Thursday April 4, 2013

6:30 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel, Legazpi

Yesterday, I uploaded a large part of my journal plus some pictures at an Internet café near the hostel, and it worked out fairly well. I am using an AlphaSmart Neo still and in order to download the contents, I have to attach it to a computer with a USB cable. That turns the NEO into an external keyboard. Then pressing the “Send” button tells the NEO to retype the entire contents of whichever file I choose. It is simple and efficient, but it is also very slow. As I’m sure I mentioned already, all the people around me have very advanced technology, and despite the power limitations (having to charge them up all the time), a netbook might now be the way to go. Still, if I had a netbook, I probably wouldn’t be able to sit out here on the roof as I am doing. There are no electrical outlets up here. With the NEO, I am totally mobile and I never have to worry about running out of power. I don’t have to think about it at all. I could use a netbook up here, but I’d have to make sure that I charged it up the night before. And probably after a short amount of usage, the battery life would drop to the point that it wouldn’t be that useful.

The Internet café was, like most Internet cafes, a gamer kind of place. There were about twenty computers on the main floor in a very tiny room. They had, as again is the norm, crammed in as many computers as possible in order to maximize revenue, which in turn minimizes comfort. Squeezing in between two gamers and then setting up my NEO was not an easy task. Luckily, the computer had two convenient USB ports right on the front, and the owner of the café had no worries at all about my plugging something in. He actually understood what the NEO was, though he did so by accident. I guess some serious gamers will show up with their own keyboards, and they will want to unplug the one on the computer and attach their own instead. He saw my unit and assumed it was just a keyboard. He started to disconnect the regular keyboard and I had to stop him from doing that. It wasn’t necessary.

It took about two hours to download all the material and then sort through it and copy it to my online journal and to a flash drive. I’ll probably edit the content at some point and put it up on The Cycling Canadian. There isn’t much interesting stuff in there – if any – but I wrote it so I might as well throw it up there.

Well, back to my day yesterday. Being my birthday, I had plans to do something special. The plan was to swim with whale sharks. However, the whale sharks are being snooty this year and haven’t shown up in Donsol. So the day became something of a regular day. I started it with a shower and a shave.

The bathroom, by the way, is a relatively nice one. It isn’t one of those third world nightmares. It’s a standard western style bathroom with a toilet, a sink, and a showerhead. It’s Asian in that the showerhead points pretty much at the center of the room, so whenever you take a shower, you soak the entire room in water and everything is wet all the time. I often wonder how design decisions like that get made and then how they don’t ever get changed. I’d build one bathroom like that and realize it was pretty stupid and I’d never do it again. But I’m sure it goes back to economy again. The cheapest way to build a bathroom and shower in one small room is to put the drain in the middle of the floor and then stick the showerhead in the middle of the wall. Perhaps these bathrooms were all built without any thought to a shower at all, and they were added later. Certainly, the Asian mode is to take a bucket bath, right? This bathroom also has a bucket with a scoop in it, and one could fill the bucket with water and use the scoop to drench your body. In a way, it is more efficient, because the water coming out of the shower is not exactly a torrent, and it could shut off at any point. The scoop applies a lot more water at once, and using the bucket means you have some water in reserve in case the flow suddenly stops.

The problem with this bathroom is simply one of space. It is too small and cramped. It is also supposed to serve 6 people and access to it is down a narrow passage between one of the bunk beds and a series of cupboards and closets. The door is within inches of the head of the person sleeping in the top and bottom bunk on that side. So as I inch my way along and slowly open the door, I’m pretty much right on top of the poor soul sleeping there. If I’m not careful, I could hit him on the nose with my knee.

Being so close to that bunk bed, there is also the issue of sound, and I open and close the door as carefully as I can. And then I try to keep the noise down while I’m in the bathroom. On top of that, I don’t feel like I can take my time in the bathroom. I can feel the five other people out there in the room perhaps waiting impatiently for me to emerge. That’s one of the reasons I often adopt an early to bed and early to rise policy. I like to do things during the off time so I don’t feel rushed. So I was taking my shower at 6 this morning while my 5 dorm mates were still sleeping – or at least lying there with their eyes closed.

I think my dorm mates are the guys I mentioned before who went up the volcano on their own. When I got back to the hostel last night, I was told by the front desk dude that these guys had moved into my room and that they had locked the door. The front desk dude gave me the key. I found that the room was full of their stuff. Since these guys were the majority and they only had me to worry about (I think I give off a very trustworthy air), they weren’t concerned with locking anything up. Their stuff was spread out all over the place. There were even iPhones and things like that just thrown on top of the beds in plain view. That concerns me to the extent that if one of these guys just loses an object, he might think it has been stolen – by me. Losing something is not so unlikely. This dorm room is so small for six people that I am constantly having trouble locating items as I have to put them all inside my small lockable cupboard. I ended up putting in place one small Doug touch – I strung a line above my bunk, threading it through the slats of the bunk above me. This gives me a clothes line on which I can hang things. Otherwise, there is nowhere to put anything. So I now have items like my toiletry kit, my flashlight, my underwear, my towel, and my clothes for the next day hanging from this line. It’s far more convenient than any alternative. In fact, there is no alternative. The bunks are quite narrow and you can’t pile anything onto the bed and leave room to sleep.

