One word: paradise

29.01.2013

Ok. So. Finally I can say; NOW WE'RE TALKING!!

(Toim. huom. nyt on horisontit hiukan vinossa, ei jaksanu oikoa ja editoida, sorry.)

We made it to Bali as planned, and we left Bali a lot faster than planned. We stayed two nights in Seminyak (close to Kuta), and to be honest it was quite a terrible tourist town. The beach was long and would've been beautiful if it wasn't insanely dirty, full of trash, plastic bags and bottles. There were a lot of hawkers everywhere and their selling technique was aggressive, it seemed like during the low season they are especially desperate to get customers so they become pushy and rude. At least I was very surprised – is this the legendary Bali that all the fuss and hype is about? I couldn't really believe it.

We went out in Kuta on our second evening. It happened to be Australia Day (26^th of January) and the streets and bars were packed with drunk Australians. It was another mission impossible to find a bar that would've seemed nice, everywhere was too loud or suspicious in some other way. Anyway we went to a few bars just to experience it and to make sure we're not missing out much. In the end it was fun though, but I definitely got enough of Kuta for the rest of my life.

One good thing about Bali; our lovely hotel!

The next morning we took a mini van and a boat to the Gili Islands and since Thomas (a guy who I met in Laos 3 years ago) was in Gili Meno and said that we have to go there, we went. We sat on the top deck of a speed boat for 1,5 hours and when we reached our destination I couldn't believe my eyes. What a beautiful island! The water could not be any more clear, the sand is white and powder-like. You can see the mountains of Lombok in the horizon and small boats being rocked by the waves. As soon as we got off from the boat a man came to us to ask if we already had our accommodation sorted out, and since we didn't, he showed us the bungalows his brother runs and we got a lovely bungalow (including breakfast) for 5 euros per person a night from a place called Meno Smile. During the night the room gets too hot though, since we didn't want to spend our money on air-con... But otherwise it's close to perfection.

Baby turtles being saved

Our bungalow

Our breakfast included

The middle of Gili Meno

The mosque of Gili Meno

An extremely observing little boy showing off with small crabs he found

Thomas in the middle. After three years we met again in Asia :P

The scene from one of the restaurants

Now it's the tourism low season in Indonesia, because January and February are the two rainiest months of the year here. All the resorts and bungalows on Gili Meno are almost empty, prices are low, and the atmosphere is extremely friendly and easy-going. We talked with a waiter at one of the restaurants and he said that during the high season (July - August) the whole island is packed with tourists, mostly Europeans, and people even camp on the beach because there is no other accommodation available. He also said he likes the low season way more, since it's more relaxed. I totally agree, I'm sure that Gili Meno would feel like a completely different island during the summertime.

We're not even too annoyed by the rain so far. Yesterday we spent the day on the beach and instead of raining, it was actually way too hot and I didn't drink enough water so in the evening I felt terribly dehydrated, got a bit of fever and didn't feel like eating or drinking anything. This hadn't happened to me before so I didn't know what was wrong. When Inka and Jenny stayed at the beach bar watching the sunset, I was rolling around in my bed feeling at times too hot and then again too cold, listening to the loud hypnotic prayer from a mosque nearby, and thinking that life can be pretty absurd at times. Hopefully I learnt from my mistake and during the rest of our trip I'll take better care of this water-drinking problem.

A massive boat. And when I say massive, I mean massive.

Puerto, Manila, KK

25.1.2013

Mr. Donut fans 4 life

It's weird how during traveling you can get attached to random places and things. This time when we got back to Puerto Princesa, it felt almost like coming home. We stayed at the same guesthouse as the last time and the staff remembered us and treated us like old friends. We ate breakfast at the same Mister Donut as the last time, and walking on the main street felt weirdly comfortable and cozy. I guess it has something to do with the fact that when you always change the location and most of the people around you are there only for a brief moment, your mind starts to miss some stability and familiarity.

So if you ever end up in Puerto Princesa City, here's a few things I can recommend. First, DLM Pensionne is a fantastic place to sleep, almost like a homestay, the family who runs it is super friendly. Second, Kalui restaurant is one of the best ones I have been to in SE Asia, great and fast service, delicious food, unique atmosphere. And the third thing is all the second hand flea markets. There are so many and the prices are so low. I don't know where all the clothes come from, but there are shirts and skirts and dresses for around one euro, some of them great quality and some crap of course. We spent hours just going through those shops and I wish I had a bottomless backpack, but sadly it's already 14,5 kilos heavy, so probably it's not a good idea to buy any more stuff.

