rooms with bathroom towels and televisions. Needless to say, I have no doubt I'll be getting in early night's sleep! Not much to do!
Aside from a couple in Manila and another couple in Naga (only at the aiport), I have been the only tourist I have come across. The. Only. One. I am a walking freak show (or at least that's what it feels like some days). Without fail, people will stop and stare once they notice me. Conversations will end abruptly, something will be said to someone who hasn't noticed me and then all eyes are on me. Imagine walking into a restaurant and Every Single Person starting at you and continuing to glance over at you while you are there. I have to say it's been a bit exhausting at times mentally. I keep trying to imagine I'm some famous person and this is what happens when you are well-known, but it doesn't stick. Having said all of this, the people here really are very nice. They really go out of their way to make sure you are okay, have an answer, know where you are going.
Today, when I arrived in this small town Liloan, I asked the guy running the place if he knew what time the ferry left in the morning. He doesn't understand English. So, I went downtairs and asked two guys working a pawn shop (as you do). They translated my question to the hotel guy and he walked over to some people to find out. When he came back and said 6 a.m. and it would take five hours, I asked if there was a faster boat. The pawn shop workers and the hotel guy got a local to go on his bike to the ferry terminal to find out! Seriously. He came back in about five minutes with the news. 6 a.m., a three-hour ride and he even knew how much it would cost. So, even though I loathe the staring, they are a very nice bunch of people.
Miss you all and send me an email when you can. I might not have Internet access too often, but it's always good to hear from you!
Went to the Franklin Tavern Blues Jam.
written by  Groovespook on July 8, 2010 from Liloan, Philippines

I have arrived (Alert the media! - oh, I am the media)
Malate, Philippines
Buses for 3 hours, Ferries for 4, then another bus for 6 hours. (From dispatches)
Groovespook:
So I got to Manila after a fairly painless but far-too-long mixture of airports, alcohol and airplanes and alcohol. Flying is a 24 passport to drinking in The Book of Porl. Negotiated my way to the hotel in Malate, threw my bags in the room and went straight down to the bustling, dirt, half constructed, cutlure-shock of the streets. Found a bar that was more like a bar than a strip club - which was difficult, not because I wanted to go to a strip club, just because nearly ALL the bars are strip clubs - and sat quietly in a corner with my first Red Horse beer and watched the Philippino underworld go by.
After a few minutes I was beckoned to the table near me by three lads, college kids areound 20 years old. They were incredibly happy and had already had a large sampling of my new favorite (despite my headache this morning) beer, The RED HORSE.
They precceded to buy me 5 of them (I didnt complain much as they were US .75 each) as I enthralled them with my exotic upbringing. Then they thanked me for making their lives interesting - hey, this was their own words - and told me of their aspirations to go out and see "The England".
Woke up early and walked down through the only slightly fecaly-infused streets to the bay. Actually I am not completely convinced that it is a bay and not just a water-logged refuse tip. It was pretty filthy.
Now I have 6 hours to kill before my flight to Davao and to the loving arms of my Nuttter!
written by  Groovespook on July 11, 2010 from Malate, Philippines

