Philippines - Donsol to Japan

Donsol, Philippines Day 87 (April 27)

Philippine Map

We are in Donsol

In the afternoon, Vana gets some great pics of a Cock fight in the small village on the beach behind our hotel. It is interesting to watch, because there is a lot of discussion, inspection, and betting that happens before the fight starts.

Apparently, the birds are specially bred and cared for, conditioned for increased stamina and strength, much like the professional athletes. We see the owners kissing their birds numerous times. Cocks possess congenital aggression toward all males of the same species, and are generally protective of their hens, resulting in aggression towards any threatening being.

The birds are equipped with knives tied to the leg in the area where the bird's natural spur has been partially removed. There are 2 kinds of knives used in Philippine cockfighting. The single edge blade and double edged blades. All knives are attached on the left leg of the cock. But depending on the agreement between owners, blades can be attached on the right leg, or even on both legs.

The end is a bit gruesome, since the fight is to the death; probably the reason this blood sport is illegal in most of western countries.

Prize bird

Bird inspection and knife attachment

Test to see if the birds are in fighting mood

Show of strength

Circling and studying

Offense and Defense

Attack!

Crowd closes in for the results

the winner is...

CLICK HERE to see more cockfight pictures.
CLICK HERE to see more Donsol village pictures.

We high tail it back to Legaspy for the night, and stay at the Dream Inn Hotel. It’s not so dreamy, but it does the job. The van has transmission trouble, and drops us in Darang (a town 20 mins away from our destination), where we take Jeepnie to Legaspy.



Our free three week visa is up, and it’s time for us to leave the Philippines. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the island of Palawan, which is said to be a “must see”. To sum it up;

• Great people and great fun, but get out of Manila and Cebu as fast as possible.
• Great opportunity to get off the Gringo trail; Transportation is extremely convenient and fun, but takes time.
• The worst food of anywhere we ever visited. It’s by far the biggest barrier to our desire to return to visit Palawan.

Some more misc pictures from Donsol below:

curious smile

Happy kid

Filippo Happy Hour; fiery death chased with water

Sleepy kitten out side of our room

Not only they wake us up at 6 every morning, the Filippo rosters make noise all day

as revenge, we order chicken every meal

happy Filipino sisterhood

Philippine Rocks!

Philippines to Japan Day 88 (April 28)

In the morning we fly from Legaspy to Manila, and then recheck our flight to Tokyo, Japan. From the airport in Legaspy, we have a clear morning, and can see the local volcano.

Ready to blow this joint

Perfect volcano shape, looks like a cartoon