A severe weather event.... (31 March 2010)

....is, I think, what the Americans would call what just happened here. The clouds started building earlier today and at about 5pm all hell was let loose – the thunder was so loud and booming the buildings shook, the lightning was like strobe lights for over an hour, the rain was horizontal and the wind was fierce – even a few trees down in these lovely grounds. Oh and the power was off for a couple of hours. It’s still raining now (about 9.30pm) but a lot more gently and there are still flashes of lightning in the distance. All quite strange and an odd temperature reversal. Since I’ve been here, it’s been really hot so the only way to get cool has been to come inside with the aircon – tonight with no power and therefore no aircon and the storm cooling the air a little outside, the opposite occurred. Thunderstorms are not one of my favourite things so all I can say is thank goodness for a bottle of duty free gin and a can of tonic!

A moonless full moon... (30 March 2010)

I was quite excited to be in Thailand for the full moon – there are normally parties everywhere in Thailand on this auspicious night and lots of life. Not so for this one. It was a case of “be careful what you wish for – take two”. A while back in Vietnam it was so hot I was quite wishing for the normal winds to arrive – which they did, with a vengeance. This time in Khao Lak, it has been really hot and humid and I said to Ant in an email that it might be quite refreshing to have the odd downpour – well the gods were listening again (why don’t they do the same when I wish to win the lottery.....) and suddenly it appears the rainy season has arrived somewhat early. For the last three or four days it has been glorious sunshine until mid afternoon and then the black clouds roll in over the green hills behind the beach for a monumental thunderstorm. It clears the air a bit but it does mean that the cloud cover covers up the moon totally – full or not! The only illumination in the sky tonight are lightning flashes and the rather lovely hot air balloon lanterns that they let go for luck which seem to float really high in the sky. And lovely Khao Lak also appears to retain its quieter family atmosphere – no evidence of any drug and booze filled full moon parties here!
But I guess that is the reason it’s a bit of a blog desert from this end. Khao Lak is a lovely relaxing place and I am enjoying whiling away the time wandering the shops and reading a lot. There are excursions to do – mainly by boat to Phi Phi island and Krabi where Ant and I went a couple of years ago. There are also elephant shows which are not my thing or trips to the great metropolis of Phuket to see the shops followed by an evening drag extravaganza. So I am just chillin’ out on a Thai beach which has always been a part of the plan!

These two pictures give you some idea of my mornings and afternoons!

Fresh fish or feet Sir? (22 March 2010)

The village behind the beach here in Khao Lak is probably a kilometre long with loads of shops, restaurants and cafes lining each side of Highway 4 which goes north south along the coast. Plenty of choice for food which is nice and loads of stalls to wander around, selling all the usual suspects – fake bags and sunglasses, Thai souvenirs, carved soap and the beach fashions which haven’t changed since I first came here about twenty years ago! There is little sign here of the other “usual suspect” – the dicey massage parlour and the other associated businesses. It looks like the large bottles of massage oil on sale everywhere are for the more legitimate side of the massage trade and beauty spas are everywhere. It’s a first – a Thai resort area that seems to be just that with not a girly bar in sight, and no sign so far of fat Europeans with tiny Thai “girlfriends.

But I am at the seaside so I thought a nice seafood dinner would be in order. I wander along and find a nice looking place that had quite a crowd around the entrance. They had loads of fish in tanks that you choose and they cook for you. But then I realised, the crowds around the entrance were looking at something completely different. Another large tank of small fish, with people sitting on the edge dangling their feet in. The tiny fish nibble way at the dead skin on your feet.... someone should tell them about “adjacencies” in merchandising. My stomach is still turning at the thought – which tank do they cook the fish from? A lot of other people obviously felt the same way – whilst the front was busy, there wasn’t a soul eating in there....

Khao Lak (20 - 21 March 2010)

As usual, Bangkok Airways get me here in reasonable comfort, (well, I was in economy....) as I fly to Phuket before making my way about 100kms north to Khao Lak on Thailand’s west coast. This area was an up and coming resort with lots of half completed hotels when the tsunami struck in 2004. It was the worst hit area in Thailand with a wave of over eleven metres. But by now, the hotels have been re built and it is a quiet place with a long area of beach along the Andaman Sea for many kilometres. All the hotels appear low rise and it is described as Phuket 20 years ago. I am staying at the Nang Thong Beach resort on Nang Thong beach which is a lovely collection of individual bungalows, all surrounded by lots of vegetation and fragrant frangipani. Inside they are modern and minimalist, but comfortable, probably my favourite room so far this trip. But again I am short of any British voices – the hotel bookshelves are full of German and Scandinavian books, with just a few Russian – and only four, old, dog eared English ones.... It’s right on the beach and there’s plenty of sunbeds, even so, there are towels on them from quite early......

