Baler

Day 261 – No surf

We were up around 5am (earlier than we had made it to bed the night before (!)) to get a cab across town to the bus depot. We were aiming for the last of the day’s buses to Baler which left at a respectable “sometime between 7 and 7:30” (that’s actually what the timetable says!). We then battled Manila traffic for a while before we hit the expressway. Off the end of the expressway we pulled into Cabanatuan and sat at the terminal there for nearly two hours (so I’m not sure why we used the expressway in the first place). Eventually we headed east into the mountains and after four more hours and another lengthy stop we finally made it to Baler.

Rather informative signage on the loos at one of our many stops.

The tricycle from the bus station deposited us at the most expensive hotel on Sabang Beach, cheap by Japanese standards, but we headed up to the road to Bay’s Inn, a cheaper option that was reputed to have a bit more of a social scene. After checking into our room we headed out the front to check out the surf, as you can imagine after 8 hours on the bus we were keen to see something pretty special. Instead we saw what may as well have been a lake, flat as a tack. But it was too late in the day to surf anyway so we went for a walk one way up the beach where all the little kids showed off their English skills by shouting “What’s your name?” at us over and over. Most of them became overwhelmed when Erin not only answered them, but asked them the same question back in return, we did get a few answers at least. Most just grinned widely and scattered away! Finally we consoled ourselves with a few beers and dinner looking out over the ocean hoping for better luck tomorrow.

The other consolation prize so far as Erin was concerned: Lizzie, the brown lab pup.

Day 262 – Still no surf

When we rolled out of bed in the morning I headed straight out front to check on the swell, perfect 6 inch sets rolling in, great. So we had some lunch and then blogged while a tropical downpour rolled through.

Beautifully clean, but tiny, surf rolling in the midst of a tropical downpour.

When the storm cleared an Australian and some Japanese appeared on the beach with jet-skis. We got the story from them later, apparently they were all working on the same construction project in Singapore and headed to Baler for a long weekend of surf and travelled all night to get there. Upon discovering there was no surf they decided to make the most of it and do some jet-ski-surfing instead.

One of the Japanese guys trying to tow Brett the Australian onto one of the tiny waves while the locals look on amused. I was impressed he could even get going on the surfboard behind the jet-ski, he didn’t manage to get onto any waves though.

It didn’t bother Lizzie that there were no waves, she got plenty of attention instead.

We had some company that night in the form of the Japanese/Australian Singaporeans, but the next day they gave up and drove another eight hours to the west coast to try and at least get one day’s surfing in before they had to fly back to Singapore.

Day 263 – Jogging, not surfing

In the morning we went for a jog up the beach, first one way past all the fishing boats and children asking our name, and then the other way up the more deserted part of the beach. Right as we reached the farthest point it started to rain, but it hardly mattered seen as we were so drenched in sweat anyway.

Late in the afternoon a group of Filipinos showed up to show us that there was in fact enough surf to catch a wave. They were all complete beginners on massive foam boards, but if their instructors gave them a push at the right moment they could actually catch the largest of the tiny waves.

Day 264 – Let’s just call it a lake.

We seriously toyed with the idea of leaving today, but seen as the Filipino beginners had managed to have a surf lesson the afternoon before we decided to give it a crack.

We had to wait all day for the tiny swell to build sufficiently so we went for another walk up the beach to take some photos and get asked our names another couple of hundred times. It was also interesting to see the local fishing technique which seemed to involve using a boat to drop a net well offshore then having about half a dozen people on the shore spend the next hour or so hauling it back onto the beach.

Me in front of the Bay’s Inn. The beach in the background in Charlies Point, where the surfing scene in Apocalypse Now was shot. Legend has it that the film crew left behind a few surfboards and by the time some intrepid Aussies showed up a few years later many of the locals could already surf!

The little harbour at the north end of Sabang Beach.

Erin and Jason waiting for a ‘wave’ (those of you with keen memories and nothing better to do with your time but to read our blog will recall that our kayaking instructor in Colombia was also named Jason (or Yeison anyway)).

Halfway there…

… or not.

Looking better.

Back to the beach for some more practice.

In fairness this was Erin’s first crack at surfing. I had a brief go and didn’t do much better, bit out of practice it would seem, if we ever find some surf it could be interesting.

Day 265 – Surf: Fail

Still no surf this morning so we gave up and decided to head for Palawan. At least the last bus from Baler back to Manila was not quite as early as the one there. So we got on the bus scheduled to leave “around 9”, which actually left at about 8:30 and were back in Manila about 4pm.

So as you can imagine there is not much to report for today. When we finally got into Manila, we checked into our hotel, hit the ‘Green Belt’ for a meal and then went home to bed. Some days just aren’t that exciting! The most exciting part was watching Erin try and finish the ice cream sundae she had ordered for dessert, which was actually supposed to serve 4 (but the menu and attached pictures gave no indication of this!)