Philippines 2013: 6 - Davao, Mindanao to Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Thursday, May 9, 2013

We have a new first place contender for most lavish breakfast buffet! The Marco Polo buffet is beyond imagination, sprawling over three rooms. You could have breakfast, lunch and dinner in a number of national cuisines all from the same buffet!

A helpful and knowledgeable guide, Jonathan, picked us up at 9 AM. We explained we had to get our visas extended, so the first stop was the immigration office. Some people had been waiting for three hours, but we filled out documents and presented them. We were told to expect an hour for phase 1, so went to a nearby upscale shopping mall where I bought a book, and Marilynn found shoes - Immelda Marco's influence, no doubt!

When we returned progress had been made, but the fee was 6,060 pesos ($152) payable only in pesos. Marilynn waited while I was driven to a money changer and back. After paying the fee I was told another hour of processing was required, so we went to the old port, the interesting Lon Wah Buddhist Temple and drove through the huge Chinatown before returning again. The Muslim population is only 10%, but Chinese is much higher

Everyone now knew me by name, and even the guard outside was able to announce that our visa renewals were completed.

Lunch was a mediocre buffet. A sign in the restaurant was similar to others we saw in North Luzon - take all you want, but eat what you take, or you pay double.

We visited the well done Dabaw Museum and substituted a trip to the Philippine eagle sanctuary for some other stops - it is about an hour out of town. This is one of the largest eagles in the world, with a wingspan of up to 7 feet. There are only 400 pairs left in the wild, but they use artificial insemination or controlled mating to increase the numbers, not easy as they lay an egg only once every two years and mate for life. If the mate dies, there is no more reproducing.

There were also Burmese pythons, many other eagle species and Brahminy Kikes - a very worthwhile stop. On the way back we explored part of a cave network built by the Japanese. Dinner and drinks were by the pool again.

Jonathan said that in the coming elections the mayor of Davao, one of the largest cities in the world by land area, is unopposed. His popularity is due to a crackdown on crime which has made Davao one of the safest cities in the Philippines. The city, which is a no smoking zone, has a population of about 1.8 million. The fine for smoking is 1,500 pesos. It is illegal to withdraw large sums of cash from the bank, or to have large sums of money on one's person in the days before an election, to help prevent bribing candidates. The city was not inhabited by the Spaniards until 1848 due to fierce resistance from the indigenous people.

Friday, May 10, 2013

It was an earlier pick up this morning to drive 70 miles (115 km) into the mountains south of Davao. We passed into the province of Davao del Sur and saw the capital, Digos. The first part of the road was concrete, but that turned to mud, and then into a one lane rough mud track. We climbed through clouds until we broke into clear visibility in a beautiful valley on the slopes of 10,000 ft (3,000 meter) Mt. Apo, the highest point in the Philippines. The area around Davao is all rugged mountains.

While on the dirt road I saw a motorbike with a record 5 people on it - the driver scrunched under the handlebars and the rest clinging on behind. In each tiny village we passed through one thing was consistent - each had an outdoor basketball court - usually dirt. In Costa Rica it would be football fields.

The first stop was to climb to a hemp weaving place in tiny Tibolo Kalimudan Tribal Village. Weaving is done with the most primitive loom we have seen, a laborious and slow process, but the results are beautiful. We hiked further up narrow trails to where hemp was being taken from what looked like banana trees but are not. Individual strands are produced by putting the branches into a crude press with teeth and pulling them through.

On our return to the main house a fabulous lunch was waiting for us. We approach with trepidation, as all ingredients were roots, leaves and stems of local plants, but with the seasonings the soup, salad and vegetable dishes were fabulous. Chicken cooked in bamboo over an open fire with lemon grass was part of the meal. We have not seen this preparation method since being in Toraja on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi years ago. We both went back for seconds, stuffing ourselves on the amazing, unique flavours.

Next we stopped to climb to a famous artist's house, where the landscaped gardens were filled with statues he had created, mostly of local people in normal life poses. At the final stop horses took us up into the mountains to a view point where there was a zip line. They also had cabins and a small restaurant with cold beer. I opted for the beer!

On our return to Davao City we had the driver drop us off at the mall where we shopped yesterday. There is a Friday's restaurant with a large selection of local dishes that Marilynn spotted. We chose appetizers and bottomless mohitos. They must count on the locals not drinking a lot, but they didn't do well with me as I had a number of refills. The price was the equivalent of $7. A $2.50 taxi fare got us back to the hotel.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

The hotel laid on a complementary private transfer to the airport, and gave us a refund of the taxi fare we paid on arrival. The airport was more upscale, and things seemed to work, although for the first time belts and shoes had to be removed at security. The airport fee was also up to 200 pesos from the 30 we have been paying.

The Cebu Pacific flight was on time and they have twice the baggage allowance as PAL, so no added costs. Southeast Travel, the agency in Manila who organized the trip, had paid for bulkhead seats for us so we were comfortable. If this flight is any indication Cebu Pacific is head and shoulders above PAL. Snacks, cold drinks with ice and even cold beer were on sale - that beats free warm water! Games were organized with prizes to pass the time and the crew went out of their way to be helpful.

We are at the Legend Palawan Hotel in Puerto Princesa. It isn't the Marco Polo, but is fine. The hotel shuttle picked us up, and then we had 3 hours to kill before our tour of the area. Check in time is 2 PM but the hotel allowed early check in.