Devilish Deviations in Davao
Davao, Philippines
NUTTTER: Is asleep
Groovespook:
The flight from Manila to Davao was uneventful, hell, flights always are aren't they?(attempts at jetsetter malaise). Oh, aside from the monumental Cumuli Nimbus I flew through that is.
Finally arrived at the Ponce Suites in Davao after a harrowing cab ride through insane slums mixed with the odd fancy house and saw my pretty princess for the first time in a number of days and the glow of love extended once more to envelope the both of us.
Then Nuttter mentioned (again - thanks to Raph) the Camp Sabros ZIP LINE EXTRAVAGANZA!!!
So off we went!
The journey to Camp Sabros featured local jeepneys trough bustling downtown Davao, a bus through tropical landscapes of breathtaking beauty, a motorbike turned into a five-seater minivan with intricately welded steal, and,finally, an old motorbike.The details of THAT ride I am leaving to the pen of Nuttter.
After all these modes of transport, it was our feet that traversed the last mile of washed-out dirt track to Camp Sabros. Nestled amongst the rain forest and pine trees commanding spectacular views of Mt. Apoand the surrounding valleys we trudged up to five young Filipppino lads , all incapable of understanding any English. Hand gestures (nice ones people) led up to the main camp administration and we (read: Nuttter) negotiated our zipline options.
We went with the 400 meter tandem followed by a whopping 830 meter solo. 400 pesos each. That's less than $10. Yeah.
I have video of our tandem ride which describes it, not only visually but-thanks to Nuttter's amazing ability to verbalize emotion--orally too but, being in the middle of nowhere in an internet cafe designed specifically NOT for people like me with USB HD video footage (Just crashed my second computer), you will not be able to see it, possibly for 3 weeks. sorry.
The solo one, as most of you can can only imagine, was like being suspended in time as this dream sequence of flying was realized. One of the most invigorating experiences I have ever had without doubt. Slowly gaining speed as the forest below dropped further and further away, the whir and hum of the harness above you increasing as the humid air refreshes and streams through your very soul. I felt my whole being open and release all fear as I ran through the various thoughts that I think all zipliners must have:
1. The Superman, complete with gestures of course!
2. The Airplane.
3. The Dream. Nutter referred to this one as The Twilight bit.
4. The Abandon. All care, fear and wordly thoughts get flushed from you.
5. The Panic.
After what seems like a minute of four, one looks up to realize that the ground and a large metallic structure is very, very quickly becoming your only concern. It is at the moment just slightly past your idea of when you can possibly safely stop without becoming part of this metal structure that you are yanked back to reality and then smoothly come to a halt in the arms of a disinterested and nervous young Filippino boy, who is more interested in getting you out of his way than hugging you and laughing and crying at the same time, which was my initial want when he unhitched me. Thankfully Nuttter, who went first, was able to attend to that!!
After a 7.5 hour bus ride through dense tropical madness on roads still being finished (or is it begun?) by people who clearly look like they have no business building roads, we are at last still. In Cagayun. A ferry to Camigun island awaits tomorrow morn, where we will spend 2 to 3 days ( if I can convince that mad Nuttter to sit still that is!)
love to all!
written by  Groovespook on July 14, 2010 from Davao, Philippines

Hop, skip, jump!
Bohol, Philippines
Hello all, Unfortunately, the internet access here is so incredibly lame that it is impossible to A. find a place suitable to sit in for an hour, and B. find anywhere were we can upload the fantastic blog entries that we have painstakingly typed into out iTouches.
So anyway, here is a brief run down of the last few days and believe me, I WISH I could fully convey what we have been doing and how surreal this life is right now!
From Davao and the Zip Line madness we took a seven and a half hour bus trek across Mindanao Island to CDO ( trust me, it is easier to say it that way) and stayed one night there before getting on another bus in order to get a ferry to Camiguim Island, then another small Jeepny to Seascape, a hostel with bungalows on the black sand beach. Really lovely.
We hired mountain bikes the next day and nearly killed ourselves cycling to a fantastic waterfall, deep in the forest and, as we found out, up increasingly steeper and steeper hills. I honestly have never exerted myself more than that day. But diving into that icy fresh water was incredible.
Then again, more Jeenpys and buses and ferries and motorbikes - yes, Maria, and I and a driver on a small 250cc motorbike WITH OUR BACKPACKS and no helmets in sight, careening through winding roads through tropical forests. I was sitting at the very back, on the handle normally reserved for the passenger. When we got to our destination, NutsHuts, it was another 750 meters down a dirt road. I N S A N E !
NutsHuts though is beyond description, we have another large bungalow nestled in rain forest next to an opal green river. There is a main hut with a restaurant that is up around 300 steps from us, and THAT is halfway up the gorge before we get to the 750 meter long dirt track that takes us to the road.
Tomorrow we are going to hike up the other side of the gorge and go to the BAT CAVES!!! (Well, I am going into the bat caves anyway)
Today we motorbiked all over Bohol and visited the Chocolate Hills, a geological anomaly (I blame the Aliens of course - testing sound based weapons about 3000 years ago) and then a butterfly farm.
Anyway, I have no water left in my body and we have to leave this closet filled with people and computers and eat somewhere, who knows, maybe the floating restaurant the tools up the river, maybe back to the cabin and the local delicacies.
Love you all and sorry we are incapable of contact and awesome stories as much as we would like.
Rest assured we are having a fantastic time. The Filipino people LOVE us, and us them!!!
written by  Groovespook on July 17, 2010 from Bohol, Philippines

