It All Started With a Coconut

After Jeff left, Clark and I went down to the Cebu Airlines office to find out there'd been some confusion with our airline tickets, and we were going to be in Manilla for one more day. We spent the day hanging out with our new friend Allie, and the evening and on into the next morning drinking with Phil and our other Peace Corp friends.

We flew into Dumaguete, getting there early in the morning, and dropped our bags off at Harold's Mansion(a hostel), before going on our customary ramble about town. We walked along the beach, checking out the banka boats, and stopped to watch a couple kids cracking open coconuts to drink the milk. Feeling, adventurous, I decided to try my hand at coconutting. I climbed the tree, with the kids laughing and watching, but couldn't quite get the knack of actually getting a coconut down. I came back down and one of the kids decided to show me how it's done. I thought I'd climbed the tree well, but this kid scrambled up it like a monkey and with a few quick flicks of the wrist, had several coconuts lying on the ground bleeding their sweet sweet nectar.

We were having a good time, when an angry man on a bicycle showed up and questioned the kids in a language we didn't recognize(the locals here speak pusayan instead of tagalog). Our new friends pointed at us and promptly vacated the area.

The man introduced himself as a Barangai councilor named Coro, and started quizzing us about what we were doing there, why we were climbing the trees, where we were staying, etc. We'd had a somewhat questionable encounter with a Barangai councilor before, and with coconut milk guiltily dripping from our chins, warily evaded answerings most of his questions. He explained to us that if the owner saw us eating her coconuts, she'd call the police. We explained that we didn't realize someone owned the trees, we were sorry, and wouldn't do it again. Then he explained to us that if the owner saw us eating her coconuts, she'd call the police. We explained that we didn't realize someone owned the trees, we were sorry, and wouldn't do it again. Then he explained to us that if the owner saw us eating her coconuts, she'd call the police...

After going back and forth like this for a while, Coro calmed down a bit, decided we were good people, and in hospitable Filipino fashion, invited us to have lunch with his family. We couldn't turn him down, and were soon eating chicken and rice while being regaled with stories about Coro and Sally's 5 sons, 6 daughters, and 22 grand children, many of whom we met. We parted ways, Coro inviting us back to eat and go swimming with his family; an invitation we plan on taking him up on.

Our time in Dumaguete has been peaceful and relaxing. Most days, Clark and I have been doing one or more SCUBA dives; me to get my open water certification, and Clark to get his advanced and mixed air certs. Snoopy and his assistant, Johnly were great instructors, and opened up a whole new world to me that I hope to explore a lot more in the future. I was lucky enough to learn to dive in one of the world's top rated reefs, instead of a swimming pool.

We rented a scooter and tooled around the area for a day, seeing a bit of the neighboring towns and mountainsides, and Clark got to experience driving around in Filipino traffic on a busy holiday(Valentines Day is HUGE here). I don't know if we've mentioned the traffic here before, but it's pretty crazy. There are no traffic lights or signs, or even speed limits as far as we can tell, yet it flows like a river. Every one pays attention to what's going on, and even though drivers are aggressive, they're also courteous. Honking is a form of communication and a gentle warning rather than an abusive expletive. It's actually kind of cool to watch... but nerve-wracking to be a part of.

Dumaguete is known for its 'gentle people', and it's a reputation well earned. Out of all the Phippines so far, the people here have been the most helpful and gracious. Harold and Snoopy, in particular, have been a fountain of useful information about the area, things to do, dives to make, and places to go, as well as how to get there. So much so, that we're extending our stay here a bit, so we can see more of the area. The city living's making us a little soft though, so we're heading out today to spend a few days hiking and camping before we come back to Dumaguete to make a few dives, and head off to our next destination, wherever that turns out to be.

Crow Valley to the beach

To start, I'm way behind in posting. This post is not where we are right not but is where we were about a week ago. Just as a quick FYI we are in Dumaguete now and will be here for a few more days after this post, Hopefully I should have everything caught up before we leave.

Onto the meat...

Once we left Crow Valley we took a Trike back to Alaminos, from there we were going to check out the 100 islands national park in Lucap. We took another trike (after stoping for a bit of food) to Lucap 75php. Arriving there and before I could even step foot off the trike I had a guy run up to me and tug on my shirt telling me I had to register to go to 100 islands, I had to pay a park fee etc... I tried to tell him that we just wanted to look around a bit, see lucap and maybe we wouldn't even go to 100 islands. He told me the only reason I can be there is to go to 100 islands.

