I thought it would be a good idea to go to manila for a long weekend, as I can’t surf and have had enough of sitting around …. what an adventure!

We had a tropical storm for 2 days and all of the boats off the island to the Island where planes go to Manila from have been cancelled.  I got up at 4am this morning to get the 5am ferry.  As there were no boats for 2 days, both the 5am and 6am ferries were fully booked.  The next ferry was at 10am, which was too late for me to catch my flight.   Therefore, as I had paid for my return flight and 3 days in a swanky hotel in Manila, I wanted to go.  I had to hire my own private boat, which took me to a different port than the ferry, from where I got a van (minibus that runs as a bus) and had to pay the driver not to stop to collect anyone, so I would make it to the airport in time.  He pelted along the road hooting his horn and screeching around the bends, I was shitting myself.

However, I made it and am now sitting in departures … I hope the weekend is worth the effort … we’ll see!

I went out for a surf this morning and head butted the reef when diving through a wave.  I’ve just got back from the hospital … Loads of internal stitches and the doctor said it is too deep for the external stitches at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally made it to the island of Siargao last Wednesday.  It is pretty underdeveloped and the locals haven’t yet been corrupted by money and are very friendly and seem very happy. The surf here is great and there are lots of breaks, as the Island is surrounded by reef.  I get a boat to the breaks and the boatman waits for me until I have finished surfing … it’s great.

The only downside is that the Internet is soooo sloooow here.  It is sometimes impossible to download a single web page.  I have work emails coming in and am finding it difficult to respond.  This is also why I haven’t made any posts to the blog until now … it is working faster right now, so I am taking the opportunity to do as much as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the purposes of completeness, although I am now in Asia, here are some photos of Italy –

 

 

 

 

 

Hooray … I arrived in Manilla 21 hours after leaving Brighton.  I felt crap when i arrived in Dubai (which is halfway) for a 3.5 hour plane swap, but luckily I had a few hours sleep on the next leg.  Touched down in Manilla at 11pm and it was 29 degrees.

Drove 2 km to a hotel I had booked and it took about 35 minutes, but it was great …. I love SE Asia ….. there was people everywhere, cramped into jeepnees and other public transport, all cutting each other up and going nowhere.  Along the site of the road were people walking sitting, working, cooking and eating and it was like watching a film.

 

I got to the hotel at about 1am absolutely knackered and asked for a 7am knock to get back to the airport in order to fly to Siargao and go surfing.

I spent 2 days driving through France to Italy and stayed in a very wary town.  I have never really understood what people mean when they talk about bad energy, but this place had ‘bad energy’.   I had a bad nights sleep listening to things getting blown up and down the street and woke up ill.  I just wanted to get out of France to Italy ASAP.

I spent a day on the coast in a beautiful town before my friend Jo arrived.  I picked her up from the airport and we’ve spent the last 10 days in the most beautiful towns, cities and countryside imaginable.  I’ll post some photos as soon as I get a chance.

They call it the region of Catalonia, but it is always called the Basque country, which stretches from Biarritz in France, into Spain, taking in San Sebastian and Bilbao and a lot os coastline in between.  They speak a completely different language to French and Spanish and they are very patriotic.  See the photos below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more photos of Asturias, it’s a great place as you can see below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Spend a lot of time on Gijon .. it has everything you need and is easy to get around and has several surf breaks within walking distance .. Excellent!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gijon (pronounced hehon)

Oviedo is the capital of Asturias, but the city I always come to is Gijon.  Gijon is built on a peninsular on the coast with the sea on 3 sides.  It has 3 beaches, with one long curving bay in the middle of the city.  There are several surf breaks.

Gijon has a university and although modern, it has a lot of culture i.e. book stores, museums, art galleries etc. There are also a lot more bars and restaurants in the city than anywhere else I have ever been, by a multiple of at least 3.  Many are Sideria’s and all of the seem to be trading well.  There doesn’t seem to be any economic downturn at all in Asturias.  The city has a lot os cycle lanes and they run alongside the caminas, which are specially made paths for people to walk and run along.  They have them in all of the Spanish towns and they are very busy.  In Gijon, every morning, the locals power walk along, generally in pairs, whilst chatting loudly.  In the evenings at about 6pm, it seems that everyone in Gijon comes out, dressed up and walk along the promenade and caimans, before going to a bar or restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asturias – What Makes It My Favourite Place?

I love Northern Spain in general, but there is something special about Asturias. As soon as you drive into Asturias from Cantabria, there is a change in me.  The architecture and people also change. … Ah, I said that already … but it is true!

There is surf all along the coast and the breaks are empty, which is very unusual for Europe.

There is a proper mountain range called the Picos de Europa.  It’s like a very mini Alps.  It has great trekking and mountain biking and a couple of ski resorts.  Also, the mountains overlook the beaches in many places.  They are literally side by side.

The whole coast is very green as there is a lot of rain in winter, but after it’s rained, the sun tends to come back out.  The countryside is beautiful and along the coast there are numbers small fishing villages perched on the hillsides going down to a quay side, just like in Cornwall or Scotland.  Then amongst the beautiful scenery, you suddenly come across a town that is more industrial than anything I’ve seen in the UK.  There are coal mines as well as steel, aluminium and zinc plants.  These pockets of industry contain big factories with tall chimneys spewing out smoke or flames.  It is a real contrast.

It’s great that there are no British tourists and very few non-Spanish tourists You need to speak Spanish to get by as the locals don’t speak English.

Strong culture.

The cider – Sidra.  Big misshapen green bottles with corks in them. Cider is everywhere, they cook with it as well as drink it.  There is a whole ritual about how is it poured, as you can’t pour your own drink.  It needs to be poured from above the head and the person pouring can’t look at the glass, which he holds at thigh height.  You are given a straight pint glass but only about 1 inch of sidra is poured into the glass at any one time. You should drink it in one go, or take a swig and toss the remainder into one of the troughs along the bar.   Once you have drunk your inch, you need to wait for the waiter to return and pour some more.

The waiter will come back to you and pour another inch.  You must take the glass from the pourer of the Sidra.  He/she will hold the glass until you take it from their hand whilst looking in their eyes.  If you are in conversation, there will continue to hold the glass out to you, until you take it from them.  They won’t put it onto the bar or table in front of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you pass through the countryside, there are orchards and very striking apple stores, in the gardens of most rural houses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Believe it of not, the bag pipes are played here.  There is a specific Asturian bag pipe.