Loboc - unexpigated!
Bohol, Philippines
So go figure. We are on a ferry to Cebu with the first wi-fi access yet that we have found so I can paste the blog I tapped into the iTouch a few days ago.
to even attempt to describe a quarter of the last few days of my life in the Philipinnes would take most of the storage capacity of Blogabond so I will try to compact what my eyes have seen and what my body has managed to accomplish, just at Camaguin Island.
The ferry from CDO to Camaguin was really awesome. Thanks to the jumbo sized Red Horse and a stunningly beautiful day.
Then the ferry landed and again the nightmare (for me) of getting to the next place loomed once more.
I am slowly getting used to the utter culture shock of getting off any type of transport and being accosted by thirty or so Filipinno drivers of various modes of transport. Thankfully at this point Nuttter brilliantly manages to not only explain where we need to go but how much it it SUPPOSED to cost.  I cower like an utter whimp at this stage of our travels and pretty much dread every minute of it.  My head says "we are literaly thousand of miles from anything remotely familiar and Western and could very well be dinner for these people" were it not for their smiles and good nature that is!
So we get to our hut, meet the obligitory gecko ( if there is NOT one in your room then worry about bugs) and whatch the sun set over the sea on our balcony through palm trunks.
Sucks here.
The next morning we hired mountain bikes and headed for Enigmata, a treehouse art gallery which we rode right past. Twice. In blistering tropical heat. Needless to say it was pretty amazing.  We then (foolishly, we found out later) decided on capigsawan falls. Well, after a 4km ride/walk/stumble/pant up roads so steep that the tricycles were banned, we made it! Just as two German tourists with filipinno girlfiends/daughters/wives motorbiked up there too, arriving about three minutes before.
Our vision of a perfect and private visit shattered, we dipped nontheless into the icy. Fresh water.  After our sweltering ride, a ride that proved that my heart is still able to kick it like a caterpillar engine, diving into that water did make it stop.
Just for a second.
There is something to be said for gradual changes in body temperature. Wow. So then, miracle of miracles, the germans departed and we were alone.  This pristine waterfall, cascading down about 170 feet, soaking a shear volcanic rock wall infested with foliage that is hell bent on reclaiming  every inch of planet was just picture perfect. Then, as we were thinking of leaving, 28 screaming adolescant Koreans then proved this was a good move.
The mind bendingly arduous journey up, 2 hours that my body is still coming to terms with 2 DAYS LATER, took a magical 9 minutes to fly down.
The next day we jumped on another crazy motorbike filled wih Filipino school kids and jumped on a ferry to Bohol.
The same nightmare scenario of tribesman wanting my flesh to feed thier children got us on a bus that just dumped us on the corner of some street 5 kms from Loboc.  Then an enterprising Filipino named Ta Ta managed to fit us on the smallest motorbike ever and drove us to where I now sit sweating over my iTouch. No internet access again but never Mind. We are in a small hut by the river. This would be idilyc if not for the local tourist boards brilliant idea to place multi-colored spot lights all along the river for the floating restaurants, repleat with cheezy live entertainment, to tool up and down the river.  Lame. But sort of fun too.
Thankfully this is only during lunch so we do get the majority of time listening to nothing but forest and birds and insects. David Attenborough's second home.
written by  Groovespook on July 18, 2010 from Bohol, Philippines

Oh the pressure!
Dumaguete, Philippines
sorry, still no photos, uploading is just not done but hopefully soon!!!
Well, once again access to the wide web world has been completely non-existent over the last few days. Really though, it is a blessing. Forcefully discomnected  from everything makes these days longer and that much more intense.
From our ferry to Cebu we spent one night in a room the size of the average American kitchen pantry. Had a nice whole fish together in a pretty ugly, dirty city.  Got up and out as quickly as we could and took a twenty minute flight to Bacolod on Negros Island - another in the Visayas group.
Anyone who has flown like us to Australia and England will know just how fantastic a twenty minute long flight is. Tee hee hee, it is like cheating. You get up in the air, the captain says you can unfasten your seat belts and then - I kid you not - he says "prepare for landing".
From Bacolod it was an awesomely beautiful ride on another local bus to Sippalay through mountains and rice fields. The locals forcing these huge black bullocks with enormous horns over carefully irrigated fields to churn the mud for the hand-placed shoots of rice.
From the bus on the main road we took a tricycle to the sea and the outlet of a small river. We walked to the river's edge as more and more school children gathered around us, asking lots of questions and laughing at our alien entities.
We hailed the small outrigger and a sinewy, shirtless, smoking, mute of a Filipinno paddled us across the river for 20p (40 cents) to a beach nestled between two small forested mountains of molten rock. The sea has eroded a rim around these mountains that makes them look as though they are floating five feet above the earth.
We disembarked on the other side, walked through the gorge and beheld a pristine beach about half a mile or so long. Bordered on both ends by these awesome mountains and dotted with small boats. We wandered up the beach past a couple of small resorts to Driftwood Village.  We met Babe, the manager, she immediately introduced us to the staff and they all learnt our names. We checked into our cabin, ran down and had a swim in the warm sea and then spent 3 days totally relaxing. Well, when we were not taking part in volley ball games with the staff and other guests on the beach or being royally whipped playing pool tournaments at the beach bar, or just wandering and exploring the rocky bluff.
Driftwood Village really was the most fun we have had so far. It was hard to say goodbye.  What made it really hard to say goodbye was the promise of a whole day in transit and a MASSIVE HANGOVER.
So we couldnt get the bus we needed due to the high tide cutting off tricycles from the river so we walked in the hot sun with our packs on.
Waited for ages for a bus which only took us from Sippalay to Hinnoba-an where we had to wait two and a half hours for the next bus. During  that time we were serenaded by a hermit woman who could not really sing but had a fantastic impression of a homeless woman and we played a lot of cards.
The next bus dropped us at yet another terminal at Bayawan and a mad dash into another bus that we needed a shoe horn to get into. It then continued to pick up people until children hung from the open doors!
Unfortunately the next bus was not only a much longer trip but the bus driver was terrible! Then we got to the hotel and it was fully booked so we had to wander about and find another place to stay.
So we are finally here. If the weather suits we will take a day trip snorkelling to Apo island after the awesome Swiss couple from Driftwood told us it was the most amazing snorkelling in their nine months of travelling.  Then Sunday is off to Palawan Island for 7 days of more random huts on deserted beaches. Ho hum.
As always, we miss you all and are LOVING EVERY MINUTE!!
written by  Groovespook on July 23, 2010 from Dumaguete, Philippines