Again let me point out that this is only our 2nd experience dealing with tourist areas and "tour guides" in the philippines. But we are learning fast. The first thing they will try to do is rush you into making a choice, into paying a fee, or into telling them where you are going (often to see if they can profit from getting you there.) The problem is that some locals are genuinely friendly and interested and some are looking for a buck, as I said before its just a matter of experience to tell the difference.

So the people @ Lucap could not be convinced that we just wanted to look around, and to be honest I was fed up with dealing with them so I just asked how much it would be. They wanted 500php for 1 night to camp with our tent. We smiled and said that we could get a hotel for that much.

We tried a different approach. Our back up plan to Lucap, if it was the tourist trap we thought it was and turned out to be; was to take a banka boat to a small fishing village called Pingan. It is about an hour by boat from Lucap to Pingan and they wanted 2,000 php. This is the first time that I wasn't able to control myself. I burst out laughing. The kind of belly laughing that forces you to bend at the waist, the kind of incredulous laughter that lets everyone around you know exactly what you think without having to say a word.

We told them we could get a jeepney there for less than 300php as we got back onto the trike and told the driver to about-face. As we rode away its was easy to feel the scowls at our backs.

I guess that most tourists that come here are either to stupid to know when their getting ripped off or to rich to care about it; we are neither. Even the locals we have talked to since then have been dumbfounded at how ridiculous those prices were. -We continue to learn every day.

So, back in Alaminos we hopped on a Jeepney for Anda (only 40php each). We also got to try something that a few people have recommended to us and I'm sure all or our families will scorn us for, top riding. Basically imagine a Jeepney like a big Van. Top riding is exactly what it sounds like. Its not all that different than riding in the back of a pick-up to be honest, something I think all of us living in Montana have done. It was neat, but with no roof for shade we had to be a bit weary of the sun.

Arriving in Anda we took a break to eat and find out the best way to get to pingan. We also wanted to explore the area a bit, as is our nature. We ended up stopping at this little burger place and talking to some kids. Through the kids we found out about a little beach known by the locals and NOT in a guidebook.

We have collectively decided not to name any of the non-guidebook places. If you’re a tourist, get a guidebook, if you’re a true backpacker, then ask around and do the leg work yourself, it’s not that hard.

So we changed our plans and headed to the beach the kids told us about via trike.
Getting to the beach we were apprehensive as always but when the surprised locals there asked us with disbelief "how did you find this place?" we knew that we were where we wanted to be. The "entrance fee" was 5php We gave them 200php a night to let us put up our tent on the white sand beach (we didn't even bother haggling the price down) the 200 included the rental of a little hut to keep us out of the sun. The water was clear and blue green, there were bankas floating sporadically out in the sea, and a small island about 300 meters off the shore... perfect.
The best thing, no tourists!

We met some other non-philipinos there, 2 Swedish guys who had family in the area, and an Australian who also had family there.

We hadn't even been there 3 hours when we met Julian, she came out to meet us after hearing that there were some foreigners on the beach. (Its a very, very small town and word gets round fast) She invited us to her friends house for some food. The town is so small there’s only 1... hotel I guess you could call it and basically no restaurants. Julians friend basically ran a pool hall, store and restaurant out of her home. No signs or advertising, without the local knowledge we wouldn’t have even known.

She asked us what we wanted and cooked us a great meal. Don't get me wrong we had to pay for it but it was far different than any restaurant. It was more like paying for the raw cost of the food that a friend cooks for you. We spend the next 3 days exploring the area, meeting locals and relaxing.

I could spend the next 10 hours writing about the intricacies and details of this place that has become so carved into my memories but it would all be hollow when set beside the experience of actually being there. It is a place that I will go back to.

During our time there we learned about a few other off the beaten path places that we decided to check out, both of them waterfalls.

Again without mentioning names though as I said, its not that hard to find these places; the first place we went to we started walking from the drop off point of the jeepney along the highway toward where a local had pointed. We met up with another guy who apparently was the owner of the area on his way to do trail clean up etc... he also was a barangay councilmen though we have learned to take what people say with a grain of salt @ first. He walked with us along the highway chatting with me.

