Philippines

We have been cruising around Philippines for the past 6 months, mostly in the middle islands of the country, we have had good consistent wind and have been able to sail a lot of the time between the islands and anchor in the many bays for protection.

The pink line is where we have been.....sorry it's a bit small

The people are so friendly and most can speak some english so its great to have a chat with the ones who want to talk or we need some information. The children are taught english in school so they like to practice on you and they are very well mannered calling you sir or ma'am when they greet you or serve you in the shops.

The Filipinos are very religious, we have visited mostly Catholic Churches and they vary in size and age some as old as 1570, built by the Spanish when they arrived in Philippines converting the people from Muslim. The tricycles and bangkas " boats " have God bless or "love and faith"written on them and their houses have religious symbols near the front door. The people have also said "God bless" to us plenty of times when we depart.

Every village has a church

Sometimes the church and fort are combined like this one in Tay Tay Palawan.

Most of the scenery is beautiful with tall mountains and a few volcanos, the jungle is lush with many coconut palms, the most I have seen in any other place. The water is mostly clear and the beaches range from white to black sand. 

This is a pink sand beach, tiny pieces of red rock are mixed in with the white sand, it looks pale pink when it's wet.

Everyone in the village helps with the large net to catch many small fish and they are divided up at the end 

We haven't seen many fish though, or the size we are used to, lots of small ones in the market or drying on racks of bamboo.

We broke one of our oars so we asked this man to make us a set, he was building a boat on the beach in front of his house, no workshop just a few coconut fronds for shade...he did a great job of the oars.

Do you like the anchor on the front of the boat....a large rock for weight

A couple of classic old timber houses with capize shell windows that they used before glass, to let the light in.

Rice drying on the road

The welcoming ceremony held for us, we felt like King and Queen as they sang and played guitar and we ate traditional food. 

Holy Week at Marinduque was a great way to see the parades and religious floats and street dancing over the Easter holiday time. We became friends with a lovely family who showed us around and made us feel part of their extended family.

The magnificent costumes worn by the street dancers

Catholic and Independent churches religious floats with the people walking behind carrying candles

Moriones parade through the streets of town, roman warriors in handmade costumes and masks, some decorated in local shells and leaves. The parade started in 1870 and is held in Holy Week.

Our friends from Marinduque 

Filipinos love their roosters, they spend a lot of time grooming and exercising them 

My favorite place Coron Island

Ken liked El Nido the best....

We were the center of attention when we went ashore at this small village

Hand made timber flipper....Ken tried the shell meat they cut, eaten with a big handful of rice

These fisherman anchored close to us early in the morning and we watched as they coiled their huge net after the nights fishing.

Filipinos eat rice at every meal with a small portion of fish or vegetables or eggs, the food here has been disappointing for me although I did have some tasty dishes occasionally. The pork here is very good usually roasted on a spit or marinated. The local noodles....pancit....are delicious and another local dish Adobo made with chicken or pork one of my favorites.