Coron

From Manila I took the 'banana boat' as they're called, to Coron. The boat was full of cargo: eggs, vegetables and a live cockerel. It was booked full and took only 24 hours going 7 knots. The beds were like ambulance stretchers but still it wasn't a bad ride.

After arriving in Coron, an Irish guy and I looked for places to get our open water diving certificate, and found one for 200 Euros. We started the day after. Diving here is amazing: there is so much coral and fish, and the water is 28 degrees. Today we had our second dive, and tomorrow we'll go to a shipwreck of a Japanese navy ship that sank after the Americans attacked it back in WWII. It looks like I'm going to spend New Year's eve here in Coron. It is a lovely little village surrounded by tropical islands and mountains, and the pace of life is several million times slower than in Manila.

Our boat, nice and crowded.

The cargo

A home-made tractor or something

Coron, this is the view from my hotel room

The Chinese cemetary in Manila. This place is pretty weird: the tombs here have airco, bathrooms and a kitchen.

Promotional photograph for Mike's Carwash

Some of the guys I've been hanging around with