November 26th / 27th / 28th / 29th

Nov 26th
Went for a walk to the Teramachi Area, birthplace of Soba noodles, Green Tea and Udon noodles. Stopped at a Pachinko Parlor, which is a very popular gaming place, it's noisy and smokey but has regular customers. You win small prizes then the place buys them back from you. Walked to the Tochoji Temple, homeof the largest wooden sitting Budha.

Shofukuji Temple, which is a very old wooden temple.

View of our Ferry to Busan, Korea.

Gardeners pruning the trees , surrounding the Temples. Each one is cutting the stems with a pair of scissors.

Peaked through the old wooden temple doors, and saw these gold Budhas. Beautiful contrast.

Once onboard the Ferry, we have to put on our seatbelts, as the Ferry crosses the Tsushima Strait, and there are many whales and dolphins, and the ferry sometimes has to make emergency turns. The ferry is powered by jet engines and rides above the water, on hydrafoils. The ferry takes 3hrs from Fukuoka to Busan, you can take a slow boat for a little less money, but it takes 14hrs.

View from inside. Comfortable seats, movie and free drinks. Very smooth crossing.

View approaching Busan. Once we arrived we had to make our way to the airport. We were walking to the bus stop, when a taxi driver said he would take us to the airport for the same price as the bus 1000Won. Once we were in the taxi, he wanted to see our dollars, we said we would pay him in won, but he kept reaching for Dereks pockets, and driving erratically, saying he wanted dollars. Quite scarey, as I thought he was going to take us somewhere and rob us. When we told him we dont have dollars, he started demanding more won. As the drivers have control of the taxi locks, we couldn't do anything but argue with him. Eventually, we got out, didn't have a clue where we were, so we got another taxi , to take us back to the original bus stop. Waited 1hr for the bus , and just made the check in time for the flight to Cebu, Philippines. Flight went out early (1/2 hr early), so we were lucky to make it. Arrived at Cebu at 11.45pm. Too late to get a room, so we squatted down on an airport chair, and waited till 5am, then we took a taxi to Cebu bus station, where we caught the 5.45 bus to Hagnaya Port. The bus trip was 2 hrs, and the ferry was leaving at 9.30 , so we had time for a cup of coffee.

Cebu's own version of the big mac.

The ferry is getting ready to leave the port. Passengers are at one end, vechicles at the other.

The crossing took 1 1/2 hrs, and they run every few hours.

Budyong Resort sent their bus to pick-up customers. They didn't have this back in February, and we had to walk the length of the pier then be attacked by the numerous tuk-tuk drivers wanting to take your bags .

As we were leaving the port, you can see the shacks that the porters live in. Children are playing on the beach, in amongst the trash.

Approaching Bantayan Island. Our home for the next 10 days. We finally got here, after taking a bus for 15 mins, high speed ferry for 3hrs, 2 taxis for 15mins, Airplane for 4 1/2 hrs, taxi for 30mins, local bus for 2 hrs, ferry for 1 1/2hrs, shuttle bus 10 mins- time to relax at the beach and have a well deserved drink.

Went to one of the roadside stalls for some noodles and was just about to sit down, when we noticed this bat hanging above our heads. Still stayed and ate our noodles, but kept an eye on the bat.

View along the beach.

View from our little bungalow. Such a beautiful place for $10 a night.

View from my deck chair!!

Our first sunset at the beach. After all that traveling, we're now feeling nice and relaxed.

Got showered and dressed and headed out to the town for dinner. Just as we were out the door, the power went out on the whole island. The street stalls were operating by candlelight, so as we could not see what we were going to be eating, we decided to sit down and have a beer first. While we were waiting , a church parade walked down the street. Said our own little prayer for the power to come back on.

Finally, 1hr later, the power came on. Ordered fish and rice at our favorite BBQ stall. It tasted much better than it looked. Fish was caught that day, and rice is dipped into a soy and vinegar,chili mix. Very good! Dinner runs about $1 each, if you have chicken breast it's even cheaper.

This is the main street of Santa Fe, the town we are staying at. Our BBQ place is on the corner, opposite the yellow Burger hut. There are a few western style bars, but mostly street stalls.

Nov 28th

Went to Bantayan Town. Caught a Tuk Tuk for a 1/2 hr ride to town. Power is still out, expected to be on at 2pm. Need to get money out of the ATM, to pay the resort. There's only one bank on the island. This beautiful church is in the town square, and dates back to 18th century.

View of the church.

2 o'clock came and went and the power was still not restored. Walked around the market, which is the only shopping area in town. Stocked up on snacks,mangos and coffee. Gave up on the ATM as the afternoon went by. Will try another day. Hope the resort owners understand that it's not our fault that we have no money to pay them! We got $5 , so we have enough to buy food for 2 days!!!

Nov 29th,

Power is on! Went to the main street for breakfast. Went back to the streetstall that has the bat! Food was good. learnt that the bat is a pet called " Baty", what else! Headed for the beach, where we spent the day, swimming and relaxing.