Planes, Vans & Jeepneys – Part 1 of 4

The Boss and I took a vacation, for three glorious weeks we traveled with our friends (three other couples from Virginia Beach).  This first leg of the trip covered the period between May 14th through May 20th, 2015.  With the exception of mechanical problems, our flights were uneventful. If the images do not load, click here.

The first leg of our vacation was based out of Angeles City, Philippines. This city has nothing in common with the more popular Los Angeles, Ca.  Walking around Angeles I felt safe, we stayed at the Clarkton hotel, #28 on TripAdvisor.  The hotel was clean and the staff was, in a word: amazing.  The six days we spent there were very relaxing.  There is a large mall, complete with an Auntie Ann’s pretzel shop!  Enough about the town, let’s get on with the activities.

We headed south and visited a couple of attractions located on the former US Naval base at Subic Bay.  I never got to Subic during my time in the Navy, which is neither here, nor there.  Subic Bay is a beautiful area, and I was one of the ones sorry to see it leave US control. How has it fared, The NY Times has done an article in much better form than I could do.

Ocean Adventures is a sea animal show, very similar to the US Sea World.  Ocean Adventure rescues sea animals, and if possible rehabilitates them and return them to the wild.  If the animals are incapable of being returned to the wild, they are utilized in the entertainment show.  Judging by the dolphins – they weren’t going hungry.  I tried to volunteer to be part of the show (as the great white whale) and just work for steaks – but they only offered fish.  So naturally I declined.

ZooBic is a zoo, located within an old ammunition bunker complex on the former base.  It is much like any other zoo, except it is located within a bunker complex. We walked around the zoo, one of the camels decided to try some filet d’Joy and nibbled on Joy’s butt. The animals were pretty cool – but the highlight was the “safari” (driving in a caged in jeep through a very small area where the tigers are located) to feed the tigers.  There were a couple of tiger cubs playing in the pool, and they were fun to watch.  A couple of tigers were coaxed to our jeep and were fed through the wires.

We climbed Mt. Pinatubo. The view at the crater was well worth the time and effort to get there.  The Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption was the second largest of the twentieth century, second only to the 1912 eruption of Mt. Katmai-Novarupta in Alaska. While the eruption was tragic and the damage hard to comprehend, there is a pretty cool back story.  The mountain and its surrounding area was home to 30,000 people and lush tropical vegetation.  The Philippine institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the USGS were able to predict the time of the eruption, beginning an evacuation and saving thousands of lives.  As a result, the loss of life was minimal; but thousands were displaced due to thick layers of ash. The van picked us up from the hotel and transported us to a town near the volcano, from there we boarded 4X4 trucks and drove for an hour to the head of the trail.  From there we walked the 5.5 Kilometers to the crater.

Cabas National Shrine.  This shrine is a tribute to those US and Filipino Army soldiers who were forced on the Bataan death march.  The Shrine is built on the same location as Camp O’Donnell; which was the end of the 105 kilometer Bataan death march.  Thousands of prisoners died while interred here.  The boxcar is of the same type used by the Japanese to transport prisoners from the end of the death march at San Fenando Pampanga the roughly 30 miles to Capas, Tarlac and Camp O’Donnell.  150 – 160  prisoners were compacted into each box car, with the only ventilation being a slit in the door.  The main attraction is an obelisk, surrounded by the names of those who died.  From the road, there is a “Mall” lined with Philippine National flags, a very moving sight. There are 31,000 trees planted – all dedicated to the Filipino and American soldiers who were incarcerated and died at the camp.

The remaining time of this leg was spent in Angeles City.  Quality time spent with our friends, celebrating their renewals and just….. relaxing.