Glad I didn't wear my red shirt... (19- 20 March 2010)

I have been a little concerned over the last few days about the large red shirt protests in Thailand, mainly in Bangkok, where the supporters of the old leader (now living outside Thailand) are protesting for a few days. When this happened a couple of years ago, the airport was closed for a eight days leaving people stranded. But the news seemed to indicate it was violence free and the demo’s under control, so I didn’t need to change my plans. I had to overnight in Bangkok due to flight times and my usual long winded journey from HCMC to Hong Kong (again....) and on to Bangkok. I had booked to stay in the Great Residence, near the airport where I have stayed before. I can still recommend it – great clean room, private bathroom, aircon, tv etc, and including free wifi, breakfast and airport transfer in a rather posh car – all for a bargain £18. And that’s with a terrible pound and a really strong baht. The hotel, when I stayed last year had only two buildings completed, and now the one under construction then is finished. They have built a little spa (The Great Relax), a restaurant (the Great Restaurant) and a swimming pool – but like last time I ponder over the location, it’s sort of under a flyover on the airport road – like the A4 in West London – a swimming pool with an interesting view!
But on the short journey from airport to hotel, I see why no protesters have got anywhere near the airport. There are solidiers everywhere, and police roadblocks stopping all cars to check them. But staying out near the airport did prove to be a wise move – the next day, Bangkok traffic was paralysed by the demonstrators and it would have proved a difficult, if not impossible journey to get to the airport. So instead, I take the £3 limo hotel car and get there with no problems, and into the Bangkok Airways lounge.

Sigh - gone! (18 - 19 March 2010)

Today I leave Mui Ne for the long five hour drive back to Saigon. It’s still only 200kms ad it still takes five whole long hours - just doesn’t seem right! I’d recommend it as a place to stay if you want the beach, but not if you want “real Vietnam”, also it’s great for kitesurfing! The Sailing Club is also a good place to stay, great service, good rooms but the pool and beach area are a little on the small side, so you can feel a bit crowded if it’s busy. But the restaurant is really good, fusion food and the best breakfasts ever. The staff is also really nice and very helpful.
But back to the journey, on the way we stop for a loo break at a garage/cafe. You have to take your own shoes off before entering the loos and put on a pair of their white plastic sandals – not my favourite, having to wear shoes that thousands have worn before, but I thought that perhaps it was a good sign – if they went to this trouble for hygiene so they only had clean shoes on their floor, I was in for a clean loo – sadly my logic was wrong – obviously all hygiene efforts went into the sandals and not into the loos themselves....

This time in Saigon I decide to stay in the centre – I have stayed in the backpackers’ district, a local area and now right in the centre on the river. It’s here that you realise the city is changing. There are some really tall buildings going up and some very chic housing developments on the river. From the roof terrace of where I am staying I look down into a huge ”ground zero” like hole where the foundation are going in for another skyscraper. But the city here is still manic – still loads of motorbikes but also more cars, limos, taxis and tourists. Also the quotient of designer shops is on the up, another sign of a fast developing city. I have booked myself into the Saigon Grand Hotel, one of the original colonial hotels, where I am upgraded to the old wing. A beautiful room with dark wood original parquet floors, an ante room with huge chandelier before you go into your room, and large shuttered windows looking out onto the street. Given the city’s past, I guess this room could throw up some historical secrets. I nip into Jasper’s across the road from the hotel for dinner, and have the most un-Vietnamese dinner imaginable – St Patrick’s Day Sheperd’s Pie and cabbage – very nice it was too! The only thing Vietnamese about it was the large dish of honey that came with it – still not sure what I was supposed to do with it! But the young waitress, a part time student really wanted to practice her English, so we chatted for a while. Trying to explain what I did in my working life proved difficult – until I remembered my old Vietnamese – and remembered that Gucci was always “Goosey” – and like “why why” it worked!

But the next morning it was time to move on – and with a sigh, I say goodbye to Saigon for this time. A hotel limo (I only paid for the hotel minibus – honest....) takes me through the Saigon rush hour and we weave through the river of bikes. The airport is quite flash – and apart from a power cut (little worrying at an airport) it reminded me of Heathrow T5 but on a smaller scale.

