So the last time we wrote we had just left the north of the Phillipines where everyone passes the time by spitting what looks like blood all over the place but is in fact a mixture of betel nut, some sort of leaves and lime - pretty gross. When they are not doing that or smoking then they can be found eating fertilized eggs. On 1 particular bus journey we had a stop for refreshments and the whole bus apart from us headed straight for the egg stall. We watched in disbelief as they peeled off the shell to reveal an almost fully formed chick sticking out of the black and white gunk. This was one cultural experience we weren't willing to try!

Ended up spending 5 days on Borocay without really doing much because of Michael being ill. But on the last day we were able to go on a quick tour of the island where we came across a live c*** fight. They say that the men here love their c*** more than their wives, which could be said of a lot of men in general, but you wouldn't think so if you watched them tearing each other apart. Pretty brutal 'sport' but the locals absolutely love it. It's even on TV!

We then flew to Cebu and caught a ferry straight on to another island, Bohol. Much more laid back than Borocay. Spent 3 days lazing around and went on a snorkelling trip while we were there to a nearby island.

Yet another 2 flights took us to Legaspi. So far on this trip we have had many amazing experiences, the next day came close to topping the lot which is strange as it involved throwing ourselves into the sea with enormous sharks! We landed in Legaspi where we were befriended by a missionary priest who decided it was his calling to guide us to the local bus station. There we were heading towards our minibus with the helpful priest carrying Michael's rucksack on his shoulder and organising our ride to the nearby town of Donsol. The next day we headed off at 7am accompanied by a 40 odd year old German and his 21 year old Philipino girlfriend to the visitors centre where we were shown a video and given a safety briefing regarding the whale sharks we were about to swim with.

The titanic it was not but we set sail in a small boat called a banca, about the same length as the whale sharks but nowhere near as wide. We were lucky that there were no other boats going from there cause it meant we had about 6 crew to spot the sharks and hold Nicola's hand! When the first shark came into view after about 45 minutes of sailing, we had to quickly get our snorkelling gear on and sit on the side of the boat to wait for the signal from our guide to jump in and head straight into it's path. The first time we went in and saw the shark was trully terrifying and there was some blue language heard coming from nearby snorkels, as well as screams from one certain snorkel. The whale sharks we saw average about 10 metres long and were about the width of a car. They are the biggest fish in the sea and you would probably recognise them as they are covered in white spots and have very square heads. They are harmless though unless you get too close to the tail. The guides were very keen and could swim like dolphins, even while dragging Nicola along by the hand. By the end of the day we had swum with about 6 different sharks. A great day, amazing experience.

We spent the night in Donsol before heading back to Legaspi for an altogether different experience. We have taken many flights in the Phillipines so expected a delay, what we didn't expect was for after over an hours delay, the flight to be cancelled. What followed was an annoying four hour wait at the airport, made more annoying by a disgusting fat racist American man who decided he was our new best friend and promptly sat next to us (actually pretty much on top of us as he liked to invade your space!) and proceded to tell Michael his life story and show him pictures of his most teenage Phillipino girlfriends ( I had walked off by then as he stank and had already purposefully put his arm across my chest after 2 minutes of sitting there). Look forward to more of the same when we hit the US! Instead of the 1 hour flight we then had a 10 hour overnight bus journey before getting another 2 hour bus from Manila to the airport in Clark. Complete nightmare.

So we finally arrived in KL and have spent the day doing nothing which has been great. Flying again tomorrow as we have decided to spend the next week in Malaysian Borneo where we will attempt to climb Mount Kinabalu and then hopefully go diving/snorkelling at one of the top 5 dive spots in the world, an island called Sipidan. Then Singapore for a couple of nights from where we fly to Bali.

Hope everyone is well at home. Keep the messages coming.

Nicola and Michael