Dodgy karaoke bar in Puerto

From the tranquility of Puerto Princesa we arrived to the busy, dirty, sinful Manila. This time it wasn't as bad as the first time; we arrived earlier, we were not that tired, and we already knew where to sleep our night.  Also we had met Australian Andrew in El Nido and were supposed to meet up with him for dinner and some beers since we were all in Manila, so there was something worth waiting for and a plan what to do. Otherwise we probably would've just stayed at our hostel, being scared of the street life outside haha. Andrew's family is from the Philippines, and we got a ride from his uncle and cousin to a bar area, then spent an extremely random evening singing karaoke, listening to a terrible live band, and in the end got a ride back to the hostel from a Filipino guy who said his mother is a politician so he can get away with anything. He also told us that the police doesn't care if you drive on when the traffic light is red – and just to prove this he was driving through all the red lights with his massive monster truck jeep. Weird Manila experiences, but it was a very nice evening, a good way to end our time in the Philippines. We also saw street kids throwing rocks at each other, it was a small fight between two gangs, all the participants were around 12 years old. Such a tough life they're living. Manila is not a very happy place to live, too much tragedy all around.

Our Manila gang

Jenny waiting for the bus to the Clark Airport

And as I said in the previous post, we were flying to Kota Kinabalu from Clark, and then heading to Indonesia when we would feel like it. Well, we felt like it very soon. We spent two nights in Borneo, and even though it is a huge island with plenty of things to see, do and try, our minds were already in Indonesia so we were super eager to continue our travels as fast as possible. I can confess that at this point, planning would've saved us time and money, and quite a lot of both. Going with the flow is a nice idea but doesn't always work out as well as I would hope it to work. We were almost desperate to get to Bali, it is actually quite funny how sad and annoyed we felt to be stuck in Borneo with no plan about how to continue. We went to a travel agency where a cool, mother-like middle-aged Malaysian woman helped us to find some flights that would make sense. It is ridiculous when thinking about it afterwards; there we sat with our desperate faces, thinking what to do next, being and looking miserable, wondering how much money we would be ready to spend to get to Bali soon. Horrible how our first world problems seem so big at the moment when they appear... “Oh no, poor me, I'm stuck in Borneo, I want to go to Bali, blah blah blah, my life is so hard, the flights are so expensive, what should we do, oh no it's so hard to decide...” That woman at the travel agency must've thought we were world class idiots. She gave us motherly advice like “You can never get everything on your travels, you just have to choose”, “Don't take drugs!” and so on. After maybe one hour of thinking and thinking and thinking a bit more we decided to take the expensive flight to Bali. Hard decisions of life.

Fish from the fresh market in Kota Kinabalu

Us crying over our ringgits that we paid for our flights to Bali

Our room in KK

We are now on our flight from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur, and later flying from KL to Bali. It is the rainy season in Indonesia, will be interesting to see how we will like it. Seems like half of the people we have talked with love Bali and half of the people think it's overrated. In a few days we will have our own opinion about it and I will let you know how it is ;----)

The Palawan Experience

20.01.2013

Ja matka jatkuu. Tällä hetkellä istutaan minibussissa, suunnataan El Nidosta takaisin kohti Puerto Princesaa. Aika pomppuinen ja mutkainen pahoinvointikyyti tiedossa seuraavaksi kuudeksi tunniksi, joten mikäs sen parempaa ajanvietettä kuin tihrustaa pientä tekstiä koneen näytöltä ja yrittää osua oikeisiin näppäimiin soratien hakatessa autonrenkaita.

