The Long Journey

Longest travel ever.

Left on a rainy night in SF for my 1am flight.
14 hours to HK.
3 hours to Cebu City,Philippines. Where it is also pouring rain. Endless summer people!!! Didn't anyone get the memo.

I'd hoped to catch the overnight ferry but from there to
Suriagao Island (and from there yet another ferry here), but it was a
hot mess of logistics and I was exhausted as it was so got a hotel and
slept in Cebu. The next night, I took the overnight ferry (a
sleepless, noisy affair). Highlights included the 1:30am stopover at some port with a ton of announcements and then twice somebody in the control sat on the intercom button which was live for around 5 minute each time. Sounded basically like an announcement in the NYC subway. Loud, incoherent.

I then arrived at Surigao City at 8am. Its a good
thing they called it a city. It looked like a bunch of tin shacks on
the edge of the pier to me. The next ferry leg didn't depart until noon. So I sat in the
ferry, an open, oversized canoe which reaked of gas, for 4 hours as
the heat came up and the various people, pigs and chickens were loaded
on. Three hours later we arrive at Siargao island, my final destination.

My transport to the place I was staying was no where to be found on
the tiny little pier. A guy tried to convince me he could carry 2
boards and my backpack and me on the back of his motorcycle. As eager
as I was to be in my little bungalow after another sleepless night and
a long day, I said no thanks. I finally spotted a guy on a motorbike
with a sort of passenger car attached to the side of it. We dumped the
boards and luggage in that, and I jumped behind and we were off... on
some roads that were paved! For the first mile. Then they looked like
the mountain bike trails I ride on Tam... if they had been bombed.

We ride along a while with the occasional bang on the metal bars
supported the canopy above my head as various locals look at us go by
like were an alien space ship... and then the guy runs out of gas.

So we push the contraption along a few hundred yards to until we find
a hut with some pepsi bottles full of gas. We there learn that we've
actually passed my little camp. So back we go, luckily not too far.

I get to the "resort." It is underwhelming to say the least, and if
anyone is looking for a Web site marketing guy, definitely hire
whoever put this place's site together. He could make downtown
Kabul look like Eden.

Turns out the owner is in England. His cousin, Charlie, who barely
speaks English says "so sorry, we just found out you were coming..."
(Booked reservations 6 weeks ago). There are four very rudimentary huts,
none of which seem to be expecting a guest. Hut number one has no
electricity or running water so we try number 2. Better. And I can
take whichever one I want because there is no one else here.

I say "Beer please."

Charlie, who has been an unbelievably sweet and helpful man over the
last few days, starts our relationship right by running down the
street to procure some beer. [Sidebar: The people here have all been
really nice and friendly, easy with the smiles and always eager to
help.]

That night, the mother in law of the cousin made me a simple meal of
rice and fish. As I started to eat, a new storm rolled in and the
power went out. I sat in the pitch black for around 10 minutes until
the found a flashlight and got the generator up.

Anyway. I spent the next morning across the street at the dial up
computer from 1995 where I type right now, plotting an escape to
another place in a more built up area where I expect to move tomorrow.

I went surfing in the afternoon--finally, after 5 days of travel. I
was was the only one in the water, it was lovely with mellow peeling
waves breaking over a reef. I got up the next morning and the sun was
finally out, really for the first time since I"ve been here.

I paddled out around 5:30am and started sinking into some relaxation. My days
have here have been very simple... surfing, eating, reading, playing a
bit of ukelele. Lots of reading on tap today as its pouring rain again
and the surf is jumbled up.

So, its truly been an adventure so far. We'll see what the next stop
looks like. While the empty line up has been nice, I literally have
barely spoken to anyone other than bits and pieces of broken english
since I got on the plane and I'm craving just a wee bit more
civilization. I'm going to head to the main surf town of General Luna, home of the world famous break Cloud Nine.