As the night progressed, the forest came alive! Having spent much of my life in the rainforests of the Pacific NW I was much less affected by it as was Rick, who has spent most of his life inside the city limits of Pittsburgh. To say he was immensely enthralled would be a gross understatement. There were some pretty wild noises that even I could not identify.
The "huts" are just that, huts. They are clean and well maintained, with good indoor plumbing and electricity. They have a nice porch overlooking the river. This would be a wonderful place to take a girl to get away from it all. This was to be the best nights sleep I was to have on this trip to the PI, a whopping 6 hours!
Thursday morning dawned peacefully. Rick was once again complaining of stomach pains, this time much more severe than yesterday. I hiked up to the top of the stairs, way past the restaurant. The view from up here is spectacular, with the river and a waterfall 300 feet below. I then walked on up the path to the road, which is about a mile farther on. This is a very pristine area, with a few families huts and some rice paddies thrown in. I took many pics.
On the way back down, I counted the steps. 282 is the number I came up with, at a 45 degree angle, straight up! (Or down, depending on which way you are pointed!)
I took Rick a cup of coffee on my way down, and he got up the resolve to climb the steps to the restaurant. (about 100) We sat there for quite some time, and he was trying to decide if he wanted to go on to the Chocolate Hills or go back to Eddies where he had some maalox. I assured him that if he was feeling poorly the ride to Chocolate hills would not be a pleasant one.
I told Rick I didn't think our driver would be there at 9 as he promised, and expressed to him why I thought this. First, this is the Philippines, and we are now on "filipino time". Second, by showing up late he would likely have to do much less driving for his additional P1600 as he knew we had to be back at the pier by 5:30 to catch the ferry. Rick seemed to think he would probably be there about 9:30, he showed up at 10:45. By this time, Rick is feeling much worse and is crashed out in the hammock.
When the driver made it up the stairs, I asked him, "What happened to 9 o'clock?"
He mumbled something about the boat being gone.
I said, "The boat has been up here and back three times since 9 o'clock, you weren't on it."
More mumbles.
"My friend Rick is not feeling well, how much to just take us back to the pier?"
"You don't want go to Chocolate Hills?"
"No, we just want to go back to the pier, how much?"
"Same, one-six."
"Forget it! We'll take a jeepney!"
More mumbles, then "You decide."
I had been reading the brochures, and found that the fair fare was P300, so I said, "300."
He pokes out his lips in a pout and says, "Is ok."
So off we went after paying the bill. Total bill for meals, lodging, and all the beer we could drink came to P1200. $12 each. Before leaving, Chris quoted me the equivalent of $160 month to stay there. Hmmm.
So, we were back to Eddies by 1 o'clock. Rick took a big dose of maalox, and I went walkabout.