This morning, I had my first small adventure in the bathroom. I carefully got out of bed and grabbed my toiletry kit and towel and made my way to the bathroom. It wasn’t easy as my dorm mates had left all their stuff in piles all over the floor. They had, in fact, climbed part of the volcano. Then when they got back, they quickly dumped their stuff and then went out to the festival. They didn’t get back until quite late I assume, since I never heard them, and they dumped all their clothes onto the floor. Their clothing lay there in those piles that clothes make when they just slip off your body – like shorts that are sitting there with the legs open so that you could just step right back into them in the morning and pull them up. I had to step carefully over these piles plus all the bags. The sun was already up, of course, and the window let in enough light for me to see where I was going.

I got into the bathroom and methodically set up all the things I would need – my soap and shampoo, my shaving puck, my razor, and my towel. Then I stepped out of my shorts and turned on the faucet for the shower, and nothing came out. There was no water! I was a bit surprised and very disappointed. I was so looking forward to a refreshing sluice of the cool stuff.

In the past in other countries, I often would hoard water. I have a 10-liter water bag that can be used as a shower. I would fill that bag up and set it aside for emergencies. Failing that, I would at least make sure to keep the bucket in the bathroom filled up. I hadn’t done any of that and I stared at that dry showerhead wondering what to do. I did have a liter of water in a water bottle by my bed, so I went out of the bathroom and got that. I brushed my teeth with that water and then I poured it onto the corner of my towel and used it to wipe down my body. It wasn’t a shower, but it was the next best thing. Of course, the moment I finished all of this and had packed up all of my toiletries, I heard gurgling in the pipes. The water was back on. So I got out of my shorts again and took a real shower. This time, I was careful to fill the bucket first, and I used the scoop to take a bucket bath instead of the shower. Doing it that way meant that the bucket was constantly filling with water while I was doing other things and then there was no risk of running out and being stuck all soapy with no water to rinse. I moved as quickly as I could and got out of the bathroom. None of my dorm mates moved, so I don’t think they were waiting for me.

I spent some of the morning yesterday chatting with people in the hostel – those coming and going. I’ve finally seen the pattern clearly. Almost everyone I’ve encountered seems to be in a big hurry to get going and on to the next thing. I had been wondering about that, and then a young American woman named Eggla (born in Lithuania) explained that all students were on spring break right now. That’s who all these young people are. Add to that the Filipinos on holiday for Holy Week, and you get thousands upon thousands of people having a short and fast holiday. That explains the tone of frantic holidaymaking all around me.

Eventually, I got the energy to stop just hanging out and chatting and I got on my bike for a trip to the Cagsawa Ruins. These ruins are the remains of a cathedral built during the Spanish era. It was destroyed in 1814 by the worst eruption of Mayon Volcano in recorded history. Twelve hundred people had taken refuge inside the church during the eruption and they were all buried alive.

I did not know how far away the ruins were, but I had a vague sense of the direction in which they lay, and I set off with some confidence. I was willing to be out cycling for several hours if that was the way it turned out.

After only 7 kilometers, however, I was already at the turn-off for the ruins. The ride had been pleasant enough but demanded constant attention on my part to avoid all the jeepneys and the dinosaur trucks. One slightly annoying thing is that the jeepney drivers blow their horns to get the attention of potential passengers. But they also blow their horns to tell me to get out of their way. It’s impossible to tell which is which, so I have to react to every single honk of a horn as if it is an emergency of some kind when in fact most of them are signals to potential passengers.

The Cagsawa Ruins lay, of course, relatively near the volcano and there were wonderful views of the volcano as I got close. I turned down a dirt road before I got to the ruins just to see how close I could get to the volcano. I realized that the slopes of the volcano were criss-crossed by hundreds of small dirt roads connecting all the farms and villages there. I soon found myself surrounded by rice fields, and I got off the bike to take some pictures – including a tilted self-portait using the timer. That’s the thing about traveling alone. You don’t have anyone to take pictures of you posing in front of anything. And if you don’t have a tripod, chances are your pictures will be tilted.

After my picture-taking session, I tried to cycle further up the road. However, I didn’t get far. A single dog came running out onto the road and challenged me. I simply rode my bike straight at him and he quickly backed down. He tucked his tail between his legs and ran back up the road. He stopped from time to time to challenge me again, but always turned away and ran. Then he yelped loudly and his six brothers and sisters came rushing out of the same farm he had come from and I found myself vastly outnumbered. This army of canines ranged itself across the road and for a time was eerily silent. Then they began to advance on me, and I honestly felt like I was being hunted. They started barking eventually, which is a good sign, but I didn’t like the odds and I turned around defeated. If I really needed to go in that direction, I could still have done so. But the ruins were behind me in the other direction so it was a wise decision to give up the field of battle.