Nuttter speaks!
Dumaguete, Philippines
We just left what has been our favorite place to date. It was on the island of Negros on a quiet, beautiful beach known as Sugar Beach. The beach was lovely and the water was warm with just sand underfoot (no crunchy coral which tends to be more common). It was the perfect place. It had what I like to call the trifecta: good location, good people and good food. Staying at a place that meets all three of these things is not usually the norm!
It was just what we needed. We did a whole lot of nothing, ate well and recharged ourselves. We also met some great people. Most of that warm snuggly feeling was stripped away however by the time we reached our next destination, Dumaguete, a pleasant city (that is saying A LOT for the Philippines) some 5 hours away.
Traveling is never as easy as jumping on a bus and going. You usually have to take various forms of transport just to get to the bus and then, depending on the bus, there are stops galore. By the time we arrived into Dumagete, it was nearly 8 p.m. We left Sugar Beach at 11 a.m. Anyone doing the math? I said it's a five-hour ride from the two destinations. We left Sugar Beach by walking with packs on across the beach, taking a paddleboat, walking 1km in the heat and humidity (still with our packs on...and, by the way, both of mine are heavier than Porl's!). Then a tricycle to the bus stop. Waiting for the first bus, which, when it arrived zipped us to our destination in under an hour. Then waiting two hours or so for next bus. Then immediately getting onto our last bus which was very crowded. This meant sitting in the last row. For fellow motion sickness readers, you know my pain! Even with my travel sickness meds, I was hanging on for dear life -- and a red plastic bag just in case. Slowly, I made my way up as seats became available. Until I was nearly at the front. The bus driver didn't make the journey any easier on our bodies. He sucked. Honestly, the worst bus driver we've had. His idea of slowing down meant SLAMMING on the brakes. Often. On certain bus lines, there are conductors that ride the bus. The conductor is the one who punches out your ticket and who you pay. However, every so often, the bus will stop in some random remote area, and another bus employee will jump on. These are inspectors. They check the tickets and passenger count to make sure no one is riding for free. Typically, inspectors have gotten on a bus about two or three times during a journey. For whatever reason, inspectors got on this bus at least 10 times. Often the bus would pull over to the side and stop while the inspector did his thing. Try to imagine being on a VERY crowded bus in the heat with no air-con while a man looks through tickets. AGAIN. Give the crappiness of the driver (he also had a knack for starting to pull away before passengers were safely off the bus. Seriously!) I can understand why the inspectors got on so often. But after being on this bus for three hours, I was ready to scream.
I'm lucky to report Porl and I both survived. Me, from travel sickness and Porl from being hungover the entire day. My money was on him vomiting during the paddleboat ride, but he proved me wrong!
We were attempting to go to a nearby island for some snorkeling today but both of us just can't bear the thought of getting on anything with wheels today. So it's officially an internet-laundry-chilling out day.
Hopefully by tomorrow we will be ready again to take on the Philippines in all it's transportation glory!
written by  Groovespook on July 23, 2010 from Dumaguete, Philippines

YAY! some photos at last
Dumaguete, Philippines
Driftwood Village
The Chocolate Hills
Electrical standards
Us on a Ferry
The Stallion (codee name for the Red Horse Beer - not me... although??)
Happiness
my butterfly
The Longicorn Beetle
written by  Groovespook on July 23, 2010 from Dumaguete, Philippines

