Mabuhay

My plan for the Philippines at the moment is still very sketchy as im still trawling through travel forums online in search of the elusive paradise island/best beach etc...

Flying one-way into Manila, which should cost around 200 Singapore dollars, then staying around in the Manila region for a few days, planning to drop by Corregidor to soak up some Pacific War history (Doug McArthur said I shall return here) and also the nearby Taal volcano.

Then its northwards bound up Luzon (long bus journeys again - kind of ambivalent to these. On the one hand i love riding the local bus, just people watching and thinking, hey whats his/her story, etc, but on the other hand, when these rides manifest into mega 18 hour rides, its never too friendly on the backside/bladder. What i dislike most (im still hoping to, one day, see the joy of it) is being dropped off at an out of sorts bus stop, some 20 km from town in the dead of the night, leaving you to somehow procure a means of transportation into town, and then having to find a room, after the influx of backpackers have all checked in in the afternoon. Stressful. And that's if you manage to find a guesthouse first in the dark, more often than not local transport into town drop you at some suburban residential area with no street lights.)

Im having flashbacks of Luang Nam Tha here, arrived near last light at around 5, after a long ride from Luang Prabang, and guess where the bus station is most conveniently located? some 10 plus km out of town, with no tuk tuk vultures and not a single foreign face in sight to share worries/sawngthaew/complains with. It was a crowded pick up to "town", picking up rice sacks, bags of lard, and people on the way, making it absolutely certain i would be in "town" after last light. And in Luang Nam Tha, a frontier town close to the Chinese, Thai, and Burmese borders, and the Golden Triangle, there were not so surprisingly, no street lights.

Some 5 passengers and numerous rice sacks later i was dropped unceremoniously on some side street where all the shops have shut for the day and only a few dodgy looking Chinese guesthouses remained open, one even with "solar powered" hot water system, no doubt a literal , but correct nonetheless translation for the afternoon sun's warming effects on their otherwise icy cold water. Too tired/pissed to see the humour back then, but on hindsight it was rather amusing.

Asking around for the main drag served no purpose, although the locals were really helpful and willing to oblige, as all the streets in Luang Nam Tha are unnamed and it was kind of pointless asking for this big thanon (street in Lao) that i kept pointing to on the map. Finally (thank God) there was this Lao man, donning an England jersey and warming himself by his fire who mimed sleeping and eating, and sent me on my way. His shortcut cut through a very ominous feeling neighbourhood, where the children stared silently at me from the roadside, their faces half hidden in the darkness, and cats in the reeds (that seem to have a vendetta against me) mewed eerily, strangely and hair raisingly reminiscent of babies cries. It then wound through a construction site, where men off shift stood clustered in groups, whispering among themselves, all the while looking at this stupid boy with his backpack out alone in the night.

I ran. Once of their sights, I broke into a brisk jog, determined to get out of this area ASAP, it just didnt feel right - my hairs were standing on its ends and my mind screaming danger, adrenaline coursing through my blood. At the risk of being over dramatic, i soon saw a light in the distance, a building, that soon i made out to be a restaurant. You can imagine the relief. Once closer i caught a glimpse of the signboard - the Panda restaurant. Popped in and got some directions from a fellow backpacker - i must have looked really dishevelled and in shit state then. Checking my bearings i soon found myself in front of the Luang Nam Tha provincial police station - major, major sigh of relief, and seeing the only lit street in possibly a 50km radius. A crazy night out it had been.

Musing over my (well deserved) dinner of laap, sticky rice and Beerlao at the Manychan Guesthouse, i thought i was really lucky today, but also it was because of the Lao people's kindness and helpfulness that i found my way unmolested.

Back to the Philippines. Long term travel has that effect on you i guess - I often suffer from spells of nostalgia, dreaminess and wanderlust, especially recurrant during a boring class/lecture. In Northern Luzon i plan to trek the Cordillera Mountains, and am thinking of finding a forward operating base in maybe Baguio or somewhere nearby. Then im thinking of fitting in also the coffin caves and exploring some other nearby places. Then its all the way back to Manila, where i hope to catch a flight to Puerto Princesa, which should, from what i've heard, cost around 30 USD one way. Thats the first part of the plan - im trying at the moment to put together a feasible and not-too-silly island hopping plan that i hope, will take me to some of the best beaches in the region and laidback Pacific islands where i can find my own paradise.