Ulla kirjutab maast ja ilmast: Tere Filipiinid – Cebu & Bohol // Hello Philippines

Nyydseks oleme me Filipiinidel olnud juba pea n2dala, ja siinne kogemus on seni olnud eelnevalt kylastatud riikidest t2iesti erinev. Kui me saabusime, tundus meile justkui oleksime j2rsku Aasiast sattunud Ladina-Ameerikasse – hispaania m6jutused on siin tugevad, ja seda on n2ha ja tunda nii riietuses ja muusikas kui toidus ja isegi keeles (siin ja seal on kohalikus keeles kuulda hispaaniakeelseid s6nu, ja tihti sarnaneb kohalik k6ne intonatsioonilt hispaania keelele). Samas on aga hilisem USA m6ju h2sti tunda selles, et inglise keel on Filipiinidel de facto riigikeel (kuna regionaalsed dialektid on omavahel niiv6rd erinevad, r22givad eri piirkondadest p2rit filipiinod omavahel inglise keeles). K6ik sildid ja viited on inglisekeelsed ning k6ik kohalikud r22givad inglise keelt kas v2ga h2sti, v6i v2hemalt piisavalt, et meil pole seni veel suhtlusprobleeme tekkinud. See on olnud yks meeldivamaid erinevusi teiste kylastatud Aasia riikidega, ent k6ige m2rkimisv22rsem erinevus, eriti p2rast yksk6ikseid v6i lausa vaenulikke vietnamlasi, on see, kuiv6rd viisakad ja s6bralikud filipiinod on. Me oleme juba p2ris mitmete toredate ja uudishimulike kohalikega juttu puhunud, ning siinne klienditeenindus on erakordselt professionaalne ja viisakas. Yhtlasi tundub, et tegu on rahvaga, kes oskab elust viimast v6tta – pidevalt n2eme kohalikke omavahel naermas ja l6butsemas. Ja nad ARMASTAVAD laulmist. Igayks, kes arvab, et eestlased on laulev rahvas, peaks Filipiinidele tulema. K6ik – noored v6i vanad, yksinda v6i mitmekesti – pidevalt aina laulavad. Enamasti laulavad nad niisama popmuusikaga kaasa, aga seni on k6igil olnud super lauluh22led ja v2ga l6bus on on olnud koguaeg kellegi meloodiat kuulda.

Sellised on meie esimesed muljed sellest riigist. Filipiinid on saarestik-riik, mis koosneb rohkem kui 7000st saarest. Meie j6udsime siia esmalt l2bi Cebu linna, mille n2ol on tegemist riigi vanima ning yhtlasi teise suurima linnaga, p2rast pealinna Manilat, mis asub riigi p6hjaosas. Cebu, mis on koduks rohkem kui 800,000-le inimesele, oli t2ielik hullumeelsus – kesklinn oli kaootiline ja ausalt 8eldes p2ris kole, kui v2lja arvata kaunis 18. sajandi katedraal. Samas teadsime me seda juba varem, ja olimegi planeerinud seal v6imalikult v2he aega veeta (olime valinud lennu Cebusse eelk6ige selleks, et v2ltida Manilat, mis pidavat olema sada korda hullem).