El Neato!!!
El Nido, Philippines
It is Monday, I think- hee hee - we are
waiting for the minivan to overfill in Puerto Princessa for the 6 hour trip to El Nido, the sweet spot of Palawan.
Nuttter has run off to see if there are indeed any cheaper options and I sit here, tapping away on the iTouch and keeping a third eye on our backpacks.
We had an awesome vegetarian extravaganza last night and Nuttter is still in heaven.  The staff were so suprized to see us they took pictures and made us fill in a guest book. Too funny.
Speaking of food, I decided to splash out yesterday in Dumaguete and get a filet mignon.
NOTE:
Never ever ever order a steak in a country with no cows.
Not only was my filet mignon simply an eighth of an inch slab of frozen london broil, but it tasted not completely dissimilar to cardboard AND it was the equivelent of three of any of our total dinner bills so far.
So, degected, I left Nuttter in the hotel in search of a whisky. Yeah, good luck with that!!! Honestly, you would have thought that the Speyside region of the Scottish highlands had never been invented.
I eventually found some Chivas Regal in a dodgy bar, so, sitting next to some 300 pound Swiss giant of a man, downed it and then went to (I know) McDonalds for 2 burgers! To nullify my crying stomach that was still coming to terms with the "thought" of filet mignon and the "reality" that it was forced to digest- or "let ferment" might be a closer analogy.
AAAAARGH I AM SO SICK OF ALL THESE COCKS!!!!
Every single place we go to seems to have a cockeral tethered to it somewhere, mostly underneath where we are sitting and I tell you now that I would not hesitate to cut the head off of every single one of them given a machette and two minutes.
Let me explain why in one numeral and two letters. 4AM. from 4am until noon these friggin creatures cock-a-doodle-dooing is enough for the most patient man - or in lieu of him, me - to lose his marbles.
Right now for instance I can hear at least 7 of them and one is four feet away from me.  My death stares only seem to make him louder.
So our eleven oclock departure time comes. And then goes. Not until 11:40 do we finally all cram into a Nissan Urvan built for fourteen people, revurbished for many more "Asian statured" peeps and housing - today for this eledged five hour trip - seventeen. This includes Nuttter, Groovespook and Adriane, a six foot Romanian stuck in the back!
The first five hours of our five hour bus trip were pretty sweet really. The driver tore through north Palawan as if the Philipino Police were chasing us whilst firing their M16's.
Then, during our last stop, the driver - a wisoned old man with a disconcerting perma-smile - let out air from all the tires. Hmmm I thought. Curious. Until we hit the dirt road. Then I realised why he let the air out. Never in all my born days have I been so glued to the "road" ahead. This guy - and he would make a brilliant rally car driver - continued the  "being chased by cops with guns" theme on roads NOT SUITABLE BY A LONG STRETCH!!!!!!
Needless to say I left finger nails in the seat in front of me.  What sucked about this the most was the view we all just ccould not look at.  We have all seen pictures of massive islands of rock surrounded by turqouise seas but has anyone been forced to ignore said views for fear of flying off the road?
Anyone on the private van from Puerto Princessa to El Nido has I will bet.
We got to El Nido and wandred around searching for accomodation. Finally found a sweet cabin 10 minutes out of town, got settled and trundled into the first beachside restaurant we could find and ordered a whole grilled Red Snapper. GORGEOUS!!
I then made the mistake of attempting to get a martini. Ugh. First try they gave me a glass of vermouth. Second try was half a glass of vermouth with a splash of vodka, which is where I left it.
Amd so to Tuesday. Feeling refreshed and vibrant from walking out the door and seeing a view that puts most postcards to shame, we took a tour on a small outrigger to a number of the small islands around the locale of El Nido for some snorkeling.
To describe what we saw today, picture the most amazing aquarium you have ever seen, make it the size of Manhattan and dive in. Every tropical fish you have seen in schools of ten to over a hundred, oblivious to us ungainly white snorkelers peering into their pristine world.
Those awesome little Neons that everyone thinks are so cute? Pests compared to the schools of Angel fish beneath them and the Parot fish below them.
We swam through thousands of neons, darting to avoid our flippers and all catching the sunlight at once as the swam around at lightning speed. Awesome.
Molusks and bright blue star-fish and space-like, spikey things creeping around along the sea floor amongst luminous yellow, blue and white corals.  Visability of at least thirty feet.  We spent the whole day in awe of the coral and the giant, magestic, molten rock mountains covered in forest. Protecting all this natural wonderment from the ravishes of the open sea.
Coming up for a break from snorkeling, it's like looking at Tolkien's Mordor, 500 years after Frodo and after the sea has risen eighty feet and some serious climate change.
We just got back to the room, it's raining and the freshness is so nice. We are both a little burnt but still totally blissed out. Who knows, we may have to devour another hour old whole fish for dinner!
The tour today was so we may be doing something very similar tomorrow.
written by  Groovespook on July 27, 2010 from El Nido, Philippines

