All That Glimmers is Not Gold

Sometimes in life, it’s important to be reflective.

That’s one thing I find helpful about having a blog whilst I’m away. Set to travel through fourteen different countries, all with different cultures, different customs and likely to evoke different feelings within me, I feel like writing my thoughts down daily helps put into perspective how I feel about each town, city and country I visit. It also helps stimulate the cells of grey matter in my brain which tend to forget what sort of experiences I’ve been having.

The hotel appeared to be having a few connectivity issues last night which sadly hadn't resolved themselves fully this morning, so I spent a frustrating hour or so attempting to use the incredibly slow wifi to look up several of Cebu's highlights in order to visit them today.
Despite being completely prepared with sights to see and things to do on this trip, I spent all my time writing them down, and not really geographically writing down which ones were close to each other. At the moment I'm on the fly deciding what I'm in the mood for, and which things I can do with them being in close proximity to one another.

Once I had finished my research, I packed up some things into my bag and headed out of the door. The first thing I had to do was put my sunglasses on, and adjust to the fact that it was about 29 degress outside. Being in an industrial area with lots of heavy machinery driving around probably increased the temperature, and it was certainly the warmest I have been since I got to the Philippines.

I actually used the air conditioning in my hotel for the first time this morning too as my room was getting pretty stifling - that's what happens when you're in a small space with no windows I guess. 

I asked the doorman at my hotel the best way to get to my first port of call today which was Fort San Pedro, and he advised me that it was about a twenty minute walk in a straight line from the hotel. Walking out onto the main road (not literally, but as there are no paths here I was basically walking on the street) I was slightly overcome by the amount of dust and pollution in the air as trucks sped up and down either depositing or transiting cargo.

One thing I have noticed in the Philippines, a bit like when I have been to certain parts of Spain - there always seems to be some form of construction going on. Just next to my hotel in Manila there was a set of houses being built, and all over the place in Cebu I have seen scaffolding going up, and even as I was walking, part of the road I was going down was closed off as it was being resurfaced. This work presented me with the slight problem of only being able to go so far down the street before being cut off by a cement truck so I took a right turn with the intention of continuing along the way.

What I found on my little jaunt off the main road was something that I wasn't expecting to see. I crossed over a little bridge and found myself in a little village community. It looked a little bit like a shanty town that you might see in India or South Africa with corrugated roofs all over the place. In a crude way I wanted to pull my camera out and capture what I was seeing. but as I continued walking through this maze of houses. Soon I came to an extremely dark alley which led to two shacks with a wooden board rested up against the front (I'm presuming that was the door) Stray pets scuttled under my feet and all of a sudden I started to feel a little uncomfortable that I was invading these people's personal space. Before I eventually rejoined the main road again I saw people washing their clothes in drains, families using water from a well to bathe, and also a group of old men by the side of the road picking through bags of disguarded rubbish hoping to find something valuable in amongst it all.

One thing which also stood out to me was the smell. The bridge that I walked over took me across some form of waterway just a little wider than a stream which was filled with litter and was giving off a horrendous stench. I was a little shaken for a while as I continued to walk down the road - I've never really witnessed anything like that before, yet as I continued to plod along towards the fort I saw little pockets of people in these same areas carrying out the same activities as I had seen on my 'short cut'.

Cebu is known within the Philippines as a bit of a haven for tourists, and all the images you see from here are the picture postcard white sandy beaches and clear blue waters which obviously exist far away from the location I had stumbled upon. Eventually I found my way across a huge road (I really need to take a video of my attempting to cross around before I leave - some action for the Go-Pro perhaps) to San Pedro Fort.
Located in the South West of Cebu City is the former military defence structure built by the Spanish around four hundred years ago.
It stood proudly as a stronghold for Filipino revolutionaries near the end of the 19th century, and was also used in World War Two as a residence for Japanese citizens who took refuge in the city of Cebu.

It is triangular in shape with walls that are around six meters high, and has now been turned into a tourist attraction in partnership with the Cebu Tourist Board. It cost me 30 Pesos (around 45p) to get in and take a self-guided tour which included several exhibition rooms with history about the construction of the fort and it's uses throughout history. The guard tower of the fort is currently inaccessible due to the extreme weather conditions which hit the country in 2013. Part of the walls had to be rebuilt after Typhood Haiyan struck two Decembers ago, leading the government to back the repair of one of the country's most historic monuments.

After sitting in San Pedro soaking in the sun for a little while, I decided it was time to get myself a drink, and also some food so I found a petrol station and grabbed a sandwich and some crisps before deciding to find the next two locations on my list which were located slightly closer to the centre of the city. I headed off in a slightly northerly direction and once again encountered small pockets of people out on the streets going about their business or or children playing in the dirt by the side of the road.

I wasn't looking for it, but eventually I came across Cebu Cathedral which stood proudly in the middle of a very populated square. A couple of streets over I eventually found Basilica de Santa Nino which is what I was actually looking for. There were lots of people listening to an outdoor service which was taking place, but I toured the interior of the building, largely impressed by its architectural structure.
I wouldn't consider myself to be a particularly religious person, but Baguio Cathedral was certainly an impressive sight to behold, and being from York I also find that the Minster in our fair city has a certain draw to it. It's hard not to be impressed also by buildings like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or St Peter's Basilica in Rome which look spectacular on both the outside and inside.

Close to this I also found the Magellan's Cross which rather disappointingly was closed for restructuring, and covered in cloth and scaffolding as repairs took place. 

After spending a full day out in the heat I was starting to get a little weary so headed back to my hotel for the evening. Despite only seeing three different attractions today, I had somehow managed to spend a full afternoon occupying myself, still leaving plenty to do tomorrow on my second and final full day in Cebu.  

Today was definitely a day for reflection; I believe that their is a sentiment in an old adage“Appreciate what you have rather than complain about what you don’t have” or something along those lines anyway, and some of the scenes I saw during today made me realize that as a person I am very fortunate to have been brought up with a loving family around me, where I never wanted for anything. There was always food on the table, a roof over my head, and I have been afforded so many wonderful opportunities including this trip. It is important not to forget that there are those out there in he world who are less fortunate than myself. When you see things with your own eyes, it's rather different than witnessing it on TV, and although I wouldn't say some of the things I saw today startled me, it did provide me with some perspective on some of the potentially trivial issues that I may encounter whilst on my travels.

Alesana
A Guided Mascerade (2011)