Day 17 - Manila

Finally some solid land again. Arrival in Manila Harbour was a bit chaotic with multiple small fishing boats moving out of our path at the last minute even with the captain blasting them on the horn. After arrival and disembarking it proved no less chaotic. Have to say we have never been so relentlessly hounded by locals as soon as you get off the boat as we were here.
The Tuk-tuk (or tricycle) drivers were aggressive to the point of being abusive. And there were around 63,000 of them at the gates to the port. Our original intention was to take a Tuk-Tuk to Fort Santiago and then walk back to the ship through the Intramuros historical area. However the drivers were so aggressive in trying to sell a full day tour they would not listen to what we wanted, so we ended up taking a taxi. This turned into a comedy of errors as we had no local cash, the cabbie refused to take a card, even though he had a machine there, so we had to find an ATM to get cash. The driver spoke next to no English. Anyway, after all that we spent the day exploring Fort Santiago and The Intramuros. Manila is not a particularly clean city and it was hot and sticky as well. We were happy to get back to the ship for a cold beverage. Dinner followed by a Beatles tribute show rounded out a very busy day. The sunset sail-away was spectacular.Read more