Niipea kui saime, l2ksime me kohe Cebu sadamasse ja s6itsime praamiga naabersaarele Boholile. Praam pani meid maha Boholi v2ikeses pealinnas Tagbilaranis, ja sealt suundusime me Panglaole, Boholi l6unaosas asuvale v2iksemale saarele, kus asub Alona rand – tuntud koht, kus saab Filipiinide kauneid randasid nautida. Sinna minekuks kasutasime me k6ige tavap2rasemat kohalikku transporti – jeepney'd. Jeepney'd on p6him6tteliselt vanad USA armee Jeep'id, mis on ymber ehitatud minibussideks. Tihtipeale on nad ka ylimalt kirevalt kaunistatud ja nad mahutavad kuskil 20-30 reisijat. Jeepney's istutakse p6lv-p6lve k6rval kahel pikal pingil, kummalgi pool bussi22rt. Filipiinidel leidub lugematul hulgal jeepney'sid, ja enamik s6idavad kindlatel suundadel, ja sihtpunktid on kauni k2ega maalitud s6iduki kyljele. Paraku on see informatsioon v2lismaalastele arusaamatu, kuna kohanimed (mis on siinkandis v2ga pikad) on kirjutatud hulgaliselt kryptilisi lyhendeid kasutades. Aga kuna kohalikud on alati abivalmid, ei ole eriline probleem lihtsalt kelleltki kysida, kuhu jeepney parasjagu suundumas on. Tavap2rane, alla 5-kilomeetrine s6it maksab kuskil 10 peesot (0,2 eurot), seega on tegemist ylimalt taskukohase transpordiviisiga.

Seni on meie kogemus aga n2idanud, et jeepney'd on peaaegu ainus odav asi Flipiinidel – olles 2sja olnud Vietnamis, kus toit ja majutus maksis imev2he, on olnud p2ris shokeeriv, kuiv6rd kallis on siin syya ja magada. Mis on yllatav, kuna teoorias on ju tegemist siiski vaese riigiga. K6rged hinnad (mis on kahtlemata k6rged ka kohalikele) on t6en2oliselt laiaulatusliku korruptsiooni tulemus. Yks Cebu taksojuht kurtis meile, kuidas filipiinod, kes 2013. aasta supertaifuunis oma kodud kaotasid, ei ole siiamaani n2inud sentigi nendest miljonitest, mis siia abirahana teiste riikide poolt saadeti. Enamik l2ks otse kohalike ametnike taskutesse. N2dala p2rast, 9. mail, on Filipiinidel yldvalimised, kus valitakse ka riigile uus president. Loodetavasti aitab tulemus asju paremuse poole suunata, aga kyll seda n2itab aeg.

Olles Alona randa kohale j6udnud, otsisime me esmalt endale 88bimiskoha ja seej2rel suundusime otse randa, et kaunis tyrkiissinises vees end v2rskendada. Veel yks tore yllatus on see, et v2hemalt seni on Filipiinid olnud ylimalt puhtad. Siin ei ole m2rkigi varasemalt k6ikjal n2htud prygist ja plastikust, ja eriliselt yllataval kombel on ka merevesi ja rand ylimalt puhtad. P2rast pettumust tekitavaid kogemusi Sri Lankal, Indoneesias ja Vietnamis, on olnud ylimalt m6nus viimaks saada n2ha t6eliselt kaunist troopilist randa, sellisena nagu teda vaimusilmas ette v6ib kujutada.

J2rgmisel p2eval rentisime me motika, et Boholit veidi avastada. P2ev oli imetore ja me saime n2ha kyllaga huvitavaid kohtasid, kauneid (ja prygivabu!) maastikke, ja imevaikseid teid. Erinevalt Vietnamist v6i Indoneesiast, ei ole motikad Filipiinidel niiv6rd levinud (ent sellev6rra ei ole siin ka rohkem autosid). Ma ei oska arvata, kas see on p6hjustatud kultuuride erinevusest – st et 2kki filipiinod lihtsalt heameelega jalutavadki ja/v6i s6idavad yhistranspordiga – v6i on see lihtsalt n2ide sellest, et siinne rahvas on vaesem ja ei saa endale motika ostmist lubada. Meile aga pakkus see ylimalt meeldivat s6idukogemust peaaegu tyhjadel teedel.

