Day 736 - Making it to Manila .... late

After freezing our butts off last night, we finally rolled into Manila 3 hours late this morning. On the bus we met Jon and Lisa from Denmark, who'd been to Manila before and led us on a cheap journey to the street with cheap hotels. We checked into the cheapest room (basically a cupboard), while the others went for nicer rooms across the street.

We met up with Rita, Jon and Lisa for a walk through Rizal Park, where hundreds of people were enjoying their Independence Day by lazing in the shade of the trees. From here we made our way to Intramuros, the old Spanish area of town. Along the way we passed many mobile street vendors - their merchandise balanced on their bicycles. We passed under the arched gateway off the walled town, and set off to explore some of its delights. We saw a contrast of sights ranging from graffiti street art on the remaining walls of destroyed buildings, to the gloriously rebuilt Manila Cathedral. At the Cathedral we were dazzled by the colours of the stained glass windows and taken back by the immense size of the beautiful building. We had to talk in whispers to avoid our voices echoing down the long hall.

Still within the walls of the city we went to Fort Santiago - originally from the 16th Century, the fort has endured a lifetime of defence against all nationalities who have invaded its walls: Chinese, Dutch, British, American, and Japanese. The fort (and in fact all of Intramuros) was destroyed by bombs from WWII.

From the walls of the fort we got a great view out over the river and China Town that lies on the other side. Its cool to see the new-aged towers of Manila blooming in the distance, while we stand within the walls of the past. With China Town calling we set off on foot across the river and into the madness. Here the contrast between rich and poor and old and new really showed through: beggars and their naked kids line the streets that Mercedes cars race down, slum-like houses sit shadowed by the concrete and glass apartment blocks of the upper-class. We loved walking the market streets, though our short little Adliber was easily lost in the chaos!On our wanders we passed a cute little girl sitting in her doorway (photo coming ...), absolutely lost in the world the words of the book had created.

After leaving the innocence of this girl, we walked straight into the middle of a peaceful march where protesters carried flames high and flags with pride. The participants loved seeing us, and were more than happy to play up for the camera!!As we made our way back home night began to arrive - the dodgy, seedy feel of Manila engulfed us. It seemed like every second door we passed was full of prostitutes or aggressive street kids, leaving us with the feeling that we needed to hang on tight to our stuff and get inside as quick as possible.

When we returned to the hotel it looked like our night was going to finish on a positive note, as a trio of bongo drummers were banging up a storm in the hotel cafe. However as we settled in for our much deserved sleep, an itchy feeling took over, and soon Adam was engaged in a battle for a refund so we could leave our bed-bug infested cupboard behind and check into the hotel we should have forked out the few extra dollars for in the first place!

Adlibing vibrant Manila.