The price included supper and a pig in the front yard. I thought travelling didn’t get
much more interesting than this and accepted the deal.
The boat ticket was a little pricy for one person, but Edna arranged for me to join a
family out for the day. It was a lovely family from Manila who was kind enough to
allow me to join them. They invited me to share their food and drinks, and I got to
eat an array of typical Filipino food. In classic Filipino style, they were well stocked.
The snacks included salted eggs, eggplant in garlic and chilli, fried fish, and loads
of other things I couldn’t remember. We had a wonderful time, stopping at three
nearby islands before returning to the mainland. I’ll be forever grateful to this kind
family as they could never imagine what a treat the trip was to me.
Edna was waiting at the jetty, and we made our way to her house. While she
prepared rice, fresh fish and octopus, the power went out. Still, she was
unperturbed and carried the food next door to where they had a barbeque.
As darkness fell, a few visitors came to glance at the stranger in their village. To
make matters even more interesting, we sauntered to the nearby basketball court,
the centre of town and thus all activities. One half of the court was used by
youngsters shooting for the net and the other half by kids doing cartwheels and
jumping elastic rope. On the side-line, one could buy snacks from mobile carts or
participate in various games. Kids hopped, skipped, and jumped or did silly bicycle
tricks while the older ones hung around, stoic-faced, trying to look cool.
What a wonderful village. I’m sure I met the entire community during the short
walk to and from the basketball court. I considered it travelling at its very best.
Honda Bay – Roxas - 128 km
I didn’t expect the day to be quite as challenging! Not only was the weather
scorching, but the hills were steep and, for an unknown reason, I didn’t feel well
and suffered from an upset stomach and nausea. Halfway, I started vomiting and
cramping, something I’d never experienced before. The day turned out one that
required mental strength bordering on stupidity while pushing the bike up the
sharp hills, cramping, rubbing my legs, and vomiting.