Philipp in the Philippines

In the Philippines, I stayed with Pinky for the first two days. I found her on Couchsurfing, where she already had a lot of positive reviews. And yes, I was able to join that list of positive reviews. She picked me up from the airport at 1am, I had my own room on the 29th floor overlooking the city, she organized a BBQ with friends, and last but not least, she offered to go on a road trip to the south of the country with me. I couldn't imagine anything better than driving through the country by car and having a personal tour guide who speaks the local language.

Pinky grew up in a province in the south of the country and initially pursued a nursing education. She worked in Saudi Arabia, Australia, and the Philippines, but soon experienced a kind of burnout as she didn't do much in life other than work and sleep. So she came to her senses and quit everything, wanting to rest for a while. But after 2 months, she got bored and decided to face her fears, step out of her comfort zone, and travel. Through encounters with people and impressions of other ways of life, a new world opened up for her, which impressed her, gave her new energy, and gave her life a whole new direction. That's how she met an Italian who tried to market wine in all sorts of countries. She got into the business and became an importer of Italian wine for high-end restaurants in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. During Covid, sales plummeted and her business collapsed. She came up with the idea of creating Facebook pages where she offered different products and then observed which pages had the highest response. It quickly became apparent that there are many people interested in vending machines. So she made contact with a manufacturer from Singapore and is now a successful saleswoman of vending machines in the Philippines. This job also gives her the freedom to go on trips and take care of customers or sell new machines on the go.

Our first destination was Mt. Maculot, an inactive volcano near Batangas, south of Manila. When we arrived at the foot of the mountain after about 3 hours of leaving Manila and asked the locals nearby about access, we were surprised to hear that the mountain had been closed since Covid and was no longer open for hiking. So we enjoyed the sunset nearby and decided to head to Caramoan, which is 500km and 12 hours away. While Pinky was maneuvering the car out of Manila and honking frequently from behind, I suspected that it was not solely due to the cultural habit of using the horn. She had little driving experience, so I ended up driving through the night almost alone. And it was an adventure. Not only because of the countless potholes as deep as the Mariana Trench, but also because of the extremely high traffic of trucks and crazy buses whose drivers seemed to be watching Formula 1 too excessively. They overtook from all angles and forced oncoming traffic to avoid them. After 3 hours of sleep in the car, we finally reached the charming Caramoan the next morning. It is a hidden gem and is said to be just as beautiful as Palawan, which is one of the main attractions of the Philippines. On the first day, we went island hopping, where we were taken to four small nearby islands and explored the beach and splashed around in the water. Then Pinky organized a trip for me with one of the local fishermen, who took me out to sea in his small boat at 4:30 in the morning. It was pure bliss to sail through the 30-degree warm night, under a enchanting starry sky, with the water glittering and sparkling due to the fluorescent plankton... if it weren't for the loud roaring and smelly motor right in front of me, whose exhaust fumes went straight into my respiratory tract. So I tried to hold my breath and focus on the positive, the starry sky. But then we finally arrived at the point where the fisherman and his son wanted to cast the net. But first, they dropped anchor to wait for dawn and more light. So I had my 20 minutes of deep relaxation on the sea. And then they laid out the net, which was probably over a kilometer long and about 1 meter high. Shortly afterwards, they reeled it in with the help of the master fisherman and captain. The catch was modest: there were 6 fish about 40 cm in size and maybe 3 small ones. This is the average catch and he was not dissatisfied. Back on the beach, he sold the higher quality fish to the people waiting there and kept the others for himself.

After a short nap, we set off for Mt. Mayon, a picture-perfect volcano that is one of the most active in the Philippines. When we took a short break by the roadside, I witnessed the hospitality of the rural population. Next to a small wooden hut, a few women were cooking some kind of porridge over an open fire. They offered us some, and after explaining to Pinky what it was, we agreed. It was some kind of vegetable in coconut milk. It tasted fantastic, which I expressed to the cook. Another woman didn't hold back, placed her porridge on the fire, and also offered it to us. I already suspected that they were now sensing a big business opportunity. I wasn't very hungry, but I like to taste everything, and the prices in the provinces are also very reasonable, so we agreed. It was also fabulous. Formidable! When we asked what they wanted in return, they didn't want anything. They had simply offered it to us out of joy in sharing... and these were people who didn't have much. Of course, we still gave them something and continued on our way.

Shortly afterwards, we passed a small arena where scooters were gathered. Pinky said it was a cockfighting arena and that we could check it out. Although I find this story ethically reprehensible, I couldn't resist seeing what was going on behind those walls. And it took a few fights before I understood. In the first fight, it took about 10 seconds for one of the roosters to be lying on the ground and unable to stand up anymore. It was later that I realized that both roosters had a razor-sharp blade about 8cm long attached to one leg. This blade was responsible for the paralysis that occurred during the course of the fight. Cruel story. Pinky told me that the fighting roosters were fed a special feed, but she didn't know if they received special combat training beforehand. Before the fights began, they were held by their owners and pecked by a 3rd rooster, which was supposed to make them aggressive and get them into a fighting mode. Before the fights started, people, 99.9% of them men, started gesturing and waving money, placing bets among themselves. The roosters that lost were slaughtered and plucked right on the spot. After 4 fights, we had seen enough and continued on our way.

