Banaue, North Luzon, the eighth wonder of the world (rice terraces) 12/08/2014–15/08/2014

 

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From Sagada to Baguio was a fun trip for me as the Jeepney driver that took us there allowed me to sit on the rooftop of the vehicle; not only did I witness some of the most stunning highland views from the snaking road I  did not at all feel the inevitable motion sickness I get when getting thrown from side to side on these mountain roads. 

Why does this ailment still affect me after all these years I have been traveling?

The views coming into Baguio sitting on top of this elongated jeep were breathtaking, this being the reason why people come here - mountainsides being carved out into fluorescent green terraces by mankind for the propagation of rice for over 4,000 years  for what I would describe as stepping platforms for giants into the clouds, a truly surreal place to behold, a remarkable achievement by the people of this region and their ancestors who built it. 

The rice terraces surrounding the tourist drop off location beside the quaint town of Baguio offered views like no other, not to mention the hotel Marlieke and I checked into, this place is certainly a must see, it's no surprise that it made as one of the wonders of the world. 

The most popular hike here was the one that descended into the town of Batad, a not so difficult hike into the town that was very manageable with more incredible views of rice terraces, these being the ones most talked about but having said that they were not any more spectacular than the ones surrounding Baguio, even the Filipino 20 peso note displays the rice terraces in closer proximity to Baguio. Regardless though, we got to hike through the terraces of Batad and descend further down into the valley where there was an impressive waterfall, which the waters were sublime to swim. Unfortunately Marlieke stopped hiking at the town due to the steep and long drop offs that would have scared her shitless, no matter, she enjoyed her time relaxing with a view. 

Marlieke and I made friends with some of the others on the hike where after we returned to Baguio, exhausted, sweaty and smelly accompanied us for drinks and food but not only this also a cultural show displaying their native dances for ceremony's and rituals and providing an insight into their culture including dress codes for which status in society you are in and their proposal method which involved asking women one after the next if they wanted courtship with the man. 

The performance was interesting and entertaining and at points we even had to get involved with some native dancing which certainly was a lot of effort as ask for having hiked for the day. 

Baguio, a must see in the Philippines and whatever activity you do here take a look around yourself because you are surrounded by incredible landscapes that have been developed and built into the surrounding mountains by mankind over four centuries.

 

On top of a Jeepney, all thumbs up

The stunning views around Banaue

 

People of Banaue

This man offered to show my his great grandfathers bones for a fee

All very green and beautiful

What a view, eh?!

The waterfall I checked out… Marlieke cannot deal with heights very well and as there was a steep drop off into the valley she stayed behind

A traditional dancing ritual of the local tribe

Sagada, North Luzon, Philippines - The benefits of being high. 09/08/2014 and 10/08/2014

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Up until this point we hadn't seen any other tourists, western ones that is, standing out in the crowds of dark hair but Sagada we had met a few. It is the low season after all which means bad weather and lots of rain, but thankfully we were lucky to enjoy the cooler and cleaner mountain air without this irritation to which it would mean we would have to spend indoors. 

With many activities in this area mostly based around hiking, viewpoints and caving we signed up for caving on day 1 which included a few spots along the route to get there to see the hanging coffins of which many of them had been placed there 500 years ago or more. Marlieke unfortunately is deathly scared of heights and many of the viewing platforms with steep drops unnerved her to a point where climbing down into a pitch black cave on slippery bat shit covered sharp rocks made her turn back to the hotel before even entering the cave. At this point it was just me and the guide (Ben) making our way down into the abyss using only a kerosene lantern to light the way. 

Carrying my new $2500 camera was daunting for me as a missed placed step would have sent me on an extremely painful roller-coaster ride to the center of the earth, however it was worthwhile for the great photos of the Sumaging Cave's highlight which is the calcium and limestone rich waters creating rock pools and incredible formations that has taken hundreds of thousands of years to grow - apparently 1,000years would have the forming wall grow by 1 inch. 

Sagada was a place recommended to me by a Canadian working at a hostel in Vancouver, it was a great place but due to the lack of tourism at this time of year not much was happening - not necessarily a bad thing as the chilled (and cool location) of this town was a welcome change from the hectic and hot capital of the Philippines.

Hiking around Sagada, checking out the hanging Coffins

The people of Sagada

 

I wonder what the fate of this dog is…?

INto the Sagada Caves.

Baguio, Luzon Provence, Philippines - Quick stop off - 08/08/2014

 

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As both Marlieke and I did not make any plans on this trip in the Philippines we decided to head north with next to no expectations on what to see and do other than visit the small town of Sagada which was recommended by a guy I briefly met in Vancouver in a hostel. 

Baguio being the gateway town into the mountains didn't offer much for us other than being a stop off on the journey northward. 

Finding cheapish accommodation in  the "dungeon" of a typically styled English pub we surfaced for a beer and away from the damp odour  that resided in our room. That 'one' beer led to many more drinks with a local man named Super Mario who purchased many bottles of cheap Filipino whiskey and filled our shot glasses every time we had out backs turned with the only break when he grabbed the mic on stage and started singing karaoke trying to get us up there too. 

After the multitude of generous shots of this terrible liquor both Marlieke and I snuck away stinking of booze which honestly helped us out sleeping  as the dungeon smell was repugnant. 

A night out in Baguio, free booze and a good time

Manila, Philippines - not so bad. 05/08/2014 to 07/08/2014

 

Manila, notorious for being an expensive, unpleasant and a somewhat dangerous place to be in all of the Philippines wasn't nearly as bad of an experience for both Marlieke and myself. Perhaps it had something to do with having such low expectations about the city but aside from getting stupidly ripped off by the taxi driver from the airport all was great. 

Another thing many travelers mention about the country is the less tantalizing food, compared to other countries in SE Asia especially Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai food the street food we found here was not so bad at all. 

One thing the was a huge surprise to me was that almost all the locals from whichever class whether upper, lower and all in between all spoke impressive English. 

The owner and workers of the pleasant hotel in which we stayed were all very helpful and catered to all of our needs without hesitation and always with a smile. Filipino people are some of the happiest people I have come across having travelled extensively in SE Asia - I know Marlieke and I are going going to have an awesome time over the next month here. 

Getting about the city on both the light rail service and jeepneys (elongated old jeep people carriers) was all very easy, cheap too. 

We spent one of these two days in the Mall of Asia, where I spent more money than I needed to but it was time to treat myself having worked as hard as I had back in Canada. 

The first day however I spent reviving myself from the exhaustion of jetlag and of course the time made up from not seeing Marlieke for 4 months. 

Getting ripped off by the taxi driver from the airport really irritated me as it was stupid on my part but quite ingenious on his. As friendly as Filipinos are, they won't hesitate to take that extra cash from you, especially the taxi drivers. What he did was tell us that the taxi meter was broken and would display the total upon arrival. When the total was twice as expensive than initially quoted by the set price taxis back at the airport and being as tired as we both were I reluctantly paid the price at 1135 pesos. The moment the taxi driver drove off presumably with a huge grin on his face I had the realization of the monumental mistake we had made. 11:35 was the time but displayed without numerical punctuation!!! Arrrg!

I'll give the guy credit for his ingenuity albeit that these scams annoy the hell out of me but even more so that I didn't see it sooner.

 

 

After a crazy downpour, Manila

The converted Jeeps left over from WWII called Jeepney’s

 

 

The people of Manila