Tandag, Laswitan ~Philippines
With two weeks left of traveling in the Philippines we didn't know what our next stop would be after El Nido, so I contacted our new friend Kaye from the Philippines and we got an invitation to her hometown, Tandag. This is a city located in the southern parts of the country on the island of Mindanao. The city is small with a population of almost 57 000 people which means that everyone knows everyone, and everyone notices if there is new people in town, especially if they're white, blonde and wear backpacks...
After a van ride from El Nido to Puerto Princesa, a flight from Puerto princesa to Cebu, one night at the airport floor and another flight from Cebu to Tandag we finally arrived to the smallest airport I've ever seen. Luggage claim was directly on the floor and the total amount of people in there was seriously less than 25. People waved just to get our attention and started giggeling when we looked at them. After only 5 minutes in Tandag we realized that we are going to get a hell lot of attention in this town. Kaye and her friend Ian picked us up, drove us to her house and invited us to have the best vegetarian food I've ever had (even though they freaked out when I told them I don't eat meat).
We took the motorbikes and rode for maybe an hour with rice fields and mountains on the side of the small road. We arrived to Laswitan and I couldn't even feel my bum after the bumpy ride. This is a place where the mountain cliffs are so close to the huge waves that the waves fall over and create a waterfall.
Ready to swim I put on my bikini and went into the sea, but Kaye and her friend didn't do the same, and I was confused. Weren't we supposed to swim? Why is she wearing all her clothes still? Then she explained it to me. Filipinos don't wear swimwear. It's tabu and exposing to show your body like that and if a woman goes to the beach in a bikini, people will talk about her in town. Chocked by one of these many cultural differences she also told me that for tourists it's fine to wear bikini because they know that we're not from here.
Anyway, we swam for a while until it was time to get on the ass killing motorbikes again and drive through pouring rain. The tropical rain is absolutely an experience worth to have on a motorbike (but don't try this at home). When we started to get some body heat back after the ride and some food in our tummies we decided on going to the pride of the Philippines, the super famous karaoke (or videoke as they call it here). It's so famous that you can find it anywhere and any time of the day. The president even made up a law which limits the karaoke singing to 10 PM. Do you understand how serious this business is? They even need a law about karaoke. Sweden, you have to step up your game.
So, we ordered in a bottle of something and sang until our throats ached and it was time to round up the day and teach our filipinos the word "godnatt".