He led us down a path that wasn't marked at all telling us that the sign had been knocked down in the last typhoon. Without going into much detail we had a bad vibe about the guy so we had our guard up a bit. He did end up leading us right to the falls though and I will admit without him leading us its very unlikely we would have found it. He said his goodbyes and left us there.

The falls were amazing, like nothing I've ever seen with my own eyes, and if the professional pictures I've seen on discovery and in magazines didn't do the job at preparing me for this kind of beauty then my pictures are hardly worth the pixels.

Back in Japan I posted pictures of the falls we went to and I thought those were amazing. The ones we saw here were full, and heavy with water. Hundreds of gallons poured over the rock face and fell 6-10 meters to water of the finest clarity below. In Montana before we cliff jump we swim below and check the depth because the bottom cannot be seen. We performed the same check here though there was hardly need, the bottom could be seen from above, it was amazing.

I wish we could have stayed longer.

About my 3rd jump from the top of the falls I noticed a few guys come down the path, and again without going into the kind of detail that might worry any one I'll just say that we were smart enough to follow the mood and our instincts and leave the area. I wish we could have stayed in that paradise a bit longer but prudence just wouldn't allow. Oh well, we know the way (or general way) to another set of falls, so off we headed.

We ended up going a bit out of our way, back tracking to a town we didn't need to go to and then passing by the same area we left to get to the next falls. We were dropped off where a dirt road met a highway (again when I say highway I'm talking about a small road barely large enough for 2 lanes.) and told by the driver it would be about 2km to where we wanted to go.

If there is a second thing that we have learned past being very vague about where your going, it’s that most Philippinos (and I hate to generalize) have very poor senses of distance and time it takes to get somewhere. When this guy said 2km he meant about 10. We realized this as soon as we looked at our watches as we say the sun passing over head and realizing that we had been walking for 2 hours.

We were lucky here though because walking with us were 2 school kids that we could keep asking if we had passed the falls yet. They were walking home (from what we could figure out) and made for good traveling companions.

Once again what could have been misfortune turned into luck. If we had been later in leaving the first falls, or if we had taken the trike all the way to the second instead of deciding to walk ourselves we would have missed an event that, while brutal is still a gem in our experience of the Philippines.

A cock fight.

Not a sport that’s legal where we are from or accepted by most, it is the philippino baseball. Walking past a turn in the road we could hear the calls of roosters, which in and of itself is not uncommon here as they seem to be everywhere. In fact it would be odd for more than 10 minutes to go by without the sound of a crowing rooster. So less the calling and more the mesh ring with 2 dozen or so individuals packed around it.

Once again I must comment on the generosity and curiosity of the Philipino people. While some are truly just trying to make a buck those that are not have shown us some of the most amazing hospitality I have ever seen, even in the close nit state that I'm from the hospitality here puts us to shame.

We were beckoned over by some of the people there, perhaps 1/2 out of their own curiosity of 3 foreigners out in the boonies stumbling across this event and 1/2 hospitality. They gave us front row seats, offered us some drinks (none poisoned sealed soda bottles for you worry warts out there) and even let us take pictures.

Out here there aren’t near as many people that speak English so learning the rules were a bit difficult. In fact I will go so far as to say we still have no idea about how the sport works. There seemed to be a lot of ritual involved in it (not the spiritual kind). There was a specific way to choose which birds would fight (which took almost an hour). Everything was very detailed and done with purpose; I can truly not think of a better word that ritual.

The birds were "armed" with blades that were attached to their spurs and sometimes one bird would have a handicap, if it was bigger or smaller, or of a better bread. The handicapped bird would only get 1 spur while the other got 2. The amount of detail is amazing. The box in the picture is a case of blades, all different sizes and shapes and all razor sharp.

We only stayed for 1 fight, just to experience it and because we still had a lot of ground to cover. Not to mention it was almost and hour of choosing which bird to fight, getting the birds ready, and betting for about 90 seconds of a fight.

We took off and headed down the path for another 3 hours before, after asking a few people in huts along the way, we found our destination.

It’s hard to compare the 2 falls; they were similar but different all the same. We stayed and swam here for a while and were caught in our skivvies by an entire family that came down to swim and picnic. We sat there in our underwear talking to the driver that brought the family here. We had a few shots of rum with him (yes rum, yes he was driving) and chatted for a bit.

