Stepping out into the early morning Manila heat and smells, pretty much the first thing that hits you is the traffic. Hits you figuratively speaking hopefully, but there’s a good chance that it could be a physical impact. Traffic is probably the one thing that defines Manila, one of the most densely populated places on the planet, grinding almost to a halt. It’s a seething cauldron of traffic lava, bubbling away but with nowhere in which to explode.

 

I need to get from my hotel in Makati to the bus station in La Buenia, and as I am in a hurry, and not inclined to much to try adventure, have booked a taxi to get me to the bus station. From there, I take a bus to Batangas City, and then a banka for the 2 hour crossing to the island of Mindoro. I get there just in time. The bus is trying to pull out into the traffic to get away, but the controller stops the bus so that I can get on. Now that’s a service you will not get on the 38 bus route from East London to Victoria Station!

 

Traffic may be a problem in Manila but public transport fares certainly are not. I pay 168 pesos or about £2.50 for the two and a half hour ride in a clean, air conditioned bus. Payment is made on board with a conductor, who punches holes in a ticket, and then comes back later for payment. I get to Batangas and then the hassling starts with numerous guys coming up, Where am I going to, can they get my tickets, can they carry my bags? I am wary of scammers and shush them away, although one is particularly persistent.

 

I had recently bought myself a new travel bag, promising to travel lighter, but in the end pack too much in an older, bigger, bag and trying to board the banka, with the weight of the bag and the swaying duckboards to the banka threatening to toss me into the pretty clear water below, I remember my broken resolution grimly. However I struggle into the boat safely and grab a seat. Bankas are long thin boats with bamboo balancers running alongside them, and I am not sure how seaworthy they would be should there be even any moderately bad weather, but the crossing looks smooth enough, a little choppy and the boat does rise and fall a few feet, causing the pilot (captain? What does one call the person who drives a boat) to hand out plastic bags. Soon enough our destination begins to approach, the divers’ town of Sebang, comng down the hill to the sea. A lot of boats, fishing boats, pleasure boats, diving boats are moored in the bay.

 

To my left as we arrive, I see my hotel, the Oriental   perched halfway up the hill. Someone from the hotel is there to greet me and help me with that oh too heavy bag, and walks me along the seafront up the hill to the hotel. I had seen in many reviews people complaining about the number of steps to take, but it really was not that bad.  What is best about the Philippines? The people. And the Reception staff at the Oriental certainly live up to their country’s repuration. I am greeted  in a friendly manner and with a welcome cup of Iced tea while I check in. The rooms are essentially banked up the hill looking down onto the pool, and giving a great view of the bay. This is not a hotel review, so enough of the hotel, tomorrow I go to White Beach in Puerto Galera.