April 2015 – Marty Magic Travel

Coconut Pirates and Date Night

January 15th – Island Hopping off of Cebu Island.

We actually get to sleep in until 7:00 A.M. and during breakfast, John tells us he has a date tonight. To recap: John met three young women at the mall last night and was charmed by one in particular and they exchanged Facebook information. It is our last night in Cebu and I ask John about his plans for meeting? They want to meet at the Alyana Mall, at the railing where they met the night before. Although I am surprised, this will work well. We can all take a taxi together to the mall again for dinner tonight and John can meet up with Hana, take her to dinner and return by taxi on his own.

After breakfast, our prearranged driver picks us up for a 1.5 hour drive to Mactan Island the departure point for todays island hopping and snorkeling. We take a large and private catamaran out to three different snorkeling spots; Talima, Hilutungan and Nalusuan, off of Olango Island.

Island Overview

Mactan & Olango Islands

Our first snorkeling stop is reasonably good, the second very good and the third one amazing. I wear a life vest, more for the coral protection than for my own. With a life vest to keep me buoyant, I will not be tempted to stand up and possibly damage the coral with my fins. We snorkel just a few feet above huge islands of stag-horn coral with luminescent pale green and blue damsel fish swimming in synchrony, like leaves blowing in the breeze. Bright orange damsel fish add to the underwater symphony and luminescent orange anemones, each with their own species of clown fish, undulate in the current. Brain coral, table top coral, ribbon and stag-horn coral abound. Dr. Seuse could not have imagined a more magical underwater garden filled with brilliantly colored parrot fish, trigger fish and angel fish. It is remarkable and heartening to see this fragile and remarkable ecosystem thriving.

Catamaran to Mactan and Olango Islands

Motoring out to Mactan and Olango Islands

Tying up to the Buoy

Motoring Back

Shortly before lunch, a small boat pulls along side of our catamaran and three men climb aboard. We are not quite sure what they are doing here and feel a bit uncomfortable. Although our crew seems to know these men it feels as if we have been boarded by pirates. They hang back by the motor and watch us. I don’t want to go back in the water and leave our valuable unattended so I tell Art and John that I will rest onboard awhile. Art remains onboard as well and it soon becomes clear that the islanders wish for us to “order” coconuts from them for the exorbitant price of $4 each. They speak an island dialect and little English but Art manages to communicate and negotiates the price down to $2 each and they motor off back to their nearby island, presumably to climb a coconut tree to procure the coconuts. The men return thirty minutes later, Art pays them and we sip the sour, rather than sweet juice. In the meantime our crew has fired up a rusty grill and barbecued a surprising good lunch of grilled chicken, pork, squid and fresh mango. For lack of vegetarian options, John and I eat the chicken, rice and mango.

Coconut “Pirates”

Lunch Onboard

In 2008, Art, John and I traveled to Komodo Island and spent two days onboard a tiny wooden boat motoring between Komodo and Rincon Islands where the dragons roam. We slept one night in the open on the wooden deck of our boat and were surprised and somewhat frightened when two small boats pulled along side ours; village men selling souvenirs. One of the men was missing an eye and we felt vulnerable, anchored off shore of this remote island. John and I purchased a teak carved Komodo Dragon sculpture and several bone and shell necklaces from the men. In retrospect, our night time visitors were one of the highlights of the trip.

Night Time Visitors, Komodo Island, 2008

One Eyed Komodo Villager, 2008

We are tired and salty when we return to the dock for our return drive to our hotel in Cebu. We all shower quickly and change and it is a little after 6:00 P.M. before we all climb into a taxi to drive to the Mall. Traffic is terrible and John checks the time on his phone anxiously. Last night it took only 20 minutes by taxi to reach the mall but it takes us nearly an hour tonight. it is nearly 7:00 P.M. when we arrive and John’s date is at 7:00 P.M. and we leave him standing at the railing waiting for Hana. I tell him I will check back in 15 minutes in case she stands him up but when I return a few minutes later, John is no where to be seen.

