Brief overview of the Philippines:
Population: ~86.2 million (~10 million working overseas)
Currency: Philippine Peso-PHP (currently 1USD=~48PHP)
Language: Filipino, (good!)English
Seasons: Wet:Jun-Sept. Dry:Oct-May
Short summary of reason for and planning of trip: The reason for this trip was largely due to the minimal overall cost. We were informed that the holiday over which we took the trip (Chinese New Year) just about everything in Hong Kong was closed for three or more days, and there were one or two days of parades and fireworks. It turns out that people travel from all over the world to come see it...so now I have a great excuse to come back (or stay)! As for the cost factor; we (Ben and I) looked at airfares for many other destinations, all of which were inflated about 50% due to the Chinese New Year. The Philippines was the least inflated destination, and after some research we decided that it was a worthy country to visit. Ben and I began planning the trip for five (5) people with the realization that no one else was going to arrange it for us. I suppose that is what other people figured as well, so another seven (7) rode on our coat tails for a grand total of twelve (12). With seldom a thank you we learned what a feat organizing a trip for a group that size really is... I feel like it is a worthy addition to my resume!
There is so much to tell about the Philippines trip that I am sure that I will forget something... but it may well be the best trip that I have ever been on. I will do my best to describe this trip in chronological order while filling in as many of the details as I possibly can, within reason.
We left Hong Kong International airport on the morning of 15-Feb for Manila, which is as different from Hong Kong as one would suspect. The first thing that was extremely obvious was the abundance of guns, large and small, all over the place. They were mostly carried by police officers, but I would not be surprised in the least to learn that seven of ten locals are armed.
The lack of a sanitation network was also painfully perceivable. This goes for all of the Philippines; whether in the crowded city of Manila, or the backwoods village of Cambulo, it is Filipino nature to throw trash on the ground, and to tear it into smaller less manageable pieces if possible.
With the abundance of litter it was interesting to note that toilet paper was NOT available unless requested, and not even then at times. Thank GOD that a valiant few had the good sense to pack such a bare necessity.
Apart from this the Filipinos are very laid back (and Jesus-loving!) people as portrayed by the writing on the back of this bus (in the constant traffic jam that is Manila):
As soon as we left the airport in Manila it was apparent that the adventure had begun. I started by negotiating a few PHP (Philippine Pesos) off of a ride in a small van to the AutoBus station where we were headed to reserve our seats for the overnight trip to Banaue. Upon arrival to the AutoBus station, via the apparently constant heavy traffic, we discovered two problems: 1) The 2200 bus to Banaue was booked full and 2) Ben, Leila, and Perrin (who were coming on a later flight) would need to have seats reserved, and they would have to make it on time (though the heavy traffic). Luckily these two problems coincided nicely as there was an extra bus added to the schedule that left at 2245... 10 minutes after Ben, Leila, and Perrin arrived! We were able to reserve their seats until they arrived, 15% shrewd planning 85% dumb luck.
Most of the crew (Tyler, Matt, and Myself (US), Koen and Annick (Netherlands), Ben, Perrin, Leila, Marie, and Louis (France), Diego-Swiss, and last but not least Tolga (Germany) for the first part of the trip) had no local currency (yours truly as the exception...my father will be proud), so we set off in search of and atm, food, and supplies for the bus ride. The SM provided us with all of these things and seems to be the SUPER-DUPER WalM@rt of the Philippines... and just as cheap as everything else. So we bummed around Manila for a few hours waiting for the last three to arrive, hopefully in time to catch the bus. Some of the Jeepneys (local cheap transportation) are heavily aesthetically modified. I noticed this as I am just browsing through my Philippine pictures; this Jeepney has ‘Minnesota, USA’ written on it!
After some food and restless waiting Ben, Perrin, and Leila finally arrived and our bus ride began:
So after three stops, plenty of snacks, nine hours, and little sleep we arrived in beautiful Banaue, or as close as we could get by bus. As soon as we stepped foot off the bus there were a score of locals offering us trips into town for food, guided tours, lodging, and probably anything else we could have asked for. I was fortunate enough to stumble across a gentleman named Gideon who worked for ‘Peoples’ Lodge and Restaurant, which is where we went for breakfast. The view off of the rear deck of this facility was nothing short of amazing, and there we all saw the eight wonder of the world, the rice terraces of Banaue, for the first time in all of its natural splendor [see pictures!!!].
Gideon is a 24 year old local of Banaue and is unmistakably experienced in the local terrain and guiding tours among other things. He showed me several options for hikes that the group could do ranging from 1.5-2 hours to 6-8 hours. I was a strong proponent of the 6-8 hour hike (naturally) and most seemed to agreed either out of experience or complete lack thereof. I have to say that I saw this coming, so I set out my contingency plan that some of the less prepared (nay: ill-prepared) take the shorter hike, and that we would meet them that night or the following day in Batad. To their eventual dismay... they did not choose this option and proceeded with us on the 6-8 hour HIKE (not stroll in the park. I am not sure how this was misunderstood as there is not one level square meter within 100 km!). So after this poor decision and breakfast we proceeded on probably the greatest hike that I have ever been on... neither words nor pictures can do it justice so the ‘8th Wonder of the World’ will have to do. Again, see pictures!!!!!