We decided not to stay the night here as there wasn't really a nearby camping area and Jeff wanted to get back ASAP to make it home by valentines day. We walked back watching the sunset as we went.

Unfortunately there were no trikes going to where we needed to go to catch a bus back to Manila so we started walking along the highway the right direction, we really had no other choice at this point. We happened along 2 trikes exchanging goods and again, as a testament to Philippino hospitality, let us load up and took us to where we wanted to go, even though one of them was headed the opposite direction. We tried to compensate them a bit for the gas and time but they wouldn't have any of it.

The rest of the evening was spent cooking some rice and waiting for the overnight bus to Manila. We had to skip out on Benaue and Bulinou but I think both Nathan and I plan to come back in our lives and see them then.

Manila was spent finding a replacement tent as Jeff’s was too big for just the 2 of us and too heavy for one of us to absorb the extra weight. Since Nathan and I have to split the group weight that Jeff was carrying I wanted to find as lightweight of a tent as possible. 100 bucks and 2 days later (shopping in the Phils is really annoying, but that’s an entirely different subject) we had a tent that while, should be rated to 1 man only (poor nathan) was the only thing we could find to work. We said our goodbyes to Jeff and our three of a kind became a pair.

Manila to Crow Valley

The trip from Manila was a doldrums ride on a bus north to Capas. In Capas we took a trike to Sta. Juliana. Let me take this opportunity to describe exactly what a "Trike" here is. Its basically a 155 hp motorcycle with a canopied side care welded onto its side. With 2 people, the side car is a tight fit, with 2 people and an 80 Ltr back pack, its more cozy than most people are comfortable with. With 2 people, an 80 Ltr back pack, 2 more strapped on the outside of the car, and a third guy riding on the bike with the driver it turns into something between suicide, and the kind of rush you feel from an amazing amusement park.

A lot of the trikes wanted to charge us more and have us take 2 trikes. Which might have been fine but we didn't like the idea of having one guy alone in a separate vehicle. We met up with Von (which wasn't his real name - lots of people here don't give us their real names) who agreed to take us on his trike for the cheapest price.

We sped off into the night with Von on our way to Sta. (santa) Juliana to make our way toward Pinatubo. We had to stop for gas once on the way. These are bottles of Gasoline and Deisel that people sell along the side of the road where there are no gas stations.We arrived after starfall and were taken to a guest house to stay the night. We didn't really barter the price down as some of us were to tired to really bother with it.

In the morning we were introduced with what we would soon realize to be a reoccurring theme amongst our travels. I'll explain it like this. Any major port or area that is close to a tourist attraction will be full of people trying to make money off you. Ever one here(as I said before) asks you where you are going and while sometimes it is pure curiosity, sometimes it's just to see whether or not they can profit from your destination, either by taking you there or leading you to a place to stay, or charging you fees.

We had no idea that backpacking in the Philippines would consist of so much red tape. The people in the town wanted to charge us 1500 php (35 bucks) per person with an additional 2500 (55 bucks) as an over night fee. We couldn't help but balk at those prices.

The problem we would find out is that we are new to the area and I don't want to call it a union per se, but locals seem to have developed a sort of agreement amongst each other that foreigners must be charged fees. If you already know your way around you can circumvent a lot of the people that try to charge you. The difficult thing is that everyone claims to be an official and the people that actually are officials, dress like everyone else, there's no real way to get any solid information.

My advice to other travelers is to either be prepared to pay huge fees (which if you do that you're just contributing to the problem) or to not tell people where you are going so that they don't send you the wrong way etc...

The other issue is that some people are genuinely trying to help you but its very hard to tell the difference. I guess it's just something that you need to come here and learn how to do.

Any way...

We gave up on Pinatubo because by now the entire town knew we were there and knew where we wanted to go. So instead we just set out to walk along the Lahar. Even this required paperwork. We sat in the Barangay (small town) office for almost 2 hrs while they filled out paperwork (who knows whether it was legit or not) for us to have permission to walk around the Lahar. They also required us to have a "guide" to take us a few hundred meters to point out the Lahar. As I say, if we just hadn't told anyone where we were going we could have just found it ourselves.

But, as has been the case many times thus far, our misfortuned turned out to be our fortune.
The hike along the Lahar was like something out of National Geographic. New scenery, tucked away villages and indigenous people.