The Terraces, Alyana

I want to have dinner again at the Siam Restaurant but John is planning on taking Hana there and we don’t want to intrude. Art, Joe and I wander the terraces reading the posted menus until we settle on a Japanese restaurant. Because both Art and Joe were raised in Okinawa, Japanese food is always a draw. We sit outside on the patio overlooking the public garden space below. Dinner is disappointing and I am worried about John. He is 22 years old and a seasoned traveler but I am still anxious. Will he remember the name of our hotel if he looses the hotel card and I think of worst case scenarios and how we could find him if he doesn’t return to the hotel? Eventually I relax into the evening, glad that we have Hana’s contact on Facebook.

A Birthday Spent with Whale Sharks

January 14th – Swimming with Whale Sharks at Oslob

Today is my birthday. We are up at 5:00 A.M. and Art, John and I eat breakfast at the restaurant next door. The young waitress who served us eggs and beers last night is still working. Her 12 hour shift is 7:00 P.M. – 7:00 A.M. and we order more eggs and rice but instead of beer, wash these down with coffee (pre-sweetened Nescafe.) I order an omelet which has been cooked in rancid oil and I hurry to the toilet and spit it out. Unfortunately, Joe is still ill, but the swim with the whale sharks is high on everyones list so he is going anyway. The morning is not starting out as I would like.

We are picked up at 6:00 A.M. for what is supposed to be a 2.5 hr – 3 hr. drive to Oslob, the whale shark park at the tip of Cebu Island. Unfortunately an hour is added to the trip, driving the opposite way across town to pick up a young Australian couple staying at the very upscale Marco Polo Hotel. The traffic is terrible and our driver extremely aggressive and he passes motor bikes and pedestrians with inches to spare. I am not overly concerned for our safety but fear for the safety of the others.

Whale Shark Orientation Area

About Whale Sharks

We arrive at the whale shark “park” a little after 10:00 A.M. and are ushered to a staging platform where we listen to the orientation. We will have 30 minutes allotted time to swim with the whale sharks. No sunscreen is allowed, no touching and we must keep 3 meters away from them. (We will soon realize that the whale sharks have not listened to this orientation because they swim within inches of us, gaping mouths open and it is impossible to keep our distance from these gentle giants.) The 6 of us (Australian couple included) climb into a small wooden outrigger boat that takes us a few hundred of feet out to where another 15 – 20 boats float idly. Dozens of snorkelers bob in the water all wearing orange life vests. (The three whale images immediately below below are borrowed from tour company web sites.)

Whale Shark and Outrigger Canoes

Oslob Beach

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Gaping Whale Shark Mouth

I slip on my mask and lower myself over the side of the boat and come face to face with two whale sharks. Their immense toothless mouths slurp in gallons of water with each swallow. They have white spots speckling their black skin, patterned rather like snowflake obsidian. The spot pattern on each whale-shark is unique, like a fingerprint and is how scientists identify and track them. They have five gill slits on each side, tiny eyes and their immense bodies glide through the water effortlessly. Although we have been cautioned not to get within 12 feet of them, it is an impossibility, because they swim within a foot or two of me, and often two or three at a time. They are 15 feet to 20 feet long and slurp in the chummed krill through big gummy toothless smiles; the krill tossed to them by the crew onboard the outriggers. Our 30 minute swim passes all too quickly. I think a whale shark will be one of this year’s new designs.

We shower and change in a mixed sex bath house with just a few stalls and proceed to the restaurant next door for the included breakfast. It is an unusual breakfast of mango and a Japanese style sticky sweet rice flavored with cinnamon. There is no coffee but instead a thick hot chocolate is served to us in an espresso cup. I am quite satisfied with the breakfast, a huge improvement over this mornings rancid omelette.