In need of a fan in Phan Thiet (Friday 12 March 2010)

Today I decide to visit Phan Thiet the main town at the opposite end of the long beach to Mui Ne. Yesterday I popped into a tour stall to ask about a city tour – but was told they only deal with Russian tourists.... odd. So I decide to put my own together, there’s not too much to see and at least that way I can avoid the fish sauce factory tour (I did one last year in Phu Quoc – interesting but not necessary to repeat!) So this morning another first as I find my way on a local public Vietnamese bus to go to town. The conductress couldn’t understand where I wanted to go (I’m not sure I was that clear anyway....) so I pointed in the vague direction of town and proffer my 7000 dong (about 25p) for the 12km ride. The bus was smallish but quite reasonable. But no aircon and daily highs of 35 degrees and very small Vietnamese plastic seats made me long for a fan....  I had found a map but it wasn’t that helpful – Vietnamese road names are quite difficult to get a grip of but I assumed I would get a sense of where to get off. I needn’t have worried. All of a sudden at one stop the whole bus jabbered at me in Vietnamese and pointed to the door – this I assumed was where 7000 dong gets you, either that or I had done something socially very unacceptable.... So off I get to find I have alighted at the main mall, a Co-op – wherever else would a Westerner want to go! This was quite a small mall and I think the only one in town with a supermarket, and a few jewellery stores, clothing stalls and an electrical appliance dept, but it was air conditioned and was welcome after the very hot bus ride. But it was not where I wanted to be. I was aiming for what looked like the older part of town where the market and a couple of other places were. But I couldn’t work out how to get there as I didn’t actually know where I was... But by hand signals and showing my map the security guard managed to mark on the map where I was, so I set off.

The town appears to be relatively new with quite wide streets and traffic enough to make it fun to cross the road, but nothing like Saigon. Lots of mopeds and bikes and schoolgirls riding straight backed and elegantly in the traditional Ao Dais. The older part of town is on a little island joined to the mainland by a number of bridges. As you cross the bridge, the water is filled with yet more of the blue fishing boats that I saw in Mui Ne.

I was headed to an old part of town to see Duc Thanh school, preserved as it was when Ho Chi Minh taught there in 1911 before he went off to Saigon and beyond to become the leader he later was. It was small but good to see, I was the only person there and it was guarded by a lonely Vietnamese soldier who looked to be doing his homework as he studied his books – he nodded politely and no fee was charged.

 I passed a lovely old colonial house (see pic) which was in a really bad state of repair. I also wanted to go to the Ho Chi Minh museum but that was (and has been for some time, I understand), closed which was a shame. But there was statuary in the well tended little park beside it – a huge one of Uncle Ho and a smaller one of Mickey Mouse....

The only thing left to see was the market which was as usual; colourful with fruit, flowers and the usual pots and pans. Generally it was also quite sweet smelling until as usual, I find myself in the meat dept..... for some reason I was reminded of Dyl and Toto, so moved swiftly on.... The only one unsettling episode was a small child in the market put on his most pathetic face and held out his hand for some money. I politely said no and prepared to walk on, he persisted and put on an even more pathetic face, I said no again and at that point he started hitting me – no one took a blind bit of notice! After that I take a look at the 32 metre tall Phan Thiet water tower which is the proud symbol of Binh Thuan Province – well it is an important part of the city.....
At that point to avoid being beaten by yet more pathetic children, I decided to come back to the beach – I had no idea where the bus stops were, I couldn’t even read where they were going if I saw one so wimped out yet again and found a taxi....
Tonight I also sample my first glass of Dalat, the Vietnamese local why why that I haven’t had for two years. It’s a bit posher here than what I was used to – they sell the export version here and very nice it is too! The hotel don’t sell it so I was in another more local place, and yes I did have to resort to asking for “why why” – they still can’t get “white wine”... In fact out of the hotel my Vietnamese has come to the fore before, to get back here from town I could only get the taxi to understand “Sailee Cluh”...

Be careful what you wish for.... (Tuesday 9 March 2010)

...as the saying goes and it proves to be true.  I recently made the mistake of telling you about the lovely calm sea and lack of wind that is a trademark of these parts, and today I wake up to wild weather! An early morning walk on the beach proves to be a cheap exfoliating beauty treatment that even the myriad local “spas” would be hard to match. So today I explore a bit and finally I have got the hang of the geography round here. Though this is called Mui Ne, it is actually a long stretch of beach around 30kms with Mui Ne fishing village one end and Phan Thiet, the larger town at the other. I appear to be right in the middle – a good place to be as this is where the highest concentration of little stalls and restaurants is.