The first day was a bit brutal. If you want the pictures to give you a better idea, take a stair master into a sauna set at near 100 and work out for 6-8 hrs.

Walking along the dusty road in the near 100 degree weather the scenery over every hill was new and amazing. It was a dry day but the trees around us were tropical. At every village the people would come out to watch us walk by as though a parade of Pandas had come prancing down main street.

We walked and walked, not even keeping track of the kilometers we went, when the sun started to dip we found a nice place along the river to camp and swim. The river was moving though not fast enough for Jeff to avoid a few nibbles from some local leeches. But that was hardly a deterrent, the cool water called to us so.

We watched the sun set as the number of travelers on the road dwindled and the curtain of night fell giving way to crystalline sky untamed by the progress of man. Truly we had always been amazed at the night time skies of the mountains of our home but the clarity that was offered here humbled those thoughts.

The next day we were off to an early start, continuing our trek. Today was a bit more of the same though the subtle changes in landscape are hard to describe, perhaps the pictures give image to what my words cannot. Near noon we were beckoned over by a man in one of the villages we were passing though. He offered us rice and some tomatoes which we took as an honor.

Truly sharing food with the indigenous people (the Aida - spelling?) is something that few travelers have experienced. Hiking the rest of the day we each found our own pace and after passing the last village we were able to see the Lahar.

The Lahar in Crow valley is something that can easily be seen from satellite pictures. It is basically the old lava flow from when Pinatubo erupted in 1991. Now its an amazing expanse, and something that would be absolutely sick to 4 wheel on. It has shallow meandering rivers that flow across the pumice and ashen sands.

The scale of it is something difficult to capture, just make note of the small jeep in the lower left of the picture.

Walking along the Lahar was akin to walking in a desert, other than the river running through it of coarse. It was 2 inch deep sand that pulled at your feet for kilometers upon kilometers, little to no shade with a sun that had it not been for us being completely covered, would have barbecued our skin in minutes, damn it was great!

We walked as far as we could, past batches of toads taking refuge in little pockets of shade, past free range cows that gawked at us with nearly the same amazed stare as the villagers we had passed thus far. Nathan spotted a good place for camp and we headed over to set up.

If there is an architect of camp sites, then this would have been at least up there with the Eiffel tower of locations. We camped on soft sand with pumice rocks nearby, to the south was a ledge of brush that provided us shade in the afternoon sun; dead wood scattered about for firewood, the pumice stones were light and held heat making for the ideal cooking stones. The view to the north was that of grandeur with the sight of wild fires off in the distance creating an orange glow that competed with the setting sun. The Flow across the Lahar spread out at our toes giving us not only a place to cool our weary feet but an ample supply of water. Truly a masterpiece of design.

We stayed up late (relatively) into the night, again basking in the cloudless sky, finally understanding how the peoples before us could spend their nights away creating the constellations.

The next day was another early start, not so much because of a time frame and more so that the heat of the sun... motivated us so.

This was out last day on the Lahar and also the final decision that our trio would be diminished to a duet. Jeff decided that over 40 days away from home would be more than enough adventure for him and was ready to return home. While Nathan and I will miss him we understand his choice >.< That's not to say the adventure is over for him quite yet. We are a ways from Manila at this point with a few more scheduled stops to make before we head back down south. So for a while, there's still more fun to be had!

Seoul to Manila

I'm going to do this in 2 separate posts. Even though its only been a few days, so much has happened its insane.

One of the last things we did in Korea was to check out the National Museum of Korea again. We were able to see a bit of it our first time through, but since we had extra days in Seoul after the China hiccup, we decided to go back and see it again.

I guess we all realize just how old we are getting when our vacations consist of visiting museums... None the less, it was an amazing place; Huge exhibits revolving around the history of Korea, pieces dating back to the stone age. Taking pictures in a museum seems a bit like cheating (you can see a lot of the exhibits via online pictures any way) but there were a few things I just had to take a quick snap at. Just to give you an Idea of the scale of the building it took us well over 8 hrs to view all the free exhibits. We didn't even see the pay to view exhibits.



At the airport we got another taste of traditional Korean culture as we watched some of the traditional music being played. No pictures but expect it to be on video when we get back!