Esimese peatuse tegime me Filipiinide Kandlaste Kaitsealal. Kandlased on esikloomalised ja nad kuuluvad samasse perekonda ahvide ja inimahvidega. Tegemist on v2ikese 88loomaga, kes on eelk6ige tuntud oma hiigelsuurte silmade t6ttu. Kandlased l6id end meie yhisest sugupuust 45 miljonit aastat tagasi lahku, seega on tegu v2ga iidse esikloomalisega - vaid leemurid ja loorilased on neist vanemad. Kandlasi leidub maailmas ainult siinses piirkonnas (st teatud aladel yle kogu Filipiinide, Indoneesia ja Malaisia). Filipiini kandlane elab ainult v2iksel osal riigist ning, nagu t2nap2eval kombeks, on ta j2tkuv eksistents eluala h2vingu t6ttu ohustatud. Mist6ttu ongi loodud mitmeid kaitsealasid. Ala, mida me kylastasime, oli nelja hektari suurune, lubades kylastajatel jalutada vaid veerandil nende kaitsealast. Kylastuste eesm2rgiks on loomulikult kulude katmine, ent samas loodetakse ka, et lastes inimestel neid kummalisi elukaid oma silmaga n2ha, innustab see ehk neid loomade tuleviku peale m6tlema.

Kuna kandlased on aktiivsed 88siti, veedavad nad oma p2evad metsa varjus tukkudes, oodates pimedat, mil nad muutuvad aktiivseks ja peavad putukatele jahti (veel yks lahe fakt on see, et kandlased on ainsad esikloomalised, kes on t2ielikult lihas88jad, toitudes ainult putukatest). Jalutades l2bi kylastajatele avatud metsatuka, saime me n2ha lausa nelja kandlast (kes on muuseas tunduvalt v2iksemad kui ma oleks arvanud, umbes k2elaba suurused), kes k6ik n2isid olevat unised ja yleliigse t2helepanu t6ttu pahurad (kuigi kylastajatel paluti olla vaiksed ja loomade tundlikke silmi v2lguga mitte 2rritada). Nelja indiviidi n2gemine tundus olevat ylim vedamine, kuna meile 8eldi, et need kandlased, keda n2ha saab, on nood, kes olidki nendesse kohtadesse p2evaks magama j22nud – aga see jutt tundub mulle mitmel p6hjusel kahtlasena. Esmalt, k6ik kohad, kus kandlased parasjagu olid, olid osavalt oksaraagudega 2ra blokeeritud, et inimesed loomadele liiga l2hedale ei saaks minna. Need konstruktsioonid tundusid olevat pysivad – st nad ei j2tnud muljet, justkui oleks need alles tol hommikul yles pandud p2rast seda, kui magavate kandlaste seekordsed asukohad kindlaks tehti. Yhtlasi mainiti infoplakatitel mitmel korral seda, et kandlased on ylimalt yksildased loomad ning igal indiviidil on enda tarbeks vaja terve hektari suurust ala, ajades teised liigikaaslased oma territooriumilt minema. Seega tundus p2ris kahtlasena olukord, kus neli kandlast otsustavad yhe hektari suurust ala s6bralikult jagada. Kolmandaks oli kummaline see, et k6ik n2htud loomad asetsesid v2ga madalal, maapinna l2hedal (st nende uudistamiseks ja pildistamiseks mugaval k6rgusel). Ma arvaks, et selline pisike ja h2belik, puu otstes elutsev loom valiks omap2i endale magamiseks k6rgema positsiooni. Seega j2i mulje, justkui oleks need loomad sinna inimese poolt pandud, et kindlustada see, et kylastajad saaks n2ha seda, mille eest nad maksid – kuigi me olime varasemalt kuulnud, et tegu on kaitsealaga, ja et ei ole garantiid, et loomasid yldse n2ha saab. Kyllap on rumalamad kylastajad, kes lihtsalt nunnusid loomasid n2ha tahavad, liiga palju kurtnud (kuigi kandlased on p2ris nunnud kyll, pean t6dema). Loomad ei tundunud olevat suures stressis kyll (kuigi ma pole ekspert kandlaste k2itumises), ja eeldatavasti teeb Kaitseala ka nende kaitsmiseks palju head t88d, seega loodame, et meie raha l2ks siiski headesse k2tesse.

