Philippines on a G-string travel blog

Liftline, CamSur style

One of the pros awaits the cable at the base

A pretty good view of the course. Look closely and you'll see...

Dude using no more than a couple inches of chop to get...

Followed by a tight landing

Takeoff

More pretty sick aerials

And more ...

And more ...

And more.


Naga, Camarines Sur

(Written on my cellphone aboard the ferry from Cagayan de Oro to Camiguin ferry - a personal first!)

Leg 2 of my three-part Philippines journey has begun. After arriving on the red eye from Bangkok, I head to Johnny Weekend's place in Manila to decompress and watch Kenny Perry collapse on the final two holes of the Masters. At noon I'm off to Naga, the capital of Camarines Sur in Southeast Luzon's Bicol region. Naga is about a 9hr bus ride from Manila, but this time I'm flying - for just $26, on Zest Air.

I've vowed to ramp up my adventure pursuits on this leg of my trip, and 'CamSur', as the province is known, would seem like a good place to start. Formerly poor and relatively obscure, the province has been transformed under the guidance of its mercurial governor, LRay Villafuerte. An avid wakeboarder, the young governor is busy trying to mould the province into the adventure sports capital of the Philippines. Using the power vested in him by the good people of Camarines Sur, the Gov has effectively turned the provincial government into a commercial enterprise and anointed himself CEO. He bequeathed the province its catchy 'CamSur' moniker and built a world-class cable wakeboarding park - the Camsur Watersports Complex. He successfully lobbied French and Israeli 'Survivor' crews to film on the province's remote Caramoan Peninsula. Earlier this year, he opened a downhill mountain-bike park on Mt Isarog, a huge volcano that looms over Naga to the east. Next up are an aquapark and an 18-hole golf course. All of the above are or will be run as commercial projects, with the profits (or losses) going on the books of the provincial government.

When I last visited the region, about 2yrs ago, all of this was in the planning stages. The club of LRay skeptics had many members, among them me. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the types of things he was doing. For years I've been telling anyone who would listen that the Philippines has the potential to become Southeast Asia's premier adventure sports mecca. But LRay's top-down approach wasn't exactly how I envisaged it all panning out. I figured small private operators would drive the boom, with promotional help from local and national tourism offices.

Then there's the matter of the eccentric governor himself. LRay's handsome, youthful mug is plastered all over CamSur- on posters at arrival points, on all official promotional material, on a huge banner hanging on the provincial government building, and on roadside billboards everywhere. The billboards inevitably congratulate the gov on receiving an award - usually as one of Asia's top 'young' governors or managers - accompanied by the slogan 'we are proud of you' below. I find this hilarious as it's obvious that LRay's the one who ordered the billboards put up in the first place. They should read, 'I am so proud of myself'. In short, LRay seems bent on establishing a cult of personality that Kim Jong Il would be proud of.

Lastly, didn't poverty-ridden, disaster-addled Camsur have bigger things to worry about than its lack of a professional wakeboarding facility?

Two years on, I must admit that I'm duly impressed with the progress Mr Villafuerte has made toward realizing his grand vision. I have no idea if the watersports complex is profitable, but it is definitely popular and it's definitely way f***ing cool. A first-time wakeboarder, I spent an hour going around the loop and must say it's one of the coolest things I've done in a long, long time. It reminded me of a warm-weather ski area. You buy your 'lift pass', get in line, receive the bar from the cable operator when it's your turn, and take off. I managed about a quarter-loop my first go-around before eating it when the cable unexpectedly slacked around the first big turn. On my second try I managed to stay up for two-and-a-half full loops (each loop is about 3 minutes). So cable wakeboarding is not something that requires a lot of practice to enjoy (although my windsurfing and snowboarding experience obviously help!).

After an hour they shut down the cable for lunch break. By then I didn't have much left in the tank. My forearms were knotted up like rocks and my quivering quads could barely support my body weight. So I gave it a rest and boarded a bus heading south toward Legazpi, where I would reunite with Johnny Weekend for a little whale-shark watching in nearby Donsol. Note to self: If we ever move back to the Philippines, I can see spending many a family weekend down here, especially once they get the aquapark and golf course up and running.

****

I read in the paper yesterday that in recent years Camsur has gone from about the 30th richest province to about the 10 richest. One would have to assume that tourism is driving most of that growth. In addition to the adventure stuff around Naga, LRay has built a big resort on the Caramoan peninsula and promoted the snot out of it, resulting in a huge jump in visitors (which, unfortunately, will make it less appealing for many people). Who knows whether these projects are making any money, but from a tourist perspective they'd have to be viewed as a success. The wakeboarding park, which draws top pros from around the world, has been especially instrumental in putting Naga and Camsur on the tourist map. For that I'll (only somewhat grudgingly) give it up for LRay. Now if he could only do something about those billboards ...

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