Our first experience with China gave us a bit of a foul taste for it, though we won't let that discourage us. As I said before the whole Visa issue was quite a pain but when we arrived there we were all amazed at the amount of phlegm that the Chinese can produce. Not only that, but as we quickly found out, communicating was extremely difficult. We've been to other countries where people didn't understand us but at least some would make an attempt. We have been able to communicate with hand signals etc but arriving here people hardly even tried.

Our first meal wasn't that great either. It was a sort of fish soup but it must have been prepared like this... Throw a fish in water, stew it, serve it. After spending 40 minutes picking bone out from the inside of our cheeks we ended up with about 2 oz of fish each. The broth was.... not so great, but at least it was so oily and greasy that it just slid down without much thinking about.

Any way, we only had 1 day there so we aren't going to let it sway our opinion too much. We still plan to go to Yanshou after the Philippines.

We arrived in Manila around morning time and came to know the most common phrase here. "Sir! where are you going, where are you going my friend?"

We left the airport with the intention of walking to the LRT and getting to the (random) hostel that we picked out in Manila. Asking directions was a bit harder than we expected. Not because of the language barrier. Most people here speak decent english. The problem was with disbelief, perhaps a sort of cultural misunderstanding. No one could believe that we wanted to walk that far.

As a result every one we asked for direction gave us nearly the same answer, it went a bit something like this... "The LRT? you go down to the end of the block... then get a taxi." When we assured them we wanted to walk it was a bunch of scrunched up faces and the phrase, "too far, too far!"

We never did end up finding the LRT but we did manage to walk all the way to our Hostel, which ended up being about 11 Km. It took us the rest of the day and into the night but it was worth it. We got to see more of the city than a lot of people do as we walked down streets and through market places. Though we didn't know it at the time we had actually walked through one of the major market places in Manila, Baclaran market. We wound our way through the busy market, our packs making us about as big as any 2 people along the streets.

Vendors had their stalls pushed so far out into the streets that barely a single car could squeeze through. The tight spaces weren't the only difficulty to contend with, while it may sound callous, fighting off begging children while simultaneously watching our wallets was an adventure in itself.

We would also learn to shrug off and make ourselves look very uninteresting. A self preservation mechanism as we are bombarded by dozens of people trying to sell us anything from watches to silver dollars. Nathan and I were making jokes that when people see us walk by they grab what ever they have in their pockets and try to sell it to us..."hey man you want ot buy some lint, only 5 peso's"

My last description of Manila (to save me talking about it in further posts) is that I don't think there is a city on the planet with higher emissions than here. Jeepneys and buses spew out black smoke. The pollution is so thick that by the end of the day (albeit we were out walking around in it) you are coated with a black film. Significant enough to see wash off you in the shower, even after only 12 hrs of being in it. It took a while to get used to but its not so bad to us now. Lets just say it (along with the rest of the trip) has helped us to redifine what we think of as "clean"

Another of the fortuitous events from us walking all the way to the hostel was that it allowed us to arrive at just the right time to meet our impromptu Manila guide, Whitney. Whitney in turn introduced us to Harold, who in turn introduced us to Phil and Mary. In a matter of hours we gained contacts in Dumaguete, Manila and Sorsogon.

It's amazing how many times we have benefited from things not going according to plan.

Herald offered to take us diving and get us a discount on Nathan's Scuba certification. He also is the one that told me where I could find Whale sharks to dive with during this season.

The next day we went around to some of the sites that we had chosen in Manila. We stopped by the embassy (because our families requested it so strongly) and were amazed to not see a single American there. No American guards, nothing. When we went to "check in" all the staff was very confused. They gave us a flier with a way for us to register on line.

From there we headed to Intramuros, The oldest standing part of Manila. We found a little bar near the wall and rested there as the sun took its place on the horizon.

The next day we went to the only sporting goods store in Manila, the R.O.X. It's crazy how hard it is to shop here. All the shops have the same stuff, and so far the Philippino idea of "sporting goods" is baseball, basketball etc... gear. Even the stores that do sell butane stoves, and tents have no selection. Like 1 or 2 models that are completely over priced and have been sitting on the shelves since 1987. At least I got a good picture of the Fort Benifacio area at sunset.

We spent about 3 days in Manila, b/c this is when Whitney was leaving, (she had been here for 3 years doing peace core work) and hopped a bus to Capas so that we could catch a trike to Santa Juliana, which is where I will leave off and start the next post.

