November 9th - Day 1

London - Jeddah - Manila

The day begins at 8 am with a couple of sandwiches flushed down with some water in the London tube. Luckily not crowded, we make our way to Heathrow with no delays and check-in way before time. I have had my share of 'surprises' before long trips and I'm trying to keep those to a minimum in a trip like this.

The plane is huge (777-200), modern, loaded with the latest Hollywood blockbusters and other sort of in-flight entertainment. I put my brain in trance for about 1.5 hours while watching 'The rise of the planet of the apes' and doze off for a little while... the food onboard is excellent: mostly you enjoy food on a plane because u are hungry and well... let's face, there's not a whole lot more you can do. But the food was really tasty, some chicken in curry sauce filled my stomach just enough to keep me happy while reading about Programming in Ruby (don't ask!) on a kindle. The flight was operated by Saudi Arabian airlines so, needless to say, no beer for me :( My liver thanks for that :)

Soon enough, we land in Jeddah and an extremely polite and friendly Saudi sitting next to me asks me if I want to use his cologne.

We enter the airport, unable to leave the area reserved for transit passengers, and go through a through search of our luggage, where men and women are divided in different queues. We soon arrive at the hall and quickly observe that about 90% of the people there were men. Although the hall looks like any other I had seen before, a few exceptions are worth mentioning:

- There's a large prayer area, impeccably covered by a rug where a few believers are kneeled and say their prayers

- Men simply do not care about the 'No smoking sign' clearly displayed around the hall - it is as effective as speed limits on many highways

- The men's toilet is used for many purposes, including using the basin to wash off their feet

I manage to go online for a few seconds just to let the family know everything's fine... time to go to Manila!!

The plane is bigger (double decker even) but far older. The onboard entertainment does not work... and this is a 10-hour flight! Great, more time to read and do other useful things! The food is equally good but I'm unable to get any sleep...

I switch between some reading and walking around to keep the blood flowing - most people are actually sleeping but I got, at most, 30 minutes of sleep! After a long ride, we finally arrive in Manila!

The border control goes smoothly (although the line was long and took about half an hour to clear) and no issues with the bags! The hostel was booked and sits not far from the airport. We were suggested to take a taxi online but.. we're backpackers! Surely there must be another way... walking was a bit too much and the lady suggested the regular bus line. How much for the ticket? 12 Pesos. Roughly, 0.20 EUR.

The first thing one notices is the heat. Wow! Nearly 30.C is generally ok in the shade but here... I start sweating straight away! And the sun had already set... We make a short run for the bus and couldn't be happier that had made that choice. The bus was a fun ride and we were the only foreigners there! There's A/C on the bus and 2 LCD screens play some movie starring Matt Damon. Amazing, a regular line with such entertainment! The decor was out of this world (check the photo) and the driver was... reckless? That's being gentle. People worry a lot about Malaria and other diseases but statistics say that tourists end up in the hospital mostly due to traffic accidents. No wonder! The road we take is 6 lane wide and they drive as on NASCAR. I'm amazed at the guy's skills! Funnily enough, nobody uses the rightmost lane, it's mostly for pedestrians to make their way...

The traffic truly is chaotic, hunks are constantly used but somehow it all flows and that's all that matters in the end. After a 10 minute ride, they drop us off at the hostel (yes, the bus nearly works like a taxi, as long as you want to stop on the roads where the bus is supposed to drive through) and we walk around for another 10 minutes (yeah, we got lost for a moment there :) and enter the Townhouse hostel.

One thing you notice straight away about the Filipinos is the constant smile and state of happiness. Everyone we talked to thus far have been extremely pleasant, helpful, and always seem to speak English.

Arriving at the hostel was no exception but let's talk about organization... I give the booking to the girl and she replies: 'Unfortunately we don't have this room, only one with a private bathroom which is a little more expensive...'. I continue: 'well, that is fine, as long as we pay the same rate as I had in the booking :) Seems fair enough, no?:)' We talked for some time (although I admit I didn't understand some of the things she said) and says we'll arrange something in the morning. Fine. Then another lady takes us to our room.

Do you remember the movie 'The beach' and Di Caprio's room? Well, this is not far from that :) The private shower is... humble and well, the whole room is very modest! But I love it - it's authentic :)

The smell is intoxicating but by the time I write this I no longer feel any difference... just like home now. It will be home for the next 16 hours or so...

We drop our bags and go to the reception to check some hostels for the next stop, schedules, etc. and I head out to get some water. Just as we were getting ready to get some sleep, some German guy (in his 60's) comes around and starts talking and talking and talking... one of those characters. I had to hold myself a bit as he went on and on about the importance of astrology and the meaning of the year of our birth, talked about Martin Schulman for about 20 minutes until he decided to go and talk with other fellow travelers.

We quickly escape to the honeymoon-suite upstairs and Ly nearly instantly falls asleep. I have far too much in my head to write down and sit by the computer until now... time to get some rest, tomorrow we go to Palawan!!