Mui Ne sounded like it might be a bit like Hoi An as it has a little fishing harbour. With thoughts of a “Cargo Cafe” with banana Krispies and a latte I make my way. The fact that there are no hotels in Mui Ne itself and it is called a fishing village should really have given me a clue. I now realise the reason for no little hotels and cafes – it is exactly what it says – a stinky (but charming...) village dedicated to fishing and then drying some of the said fish. Not a place to linger and enjoy a banana krispie.. I stop at the first harbour and make my way down the steep white concrete stairs that almost blind you in the white sunlight. The beach under your feet feels as though it is tiled as there are many years’ worth of broken shells littering it. Large dead starfish are left to rot.

And other litter too, washed up by the tide – the lonely flipflops – I still think there’s a global business to be had to partner these up on beaches around the world – perhaps I’ll design it and call it “e flip matchmaker”... and of course the mountains of plastic bags. I still get odd looks when I buy something at the little stalls and refuse the bag – perhaps they should start charging like M&S to discourage others...

The beach is also littered with coracles, those little round woven boats that Ant and I had such fun in on our eco fishing tour in Hoi An – perhaps I can give them some training.... And as it’s the middle of the day, the hundreds of blues fishing boats are amassed in the harbour like some armada, ready and waiting to go out as soon as the sun starts to drop. At night you can see them on the horizon in their hundreds all lit up like fairy lights on the horizon – the only way you can tell where the end of the bay is and the boats begin is the colour of the lights. On land they are yellow, on the sea they are white. Next stop is the village harbour. The village is built on a small hill rising up from the harbour. The streets are tiny and the little higgledepiggldly houses crowd each other. As in most other places in Vietnam, life is lived in the open. The shutters into the houses are open and I peek at wooden furniture, tiled walls, the tv (always on...) and the small shrines twinkling away. The only large structure to be seen is the huge, white Christian church. The kids play around in the dust and the women are cooking or eating. The harbour itself is even smellier than the last one and fishermen shelter under palm thatch mending their nets and chatting away. Chickens and pigs scrabble in the dirt. Not sure if these are Vietnamese pot bellied pigs or not – but I’m sure they are destined for one pot or another – last night I tried “paddyfield pork”, a local dish and it was very good. But my nose could take neither the smell nor the disappointment of lack of cafes and shops so I move on.

 This part of the coast is famous for its sand dunes – you have a choice of red, yellow or white. I decide to try the white as they are nearest – if they really grab my attention, I can move on to the other colours another day. They don’t. The white sand dunes look rather yellow to me... and are, well big sand dunes at the back of the village. The big thrill is to pay the kids who crowd around you as soon as you arrive a few thousand dong to borrow their plastic sheets which are used as sleds. From what I could see, the slide down ends on the road where the usual motorbikes and buses are whizzing along at their usual speed.... They are a little like the dunes in Dubai where you can go wadi bashing, but on a rather smaller scale... instead of a glam 4WD you get a plastic sheet... But the wind was doing its exfoliation job again, and was wiping out my footprints before I had even lifted up my foot. I’m told they can be spectacular at dusk and make great photos – you will just have to use your imagination!

On the way back I stop off at a rather trendy bar (actually the only trendy bar...) I have seen called Sankara Beach Club and Restaurant – well you have to keep your liquid intake up in this climate. It’s really lovely with a little blue (if a little cloudy) pool and surrounded with airy tents and that lovely modern cube shaped beach furniture. The other benefit (apart from providing the much needed liquid) is that it has a slightly sheltered view of the beach and the kite surfers. There seem to be hundreds out there all moving over the rough sea at a rate of knots and leaping really high into the air with their acrobatic twists and turns – better than the telly! There are a couple of wind surfers out there too – but that looks sooooo last year!

Nyet doesn't work here (Thursday 4 March 2010)

Somewhere in Central America (it might have been Tikal) Ant and I discovered that pretending to be Russian and answering “Nyet” to every hawker who approached meant they left us in peace as it was obviously a language they didn’t know – it worked perfectly. Here, the exact opposite is the case. I am more likely to get left alone by using English! Everything here seems to be in Russian – all the shops, money changers, restaurants and bars display their signs in Russian. The good news from that though is at least I feel fashionable.... I just wish I’d brought my 60’s blue eyeshadow...

