The trip to Sabang on Puerto Galera is an eye-opener for all sorts of reasons. Whilst this quiet diving resort doesn't have a huge amount to offer visitors, it is more the experience of the journey itself which typifies why living in Asia is so often an unexpected attack on the senses.
Getting there necessitates a two-hour bus ride south from Manila and upon arrival at Batangas Pier, there are no clear signposts to direct you where to go in order to buy your ferry ticket. Consequently you are immediately accosted by a cluster of hustlers who insist on accompanying you to the ticket booth. Before you've even purchased your ticket, a number of other guys have already muscled their way in on the deal, and trying to cut out the middle man and conduct the transaction yourself proves pointless.
Your boat ticket needs to be validated by adding the necessary receipts, firstly for an additional fee you need to pay for environmental protection and secondly for an additional cost for use of the terminal. In light of the facilities at the port, both of these fees are an absolute joke. However, before you can ask where to go to pay them, the ticket vendor has already given these guys your ticket and money, and they've disappeared with them in their hands to carry out the transaction for you. According to the saleswoman, these men are employees of the company, so she is doubtlessly in on the scam too.
In future I've decided a new plan of attack, which will be never to ask for directions and always to speak German whenever spoken to. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen.
Once in the building whilst waiting for your ferry to sail, you see what your 50 pesos terminal fee has purchased. This is basically the use of a coffee shop with no coffee on offer and "No stock sir" is a phrase you will constantly hear everywhere you go in the Philippines. In addition, you now have the chance to get an on-the-spot pedicure from a local professional. Perhaps the client's toe-nails flying through the air are considered a good reason to charge you the 30 pesos fee in aid of environmental protection !
The two-hour ferry crossing to Sabang proves fairly uneventful (other than a 45-minute delay) and the resort itself is no bigger than a few streets consisting of bars, restaurants and dive shops. On Saturday night if you venture into one of the gogo bars, you will be treated to a live stage show featuring a number of extremely bored-looking young girls who barely know how to dance.
One notable exception is a local beauty who produces a raunchy show and a choreographied climax to the song Bohemian Rhapsody. From a personal viewpoint, I am only sorry that I am not sitting directly in line with her buttocks, as these must be quite something to observe as she continually girates while clenching and then releasing the muscles in her arse cheeks in time to Freddy Mercury and the boys singing 'Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?'. By the time she gets to 'Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me', Sabang is swiftly increasing in its appeal. However, her performance quickly comes to an end and she proves to be a brief highlight with a performance that cannot be followed or outtrumped in any way.
Whilst Sabang is evidently not one of the seedier resorts on Puerto Galera, it is nevertheless worth noting that the age gap of the couple sitting close to us in the bar is unquestionably around 50 years. His wrinkles leave me in no doubt that he is clearly the wrong side of 70, while she appears to be early twenties at the very most. But in a continent where granddads are frequently seen dating young girls who could easily be classed as their granddaughters, hardly anyone finds the sight in any way unusual.
The following morning we have breakfast overlooking the seafront and although the service is extremely mediocre, the view is nevetheless enjoyable.
With a 5-hour journey back to Manila ahead of us, we take the ferry across to Batangas. Then, barely two minutes into the bus journey back to Manila, the bus pulls in to the side of the road to enable a hoard of vendors to board the bus and ply their trade whilst continually walking up and down the aisle. They are selling everything from hot rice, puffed rice and bottles of water to hamburgers, crisps and individual mints. The bus even pulls off the road for a few minutes to ensure the vendors all make a killing, before dropping them off and then continuing on its way. Barely 30 minutes later, the whole process starts all over again.
Five hours after leaving Sabang, we arrive back at Manila and I feel a little wiser for one more enlightening experience in this fascinating country.
No comments:
Post a Comment