Hong Kong

TSH and Diva visited the excellent HK history museum, once more using the extensive subway. They are now a bit better informed about the opium wars, the British presence, the Japanese occupation, the liberation and the return to Chinese rule. Their day room was not booked with a harbour view but it has a partial one as well as a view of the Kowloon shopping area. Flight back at 01:00. Might see the Silver Shadow leave later.

Complimentary Internet!!

On the ship near Manila

Diva was watching as family of crew members started arriving at the pier in Subic Bay. She was seriously worried about the risk of the Silver Shadow sinking under the weight of the arriving numbers. Filipinos are small people but each crew member seemed to be hosting a party of four or five people. They toured the ship in small groups and many pictures and selfies were taken.

At the end of the afternoon, there was a folksong and dance performance on the pier beside the ship. The local people are as glad to see the ship as the Filipino crew members are to be in Subic Bay.

At least one guest was taken ashore in an ambulance and there were a number of ‘Code Alphas’ – this is the announcement made when medical assistance is needed. As far as can be judged, it is not an epidemic – it is more the result of having a lot of older people on board.

Very few friends and family watched the sail away the next afternoon because they had all started their long journey home by then.

TSH and the Mannequin Pis

Diva is all excursioned out and is not prepared to go out for an attraction which only gets 3.5 on Trip Advisor. So she went for a walk round the air conditioned mall in Subic Bay.

TSH went to Zoobic Safari Park. He learned that Subic Bay had been the biggest American naval and airforce base outside of the USA. The American took over the facilities the Spanish had and stayed for 94 years. The infrastructure around Subic Bay shows many signs of the American era –including an airport with a very long runway.

The coach was interesting in that there were fold up seats in the isle which meant that five people could be seated across each row – TSH was relieved that this was not required.

People in the Philippines learn three languages – a local dialect, one that is common across the Philippines and English. There are over 100 local dialects and the guide explained that if he used one phrase in his local dialect it would mean he wished to go to the toilet whilst in another it would mean that he was very happy.

TSH boarded a special bus to enter the tiger enclosure. The bus windows were replaced with wire grilles which were designed to allow the tigers to be fed from inside the vehicle. The feeding was undertaken by a person from the park who encouraged the tigers to come to be fed with pieces of chicken. The tigers were close enough for TSH to think that their breath was not of the freshest. 

After this the group was taken for what was described as a close encounter with the tigers. Considering what had just been experienced TSH wondered what was in store. It turned out to be a visit to where many tigers were in cages and people were warned not to put their hands inside the cage bars. The tigers are apparently a cross breed of Bengal and Siberian which TSH was not impressed with. He was even less impressed to discover that they also had cross bred lions and tigers.

The excitement of the tigers was followed by seeing the fresh water crocodiles which are native to the Philippines. The opportunity existed to feed them chicken dangled on strings attached to poles but again TSH declined.

A short set of dances was performed by some local tribesmen and there were two bits of bizarro:

·         A Belgian couple produced an eight inch replica of the “mannequin pis” (a well known statue in Brussels – try Google) which they asked the dancers to hold whilst they took a photograph of them.

·         “Rudolf the red nosed reindeer” was broadcast over the park tannoy.

During this trip the guide and the Silversea representative demonstrated that they were unable to do simple addition. Counting the number of passengers on the bus was a long and often repeated process before a number could be arrived at.

On the way back to the ship the guide said that people should look out to see the fruit bats hanging in the trees – TSH thought it might have been helpful if he had identified which trees as the coach was surrounded by a dense forest.

Post script to Coron

The arrival was enlivened by the band and dance performance put on by about 70 school children. The playing, dancing and marching were good but they were mostly occupied with looking at the Silver Shadow and its passengers.

The sail away was spectacular. Diva’s gold standard for scenery tends to be the Norwegian fjords and this was in that class. Lots of open water surrounded by hilly apparently almost uninhabited islands. There was a discussion on the ship about whether improving the living conditions of local people would ruin the scenery. A woman from the US thought that people are quite happy as they are. But Diva does not like squalor or lack of electricity and sanitation and thinks that the infrastructure could be improved sensitively. Think Norway again.

Even better

Diva and TSH sailed into Coron whilst having breakfast. TSH did make one or two trips outside to take photographs as the scenery is very beautiful, with the land being very close on both sides of the ship. The limestone hills which rise steeply out of the sea are clad with vegetation on one side whilst on the other they are more rolling hills with little vegetation on the tops due to lack of soil. These latter hills are the same as the ones referred to as chocolate hills at Bohol because of their brown colour. This was an even better sail-in than the previous day. The Philippine islands are very scenic indeed.