This is not a backpacker place, it’s just a seaside area that has been built to cater for foreign (i.e. Russian) tourists. I expected it to be a bit like Nha Trang up the coast which is a Vietnamese town that also happens to cater for the odd tourist at the seaside. Having said that, I haven’t yet visited Phan Thiet or Mui Ne proper, so it may just be this area. But don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice place. The beach is long and clean, a long sweeping bay. It’s known for kite surfing but at the moment the winds are not here so some people are disappointed (not me!), and the clear warm water drifts gently on the sand. Vietnamese women and children dig deep collecting clams and deposit them in luridly coloured plastic colanders. The Sailing Club is a lovely, smaller hotel with a really good menu – and I even get a good Illy cafe latte at breakfast. Even the why why list is good so I haven’t yet been reduced to the local Dalat! But the people staying here all seem to be German, with the odd Russian. I think the larger more corporate Vietnamese hotels cater to the Russian charter trade. The hotel’s “left books” department gave me a clue, shelf after shelf of German and Russian books, but just four English ones. Come on Brits, where are you – have you stopped travelling?

The hotel strip is a good few miles long with the hotels on one side and the usual mix of shops, restaurants and bars on the other. The shops are all “same, same and not very different” doing a good line in fake t shirts and man made shiny dressing gowns with gold, red and blue butterflies roaming across them. The roadside stalls do a good line in “real” pearls.... But the “lowndree” is cheap and good! And actually, I don’t even really need to use that “Nyet” as they really don’t hassle you at all. It is hot though – perhaps that wind might actually be welcome....

The hotel here has wifi but that was a bit iffy for a while. It was my superior tech skills that resolved the issue after the hotel’s IT expert had tried for a couple of hours – if ever you have a similar problem (i.e. you can connect to the wifi, but not the internet) just check your laptop’s power plan – go onto the high performance plan and as if by magic, it works!

My way on the highway (Wednesday 3 March 2010)

Today is long journey day as I take Highway 1 the 200 kms north west to get to Mui Ne on the coast. People tell me it will take five hours minimum but that cannot be right – but of course it is! Just getting out of HCMC took forever, the city seemed to go on and on and even when we reach the main highway – the M1 equivalent I guess as it goes all the way up the coast to Hanoi, the traffic doesn’t appear to get any easier. It’s clogged with really heavy lorries belching out black smoke, some buses and a few cars. It’s like two lanes and a hard shoulder, but the hard shoulder appears to be for the motorbikes and the odd pedestrian. The traffic isn’t helped by their version of Newport Pagnell services either – in the middle of said three lane highway stand men selling fruit and water – now you don’t get that on the M1.....
After about two hours the road goes back to two lanes but we are moving a bit quicker as the traffic has eased a bit, but still the road is bordered by shops, workshops, houses, factories and the little lorry stops which consist of a series of hammocks strung out with those ubiquitous tiny red chairs for dining. This is where the truck drivers stop to sleep. It’s not until about four hours later that the countryside appears. Some rice paddies but the main agriculture here is dragon fruit, that pretty looking but very bland tasting red fruit with white pulpy insides with tiny black seeds. Mile after mile of small individual fields line the road with their cactus like plants, some have strings of lightbulbs wrapped round. My driver has very little English so I can’t ask why – I assume it is something to do with ripening the fruit rather than night time illumination.... Every so often there is a dragon fruit packing plant and loads of roadside stalls with the fruit piled high. But the driver’s lack of English doesn’t mean a peaceful trip – the radio blares out My Way..... Frank Sinatra has a lot to answer for!
Eventually we turn off highway 1 and drive through Phan Thiet the nearest town. We eventually arrive at the Sailing Club, Mui Ne, my home for the next two weeks.

Missed Saigon (Tuesday 2 March 2010)

