Our time here in the Philippines may be coming to a temporary end. With the collapse of tourism it is becoming more obvious that for the time being a return to the UK makes more sense, we fully intend to return as soon as things start to pick up as we have a lot more to see and do in this amazing country.

With that moment coming ever closer we are trying to make the most of every day, so today the wife "Koz" and I both avid motorcyclists decided to take a ride out. The weather looked promising so we hatched a plan to ride from our home in Moalboal into the Mountains in the distance.

Our target.

With backpack on a bottle of Gatorade and my trusty compact camera we got the bikes out and locked up the garden gate.

Ready for action.

As we waited at the junction to join the main road I snapped a picture of the statue of Dr. Jose Rizal. He is a national hero who through his writing encouraged Filipinos to rise up and start a revolution against the Spaniards and claim back their country.

Affectionately known as Pepe.

Koz takes the lead on the road, the clouds in the distance have quickly changed colour and look somewhat manacing.

Please don't rain!

On the outskirts of Badian town we pull over to take a photo of the fishery, this land is flooded to provide a hatchery and fish farm. This provides for much of the area and towns further afield.

Feeding the many.

As you leave the towns behind the scenery changes far fewer houses and a lot more.....

Green.

Soon after this point on our journey we turned off the main road and now riding uphill into the mountains headed to the town of Badian, by now we have covered about 20 km.

Badian town hall.

Just across the way from the town hall is this church and bell tower. Next to that is a building where the Nuns live.

House of God.

Now the big climb into the hills begins, steep winding roads that the photos don't do justice but fortunately well built and nobody on them. After a while we hit a spot with a nice vantage point and stop to admire the view, looking back to where we had come from this is....

Zaragosa island.

Koz with Badian in the distance.

and the bloody steep road.

Pressing on we find ourselves nearing the top of the mountains the sea is now out of view and the temperature is a little cooler.

Stunning views.

In all directions.

Back on board and nearing the top a distant view of the sea stopped me for a photo opportunity. It was at this point I became aware I had a problem, the cooling fan on my machine was whizzing away and on closer inspection I noticed green coolant leaking from the radiator, "shit bags" I thought what to do?

Nice view what's that noise?

Arse! that's not good.

Now the plan had been once we reached the top of the mountains, to traverse a dirt road and descend returning to Moalboal via a different town. Already 40 km into our jaunt the choice had to be made, continue up and around for a further 60 km or turn back and retrace our steps. Sensibility and the later choice won out so after topping up my radiator with Orange flavoured Gatorade we headed back.

For me it was a interesting ride because as most of it was down hill I rode with the engine off to save potential damage to the engine. Quite strange to roll along at speed with no sound. Failing in our mission didn't stop me capturing a few more images on route.

Badian coming back into view.

Nearing the bottom I had to fire up the engine again so to save risking a blow up I stopped every 10 km or so to let it cool down, not so easy with a air temperature of 30 degrees.

Badian high street.

Finally after a couple of stops we made it back to Moalboal town but with boiling radiator fluid/Gatorade spraying on my leg I had to stop again. So what else could I do but take a few more photos.

Town hall and public playing ground.

Well to sum the day up it wasn't a perfect success but still we managed a round trip of about 80 km, took in some great views and got out of the house for the best part of the day.

The bike? Back home and under closer inspection I have a small hole in the radiator, thinking back this probably happened a couple of weeks back when the bike fell over due to my bad parking. Not the end of the world, I limped it home the engine didn't go bang so it lives to fight another day.

One thing for sure we will be attempting this journey again in the near future, lets hope we make it. Until we meet again, stay safe out there folks!