Namaste Travelling!: Philippines

The diving spot we had favoured over Moalboal was Bohol and we had to travel back to Cebu and then get a ferry in order to get there. We arrived at Alona beach mid afternoon and it took us ages to try and fail to find the hostel we had planned to stay at. As the sun was beating down and we were exhausted from our dancing the night before, we decided to check into another cheapish option for one night and then continue our search without our bags for the following nights. We set off to explore the bay a little bit and to find the mystery hostel. On the way we also stopped to sign ourselves up for some dive courses starting the following morning – for Mike his advanced diver and for me my open water PADI. The events that followed are probably best described first hand by Mike!

Watch out for motorbikes!

''Walking up the road towards the hostel I saw a break in traffic so went to cross the road. As I stepped out I heard Katy shout! I looked to my left and there was a moped speeding towards me. In less than a second it crashed into to me and the moped, the driver and I went skidding along the road. Coming to a stop I looked up to see Katys worried face! I jumped up to show her I wasn’t hurt… then she pointed to the pool of blood on the floor! I looked down and there was a hole in my left shin about 1 inch wide by ½ inch deep pouring with blood. The bewildered teenager on the moped was unhurt and apologies were exchanged on both sides and he drove off. I was helped limping into the actual hostel we had gone to check out. Luckily there was an off-duty lifeguard who saw the crash and he proceeded to find a medical kit to clean and dress my leg, while I rolled around on a sofa trying to play down the pain. Unbelievably I had my camera strapped round my shoulder which only suffered a small crack to the lens filter.

I also had my netbook laptop in my hands, which had gone flying across the road. Despite some blood spatters and some superficial damage it was working and intact! A taxi was called and I was taken to A+E. The first hospital I was taken to was a private hospital, which insisted I needed to be admitted overnight for insurance reasons. Fearing a costly medical bill I declined and was taken 5 minutes down the road to what turned out to be another private hospital. After a short wait and a clever bit of suturing I received 6 moderately painful stitches. The wound while looking fairly unpleasant and lumpy was a vast improvement and I was pleased with the outcome. Overall it had been an easy process definitely due to the helpful lifeguard who travelled with me to both hospitals and managed to negotiate my care in Filipino which made the process go a lot smoother…what a guy! We rewarded him (and Katy) with a trip to McDonalds and a tip. In McDonalds he still insisted on ordering rice and chicken in true Filipino style.''

Waiting in the hospital for my leg to be stitched

I returned the next day and for an xray. After a 6 hour wait for the radiologist I received an ambiguous xray report suspecting a fracture! I was then transferred to the public hospital where apparently the eminent and only orthopaedic consultant currently working was doing his rounds. After waiting outside A+E for 2 hours he sauntered over in his jeans and polo shirt only to hold the xray up in the air and say there was no fracture and therefore no problem. I inquired what the small chip on the tibia was and he dismissed it a small piece of periosteum (outer surface of bone). He then proclaimed I was fine to go diving or basically do whatever I want and to get crutches if required. All this was over in a matter of seconds and in standard orthopaedic style he sent me on my way slightly bemused. I purchased a pair of crutches and copious amounts of pain killers and headed back to bohol confused and very frustrated as what to do next. Back to Katy…..

So the following days for Mike were spent sitting at the bird watcher bar (understandably) feeling very sorry for himself, surfing the slow wifi. Meanwhile I continued to do my open water PADI qualification with the Philippino fun divers which I really enjoyed over 4 days – I even bought their t-shirt at the end which I’m now proudly parading around IndonesiaJ Not satisfied with the first opinion we then headed straight to Cebu for Mike to get a second opinion on his leg. Leaving Bohol early enough that we arrived mid afternoon to Cebu, we checked in to the hotel nearest the largest hospital. Luckily for us we found out there was an orthopedic clinic that afternoon and we headed to the top floor of the mall opposite to find it! When we got there it was actually a whole private orthopaedic centre! We registered and Mike was seen by a very nice Filipino doctor who confirmed that there was a chip on the tibia but no fracture. Mike was able to fully weight bear and instructed to leave one of his beloved crutches behind. The progress was slow and very painful but eventually (2 weeks later) he achieved the crutchless gait!