P2rast kandlaste n2gemist s6itsime me motikaga sygavamale sisemaale kuni j6udsime Lobocisse, kus saime n2ha sealset kuulsat kirikut, millest pole kyll praeguseks palju n2ha, kuna see sai 2013. aasta maav2rinas t6siselt kannatada. Praeguseks on restauratsioonit88d kyll t2ies hoos. Me peatusime kohalikus s88klas, et l6unat syya (filipiino toidust pikemalt allpool) ja suundusime edasi meie peamise sihtkoha, Shokolaadim2gede suunas.

V2ikese Boholi saare keskosas asuvad Shokolaadim2ed on maailmas h2sti tuntud. Ymberringi t2iesti lamedast maastikust j2rsku k6rguvad v2ikesed, ymarad kynkad pakuvad absoluutselt ainulaadset (ja kummaliselt nunnut) vaatepilti. Kohaliku folkloori j2rgi on kynkad kahe hiiglase kiviloopimisv6istluse tulemus, ent geoloogide yleyldine konsensus on, et need karstim2ed tekkisid siis, kui iidsed korallriffid merest v2lja t6usid ning seej2rel vihma ja tuule poolt yhtlaselt 2ra erodeerusid. Paraku polnud v6imalust kyngaste vahele jalutama minna (veel v2hem nende otsa ronida). Selle asemel maksime me piletiraha ja saime s6ita k6rgendiku otsa platoole, kust omakorda saime trepist yles vaateplatvormile ronida. Vaade oli aga imekaunis, ja olime rahul, et saime midagi sellist oma silmaga n2ha.

Ylej22nud p2eva s6itsime me niisama Boholi saarel ringi, peatudes j6e 22res ujumiseks ja muidu niisama ilusat maastikku imetledes.

J2rgmised p2evad veetsime me rannas peesitades, lugedes, l66gastudes ja kaunist merd nautides. Me saime ka kyllaga maitsvat toitu syya, kuigi mitte mere22rsetes turistidele m6eldud restoranides (mis olid absurdselt kallid, hinnad nagu Euroopas). Meid p22stsid kohalikud s88klad. Need on lihtsad kohad, plastiklaudade ja -toolidega (sel korral tavasuuruses), mis pakub hulgaliselt sooja toitu. Sellistes kohtades ei ole menyyd, vaid tuleb lihtsalt minna letti ja vaadata, mis parasjagu saadaval on – toidud on k6ik pottides-pannides, ja tavaliselt leidub seal hulgaliselt lihatoite ja ka m6nusaid juurvilju (siinsed baklazhaanid on imemaitsvad!). V2ljaspool leidub ka grillimisala. Filipiinod jumaldavad grillimist, eriti grill-liha. Paljud kohad pakuvad lihtsalt grill-liha koos riisiga, ilma mingi rohelise riismetagi. S88klates olid meil aga vabad k2ed ise endale juurvilju k6rvale v6tta, v6i siis kysida hoopis liha juurde grillitud juurvilju. Grill-liha on samuti k6ik v2ljas, toorelt marinaadis. Sealt saad siis n2puga n2idata, et mida sa soovid (kanarinda, -koiba v6i -tiiba; erinevat sorti sealiha; mitmeid sorti vorste; kala ja mereande; jpm), ja need visatakse otse grillile. Kuigi see ei olnud restoranidest just v2ga palju odavam, saime me siiski oma raha eest tunduvalt rikkalikumalt s88dud.

Veel yks kulinaarne k6rghetk oli see, kui me kohaliku j22tise enda jaoks avastasime. Erinevalt Vietnami j22tisest, mis oli lihtsalt vaesemehe versioon itaalia gelatost, tehakse siin j22tist kohalikku moodi, kohalikest koostisosadest. See t2hendab, et j22tis valmistati kookosepiimaga, ja vahvel oli tehtud praetud cassava-jahust, ja oli kr6be ning ime6huke ning sobis j22tisega superh2sti kokku. J22tisesordid on samuti v2ga eksootilised – tavap2rasema shokolaadi-, mango- ja meemaitseliste j22tiste k6rval oli saadaval ka vyrtsikas ingverij22tis (imeline!), vetikaj22tis (minu jaoks mitte piisavalt vetikamaitseline, aga siiski hea), duriani-, guava-, punase oa-, draakonivilja- ja paljude muude minule tundmatute maitsetega j22tised. Loodetavasti leiame me sedasorti j22tist ka mujal Filipiinidel, kuna nende paari p2eva jooksul ei saanud me sellest veel isu t2is!