After breakfast and getting cleaned up we shot up the mountains in a Jeepney. Diego, Matt, and I took the liberty of sitting on top of the Jeepney as it careened around on the mountain roads full of sheer drops and downed power poles [See video ‘TopofJeepney’ (this will take a while to load, but it is fun!)].
When we got to the top and gathered our things the trek began.
Needless to say, the hike was amazing. It started with lots of up and down in the mountains followed by some traversing, and halfway though we were actually hiking ON the rice terraces which are about 30-40 cm wide (~1 ft) with water and rice on one side and a 2-3 meter (~6-9 ft) fall on the other. One of the girls had an actual piece of luggage (which Gideon happily volunteered to carry) and another had nothing more than a pair of slippers on her feet (to her credit... she did not complain ONCE! She actually made jokes about it! She gets my allstar award for this trip!). About an hour out of Cambulo Diego (one of the more experienced hikers) had the misfortune of slipping off a terrace and falling into the one below. As soon as we found out that he only had minor cuts and brusies, a functional camera, and only damaged pride, we were able to laugh freely about it.
The slow hiking pace also turned out to be a mixed blessing because due to our slowness, we could not make it to Batad before nightfall and Cambulo was the only other option. (I have been searching for a map of the hiking trails online to no avail, so I may have to contact Gideon to see if he will send one to me)Cambulo does not have the view that Batad does...but it more than makes up for it with the friendliness of the locals (probably due to fewer tourists than Batad).
We stayed at the ‘Cambulo Guest House’ which was a lovely little accommodation and cost PHP 100 for the night and something like PHP 20 per home-cooked meal utilizing rice straight from the terraces! The bathing facility was a bucket of cold water and a ladle and was a very welcome luxury! Gideon informed me that the local children were competing for spots in a performance schedule that consisted of solo, duet, and group songs as well as arm wrestling. We were also expected to perform an impromptu group song, so we sang the first verse of two from ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the Be@tles largely because it was the first thing that came to mind that we all knew. They loved it and we loved their performances. After each performance we gave the singer(s) some candies which they gleefully snatched from our hands. The experience was completely surreal and was one of the most humbling of my life. One of the small boys had the misfortune of falling into the fire and was burned pretty badly on his arm. After some comfort and medical attention (which I am sure is in short supply in this area) we had him on his merry way and continued with the festivities until the wee hours of the morning. We were aided in the event by the consumption of some of the local rice wine or ‘hard gin’ (it seemed like half vodka and half gin) mixed with sprite. PHP 80 (USD ~1.80 per bottle, but too heavy to pack out). I eventually retired to my self-made bed on the balcony outside under the bright stars with the river gurgling in the distance (along with some western music on the guitar by the guy that came along and finished off my bottle of hard gin...he deserved it more than we did), and fireflies occupying the nearby palm trees... again, no words can sufficiently describe it.
I awoke to the nagging of staying on a tight schedule, but kept my lips sealed and rose to a glimpse of paradise with the morning sun peeking over the mountaintop. Another home-cooked meal of rice and eggs was in order and after devouring this we proceeded to Batad and then to our extraction point. The views were just as amazing as the day before. I wonder if the people that live in these places become so used to their surroundings that the take them for granted?
The hour long hike from Batad to the extraction point was pretty steep and littered with souvenir ‘shops’ which was where I purchased a few novel gifts for a song. Once there Koen, who is from the Netherlands and had been asking about Filipino Marijuana, finally found some local pot, but was not pleased with the quality so he declined. We waited a while for the others to make it up the hill and then for the jeepney to arrive to take us back down to Banaue (pronounced Banowee; as in ‘ban guns’, and ‘I have an owee’). On the jeepney ride back we managed to get into a small accident with a parked jeepney and a trike (motorcycle with a sidecar). It was more funny than anything else and after one minute we were back on our way (don’t worry mom, I didn’t get whiplash or anything).
Back in Banaue we had a few hours to take some more cold showers, eat a nice lunch, and I took the liberty of buying a bolo (bowl-oh) which is a large machete used locally. Gideon informed me that the version I purchased is of the highland variety where the lowland bolos have the fattest part of the blade near the middle. Another interesting lesson from the knowledgeable guide.
The bus ride back was fairly uneventful and we arrived in Manila at some ungodly hour (2 or 3 am?) hungry and tired. After being unsuccessful in our pursuit of a hotel we cured the latter be eating at the only place close to the airport. After sorting out some ticketing issues we we pointed in the direction of the ‘Winston Hotel’ (which I did NOT steal any sheets from). We found that our humor was still intact when we arrived as a group or four guys and the hotel had hourly rates and heart soap, some rooms even had the luxury of mirrors on the ceiling and sex chairs in the shower...a classy joint indeed.
Anyways, after a fair share of jokes and a nice warm (individual) shower we were out like the lights and ready to catch our flight to beautiful Boracay...which is where I will pick up in part two of the Philippines installment.
Stay tuned!
Pictures:
Videos:
Thursday, February 22, 2007
