We’re Finally Here!

In the Land of Smiles.

Traveling with a lot of luggage half way around the world is a tiring event, but maxed out luggage and travelling with two family pets is simply exhausting. We were sure glad this was a one way proposition. We arrived in Manila on schedule and to our surprise noticed that the Immigration section had been somewhat overhauled for efficiency and made for a smoother and faster transition as compared to one year ealier. Arriving passengers are now segregated and directed to different areas and the clogged lines of mixed passengers, like in the past, don’t exist. Hooray!

Next stop after baggage claim was to visit the Bureau of Quarantine section of the airport with our two cats and, as our good luck would have it, we caught the Quarantine officer in the middle of watching a Philippine soap opera in her secluded air conditioned office. "So sorry to disturb you" was the only thing I could muster up. Nonetheless, our paperwork was handled very proficiently (it helps to have ALL the requirements and documents required) and we paid about 400 pesos for the cat “visas” and were on our way.

Ferry boat from Bicol to Samar.

Rather than fly from the domestic airport directly to Calbayog City in Samar, we opted to have family members pick us up at Terminal 1 and drive us to Samar. Bad decision! We initially thought it would be easier on the animals as they could finally leave their cages after being cooped up for over 24 hours, but it just prolonged their nightmare by 20 hours. The road trip made it just that more difficult for them, and seemed to drag on for me too! They especially were not fond of the Ferry ride from Matnog, Bicol across the San Bernardino Straights to Allen, Samar. To a pair of sheltered animals that have never seen the ocean and then be subjected to a boat ride on top of it all, well… it must have been a feline nightmare of biblical proportions.

Anyway, we finally arrived in our village of Tomaligues around mid-evening the following day, ate supper and spent no time settling in. We just found our way straight to bed - with the two cats underneath us. I was so looking forward to stretching out and getting some sleep I completely forgot we would be spending our first night without air conditioning. But as it turned out, I was so tired, the fan was all I needed.

Photo op - Us and the majestic Mt. Mayon

The one plus of the entire trip (not for the cats) was actually the drive from Manila through southern Luzon and Bicol with some sight-seeing and a photo opportunity with the Volcano, Mt. Mayon. For our two cats though, I'm almost certain they could care less about some stinkin smoking volcano and crossing an ocean. I'm sure they probably had nightmares for weeks.