Nyyd j2tame me Panglao ja Boholi seljataha ja suundume l2bi Cebu teispoolsele naabersaarele, Negrosele, kus me saame loodetavasti kyllaga matkata ja metsas rattaga s6ita.

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By now we have been in the Philippines for nearly a week, and so far it has been completely different from the rest of the places we have seen. When we arrived, it felt like we had suddenly gone from being in Asia to being in Latin America – the Spanish influence is very strong here, seen in everything from clothing and music to food and even language (we can hear some Spanish words every now and then when the locals speak, and often it even resembles Spanish in intonation). At the same time, the more recent US presence is also keenly felt in that English is the de facto inter-Philippine language (since regional dialects vary wildly, locals from different parts converse in English). All the signs are in English and everyone speaks English either very well or enough so that we have yet to have a communication problem. That has been one of the most pleasant differences from the other countries we have visited in Asia, but the most striking thing, especially after the coldness or outright hostility of the Vietnamese, has been how wonderfully polite and open Filipinos are. We have already had numerous nice chats with curious and friendly locals, and the level of customer service here is impeccable. They also appear to be a people who really enjoy life – more often than not, they can be seen laughing and having fun amongst themselves. An they LOVE to sing. Anyone who thinks Estonians are a singing nation, should come to the Philippines. Everyone, young or old, alone or with others – constant singing. Mostly singing along to pop tunes etc, but all have had lovely singing voices, and it has been very entertaining to witness.

So that is most of the first observations about the country. The Philippines are an archipelago, made up of over 7000 islands. We first arrived to Cebu, the oldest city in the country, as well as the second largest city, after the capital Manila in the north. A city of over 800,000, Cebu was a mess – the city centre was busy and honestly quite ugly, bar the 18th century cathedral. However, we had known this beforehand and therefore spent only one day in the city (which we had picked as our first destination, since we wanted to avoid Manila, which apparently is a hundred times worse).

As soon as we could, we headed straight to the ferry terminal in Cebu and hopped on a boat to travel to the neighbouring island, Bohol. We came ashore in Tagbilaran, Bohol's small capital, and from there headed to Panglao, a smaller island connected to Bohol with land bridges, and the location of Alona beach, a well-known area where to enjoy the beautiful Filipino seaside. We got there by using the most common local mode of transport, a jeepney. Jeepneys are basically old US military Jeeps that have been converted into open minibuses. They are often painted and decorated with bright colours, and they can fit something like 20-30 people, who are seated on two long benches on either side of the inside of the vehicle. There are innumerable jeepneys all around Philippines, and most follow a distinct route, which is written on the side of the vehicle. Unfortunately for foreigners, this is often done by using lots and lots of abbreviations, and therefore completely undecipherable. But since locals are always very helpful, it's easy enough just to ask where a particular jeepney is headed. A regular journey costs about 10 pesos (0.2 Euros) if under 5 kilometres, making it a very cheap way to get around.

From our experience so far, jeepneys are about the only things that are cheap in the Philippines though – coming from Vietnam, where food and accommodation were dirt cheap, it has come as a bit of a shock how relatively expensive it is to eat and sleep here. Which is surprising, since it is still without doubt a poor country. The high prices (which are surely extortionate for locals) are likely caused by the rampant government corruption. A taxi driver in Cebu lamented how the Philippine people who lost their homes in the 2013 super-typhoon have yet to see a penny from the millions that were donated in aid by the international community. Most of it went straight into the pockets of the government officials. In a week, though, on the 9th May, there will be general elections in the Philippines, and Filipinos will elect their new president. Hopefully the outcome will be an improvement, but that remains to be seen.