It's all too much
El Nido, Philippines
Woke up wonderfully late this morning and wandered round the corner to Rosa's place for an awesome breakfast that included fresh fruit with meusli for Nuttter and an omelete with BREWED COFFEE for yours truly.
We ate whilst finding it impossible to ignore the massive looming mountain jutting out of the turquoise sea not half a mile in front of us. The gentle sea lapping against the edge of the restaurant our soundtrack.
Doing nothing today but deciding on a snorkel tour for tomorrow. We might get a chance to upload some pictures tonight if all goes well!
written by  Groovespook on July 27, 2010 from El Nido, Philippines

UBER diving (it's snorkeling in heaven)
El Nido, Philippines
again. I cannot help but flap on and on about where we are and what we are doing.
Time is not flying. Time too is on holiday. The cool breeze off the crystal sea cools our heels. Shaded by cleverly folded palm frons we sit on the silent porch of Pukka's. The staff quietly chat and laugh their simple laugh as I sip a cold beer and we read our books.
Beside me a wall of paper thin clam shells, strung together as a wind chime rattle in the breeze. Boats lay dormant and scattered across the bay of El Nido as the sun bakes off another layer of bright paint.  A random snorkeling tourist spouts past us.
This place is a dream.  Electricity is only on from 2pm to 6am so any form of noise is virtually stilled. Only the occasional tricycle or motor from an outrigger interupts the lapping waves.
Somewhere behind me a girl is singing beautifully. Nothing could be better than this.
I don't how this happened but VOOOM and it is the next day. We ho-hummed and did another snorkeling tour of some different islands around El Nido - the place I never ever want to leave - but just a half day tour, nothing too frantic.
During our last 2 hours it bucketed rain but suprisingly, under the warmer sea water, you just shrug and continue to irritate Nemo with your flipper, stare in wonder at the blue and black striped Napolean snake eel (yet stay safely five meters above them!!!!), marvel at the friggin longspine lionfish (I SAW IT I SAW IT I SAW IT!!!!) etc,.
really, we are now (recouperating) sitting in a cafe overlooking a view that is really beyond description and I have borrowed the restaurants copy of "bullshitly beautiful tropical fish you just saw but can't believe or, more importantly, name" and am rudely crying out "I saw that... I saw that" with reckless abandon.
So yeah, we are doing more of the same tomorrow and the tomorrow after tomorrow.
So boring.
Sorry.
written by  Groovespook on July 29, 2010 from El Nido, Philippines

