MANILA

It all seemed slightly surreal arriving in Manila after 2 months in Australia yet it was also very comforting as Australia felt a little too much like home for our liking. Manila on the other hand is a mad bad city with exceedingly bad smells. Normally I am fine and I coped with all the markets of South America with no problem but a walk along the promenade in Manila had both Emm and I retching! We stayed in the ummm ... grittier part of Manila which was Ermita and were rewarded with the horrible sights of seventy year old German men with 16 - 20 year old beautiful Philipino girls .... what on earth is wrong with these supposed men? Anyway, in short Manila is very dirty, very noisy and a great deal of fun.