Before I begin on the Philippines, I have two more Thailand stories. The first is about the club I went to in Thailand. I forgot the best part. In Canada, when the clubs close there is a line of cabs waiting outside to take home those without rides, so we all assumed that would be the case in Thailand. It was not so. The nine of us were stranded in the sticks with no way to get back. After a few minutes, one guy leaving the club offered us a ride in his regular four door. We thanked him, but pointed out there were nine of us, but that didn't phase him at all. Since we didn't really have a choice, we all tried to pile into his car. Not everyone was tiny like me, either. Three of the guys were around 6 feet tall. We managed to get 8 of us in (two in the front plus driver, 5 in the back, 1 in the trunk), but try as we might, we could not get in the ninth. Luckily, two motorcycles came by and offered a lift to two of us, and we all made it back.
Secondly, the Khoh Son tourist district in Bangkok has stands and stands of my main clothing weakness: Decal t-shirts. Almost all of my clothes have been bought for me by my mom or Evelyn. The only real exception is a bunch of t-shirts from Value Village and other places with iron-ons that I think are funny or clever. I have so many at home that a vowed not to buy any in Bangkok. The second time I was there though, I couldn't help myself and ended up buying four :-). Oh well.
Now for the Philippines. The Philippines is a sweet place to travel. All the locals speak English, and it is relatively well developed, but lacking in foreign tourists. I would say at least three-quarters of the tourists have some connection to the Philippines; they have a Philippino significant other or parent, they work here, or they are Philippinos from a different city or country. As a result, most of the tourists I have been hanging out with have actually been locals. As an added bonus, some of them have put me up when I visit their cities.
My first day in Manilla was overwhelming. Manilla is hot, crowded, noisy, congested, and expensive, and it didn't help that I had hardly slept on my overnight flight to get there. Nika was still in the Philippines, and we made plans to leave that night for Banaue in the Cordillera, the mountain provinces of Northern Luzon. I spent the day unsuccessfully extending my visa, successfully getting an adapter, and becoming even further overwhelmed as I tried to decide what to do during my month in the Philippines. There is a ridiculous amount to see and do here, way too much for a month. I decided to beat the heat for two weeks in the Cordillera, and then head to a beachy Island after.
Nika and I caught up on the bus ride to Banaue, which was really fun, and I met her cousin Richel, who joined us. Banaue is the starting point for treks into the nearby rice terraces, which are spectacular. They were built over 2000 years ago and are cut right into the side of the mountains. They are commonly referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. The first day we did a one day walk through the most famous ones, and then left on a two day hike to some other villages and terraces the next day. Interestingly, our guide told us that foreigners often pay LESS then locals for their guides, because the local tourists don't like to bargain.
Nika had to go back to Manilla to catch her flight, so the next day I left for Sagada. I found a sweet hotel in Sagada called 'the Greenhouse', run by a wonderful women named Atte Nora (Atte is a sign of respect). The first two days I was there were a weekend, so the hotel was full, and I went on a walk to Echo valley and a waterfall with other guests. Sagada is known for its hanging coffins, as the local tradition is to place the coffins of the dead in caves, preferably high off the ground. We saw a few of these as we toured.
The next day I went with other tourists on one of the highlights of my trip, the 'cave-connection' tour, which is a four hour underground spelunking expedition where you go in one cave and out another. It involved, climbing, rappelling, wading, and swimming, all by lantern light. After the weekend, it was just me and one couple, who had been living in the hotel for two weeks already, who were around.
I spent another 4 days in Sagada just doing day trips to other sights with the couple and with Nora, who didn't have to much to do. The best one was to a nearby big waterfall, which also involved a walk through rice paddies. Sagada is very high up, so the foliage looks a lot like Canada. The cool thing is that the pine trees are next to rice paddies, which you obviously never see in Canada.
Around this time, I decided to just spend the rest of my time in the Cordillera and Northern Luzon, and forgot about going to a different Island. So I decided to go further North to a more remote village called Luplupa in Kalinga province. There wasn't much to do there, and I hardly did anything that the guidebook did mention, yet I stayed for a week :-). I just really enjoyed relaxing. The first day I did a trek to nearby villages led by Victor, the Barangay (village) chief. I think he smoked too much dope over the years with tourists, so he wasn't the best guide I've had. However, because he's been chief for over 30 years, everyone knows him, so it was cool meeting and greeting everyone we passed. Apparently, most of the 'tourists' nowadays are really marijuana dealers, so I was constantly asked how many kilos I wanted to buy.
I also was finally offered a food I couldn't bring myself to even try. Normally, I'll eat anything offered to me, partly out of curiousity, partly to say I did it, and partly because I don't want to be insulting by turning down food. However, at one village, I was offered pieces of boiled pig's face and skin, which is more or less globs of fat with the hair still on it. Luckily, Victor bailed me out by saying I was vegetarian.
The next day in Luplupa there was a wedding, which was a lot of fun. I also saw many tatooed old ladies. Traditionally, married women were supposed to cover their arms in bracelets. Just in case they weren't wearing bracelets, they tatooed bracelets on their arms so they would never be bare. As a result, many of the older generation still have them.
After that, I more or less hung out. The Riverside Inn family felt bad for me because I was alone, so they made sure someone was always visiting me to keep me company, or showing me around to a nearby Barangay. I was supposed to go on a two day trek into the jungle with a hunter named Gill and sleep in a cave, but the weather was really bad, so we had to turn back on the first day. There was also a peace pact celebration with a neighbouring village, but I was sick, so missed most of that.
That's all I have the energy to write about now, so you'll have to wait a week for the rest. Lastly, you have all likely heard about the deadly cyclone that hit Myanmar a couple of weeks ago. If any of you were thinking of donating, but were afraid the money would not go to the right place, I recommend HOPE international as a good NGO to donate too. They are the ones I worked with a bit in Cambodia, so I can vouch for there quality, or you can research them on their website. You can go to http://www.hope-international.com/ to donate or to find out more.
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