Tumalog Falls

Pool Tumalog Falls

Bathers at Tumalog Falls

Tumalog Falls

After breakfast our van drives us 10 minutes down the road, turns inland and drives further up to the road leading down to Tumalog Falls. The road to the falls is too steep for vehicles and there are half a dozen enterprising young men with motorcycles ready and waiting to ride tourists down and back up. I appraise the trek, appraise the motorcycles and choose to walk. The road is extremely steep but nothing compared to the treks we made recently in Banaue and I fell like the exercise. The cascading falls are several hundred feet tall, broken into multiple fan-shaped sprays by outcropping rocks and trees. (Even with the help of Google, I cannot find the exact hight of the falls.) The mist and spray from the falls drenches us and I can only take a few photos for fear of damaging my camera in the spray. John goes swimming under the powerful falls and I manage to take a few photos before escaping for higher ground and making the slow trek back up to our waiting van.

Lunch in Oslob

The View from our Table

Lunch is included in our tour and we stop at a tiny beachside restaurant. The family style lunch is all meat and rice and I request something vegetarian and they bring John and me a reasonably tasty plate of stir fry vegetables. It is a three hour drive back to our hotel in Cebu and our aggressive driver passes vehicles at unsafe speeds, playing chicken with oncoming trucks and jeepneys. He clears within inches, scooters loaded with entire families and children playing precariously close to the side of the road.

It’s 4:00 P.M. when we are dropped back at our hotel and after quick showers, Art, John and I walk up to the old part of town. All of Cebu is preparing for their annual Sinulog festival which will take place this weekend. Colorful pennant flags are strung along the main streets and countless market stalls selling colorful Sinulog T-shirts. We watch young men silk screening them on the spot and other entrupernal young men sit on the pavement and for a few pesos, paint “Henna Tattoos” on arms and bare legs. They are talented artists but the “henna” is actually just paint applied with fine brushes and I wonder how toxic and difficult it is to remove? Art and John play a ball toss gambling game in the square, John confident that he can beat the odds. He comes out a few pesos ahead.

Festive Flags for Sunilog Festival

Sidewalk Cell Phone Repair

Silkscreening Sinilog T-Shirts

Ball Toss Gambling Game

Because it’s my birthday, I get to choose the restaurant for dinner. My guide book recommends a number of restaurants at the “Terraces” a section of the Alyana mall and at 6:30 we catch a taxi to take us there. Twenty minutes later we are deposited at the elegant circular drive entrance and after a security bag check we enter the mall. It’s an immense and beautiful mall, especially in contrast to the polluted, grimy and chaotic city beyond. I locate a directory and punch in the names of the several recommended restaurants. Most of the restaurants are located on one of three outdoor terraces overlooking a large public garden and event space. The “Terraces” are lovely and remind John and me somewhat of the outdoor restaurant area at the Dubai Mall. After much debate and menu checking, we choose “Siam Restaurant”, where after a game of musical tables, we settle ourselves down for dinner. The cocktail prices are extremely reasonable and we order drinks and vegetarian appetizers. The drinks are excellent and the spring rolls and coconut encrusted tofu delicious. We share plates of Pad Thai, curried vegetables and pineapple rice and enjoy it all. After dinner and a second, (or was it the third round of drinks?) Art pulls a plastic bag from his backpack and passes it to me. Inside is one of Tabra’s beautiful leather bags crafted of thick chocolate leather, embellished with an iconicely Tabra; jaguar, fish, moon-face, carnelian and dinosaur bone pin with lovely embossed metal beads decorating it’s long rounded straps. This bag was a prototype for others she plans to design and she carried this bag personally when we visited her in Ubud Bali just last week. I’m thrilled to have it and I will carry it often as a reminder of this trip, my husband’s generosity and Tabra who for the past 35 years has inspired and influenced my life in so many ways.

