Philippino Adventures

This post is dedicated to Kathy :)

I'm just over a year late on this one, but for the sake of closure here it goes:

We originally planned to visit Cebu and Boracay in the Philippines (two beach destinations) but by the time that part of the trip rolled around, the thought of two segmented stays of 2-3 days + air travel to go along with each was quite unappealing.

We opted to stay on the island of Luzon (where Manila is located) and travel to the North for some rice-terrace-trekking. Flying into an airport just north of Manila, we caught a bus to Baguio. The Philippines has an incredibly unique vibe compared to the rest of S.E. Asia - in some ways, it's almost like being on a different continent. There wasn't too much to see in Baguio, but we sourced out some local food before moving on to Sagada.

Sagada is an amazing little town situated in the "mountainous" region of northish, central Luzon. By Canadian standards, the landscape is more like large rolling hills, but it sure didn't feel like it sometimes when twisting around and up and down the narrow mountain roads. There were rice terraces carved into the lush, green mountainside around every other corner and we had beautiful sunny skies.

At night, it got so cold! (Our packs were full of linens and cottons and breathable things - didn't quite do the trick.)

We met a Canadian friend in Sagada, he was a resident artist originally from the Yukon. Over a wonderfully hot chocolate one evening in the local bar, we spoke about our interest in trekking through the rice terraces, and equally strong disinterest in anything overwhelmingly tourist-oriented. Our friend told us of a hiking loop that passes through 4 local villages before returning to Sagada - it sounded perfect!

A couple of days later we set out. Being the silly tourists we were, we had some snacks, a couple of water bottles and a hand-drawn map that indicated some major landmarks to help point us in the right direction.

Our adventure started with a ride on the top of a Jeepney and ended with us being lost on a Philippino mountain for 6 hours. Oh dear.

Luckily, in between those two events, we had unknowingly stumbled upon the Christmas party for all the school teachers of the mountain region. There, we met the very lovely head teacher from the next (and would be last) village on our route, Dalican. Basically, he and his family saved our lives by taking us in for the night. Dalican is a tiny village in the mountainous region of Northern Luzon, with no road access. It was such a privilege and extraordinary experience to stay there with the Head teacher's family.

Slightly traumatized, and eternally grateful, we headed back to Sagada the next day.

From there we headed farther north to the best-preserved colonial town in the country, Vigan. Vigan's old quarter is lined with cobblestone streets and grand villas built by the Spanish colonialists. It's a lovely, if not a bit kitschy, little town with a historic centre, and outer edges that are reminiscent of Hollywood's wild west - hot, dusty, and forlorn.

Our last stop in the Philippines was a brief stint in Manila before flying to HK and then home. Honestly, I think Manila was the only city on our trip that I wouldn't go back to if I did it all over again -but maybe we just didn't give it enough of a chance. The city was sprawling and dirty and crowded. Over the previous 3.5 months, we had been exposed to the entire spectrum of poverty and wealth that characterizes the region of S.E. Asia, but the poverty in Manila was still shocking. With that in mind, I'm not sure that our visit to the country would have been the same overall, without this exposure to the capital city.

Well that's the Philippines.

Our last few days in Asia were spent with good friends in HK. Hong Kong is sensory overload - it's unlike anything I've ever experienced and I LOVED it. But the biggest experience for me was just in being there. In eating and shopping and exploring the streets and markets. It's truly and incredible place, and was a great way to end the trip.

What a whirlwind of 4 months. Looking back I still can't believe the ground we covered. Amazing times with AR and MW ....and of course, all the friends we made along the way! Thanks guys. :)