A short trip was taken by TSH in the morning to explore Coron by local outrigger boat which seated ten people. The outrigging was constructed from bamboo and was designed to make the boat, which was essentially a canoe, more stable. On boarding the boat, all of the group had to don lifejackets, which many people found too small but even after nearly five weeks on a cruise ship TSH managed to fit with ease. By the end of the trip TSH was the only person with the life jacket fastened but he wanted to be able to truthfully say to Diva on his return that he had taken no risks.

Whilst the boat had an engine, a crew member used a long bamboo pole to manoeuvre it. He later dived into the sea to tie the boat up at a couple of stops – whilst he was fully clothed - but was dry within a short time due to the heat. The swims also had no detrimental effect on his very stylishly groomed hair which contained colour highlights.

The exploration consisted of a trip along the shore of Coron Island which is on a different island from Coron Town where the Silver Shadow was berthed.  The clearness of the water allowed coral to be seen as well as a shipwreck (possibly not a good thing to see whilst on a cruise). Coron Island is inhabited by people who believe that the spirits of their ancestors return as birds and for this reason no outsiders are allowed on the island after 5pm. If you wish to stay on the island later than that, sacrifices of chicken are required.

TSH spotted a sea eagle and what the guide said was tuna fish.

After travelling along the coast of Coron Island, the boat headed out over the widest part of the open water to head back to the ship. Here the water was a bit choppy, and TSH was glad that he had kept a good hold on his camera and bag. One passenger was less organised and managed to allow his camera to drop into the sea where it obviously still remains.

TSH arrived back on the ship at about 11am to find that the Butler had organised a candle lit bubble bath for him which he felt he didn’t require.

Diva and TSH attempted a brief walk into town after lunch. This turned out to be even briefer than expected as the route into town was not suitable for walking unless one wished to be run down by motorbikes and other road vehicles – there was no pavement. Diva and TSH do not do trikshaws (motorbikes with sidecars) having experienced their “joys” previously and also seen how they are driven in the Philippines.

Boracay

This was the best sail-in so far. The Silver Shadow approached along a waterway between two islands. On the starboard side, the land looked uninhabited, except for the modern windmills on top of the rounded tree-covered hills. On the port side was a busy holiday resort, with a very long white sandy beach. All kinds of water sports could be seen, the most spectacular being the para sailing. How do they stop the lines being tangled between one boat and another?

Once more it was a tender transfer, and fortunately this one was a normal one with no difficulty. The journey into town, which (unusually for Silversea) had to be paid for, was supplied by the local tourist authority and was in a new air conditioned minivan. The roads are unbelievably congested, mostly with minivans, vans and trikshaws. Some of these vehicles carry out 3-point turns in the midst of all the chaos in two-way traffic on a road not much wider than one carriageway would be in the UK. The hot and tiring wait for the return journey, about 30 minutes for TSH and Diva, was attributed to ‘congestion’. The petrol engine has done no favours for this part of the world.

The resort itself is hot, noisy and busy. There are many street traders offering souvenirs such as cheap imitation pearls and many offers of massages to be carried out on sunbeds on the beach.

The Filippino crew are very excited about visiting their own country and are delighted if you say anything good about it. Those whose friends and family are from this region are going ashore with huge amounts of goods purchased in bargain spots from their journey so far. It was sale time when they were in Alaska a couple of months ago and a large television and a sofa were spotted on the tender for delivery ashore.

Smallest Primate

The Bohol (Philippines) excursion was delayed by ‘logistics at the pier’. When the tender tried to land people, there was no proper jetty – just a high concrete pier. Steps had to be constructed and even then there was nothing to hold on to and the steps were very deep. So each person took at least twice as long as usual to get ashore.

Eventually TSH and Diva arrived at the Tarsier sanctuary. This is the world’s smallest primate – very difficult to spot but fortunately the trek leaders knew where they were and pointed a few out. They are nocturnal, so no activity to be seen.

The other stops were to observe palm leaves woven into roofing material, manufacture of machetes and a Spanish built church which was in a very poor state of repair. This was partly long-term neglect and partly due to an earthquake which occurred a few years ago.

The buildings and infrastructure are in a generally bad state but it is not clear how much is due to the quake. This is not a prosperous island.