The Rough Guide to the Philippines

Siam, a Recommended Restaurant

Curried Cauliflower

Brotherly Love

After dinner the four of us wander to the edge of the terrace and lean on the railing overlooking the terraces below. Many other people are gather along the railing enjoying the warm evening and John strikes up a conversation with three college coeds. Since English is a primary language spoken in the Philippines communication is easy. All three of the girls are attractive and all going to the University but John is charmed by one in particular and before long he has become Facebook Friends with her. We follow the three young women out to the taxi station and wait for 20 minutes in a quickly moving line as taxi after taxi swoop in and swallow up the exiting mall patrons. It is soon our turn to pile into a taxi for the return ride to our hotel.

Joe, John and Art at the Terraces at Alyana Mall

Goodbye Paradise – El Nido back to Cebu

Tuesday, January 13th El Nido to Cebu

The Cliffs of El Nido Town

Good Bye El Nido

It’s another early morning and our driver picks us up at 6:30 A.M. for the trip back to the Puerto Princessa Airport. We leave before our hotel breakfast is served and stop for coffee at a roadside restaurant along the way. It’s an uneventful drive and we make very good time and when we realize that we will be a couple of hours early for our flight to Cebu, we stop at a mall on the outskirts of Puerto Princessa for lunch. We eat an uninspired lunch at a food court, each going our own ways to pick and choose from the meager options.

Cock Derby Banner

Roadside Coffee Stop

We arrive at the Puerto Princessa small town airport a little after 1:00 P.M. for our 3:00 P.M. flight to Cebu City. Check in is chaotic and their ex-ray machine not working. When we are finally checked in, we are informed that our plane will be two hours delayed. I am not too bothered by this and take advantage of the time to write this blog. When it is announced that our plane will be delayed another hour more, Art decides to have a chair massages at the airport. The massage is not great, but cost less than $8 and it helps to pass the time. When our plane is delayed yet another hour, I choose to follow suite with a chair massage. The massage area is in a corner of the overcrowded waiting room and I awkwardly sit down on one of the four plastic chair and wonder why my masseuse is wearing sun glasses? He expertly massages my neck and shoulders and keeps contact with some part of my body as he pivots around me. I soon surmise that the three masseuses are all visually impaired. The hour passes quickly and when my massage is over, I grasp his hand and pass him the posted amount plus a generous tip. For the past hour, a not very charming woman has overseen the massage transactions and when I pass him the money she grabs it from his hand and barks that I must pay her. I wonder how much this gentle man is paid and if he will ever receive his tip?

The Waiting Game at the Airport Terminal

We are all very hungry but aside from snacks and “Instant Ramen” there is little food available. Joe buys an out of date airport sandwich and just as our plane is beginning to board he gets violently sick and heads to the bathroom. We are frantic that he will miss our long awaited plane and he is green when he stumbles on board and he sleeps in the back where there are empty rows of seats and a bathroom close at hand. When we land in Cebu he is still sick and sporting the alien color of E.T. It is an hour taxi ride to our Skypark Pension @ 58 Landon Street near the corner of CNU Osmena Blvd. Rates for a double room are $18. It is a bare bone minimum room but clean with comfortable single beds, working air-conditioning and hot water. Joe has reserved three rooms, a good thing with Joe being so sick, in case Joe’s ailment is not food related. It is close to 9:00 P.M. and Joe is too sick to eat and Art just wants to go to bed so John and I go next door to a 24 hour fast food restaurant where we sit and drink a San Miguel beer and eat scrambled eggs and rice. A pretty waitress has just come on duty and she tells us that she earns the equivalent of $11 a shift. Our two meals cost under $5.

El Nido Island Hopping

Monday, January 12th, El Nido Island Hopping.