This picture is just one that I was amazed with. It was just a single tree in intramurous that I was amazed at b/c it was the only clean and fresh looking thing in the entire city. Flipping through all my pictures, this one caught my eye b/c it looks almost professional!

Updated plans

Not able to do one of my usual posts full of brain watering imagery and poetic descriptions -lol, all I have time for is a quick update.

We pretty much developed our plans as we got here so here is a down and dirty update on the new plans.
1 - lahar flats in crow valley, this is where we meant to do pinatubo but we ended up not because of a complex set of events, none of them worrisome, just annoying, I'll get back to that when i have more time

2 - Lucap and 100 islands national park. Nathan and Jeff were itching to see the beach asap so we threw this in at the last minute. (this is where we are headed to right now)

3 - Bagiuo flower festival, we heard about this from the folks we met in Manila, again if that hasn't been posted i'll have to get to it later.
4- Benaue Rice terraces, some of the biggest rice terraces in the world

5- Dumaguete, Again one of the contacts we made in Manila owns a hostel down there and is a dive master, hes going to take us diving and get Nathan certified.

6- Leyte - One of Herald's (the dive master) suggestions to dive on the way back to Manila
7- Donsol - This area is known for being able to swim with Whale sharks (a dream of mine since I got dive certed at 12 yrs old) Wish me luck!!!!
8 - Coron city, Coron island, Baracuda lake - This area is like something strait out of a holywood movie, blue lagoons etc, wait for the pictures and you will understand.

9- Busuanga wild life preserve - The name says it all. Lions and tigers and giraffes oh my!

Biat no bato i dont have numbered because were not sure when or if we will get over that way.
Thats about all i have time for right now other than to say that the first aid kit had its first real test....

not on us.. on some guys that wrecked their motorcycle right next to us out on the lahar flats. Poor guys 16x10 cm 2nd degree burn on the right calf where the skin just peeled off and about 6 full thickness abrasions that bloodied his left knee.

Any way were doing great other than getting our fill of sun. Sun block is REALLY expensive here. its like 10 bucks for a 100ml tube... and they dont have anything over spf 50. So were keeping pretty well wrapped up, you'll laugh when you see the pictures of me....

Thanks all and post to you later. -Click the picture to enlarge!

Manila

We're currently spending our last night in Manila. This is actually the first opportunity for us to use someone's computer. PC rooms aren't nearly as popular here in the Philippines... Well, after we left Seoul, we arrived in Guangzhou, China and we discovered exactly why it was that we needed a visa. The international airport that is the largest hub of China Southern Air closes for 6 hours each day. Upon learning this, we began a search for a hotel. There was one that was close by, but on our walk, we knew that it was well beyond our budget. Upon asking the price for a room, they told us 800 Chinese Yuan (about $130), so we continued our search.
We were actually looking for a bus station when a lady began following us saying that could get us a room with 3 beds for 300 Yuan ($50). We declined almost immediately, and started walking again. She caught up with us a couple seconds later and proposed 200, to which we paused, and declined again. We wanted to look around a little bit. She sweetened the deal by offering a free transport to and from the airport, and when Clark offered 175, she started talking on her phone and just nodded to him. We verified that the price was 175, and got on the hotel shuttle. When we got to the hotel, they asked us for 200 and when we started to make a fuss, they looked as if they were going to send us on our way, so we accepted. The room was actually only a two bed room, and the food left something to be desired (it was really oily and full of fish bones). We returned to the airport in the morning, checked in, and discovered that they charge over $10 for a hot dog inside security, which we concluded was because every single shop in the area was owned by the same company. A quick (and only slightly delayed) flight later, we were in Manila.

On our walk to our hotel, we were approached by countless taxi drivers, Jeepneys and other people trying to give us a ride, but we decided to walk to see more of the city. We encountered a market, an amusement park, and a parade (Viva Santa Nino).

The last couple of days have been spent checking out the local mass transit (Jeepneys, busses, and the rail), as well as local malls, and markets. The weather has been pretty warm (80-90 F), but not unbearable. We are planning on heading out of Manila tomorrow to head up to Mount Pinatuba for a 3 day hike or so, followed by some time at the beach at 100 island national park. Then we'll hit up the Banaue rice terraces, and we're pretty undecided exactly what will be done after that.

Thank you all for your comments on the blog. I think we look forward to comments as much as I imagine you all look forward to our posts. We'll post again when we can.