2 Miles and 4 Feet from Home: On the way to Manila

We woke up about 5 am with the same colds hat we went to bed with. Uggghhh! Our bus to Manila was scheduled to leave at 11:20. We decided to have breakfast and then walk back to the market to visit the coffee shop one more time. We wanted to get a little more before we headed back home and really any excuse to walk through Burnham Park is a valid one. We went down stairs to breakfast about 6:30. The guy that greeted us in the lobby said that breakfast would start at 7. We decided to sit in the lobby and enjoy the wifi that is much quicker than the wifi in our room. After about 5 minutes the man came back and said they would open the kitchen for us early and we could now have breakfast. I had bacon and eggs and Lyn had hot dogs sliced with eggs and rice. (Hot dogs are served all the time over here and are a part of many dishes.) This meal was not only delicious it also was presented nicely as well. After breakfast we walked to the market. We cut through Burnham Park and saw that it was alive with families already enjoying the bikes, playgrounds and boats. It was a school holiday and so everyone was free to enjoy the park. We went to the Market and bought more coffee at the same store that we had purchased it at the day before. That market really has a life of its own and could walk around it all day. Since we had a bus to catch we caught a cab back to the hotel and packed up our things. Today’s bus ride was going to be about 5 hours long. Once we arrived at the Victory Liner station we were greeted by three guards that helped us get our luggage in. We already had our tickets so it was really just a matter of waiting on our bus to arrive. We had splurged and paid for a luxury bus, which was only about $17 per person. This was about $8 a person more than the regular bus. For this price we were treated with bigger seats that reclined more, a bathroom, wifi with charger and a stewardess that handed out light snacks and water. The bathroom would enable us to arrive in Manila about two hours faster than the regular bus because we could go non-stop. And once again we had seriously strong air conditioning. The ride out was really curvy at first as we left Baguio. Our bus was passing everything in sight and seemed to have no problem doing that on blind curves as well. After about an hour it flattened out and we just sat back and watched the countryside and enjoyed the wifi. The plan was to go to the Pasay terminal, which would be near our hotel and very near the airport. Eric’s Mom met us there and rode with us in the cab to make sure that we got in a good cab and did not have any hassle. She actually offered to let us stay with her again but we were just too sick to be around anyone. (Thank you Eric and Russelle for making our time in Manila hassle free. It really took the pressure off our travel there!) We look forward to going back there when we have more time. Once we checked in we basically crashed on the bed and fell asleep until dinnertime. Our colds were getting the best of us and tomorrow would be about 36 hours of travel. Yikes. Hoping for better health, as this trip is not easy on the best of conditions. Tomorrow we have the alarm set at for so we can leave the hotel at 4:30. This should get us to the airport at 5AM, which will give us enough time to get through all of the craziness. Hoping for a smooth day tomorrow.