Two flights with Cathay (again, really good) via Hong Kong see me back in Saigon, or I suppose more correctly, Ho Chi Minh City. It was strange to be back in the arrivals hall where I waited so long for Ant almost two years ago when his flight was so delayed. It was even warmer now than then, 30 degrees at 6pm. But I knew the score this time and got my taxi ticket at the airport so no hassle. I am only here one night as I move to Mui Ne up the coast tomorrow so decide to stay between the city and the airport in District 3. It might not be the city proper as in District 1 but it sure feels like it. I had forgotten quite how amazing the streams of millions of motorbikes are and the continual cacophony of horns, great fun, there is such a good vibe about the place. I’d missed it! I had booked a new place I had found, a boutique hotel called Ma Maison. They have marketed the place as being in a really non commercial part of the city where you can see everyday urban life lived in the alleys, quite a clever usp I thought to get people away from the centre. They were right! This place was tucked away down a series of alleyways that the taxi got stuck in, but the hotel itself was exquisite. An old Vietnamese house on four storeys, originally French owned, and opened last August. It is owned and managed by a young go ahead Vietnamese girl called Natasha and it took two years to lovingly restore. They did a very good job. Everything is beautiful from the old restored French painted furniture and the marble staircases to the very modern bathrooms. White starched sheets and silent aircon, shuttered windows overlooking the alleys. But city life did carry on outside – sitting in their small garden with a glass of chilled why why, a rather large rat did run over my feet and was burrowing about in the hedge...

I planned to leave at 11am the next day so I would have time to wander around the alleys. It was life in the raw. Tiny houses one on top of the other, rooms open onto the street, mopeds parked in the dark rooms, tiny kids saying hello and touching you, washing festooned on the window grills, old toothless women gossiping away. Tiny people sitting on those tiny red kiddie’s plastic chairs noshing away, it was all there. It was clan and tidy though, apart from the odd drain smell wafting up from beneath your fee (well I guess Mr Ratty has to live somewhere.....). A huge concrete school with kids in their blue uniforms hanging out of the windows shouting “hello” and “what’s your name” dominated one side. And the Vietnamese coffee for breakfast took me straight back to breakfast at the Bich Duyen two years ago.... At the end of the alley ways I hit a main road and took the opportunity for a quick “check eye” and had two pairs of glasses made to measure for £30 in ten minutes – Specsavers eat your heart out! I ended up paying in dollars as I have yet to get to a cash machine, but I realise I am back to being a billionaire, at about 28,000 dong to the pound I have to be careful with those noughts..... but having said that, the way the pound is in freefall at the moment, it may not be such a problem!

Confused.....(1 March 2010)

Today I left the Bluewater resort and was dropped off at.... well, Bluewater. Or at least Cebu City’s equivalent, the Ayala Mall. Why is it that all hotel shuttles drop you at the Mall and not the interesting parts of the city? But the mall it was and the first shop I see is M&S! Together with Topshop and enough shoe shops to satisfy Imelda Marcos (she must have shopped here....) I wander about. But not much to see, Lacoste, MNG, crocs, Starbuck’s, they are all here, and you could be anywhere in the world. The huge advertising posters outside are the only giveaway, the adverts for beer, whisky and Japanese cars all feature semi clad glamorous females draped alluringly over the man.... So I move on to take a look at the more historical parts of the city, which is the second largest in the Philippines after Manila, and also known as the “Queen City of the South”.

To borrow a phrase from the football world, this city, as I guess a lot of Asian cities are, is a city of two halves. I try and make sense of the colourful jeepneys to get to the other side of the city but eventually give up and take a taxi. I leave the “international” business park where the mall is along with the Marriott and a lovely park and other swish office buildings to go to the Basilica of Santo Nino, the holy child of Cebu. I am soon in a different world. The taxi crawls through dingy, dusty lanes crowded with people, trikes and market stalls and I am finally let out at the church. It feels and looks very Indian with women selling candles and sitting at charcoal fires near the entrance. It is a Christian church in honour of said Santo Nino and packed with statues of Our Lady with the child and dressed seemingly in a wedding gown. People queue up to file past a statue of the child and touch the glass case in which he lives. I light a rather fetching candle for Kev.

 Just beyond the church is Magellan’s (he of Portuguese fame, who was murdered here when he failed to take the place over) Cross. I then go to the Cebu City Cathedral, quite grand, but in reality just another church..... It was roasting so having seen the sights I look for a taxi to go back.... Only then do I realise I am in not too good an area on the edge of the docks, lined with dark stalls selling religious statues with not a taxi in sight....I wander around with no luck and then decide to retrace my steps – there must be another tourist being dropped off at the Basilica. After a few minutes wait I got lucky. A row with the taxi driver about turning his meter on followed, but I did make it back to the rarified confines of the hotel...

I leave here tomorrow. I have enjoyed what I have seen of the Philippines and realise there is a lot more to see, so it is back on the list to return - I just wish there was a better way of getting around than the ferries! I’m sure Manila is a very different story but the people are very nice, seem very friendly, it’s looks beautiful and is not at all threatening, a good place to have visited.