Motoring out to the Islands

The morning is bright and beautiful and breakfast is on the open air rooftop terrace of our hotel. Disappointedly, the morning coffee is again Nescafe 3 in 1, mixed with hot water and we wait a long time for our toast and fried egg but the hotels wi-fi is working and I check and send e-mail. Frank Murphy has contacted us with a potential buyer for our Lincoln Street house and Art responds telling him we will talk when we are home from the Philippines. Today we are going island hopping and at 9:00 A.M. our guide meets us at our hotel and we walk with him to the beach and his companies shop. We wait in the shade of the open air shop while the other passengers arrive for our catamaran island hopping tour. The dozen of us wade to the boat, slip on our life vests and we set sail past the spectacular craggy limestone cliffs of El Nido.

Boarding the Catamarans at El Nido Beach

Our Catamaran

Seven Commando Island is our first stop, a small crescent stretch of sandy beach, book-ended by two rocky points and fringed with palm trees. There is a traffic jam of the wooden outrigger boats servicing the tourists on tour A and each of the tour boats throw their anchors into the sand (or what was once presumably coral.) We need to wade to shore and regrettably, I don’t take off my jean shorts or shirt and the water is deeper than I expect and I am soaked when I reach the beach. John quickly dons his snorkel and mask and swims along the edge of one rocky point. He reports that he sees anemones with both cinnamon and traditional clown fish, a large field of stag-horn coral where the tips were beginning to bleach and fan corals; (one in particular is green and 6 feet across.) Our stop her is only 30 minutes but the wind comes up and are unable to leave and we stay nearly an hour. Art and I wander the short stretch of beach and I step on a sand fish that slips, flips and flops back into the surf. I imagine the small fish is more startled than me.

Seven Commando Island

Shimizu Island is our lunch stop and our longest stop. It is a beautiful island with jagged, black limestone cliffs and a small jagged island centered in it’s crescent bay. Art draws a circle in the sand and he challenges John to a sumo wrestling match. It is a beautiful day and we are all in great spirits.

Sumo Wrestling in the Sand – Shimizu Island

Beach Bums – Shimizu Island

Snorkeling Shimizu Island Reef

John snorkels out towards the island and around the edges visible from shore. I keep watch for the flash of his red trunks in the distance and try not to worry unnecessarily. The change of water color from intoxicating turquoise to deep blue makes it easy to see where the coral shelf drops away to the abyss. After John has explored the edge of the rocky island, he works his way into open water swimming above the edge of reef’s shelf and it is more difficult to keep him in sight against the glare of the sunlight on the water and the choppy surface of the ocean. To distract myself from worry, I watch our three crew members prepare our lunch in the shelter of a cliff’s face. Two build two charcoal fires and grill pork and calamari while another slices cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, pineapple and watermelon. 45 minutes later, when John swims ashore, a beautiful buffet lunch is ready. It amazes me that these men have prepared such an elaborate and delicious meal with minimal equipment.

Barbecuing Lunch, Shimuzu Island

Lunch Buffet, Shimuzu Island

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Enjoying the Lunch Buffet on Shimuzu Island

After lunch we motor to the Secret Lagoon, another island paradise, aptly named because when the tide is low, one can crawl through an opening in the jagged limestone rocks and step into a shallow and sandy lagoon, surrounded on all sides by rocks. The water inside is murky and warmed by sunlight and possibly the pee of many island hopping tourists with no restroom facilities available.

Secret Lagoon

We motor to the Big Lagoon which is actually smaller than the next one on our itinerary, the Small Lagoon. Go figure. We motor into the shallow lagoon clogged with other catamarans and with the tide low our boat bottoms out on the sandy bottom. Art, John and several other men are needed to push us back out into open water. I am throughly enjoying this day of island paradise and it is great fun to watch my boys playing at Swiss Family Robinson.