And from a distance, you could see this slightly steaming, mighty cone again and again. And the closer you came, the more impressive this 2500-meter-high chimney became, which seemed as if it had been placed in nature by someone. When we arrived in a city from where tours to Mt. Mayon depart, Pinky contacted the guide. Unfortunately, the activity was so high at that time that it was not allowed to climb the volcano. He then recommended another mountain and guide in the immediate vicinity, which we set off for the next day. When we arrived at the guide's place, he told us that we needed a permit, which we couldn't get on that day due to the late hour. So he arranged a guide for another mountain, which we hiked the next day. He had wisely arranged 2 guides for us because there was already a noticeable difference in performance between Pinky and me from the first meters. So we hiked separately. The path was marvelous and initially passed wild-growing bananas, crossed a stream with beautiful pools, and became steeper and more rugged over time, requiring us to crawl or climb over tree trunks that lay across the path. My guide also showed some signs of physical weakness on the steeper sections, so I had to wait for him frequently as he needed a break. When we reached the summit, it was hard for me to suppress my disappointment. We were in the middle of a cloud and there was no view. So I took off my sweat-soaked shirt and waited for better weather. When the clouds started to dissipate slightly, my disappointment only decreased slightly, as we were directly facing another mountain and therefore didn't have a view of the valley or Mt. Mayon. So it was a nice day activity, but for the cost of the slow guide and the inadequate view, as someone used to attractions, I could have imagined spending a day snorkeling in the sea.

Our next stop was Donsol, a town in the southeast of the main island of Luzon. The place became known to tourists because between December and June, with a peak between February and May, whale sharks, the largest fish in the world measuring up to 18m in length, can be found there and you can snorkel with them. So I was there during the peak season, and if you looked at various reviews from that time, the likelihood of seeing one seemed extremely high. In my imagination, it went like this: A boat takes us further out to sea. We jump into the water, snorkel a bit, let ourselves be overwhelmed by the huge presence of these fish, take some nice pictures, and return. But as so often, expectations and reality are not so identical. In the end, we ended up on a boat with 4 other tourists, 2 of whom had already tried their luck 3 times before. A scout positioned himself on a mast and kept watch, the captain drove up and down for 3 hours, and a "snorkel guide" would jump into the water with us if he spotted such a magnificent creature. In the first hour, I was still full of hope and confidence and also kept searching the water, but as time went on, my eyes grew heavier, and the hope of seeing one gradually diminished. But suddenly, one of the other boats rounding on the water stopped, and our scout made wild gestures to our captain, indicating that he should quickly head in that direction. And it became hectic. Our snorkel guide instructed us to equip ourselves with fins, a diving mask, and a snorkel, position ourselves side by side at the forefront of the boat, and then, upon his command, dive into the water while the boat was still moving forward slowly. I sat at the forefront, and when our guide gave the command to jump, it became serious. He was sitting at the other end of our group and slipped into the water. The others hesitated, I hesitated, remembered the words that we should jump quickly after him, and so I also pushed off and jumped. This triggered the reflex to jump in the others as well, resulting in uncomfortable contact. It was my misfortune to sit at the forefront and jump from a moving boat, so I ended up under the others as they also decided to jump. When I reached the water's surface and regained my orientation, I saw our guide quickly swimming in the direction of the other group of boats. So I also headed in that direction and gave it all I had. But it was too late. The other group was already cheering loudly and evaluating. Apparently, 2 people in the group had just seen a whale shark go underwater, while the others had also come away empty-handed. We circled for another hour before heading back. The Englishwoman, the Spaniard, the Belgian, and an Italian wanted to try again the next day. After my experiences, my motivation was dwindling because to me, it was just too unromantic to ambush these animals, jump into the water hectically, only to see a disturbed whale shark disappear into the depths of the sea due to the splashing. And since Pinky had already seen one elsewhere in the Philippines, we agreed to leave it at one attempt.

We then visited a friend of Pinky's who lived nearby. She had just had her nose done because she finds the noses of people with fair skin more beautiful. She was also a nurse, but she had a child with an 86-year-old man who was very wealthy, which also affected her wealth. For example, she offered loans with a 15% interest rate, which increased her fortune even more. But she still works as a nurse, though in the USA. She controlled nursing robots named Temi, which allowed her to work in nursing homes in the USA from the Philippines... crazy world. After this exciting and funny encounter, we made our way back to Manila, with a brief stop at a wakeboarding facility where you could be pulled through the water for 3 euros per hour.

In Manila, I went on a museum tour one day and visited the National Museum of Natural History, where I could see a stuffed whale shark up close again. On the last day, Pinky showed me the Spanish quarter again. The Philippines were colonized by the Spaniards in the 16th century, before the Americans tried again in the late 19th century and the Japanese at some point in the 20th century, before they became independent again. In any case, this part of the city is the most historic, as there are still old churches, government buildings, and other structures from the Spanish era. Otherwise, I didn't like Manila as much and I already liked it much more outside the city in the provinces, where things were less hectic and people were more approachable and seemed friendlier.

As a final ritual, Pinky and the guests eat balut, a traditional dish that can be found everywhere. I really tried my best and enjoyed tasting everything there was to taste, but I was really dreading it and wanted to be open-minded about it, as it is part of Pinky's tradition and a kind of national dish. In the end, I was somewhat relieved when my procrastination technique led to me forgetting about eating a nearly hatched egg.

In the end, I stayed shorter than planned because Pinky made Borneo seem enticing to me. But the Philippines, like other Asian countries, were an exciting experience. It's difficult to put all the impressions into words because everything is so different from the Western world, and it would probably take a book to do justice to every observation that seemed foreign.