Jännä juttu miten El Nidossa vierähti loppujen lopuksi yli viikko ja vielä niin vaivattomasti. Oltiin alusta asti suunniteltu, että Filippiineillä relataan eikä hoppuilla minnekään, haluttiin mieluummin nautiskella yhdessä paikassa kauan kuin että oltaisiin sohittu menemään hurjalla vauhdilla vain siksi, että asiaan nyt vaan kuuluu nähdä mahdollisimman paljon. Yksi yllätys josta oltaisiin kuitenkin ehkä aiemmin voitu ottaa selvää ennen tänne tuloa oli se, miten hankalaa Filippiineillä on liikkua saarelta saarelle. Ainakin mulla oli pääni sisällä mielikuva, että lauttoja ja muita paatteja kulkisi tiuhaan tahtiin, ja niitä voisi nappailla pikkuisilla pesomäärillä aina kun siltä tuntuu. Karu totuus on kuitenkin ollut se, että lautat kulkevat harvoin, maksavat melkein yhtä paljon kuin lennot, matkanteko niillä kestää ikuisuuden, ja kaiken kukkuraksi ne ovat usein täynnä. Lentäminen on siis pakollinen paha. Olisi tietysti ollut mukavaa käydä vaikka missä, erityisesti Visayas-saaret (Boracay!) ja Cebun ympäristö kuulostivat kiinnostavilta, mutta jo pelkällä Palawanilla ja sitä ympäröivillä pikkusaarilla riittäisi nähtävää ikuisuuksiksi. Priorisointia on tehtävä, kaikkea ei voi koskaan saada tai nähdä.

Toinen ylläri on ollut pankkiautomaattien olemattomuus; viimeksi nähtiin sellainen Puertossa pari viikkoa sitten, eikä silloin tajuttu nostaa rahaa, kuviteltiin että kyllä niitä vielä tulee vastaan. Ilman Jennyn luottokorttia matkan kulku olisi ollut huomattavan erilainen, sillä onneksi saatiin nostettua rahaa kahdelta bensikseltä, ja koko El Nidossa vietetty aika rahoitettiin sitten sillä. Nyt Jennyn luottoraja on lähellä ja meillä kolmella on tällä nimenomaisella hetkellä pesoja taskuissa yhteensä noin kolmen euron edestä, joten pidetään peukkuja pystyssä että Puertosta löytyy toimiva automaatti pian. Joskus pieni taustatutkimus ei olisi pahitteeksi, eheh. Toki hätävarana matkassa kulkee jonkun verran Ameriikan dollareita, mutta ne me säästetään oikean pahan päivän varalle. Toivottavasti sellaista ei tule vastaan.

Inkkihinkki ja San Miguel.

Intiimi hetki hyttysverkon alla

Kuva jonka ansiosta tiputin Inkin kameran maahan. Totally worth it.

Tsirbula kastelee kukkia partsillaan El Nidossa.

Plaza Innin rennot hauvat vessan ulkopuolella.

Elnidolaiset tytot ja joku hiussota.

Ollaan myös vähän ihmetelty Filippiinien mainetta superhalpana matkakohteena. Kai se sitten riippuu siitä mihin vertaa, mutta väittäisin ettei täällä ole halvempaa kuin Thaimaassakaan, ja Vietnam ja Laos on selvästi Filppareita halvempia. Osasyy voi toki olla se, että monessa paikassa Filippiineillä turismi ei ole kehittynyt vielä pitkälle, joten kilpailu on vähäistä. Turisteilla ei ole valinnavaraa joten ollaan valmiita maksamaan siitä ainoasta tai lähes ainoasta vaihtoehdosta enemmän. Lentäminen tietysti maksaa myös, ja sen ollessa ainoa järkevä matkustusvaihtoehto rahaa uppoaa siihenkin.

Nukuttiin tosiaan kahdeksan yötä El Nido Plaza Inn -nimisessä guesthousessa, saatiin taas oma kolmen hengen huone josta maksettiin 200 pesoa tyypiltä. Paikan omisti ihana vanha hampaaton filippiinoheppu, koirat ja hipit jolkottelivat pitkin pihamaata, gekot vilistivät katonrajassa ja roskiksissa, ja joku ovela lähiörotta kävi haukkaamassa Jennyn cashew-pähkinöitä yön aikana jättäen jälkeensä vain pari pientä papanaa ja reiän muovipussiin. Meininki Plaza Innissä oli kaikin puolin mutkatonta, öisin saattoi herätä lähialueen kukkojen mielipuoliseen kiekumiseen tai naapureiden kovaääniseen öiseen puuhailuun. Sellainen on El Nido.

