I spent both 29th and 30th June in bed with a fever. I alternately slept and read my novel “Saigon“, and by the evening of the second day I had finished it.

On Monday 1st July, after 3 straight days in bed, my fever was down, I felt significantly stronger, and I decided to find a cheaper place to stay. At a Swiss-run place, $6 got me a room with a fan and a window. I moved my belongings over and decided what to do. I have the option of exploring more of The Philippines, but it somehow doesn’t hold the appeal that China does. Time and funds are not unlimited.

I went to a travel agent in the afternoon, and tried to get a ticket on the Emirates flight to Hong Kong, but it was full. The next best option was actually British Airways, for $185, so I bought a ticket for 3rd July, giving myself one more full day in Manila. There being an Amex office to hand I decided to get another $600 worth of travellers’ cheques from the ATM, since it’s certain I’m going to need more money soon enough.

From there I headed to the clinic, where the doctor told me that the final tests they had done showed that the infection had cleared up, and I was fit to travel once more. Later in the evening I wandered round an area with bars and night clubs but there wasn’t much going on.

I was feeling a lot more normal on 2nd July, with my strength all but returned. I took a “jeepney” (a curious contraption – basically a small bus based on a large army jeep, typical in this country) to the north side of the river in search of an E6 slide processing lab. I wanted to get all my Indochina photos processed and safely sent off to the UK.

A search for a bookshop with Lonely Planet books was unsuccessful, so I headed back to Intramuros (the central old-town) and visited the cathedral, or to give it its full name “The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception”.

After lunch I went to pick up the processed films, and was relieved that all the photos look OK. I headed back once more to Intramuros, and the tourist information office.

They gave me some pointers and I wandered a few blocks to the National Museum of the Philippines, which had a tremendous underwater archaeology exhibit.

From there I headed through the huge city park (Rizal Park) and wandered along the pleasant seafront towards the south. It was all so different from Indochina – I was feeling some culture shock….

I headed back to the hotel for my last night in The Philippines.