Snorkeling is so passe
We did not end up doing "the same thing tomorrow" after all my brandishing of the word SNORKELING from the last post. Oh no.
We happened to pass a small shop whilst idling down the streets of El Nido and, written on a blackboard was the phrase "Affordable day of diving - no PADI Certification required"
HELLO!!!!
DIVING!!!
We walked into the shop and Yoshi, an ex-Tokyo, Japanese (surprised?), pen-pusher sized us up for wetsuits, weights and other SCUBA what-nots for a day that featured (at least for me) 2, one hour long, thirty feet deep dives. Thirty feet is the max that you can go, assisted by a trained frog-man type.
The first session we both completed in turn. First I went in and Yoshi took me through the safety precautions. You know, how NOT to breathe in seawater if you lose your regulator, how NOT to have your sinus cavities in your head implode every 3 feet, how to keep breathing despite being THIRTY FEET BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE SEA (did I mention we went thirty feet below the surface of the sea yet?). That sort of boring rigmarole. Blah blah blah. Whatever mate, I'm an Australian. Sort-of.
Then Yoshi finished the training by holding my hand as we slowly swam out to coral magnificence THIRTY FEET BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE SEA.
It was utterly beyond description - even for me - and only really ruined by being completely in love to the point of dreamy extacy and then turning to find you are holding hands with a wrinkly but spry forty-something Japanese man and NOT your loving wife who made all this come true.
We surfaced - slowly enough so that the air trapped in the bronchials in my lungs did not explode (the bends) - and I sat on the snow-white, powdery beach, nestled amongst angry station-stones of razor sharp rocks covered in tangled, rain-forest. I made a magnificent sand castle whilst Yoshi stole Nuttter for her intro into a different magical world.
Porl on Miniloc Island
Unfortunately, Nuttter's right ear did not seem to adjust too well to being taken THIRTY FEET BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE SEA so for the rest of the day and even now as she sleeps beside me, her right ear "feels like there is a small balloon inside it".
This feeling is slowly dissipating and we are assured will be gone - at worst - in 3 (gulp) days, thank the lord who made eardrums!. But sadly this prevented her from wanting (understandably) to go for the second dive.
Boo. :-(
The second dive was from the boat. Yeah, you have all seen it, the backward-roll thing into the sea! Jacques Cousteau PAH!. I've done it!!!
Yoshi and I then descended once more THIRTY FEET BELOW..... you get it. This time we were amongst giant fields of cabbage shaped coral that would have been enough to behold if it were not for a school of (curse alert!) fucking thousands and thousands and thousands of beautiful Yellow-Striped Whiptails (Sea Bream family) that swam around us for ages.
Completely uninterested in making contact with us and explaining the secret of life, the universe and everything, You can tell they all smuggly know the answer to that question but they won't share it the smug little things.
These happy fish perfectly swished through the ether whilst I looked like a complete drunkard in a gravity fee environment, struggling to turn right-side-up to reach that pint of Boddingtons. Oh god, why did I just mention a real beer.
We spent an hour down there, Yoshi and I, like two very big, black, ugly-looking fish with monstrous deformities on our backs instead of elegant fins and - of course - spouting turbulent fractal blooms of molten glass, powering away from us up to the surface, THIRTY FEET... sorry.
Yoshi would occasionally wave his big metal rod at me (please- children might be reading this so keep the "that's what she said" comment to yourselves boys) and would point out various wonders of nature. He also had one of those kiddy's magnet-drawing, sketch-pad thingies and would let me know what fish was what and which thing was male or female.
Barracuda, crocodile needle fish chasing schools of neons for lunch, Red and White Snapper, Angel Fish and Parrot Fish galore. Stupid really. I will scoff at any aquarium for the rest of my life.
Little flowering polyps I could touch that would violently shoot back into crevices and holes in the enormous coral structures and then gingerly creep back out.
Damn! It is so amazing.
We surfaced and checked on poor nuttter. Stuck on a small boat not even comfortable enough to snorkel where we were anchored. So sad.
Then we motored back to town through a torrential tropical rainstorm that has not let up since!!!
We changed, Nutter improved a bit more and we most had to swim back to town through the rain for dinner. Pizza of all things. Welcomingly good as it turned out and then a native acoustic guitarist and his odd American electric guitar soloist companion got up and started serenading one and all.
Mariaand El Nido Beach
Nuttter as we round the corner from our secluded beach hut to El Nido Bay.
After three tunes I sucked up some Dutch courage and went up there and banged away at the random percussion with them! Yay! I think the Dutch courage came from Jockam and Sussana, two awesome Amsterdamians we met that were really helpful and fun, let us know the secrets of El Nido's restaurants and tours.
So I am still wired from it all and of course just want to dive again and again now that I have seen that brilliant world.
It is about midnight, the French family in the cottage next have discovered a cockroach or something and are yelling and jumping around. I daren't laugh at them. We have had a couple of big scary insect moments during the trip but thankfully my lightning-like Australian reflexes and my always handy flip-flops usually save the day- that is - when the 7-8 inch long geckos don't. Those beautiful but secretive lizards tend to keep a pretty good tab on the big nasty creepy things.
The really big geckos make an awesome sound, once or twice a night, I am trying to get some audio of it but it's tough, sometimes it seems right next our heads and realistically, we both don't quite feel at home without one these days!!
Apparently they are worth 500pesos each on the street! Hmmmmm.
The rain is expected to continue tomorrow so we may lay low, especially if Nuttter's ear is still even slightly dodgy.
Hoping to upload a few more pictures ASAP! And then we are just about done. Reality returns sharply in the form of 20 hous on a plane in a few days time.
I care not. This has been an event that has brightened my world view and released a lot of tension that came from stuff I don't think I could ever look at, or get so wound up about, the same way again.
Love!

