YA LEUM.44 — Manila
We returned to Coron to catch the ferry to Manila. When we arrived at the port we were surprised by the size of the ferry. It was an authentic cruise that could transport up to 1000 people. We bought the cheapest tickets that gave access to tens of bunk beds, with no partition, in the middle of a ship. An experience of its own kind…
Despite the hundreds of people, everything was organized, clean, and cheerful!
We arrived in Manila at 6 a.m., with huge expectations.
There was something exotic in my imagination about Manila, a type of charming chaos that frees the beautiful essence of the country.
Although it was still early, we went to the house of the couchsurfer who was going to welcome us.
Before that, we had breakfast and at 9 a.m. we were already eating a tapsilog: pieces of sautéed steak with fried garlic, eggs, rice, and lime sauce. A typical breakfast dish.
Lewis, our couchsurfer, lived in the outskirts of the city, in a Philippine neighborhood. He and his girlfriend welcomed us into their house with all the sympathy and care in the world. Lewis’s job is incredibly awesome — he is a documentary photographer, focused on social problems like the Rohinga refugee crises, the Indonesia tsunami, or the Muay Thai child fighters.
We explored a little bit of Manila with them. We did not plan to stay for a long time in the capital but we still wanted to visit Intramuros, a historical district that was governed by the Spanish. We visited the markets, the hipster area of the city, the Rizal Park, and went for many walks around the capital.
Manila was planned to be our last stop in the Philippines as we were ready to travel to our last country in Asia: Vietnam.
Manila has its charm, it is different from all the other regions that we saw before in the Phillipines. Manila is closer to the rest of the world. There are business districts like in the West and the residential areas are chaotically organized. I liked it!
We also spent a lot of time relaxing from our previous intense trips.
From Manila, we had a flight to catch to Hanoi.
Since Christmas time was close, Lewis, his friends, and his neighbors organized an anticipated Christmas party. They prepared everything rigorously: karaoke, much, much beer, delicious Philippine food, and a huge excitement on the street.
We had to fly that night so we tried to enjoy the party as much as possible.
Some of Lewis’s friends tried to persuade us not to catch our flight and for a moment there we actually felt like staying!
I could not guess the adventure that was still waiting for us…
We said goodbye to that big family and left the party in a good mood. We were also saying goodbye to a country that offered us so many experiences…
There is always a nostalgic feeling when we change countries. There is a moment in which we stop and observe what stays behind. And yet, there is no time to wait. Time flies by and before we notice, we are already in a plane to the next country.
We arrived at the airport early enough but when we got to the check-in, an employee told us we could not board because Mathieu’s passport had a watermark which was not that visible to us.
However, after so many boats and adventures in the water, it was highly possible our belongings had some water traces…
For an entire hour, we explained to the airline people that we could not lose that flight because the flight to Hanoi was our connection with Argentina. We could not risk missing the connection flight. The airline staff was not open at all to learn about our situation and continued to state it was impossible for us to travel. During the first hour, I thought we were going to make it but then I realized we had no chances! I could not believe what was happening to us!
It was 11 p.m. and we had no idea about what to do!
Yet, there was a fact: we had to make a new passport. That could take up to 15 days and that was too close to the date of our connection flight between Hanoi and Buenos Aires.
What should we do now? Return to Lewis’ place? Should we go back to the center of the city and find a hostel? Should we spend the night at the airport? We still had plenty of doubts because the last thing we wanted was to miss our flight to Buenos Aires.
It was 1 a.m. when we got to Lewis’ place. The party was not showing any signs of slowing down, just like the karaoke and the beer, which was still not over. After everyone’s surprised faces, we ended up joining the party and decided to think about solutions on the next day…
December 2017,
Patricia Assis