I wrote the other day about how the Filipinos have a talent for gaudying things up. I was referring specifically to how Lignon Hill had been turned into some kind of bizarre Adventure Land. Actually, one thing I didn’t mention is that the steep road up to the top of the hill also featured the standard Stations of the Cross. This is a series of installations (usually statues) illustrating all the Biblical events that occurred when Jesus was crucified – essentially his grueling walk to the crucifixion fields while carrying the cross on his back. Each station marks a significant moment and as you climb up the steep hill, you are meant to recreate in some small way the pain and struggle of that journey. The stations of the cross on Lignon Hill were not statues but a kind of billboard. Seeing these surrounded by many more signs about zip lines, rappelling, and ATV adventures was a bit odd.

At Cagsawa Ruins, the Filipinos had outdone themselves. The ruins are in essence a somber reminder of the 1,200 people who died that day, but the Filipinos see no reason to let that get them down and they added a few holiday touches. I didn’t bother to count them, but there had to be fifty rather large souvenir shacks. There were restaurants and ice cream parlours and even a swimming pool.

Still, I found the trip to get there well worth it. The ruins themselves were very beautiful and created a dramatic scene with the volcano towering above and behind. Standing there certainly gives you some idea of how dangerous the volcano is since the church seems more than far enough away from the volcano to be safe. But I guess when Mayon loses its temper, you really don’t want to be anywhere near it.

I locked my bicycle up to a tree and then went for a walk around the grounds taking a picture here and there. The best part of the excursion, though, was lunch. I stopped at a likely looking restaurant that was advertising fruit shakes. I only intended to get a shake, and I started with that. I ordered a mango shake for P45 ($1.12). It was delicious, though so sweet that it made my teeth hurt. Then when I saw all the good food that other people around me were getting, I ordered some food, too. I ordered rice, of course, and then two vegetable dishes. One was called sigarilyas. I have no idea what the vegetable was, but it was spicy and quite tasty. The waiter told me the other dish was called papaya. I thought me told me that there was a vegetable called papaya – different from the fruit. But a friend informed me that in fact it probably was the fruit but unripe and cooked like a vegetable. It was also delicious.

I’m not sure why, but I don’t have any strong memories of Filipino food from my previous trips here. I certainly don’t have any good memories of Filipino food. I just remember being faced with some dried out rice with a nasty looking fish on top. That’s my dominant memory. Perhaps this part of the Philippines is unique. I read yesterday that this region – called Bicol – is known for its hot and spicy cuisine. I have found that the food is spicy and tasty, but I wouldn’t call it hot. It’s not spicy in the way that Indian food is spicy. It just has a nice zesty flavor.

After my meal, I got back on my bike and made the quick journey back to Legazpi. I stopped very often to look back at the volcano and take in more of its detail. It is an impressive sight and reveals more and more of interest the longer you look at it. I began to form a plan in my mind to perhaps take the next day (today) and ride fully around it. I think it is a journey of about 80 kilometers. I’m not sure if I am up to that kind of an effort in this hot sun just yet, but it might be an interesting way to spend the day.

When I got back to Legazpi, I spent some time chatting with Eggla, the American woman (born in Lithuania). I’m not sure what she is studying, but she is currently doing a series of semesters abroad for her university course. She is living in Shanghai at the moment and is not finding that to be the most pleasant of experiences. She noted in particular the air pollution and the lack of heating in the cold winter. In our conversation, she noted that there was a huge demand for English teachers in Shanghai. That sparked my interest, and I spent some time on the Internet to see what details I could uncover. It turns out that there is a lot of work all over China, and that might be an option for me at some point instead of working in Vietnam or maybe in addition to working there. Something to keep in the back of my mind anyway. A guy has to work sometimes.

At night, I went back to the festival to have dinner. I returned to the same restaurant and had another very good meal. I had really enjoyed spending the previous evening there with Jess and I now found sitting there by myself kind of lonely and a bit boring. I’m feeling very social at the moment.

The festival goes on all month and they have new and very large events every single day. It astonishes me how big the festival is in that way. It seems like the first day alone would be enough for any respectable festival. But this one has an equally large series of events scheduled for every single day. Last night, they were holding a competition for large dance groups. The dancers were dressed in the old Spanish fashion – groups of perhaps twenty men and twenty women – and they danced in a stately synchronized manner. There was a panel of esteemed judges – who had to be introduced at extreme length – and they judged each dance to see who would win the first prize of P25,000 ($600 US or NT$18,000) and all the other prizes. There was a very large crowd in attendance.

Once I’d had my fill of the dancing, I walked back to the hostel and settled into bed to do some reading on the Philippines. I hadn’t really thought about how I was going to make my way through the country. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought through what I was going to do once I got here. I left it wide open and now I’m at a bit of loose ends. I’m sort of easing my way into it.

 

 

 

Tags: bike, Legazpi, NEO, Philippines Bike Trip 2013, USB