Hi Everyone,

  Randal and I made a trip to the floating book ship anchored at Subic Bay for a few weeks.  The web site is www.mvdulos.org

The following is from their web site but there is lots more info and their perspective on the children of Subic Bay and Olongapo.

Gute Bücher für Alle e.V. (Good Books for All)

Doulos was purchased in 1977 by Gute Bücher für Alle e.V. (Good Books for All), a private, non-profit, charitable organization registered in Germany.

Over 20 million visitors have been welcomed on board for tours, programmes and visits to the floating book fair. With stops in over 500 ports of call, this unique ship has visited more than 100 countries in including Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and many island nations.

Doulos is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest active ocean-going passenger ship.

Here is the ship docked at the Subic Bay pier on Waterfront Road.

Sitting here in our pilot house typing this I can actually see the lights of the ship across the way.  But to walk there we have to go out of the yacht club, down Rizal Highway, turn left on Burgos Ave. and then walk to Waterfront Rd.  Unfortunately it is too far away to get a good photo of the ship’s lights at night.

You have to pay 10 pesos ( 25 cents) per person to go on.  You  walk up the steep blue gangway to get on and off and it is a climb!

This woman had made her purchases and was going home loaded up.

You walk up one side and then down the other when you leave.  Flip flops or heels would have been treacherous. There were “speed bumps” about every foot along the way making it harder, though probably safer if it had been a wet day.

  Here is a close up of the going down side which was exactly like the going up side.

You were only allowed access to the book deck, but for 50 pesos more you could go on a tour and hear about the boat, but we didn’t. 

  This was one of the many life boats.  Each held 87 people.

Just about there.  You can see the end of the deck and the entrance to the book store with the sloping white  roof.

  Here we are.  There were lots of kids materials and religious materials, but no popular fiction and little non-religious, nonfiction. 

  I bought some art how to books and a night sky star book and (a 2004 World Almanac for $2 for when the Internet is down or not available.)

Like every bookstore they sold cards and pens and notebooks and a few educational toys.

  Time to pay up.

It is nice that this is available.  They are a non-profit so sell books at a discounted price.  I just wish the library could buy some of these books and make them available to kids with no money.