Rachel Hampton

Off Day! February 24, 2009

One of the things that many people look forward to each week is their off day. You can do whatever you want. Some people use it to relax on the ship, but many want to go off the ship and explore the city where we are living for now. Yesterday was my off day. A small group of us had heard about a local resort that had beautiful waterfalls and swimming so decided we were going to go there.  One problem, we had no idea where it was or how to get there.  We knew one group had previously taken a bus so headed out with the same goal in mind.  We left later in the day than planned (you can’t blame a girl for wanting to sleep in on her day off) and stopped at the local mall to use the ATM.  By the time we FINALLY left there, it was after 2pm.  There were six of us, me, Adam (also from the USA), Carola and Katherine (Australia), Kenji (Japan), and Yuriy (Ukraine).  We crammed ourselves into a taxi and asked him to take us to the bus station.  And when I say crammed, I mean it.  We were stuffed like sardines and prayed that the bus station was not far.  And when I say bus station, you are probably imagining something far different than what we experienced.  It was basically a parking lot with small, open-air buses parked with painted letters on the front letting you know where it was headed.  They stuff as many people in one as possible and then off you go. The bus we were on was very similar to a jeepney…where most of the seats face each other.  If you want to look out the window, you are forced to look past the person across from you.  Then they think you’re staring at them and give you a questioning look.  Then you try to shift to look elsewhere, but run into the same problem again.  It’s quite interesting . 

After an hour and a half bus ride, we get to our destination.  It only cost us 35 pesos…less than a dollar.  I think a dollar is around 47 pesos. We arrived at 4pm and found out that the last bus back to the city left at 5:30pm.  It didn’t leave us much time so we hurried and hiked to the waterfalls.  They were truly beautiful.  I have photos but due to internet issues, am not sure when I’ll be able to post them. Soon…hopefully.  Don’t lose heart There were other things to do there like go swimming in a pool, dip in the hot springs, climb the rock wall, and walk across the rope bridge.  We didn’t get to do any of that but the ride up there was so breathtaking and the waterfalls themselves so gorgeous that we didn’t care!  Oh, and I can’t forget the bats.  There were probably thousands of bats hanging high from the trees above us.  Sick.  In fact, Katherine and I hiked a little farther than others and could hear the little pests moving in the trees/bushes around us.  And yes, when we heard them…we ran.

We headed back to the city and were so proud of ourselves for figuring out the interesting transportation without a locals help.  We are sooooo international .  We went back to the mall for a quick dinner and then walked back to the ship.  It was a wonderful, relaxing day.

Today was my e-day for this week.  You heard me mentioning it before.  We stayed on the ship today and had to put on a program for four different schools that were coming for tours.  My group was a lot of fun and we enjoyed performing for the kids.  I had to act the part of “mom” and we also did a song explaining the different jobs on board.  It seems to be a popular one for the kids.  Honestly, edays are becoming my favorite days.  I just love getting to work with various people from the ship’s crew and often acting like a fool.  I know, you’re surprised by that admission. 

PS. Random sighting in the bookshop…a Beggar’s Fortune CD!  Some of you know how weird that is.