Sniff, it is over.
Manila, Philippines
I have Sarah's loaned backpack on, once more (huge props!!) and am leaning back against it on the bed at Hedefes Cottages, prepped and ready to go.  I am super sad.  Said goodbye to "grandma", the lady in charge of these huts overlooking El Nido bay.
Watched Nuttter, my financier, pay the bill and I grabbed a coffee. The sea out front is still, like a mirror, and wonderfully reflects Cadlao Island.
Even the cockerals don't bother me this morrow. I am a little excited about the 6 hour van ride as we have had a lot of rain so the roads might be muddy and dodgy.  We secured the front seats with the driver so we will have the most leg room and a panaramic view.
The Flip is fully charged so I can get this rollercoaster ride in HD.  Maybe. One never really knows how this will pan out...
SIX HOURS LATER...
We didn't end up in the front seats of the nicer of the two vans. At the last minute we were shunted into the older, smaller, unhappier van.
We watched as racial favoratism reared it's ugly head and all the Filipinos got comfy in there whilst all the backpacking, gangly, longer-legged, white-folk joined us and bitched about the lack of leg room.
Tried to get a bit of the trip but aside from a twenty minute section of one-laned, mud-splattered madness it was a pleasant, non-event.
We are now sitting in a slightly less dodgy, cold-water-only but AIR CONDITIONED room waiting it out till our flight tomorrow morning for Manila, then, after a night there, STEAK AND WHISKY, I mean, HOME!
This whole trip has been a bit of a rollercoaster with what seems like 3 seperate, dream-like vacations mixed in.
Nuttter has done such an awesome job of organising everything and managing to deal with yours truly at the same time. I am so blessed and there is no way in the world I would have ever experienced SOOOO MUCH AWESOME WORLD without her.  She is a trooper!
THE NEXT DAY...
Especially today she troops.. We are at the airport awaiting now, our plane to arrive and take us to Manila. Palawan has seen fit to gift my wonderful Nuttter with a cold.
Boo Palawan, boo!
Traveling is always touch and go with Nuttter. It amazes me that she has managed to "local bus" it around almost all of S. E. Asia knowing what I know now about her motion sickness - let alone some ugly, stuffy, sinus yuckiness.
Crazy!
CUT TO 10pm in Manila.
We beat the local taxi driver in Manila into actually using the meter as opposed to making up some ridiculous fare, with the help of the local police - I kid you not - and just got back from the Green Belt Mall in Makate.  An awesome, restaurant-filled mall, replete with everything from TopShop to Rolex to an Apple store!!!
I just spent more pesos on a meal - Porl style - then 3 days of our usual budgeted meal allowance and am pretty damn content.  Nuttter is still ill unfortunately and it is 10:10pm which is 10:10am at home.  I am about to get onto home time by staying up as long as possible so that I die on the plane and be well rested when we get to EWR.
Or I might fall asleep now.......
written by  Groovespook on August 2, 2010 from Manila, Philippines

The End.
West Orange, United States
Yeah, so Eew.
We have now been home for 5 days. We stopped taking the Malaria medicine on Friday - as prescribed - and well, we have both been in some strange haze. Feeling a bit like travelers and marveling at the weird things people do in this country.
3 reasons for our malaise.
1. The first and most obvious being jet-lag. A lethargic "almost" headache coupled with the expected muscular death as we do not continue getting up super early and walking 4 or 5 miles a day, either with or without backpacks. Oh, and drinking LOTS of water (always on hand as we trump around the Philippines).
2. The second being a certain nameless (enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli) bacteria that managed to lodge itself in BOTH of our respective digestive tracts and has been playing havoc with certain necessary movements since - and unfortunately during - our return. We are beginning to feel better, but this could last anywhere up to a month according to Doctor WWW.
3. Thirdly? HELLO… WE ARE NOT SNORKELING IN EL NIDO ANYMORE.
The reality of the end of this monumental vacation has been tempered nicely with the wonderful news of Nuttters sister giving birth to her TWINS! Little nieces A and B (long, long story - no names yet) are a trifle small and "pre-me" but otherwise are happy little creatures spending time in a greenhouse till they are properly grown and really prepared for the outside world.
Plus, the almost completely painless purchasing of a car that actually resembles something other than a PILE OF CRAP like we have been driving for years.
So tomorrow I go back to work in the big bad city of New York, laughing at the luxury of it all and hopefully with a better outlook. After all, I have been swimming with thousands and thousands of brilliant-yellow, tropical fish amongst giant techni-colored coral. I am looking forward to the lavish air-conditioned coach that will be driving me in style on paved roads. The free and drinkable water that spouts from everywhere. The BEEF I am taking in for lunch, cooked by myself in an incredibly hygienic kitchen (by Philippine standards, ahem). Seeing my fun-time co-workers and regaling them with stories of thousands and thousands of brilliant-yellow, tropical fish amongst giant techni-colored coral.
Once again, I extend a HUGE thank-you to my darling Nuttter, who organized everything and kept us on track. It truly has been a world-beater of vacations and I will not forget it. Thanks Babe.
And thanks to all the well wishers and followers too, it was really great to get a little feedback here and there from all our beloved friends and family who followed our little trek.
Anxious, dubious and pensive, I am off to work.
love to all!
Porl (aka Groovespook)
written by  Groovespook on August 9, 2010 from West Orange, United States

DIVING!!!

Porl on Miniloc Island

Mariaand El Nido Beach