Mixed experiences and emotions

Not a great night for Elijah thanks to his ear infection.

Today's tourist excursion?  Hinagdanan Cave. Discovered many years ago by a farmer clearing his land and named after the way in – ‘laddered’ in the local dialect.

Down the ladder we went into the cave and discovered the large pool with stalactites and a couple of natural sunlights. 

Hamish and I explored the cave on foot and discovered a local who seemed to be enjoying the artificial lighting.

Then the two of us enjoyed our first ever swim in an enclosed cave. The water was beautifully clear and the temperature was more refreshing than the ocean or the pools here. Unfortunately Elijah isn't able to swim for the next 6 days; not that he really feels like it.

On the way back we were able to clarify something we'd been wondering about - the price of cars. We've noticed that while there are far more motorbikes than cars here, the cars that people do own are mostly new. A billboard advertised a small SUV for 28k - 28 000 pesos - which is less than $1000. Could this really be right? Could this be Hamish's first car? Even paying for extra luggage on our flight it might still be worth it! We asked the driver. Turns out that even though there is no indication of any other amount on the sign, 28k is just the 5% down payment. The actual price is the 560 000 pesos - almost $20 000. Keep saving Hamish.

Then some chill time back in the room planning and selecting footage for a video about our Compassion visit for church. Wonderful memories to look back on.

Lunch was yet again a variety of bread rolls from the local bakery, where I've become a temporary regular. 

Late afternoon and dinner at Dumaluan Beach again. Lots of tourists and locals enjoying a beautiful beach on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. We particularly enjoyed watching boyfriend taking pictures of their girlfriends posing with sultry looks. Elijah was in a good space in his pain relief cycle and made sand castles while Hamish and I chatted over the end of dinner.

Together we walked to the other end of the beach and admired the high end resorts – brought back happy memories of ‘the Warwick’ in Fiji many years ago.

Yet another cultural experience as we watched the wedding reception on the beach of the resort, resplendent with lavishly decorated tables and a back-lit slideshow of the happy couple. 

Tributes were given to a myriad of family members, as well as those with important roles like ring bearer and Bible bearer, as well as ‘the sponsors of the wedding’ – these didn’t seem to be local businesses but family members – presumably the ones who paid for the wedding – though they weren’t the parents.

We arrived back on the shuttle and Elijah said hello to his new friend 'Beige'  the resort dog. 

Dogs and cats are everywhere here - and very few have a collar. They just wander around and presumably eat scraps.

Yet another wonderful time with my boys.

We’ve been sharing what we’re looking forward to about being back home – seeing Danielle and the rest of our family, seeing friends, drinking real coffee, driving on good roads with overtaking lanes; familiar shopping, reasonable queues at supermarkets, easy open spots on plastic sachet packets, pharmacy shop assistants who know what paracetamol is.

But as always at this point in a holiday, my feelings are very mixed. After so much planning and looking forward, this special time is coming to an end and won’t happen again. And what a special time it has been to share this with these two special boys.