Yksi oleellisimmista aktiviteeteista (sukelluksen ohella) El Nidossa on island hopping. Ensin tehtiin Tour A, johon sisältyi snorklausta, laguuneja ja hiekkarantoja, juurikin sitä turkoosia vettä ja raikasta meri-ilmaa. Meille sattui todella symppikset filippiino-oppaat, ja päivä kului nopeasti fiilaillen maisemien kauneutta. Vaikka muuten ruoka täällä on ollut suoranainen pettymys, niin island hoppingin aikana tarjotut tuoreena grillatut merenelävät ja makean mehukkaat hedelmät olivat ihan taivaallisia, ehdottomasti paras ateria Filippiineillä tähän mennessä. Niitä katkarapuja ja fisuja voin sitten muistella kun seuraavan kerran saan eteeni jotain epämääräisen näköistä ja makuista.

Swaggers

Hinkki snorklaa, pulppluppulplulp

Felix.

The Big Lagoon

Bobo

Pari iltaa sitten kun istuttiin Pukka-reggaebaarissa rannalla, Felix (yksi Tour A:n filippiinoista) tuli kysymään jos haluttaisiin lähteä seuraavana päivänä vuorokaudeksi telttaretkelle lähisaarelle, hinta 1500 pesoa sisältäen kaiken aterioista rommiin ja hieman lisää island hoppingia. Tartuttiin tilaisuuteen ja aamulla klo 10 istuttiin taas veneessä suuntana laguunit. Vaikken ole koskaan ollut mikään merikarhu tai vesipeto, niin voisin väittää, että harvassa paikassa on yhtä helppoa olla onnellinen ja unohtaa kaikki mahdolliset päätä vaivaavat jutut kuin puuveneessä turkoosilla merellä, moottorin potkiessa ja suolaveden roiskuessa silmiin. Kaikki muu tuntuu niin kaukaiselta ja pieneltä ja olemattomalta, hetkessä eläminen muuttuu helpoksi. Ainoa huoli on polttava aurinko ja elämän suurin kysymys se, että milloin kannattaisi lisätä aurinkorasvaa.

Meitä turisteja oli retkellä 11 ja paikallisia oppaita 5. Meidän ei tarvinnut paljoa evääkään heilauttaa filippiinojen tehdessä meille kaiken valmiiksi. Välillä se oli jotenkin häiritsevää siirtomaarouvameininkiä kun paikalliset palvelivat meitä minimaalisella palkalla, meidän turistien loikoillessa rannalla laiskasti, odotellen ruokaa valmistuvaksi tai telttoja pystyyn ilmestyviksi. Oppaat myös söivät sivussa keskenään koko päivän, vasta illalla rannalla soihtujen valossa ja rommikolan ollessa pöydällä Felix kysyi, jos saa liittyä turistijengin seuraan. Se tuntui inhottavalta. Miten niin saa? Tottakai saa! Miksi sitä edes tarvitsee kysyä? Ei me olla mitenkään sen ylempänä vaikka ollaankin maksavia asiakkaita. Tasa-arvoisesta Suomesta tultaessa mua enemmänkin vaivaannuttaa se, että täällä asiakaspalvelijat sanovat “Yes, Madam” ja “Yes, Sir” ihan jatkuvasti. Onhan se kohteliasta, mutta en vaan tunne itseäni kovinkaan madamiksi, mieluummin olisin ihan vaan minä.

Paatti jolla mentiin saarelle yoksi.

Leirisaaren autio ranta.

Aamupalapaikka.

Elo on siis sujunut oikein rattoisasti ja kauniissa maisemissa kuten kuvistakin varmaan välittyy. El Nido oli oikeastaan matkan ensimmäinen etappi jossa oli vähän enemmän reissaajayhteisötunnelmaa ja nuoria ihmisiä, mutta samalla paljon paikallisia jotka puhuivat hyvää englantia, joten päästiin sosiaalisempaan modeen kuin mitä pari ensimmäistä viikkoa harjoitettiin. Filippiineillä on ollut todella ikimuistoista, rentouttavaa, kaunista ja ihanaa, mutta odotan jo tosi mielenkiinnolla mitä tulevat viikot tuovat mukanaan. Suunnitelmana on nyt viettää kaksi yötä Puerto Princesassa, sitten lentää Manilaan yhdeksi yöksi, ja lentää 23. tammikuuta Malesiaan Kota Kinabaluun, Borneon saarelle. Fiiliksen ja bussi- ja lautta-aikataulujen mukaan jatketaan Indonesiaan kun siltä tuntuu. Kuukausi vielä aikaa – mitähän kaikkea jännää ehtiikään vielä tapahtua, en malta odottaa :D