Once arrived in Alona beach, we searched for accommodation and then went straight to swim in the beautiful turquoise sea. Another wonderful surprise is that, at least so far, it is remarkably clean here. None of the ubiquitous litter and plastic that we have seen elsewhere, and most impressively even the sea and beach are immaculate. After disappointing experiences in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam, it felt amazing to finally get to swim in a tropical sea that really is like you would imagine.

On our second day, we hired a scooter to go and explore Bohol. It turned out to be a wonderful day, with lots of interesting sights and beautiful (and litter-free!) landscapes, and very quiet roads. Unlike Vietnam or Indonesia, scooters are not as numerous in the Philippines (and there aren't more cars instead either). I can't say whether this is a difference in culture, that Filipinos are happy to walk and/or take public transport, or whether it is simply due to people being poorer here and not being able to afford scooters. For us anyway, it provided an extremely pleasant riding experience, with nearly empty roads and no scary near-misses.

Our first stop was at the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary. Tarsiers are primates, in the same family as monkeys, apes (and us). They are small nocturnal animals, best known for their absolutely massive eyes. Tarsiers branched out from our joint family tree around 45 million years ago, making them very old primates indeed, second only to lemurs and lorises. Tarsiers only occur in this particular part of the world (i.e. in parts of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia). The Philippine tarsier is endemic to just some parts of the country, and, unsurprisingly, its continued existence is severely threatened by habitat destruction. Which is the reason for the Sanctuary's existence. The Sanctuary occupies a space of four hectares, allowing visitors only into a quarter of the protected habitat. Visits are allowed to help fund the costs of running the place, and to allow people to witness this curious creature, in hopes that seeing them first-hand will make their ultimate fate matter more to people.

As tarsiers are nocturnal, they spend their day hunched in the forest, shaded by leaves, napping and waiting for the darkness, which is when they become active and go hunting for insects (another cool fact – tarsiers are the only completely carnivorous primates, subsisting on nothing but insects). On our walk through the bit of forest open to visitors, we were lucky to see four tarsiers (who are much smaller than I thought, about the size of my hand), all appearing sleepy and grumpy at the excessive attention they were getting (although everyone was asked to stay quiet and not disturb the animals with flash photography etc). I say lucky, since while we were told that the tarsiers that we see are the ones that chose to spend their day in that spot, but I have my doubts about this for a number of reasons. All the spots where the tarsiers were, were protected by cleverly placed branches and twigs (in addition to a guide who pointed them out to visitors, and, presumably, made sure nobody was doing anything untoward) making sure that visitors could not approach the animals too much. These seemed to be permanent, and not just made up in the morning once the tarsiers were discovered to be in those spots. Also, the information panels in the centre made a point about tarsiers being solitary creatures and each occupying a space of one hectare all by themselves, and not appreciating incursions by others, who would be promptly chased off. Therefore it was suspicious that there should happen to be four tarsiers within one hectare sharing their space. Finally, all the individuals were situated very close to the ground (i.e. at a good height for close observation and photography). I would think that a small and vulnerable, tree-inhabiting creature would choose to sleep higher up if it had a say in it. So, it did seem that these animals were placed there to ensure that visitors got to see what they paid for, even though we had previously heard that it is a sanctuary and that there is no guarantee of actually seeing one. I guess they have had one too many complaints by ignorant visitors who just want to see the cutesy animals (they are pretty damn cute!). They didn't seem to be distressed though (but then I am no expert in tarsier behaviour), and presumably the Sanctuary is doing some good conservation work for the species, so I hope that our money went to good use.

After seeing the tarsiers, we rode on for a while until we reached Loboc, where we got to see a famous church, although there is not much to see of it now, since it was nearly completely destroyed in the 2013 Bohol earthquake, but restoration work is ongoing. We stopped at a local eatery for lunch (more about Filipino food later) and carried on toward our main destination – the Chocolate Hills.

Situated in the centre of the small Bohol island, the Chocolate Hills are famous world-wide. Rising out of a completely flat landscape, the small, perfectly round hills are a truly unique (and strangely adorable) sight. Local folklore explains their genesis with a story of competing giants hurling rocks at each other; the consensus among geologists is that these karst hills were formed when coral deposits rose out of the seas and were then eroded by rain and wind. Unfortunately there wasn't really a way to go walking among the hills, never mind climbing one. Instead we paid an entrance fee to ride up to a plateau, where we could take steps up to a viewing platform. The view was spectacular though, so we are glad to have seen it.

The rest of the day we simply rode around Bohol, stopping at a stream for a swim, and just admiring the gorgeous landscape.

The following two days were spent on the beach, reading, relaxing, and enjoying the beautiful sea. We have also had some delicious food, but not in any of the restaurants geared for tourists (far too expensive, prices equal to those in Europe). Instead we have found our salvation in local eateries. These are simple places with plastic tables and furniture (adult-size this time), a little shop selling essentials, and lots of cooked food on offer. There is no menu, you simply go and see what dishes are available at the counter – these are all placed in pots and pans, and include loads of different meats, and tasty vegetables (aubergines here are to die for!). There is also a section for barbecue. Filipinos LOVE barbecue – and consequently they LOVE meat. Lots of places serve just meat with rice, with not a shred of vegetables on the side. In the eateries, we found that we are free to choose our own veggies from the counter, or to ask for grilled veggies, along with our choice of meat. Meats are also displayed, raw, in their marinade. You then choose what you want (chicken breast, leg or wings; pork chops; various sausages; fish and seafood; etc), and these are grilled on the spot. While not a lot cheaper than eating in restaurants, we found that we get a lot more for our money.

Another culinary highlight has been our discovery of the local ice cream. Unlike ice cream in Vietnam, which was just a poor copy of Italian gelato, here they make local ice cream from local ingredients. Meaning, the ice cream is based on coconut milk, and the cone is made of cassava flour, is deep-fried and crispy, but delicately thin, and complements the ice cream perfectly. The flavours are also very exotic – along the more conventional chocolate, mango and honey are flavours such as spicy ginger (delicious!), seaweed (not as seaweed-y as I would have expected but still very good), durian, guava, red bean, dragonfruit and lots of other mysterious things that I am not acquainted with. Hopefully we will find this kind of ice cream elsewhere in the Philippines as well, we are not yet ready to say goodbye to it!

Now we leave Panglao and Bohol behind us and travel back through Cebu to the island on the other side, Negros, where we hope to do some hiking and cycling.

Magalhaesi rist Cebus. Magalhaes peatus oma ymbermaailmareisi jooksul Cebus 1521. aastal, ja kinkis kohalikele puust risti. V2idetavalt on pildil oleva risti sees algse risti j22nused, kuigi t6en2olisem on, et kohalikud paganad panid ristile kohe tule otsa niipea kui Magalhaes jalga lasi. Kuigi t2nap2eva filipiinod on tulihingelised katoliiklased, ei olnud nende paganatest esivanemad kristlusest yldsegi vaimustatud. // Magellan's Cross in Cebu. Magellan stopped in Cebu in 1521, during his circumnavigation of the world. He presented the locals with a wooden cross, the remains of which are ostensibly inside the cross on the photo. More likely, though, is that the original cross was burned by the locals as soon as Magellan sailed away. While Filipinos today are ardent Catholics, their pagan ancestors were not so keen on Christianity.

Palvekyynlad Cebus // Prayer candles in Cebu

Cebu

Vana merekindlus Cebus // Old seafort in Cebu

Kohalik taksoteenus - tricycle v6i trike. P6him6tteliselt kaetud kylgkorviga motikas. Needki on enamasti kirevalt v2rvitud, ja enamikel on taha maalitud ytlusi Piiblist. // Local taxi service - tricycle or trike. These are basically motorcycles with a side box for passengers. These are also colourfully painted, complete with Bible quotes on the back.