Engelska: So we ended up spending 8 nights in El Nido. It was a beautiful and chill place, we had a nice room for us three for 200 pesos per person per night in a guesthouse called El Nido Plaza Inn. During our stay we did some island hopping, met some nice new people, enjoyed the sea, and spent one night on an island camping with a bunch of tourists and some Filipino tour guides.

I didn't realize how little time three weeks actually is in a country like the Philippines where the islands and interesting places are far away from each other and the transportation system is not very convenient. It would take at least a lifetime to feel like you've seen it all, now we got only a taste of the country. We've spent all our time in Palawan and soon we're heading back to Manila for one night just to fly to Malaysia from Clark airport. We'll see how long we'll end up spending in Malaysia since Indonesia is where we're really planning on going. But we will keep on going with the flow and see how it works out!

Baywatch in front of another lagoon. But where is David Hasselhoff?

Beaches and other awesome things

Locals taking a nap in Sabang

On the road to a small waterfall in Sabang

12 January, 2013

We just arrived to a town called El Nido, which is in the north end of Palawan island. I'm sitting in a cafe drinking coffee that tastes like it's made from sea water, motorbikes are driving by on the narrow street and being loud, I'm wearing my new hippie pants and they are way too hot, the air is sticky sweaty even at 6PM. J & I went to walk around to see if they could find some good accommodation for us and I stayed here to watch after our backpacks - a good excuse for my laziness.

The days we spent in Puerto Princesa feel like ages away even though it hasn't been even a week since we were there. It was a nice place to hang out for a few days, a cute little town. Not much happened during that time; there was a gigantic spider in our room and one of our hosts came to kill it while we were panicking and screaming (Jenny was standing on the bed, just to be safe), we ate maybe six donuts each at Mister Donut, and just enjoyed the slow and easy living and the uncomfortable hammock at our guesthouse. Sometimes you just might end up having an amazing time in a place which should have nothing special in it. But what's better than eating breakfast for a few hours and talking with your friends about everything important or meaningless that crosses your mind? Days feel super short here. Everything we do takes so much time, never in my normal life I do things as slowly as here; eat, walk, get dressed, write, pack, unpack, talk, brush my teeth. We just have so much time and wasting it feels goooood.

The beach in Sabang

Photo shoot in a tree :'D

After three nights in Puerto Princesa we decided to head to Sabang, since a girl working at the guesthouse we stayed in recommended the place. We took a nice air-conditioned van for maybe 2 hours (200 pesos = 4 euros) and were already there. Four nights there passed by pretty fast without internet connection, Sabang was such a tiny tiny place that there was electricity only from 6PM until 11PM or so, and it was made with an electricity generator that sounded like a motor boat that was just about to start the engine. It was the only sound to break the small village silence in the evening.

So far we've been traveling quite aimlessly, ending up in places, not planning much, and I guess it's working well. For example Sabang was absolutely lovely. We got our own bungalow 10 meters away from the beach, about 15 euros a night (5 euros each). It is one of the best things in traveling when you fall asleep listening to the sea, and when waking up, open the bungalow door and the first thing you see is the turquoise waves hitting the sand so close to your terrace. First we planned to stay in Sabang for a week, ignoring the clock, eating mostly fruits and detoxing in general, but being as small as it is, there were only a few (relatively pricey) restaurants, only small kiosks, and it was actually quite hard to find something to eat at times. So four nights was enough. We got to know a funny Filipino guy called R.J. and we played our Finnish rap song to him. He started calling me a gangster since I was wearing a bandana scarf around my head the way that in Manila means you're a gangster. Maybe joining the local mafia here will be my next step in life?

This morning we left Sabang and took a bus that was supposed to arrive to El Nido in 5 hours. In the end it took us over 7 hours, but that's something you kind of have to get used to, 2 hours extra is considered as a very little amount of wasted minutes in here. And then again, we have no need to hurry :)

Sabang. Our bungalow is the one in the middle