Hitching a Ride

Catamaran Goes Aground

It is late afternoon when we reach the Small Lagoon and I can’t imagine the day getting any better or that this lagoon might surpass the previous lagoons, but it does. We drop anchor in intoxicating turquoise waters and have 30 minutes to swim or kayak. John chooses to snorkel and swim but Art and I rent a kayak for a few pesos and we are pointed towards a small opening in the cliff face. Art paddles us through an opening in the rocks and we pop into an enchanted lagoon, framed by tall cliff faces. I have left my camera in our catamaran for fear of dropping it in the water and I am regretfully unable to take and photos, so the photo used here is from an image search on google. John soon swims up beside us, hops atop the kayak and takes the paddle from me. I relax blissfully into island time.

Small Lagoon – Photo by John Baldon

Our Island hopping day is at an end and we wish we had several more days to explore the El Nido islands. There are three standard Island Hopping excursions offered out of El Nido and today’s trip was remarkable but unfortunately we must leave tomorrow morning. We enjoy another evening of drinks and dinner on the touristy beach strip, an easy stagger back to our hotel.

Returning to El Nido

Toasting to the Islands

The Town of El Nido – Art and John

An Unhappy Pig

Palawan, an Island Paradise

Sunday, January 11th, Manila to Palawan Island.

El Nido Islands

At 3:45 A.M we are shaken awake by an earthquake and our hotel sways noticeably. I jump out of bed expecting aftershocks and wonder where the safest place in this not up to building code hotel might be? I slip on clothes, use the bathroom and locate my purse should we need to evacuate. I worry about John and Joe on the floor above but there are no aftershocks and I drift back to sleep for 45 minutes until our alarm sounds at 4:30 for our morning wake up. While Art showers, I check my phone to find out the magnitude of the earthquake. It was a 6.2 ; 85 miles west of Manila and 10 miles deep. There is no significant damage and there are no reported casualties. Because of the earthquake, the elevator is out of commission and I start to carry my bag downstairs but a bell hop (or elevator repair man?) appears from nowhere to carry it down two flights to the lobby. Joe and John appear momentarily and we catch a taxi to the airport.

There is little early morning traffic and the ride to the airport takes just 30 minutes. We check our bags and search for breakfast and fueled with coffee, we go through security and proceed to our gate. My rattan back pack gets a lot of attention from the x-ray technicians and passengers alike and I am able to slip my jacket, my computer and my extra shoes in the back. I sleep the hour and a half plane flight to Palawan.

We deplane and walk across the tarmac to the tiny airport terminal and our luggage is off-loaded quickly. The climate is warm and I am happy to be down from the cloud forest highlands of Luzon and to slip into “Island time.” I spot a young man holding up a sign printed with Shosku Bobroskie and catch his attention. He takes my suitcase and I start to follow him to the waiting van, but Art, John and Joe have halted and are watching a welcoming dance performance, an eclectic and odd combination of Spanish dancers and loin clothed male dancers. Our driver asks me where the 5th passenger is and I tell him that there are only four of us. Was Julie Ann, Joe’s friend planing on going with us?

It is a six hour drive to El Nido and the two lane road takes us past small villages of houses built of bamboo, corrugated tin and cinderblock. Woman, children and animals walk and loiter along the side of the road. Men ride scooters and (water buffalo) and trikes zip along beside us. The countryside is lush and green; a patchwork of rice paddies, banana trees, coconut palms and bamboo. We have glimpses of the ocean, a steely blue in the distance and we cross over a wide jungle river where longboats float idly at the water’s edge.

El Nido Town

El Nido Street Stall

Hotel Silla Del Vincejos

We arrive in El Nido around 3:00 P.M. and check into Silla Del Vincejos hotel on the main tourist street. Joe has stayed here before and although our hotel isn’t on the beach, it is in the heart of town and just a 5 minute walk to the beach strip of restaurants and bars. There are about 20 rooms in this clean and family run hotel. The rooms are simply furnished but the management is trying and a pair of swan folded towels form a heart on the king sized bed in our room; the air conditioner works and there is hot water.

El Nido Beach

El Nido Catamarans

El Nido Beach Front Restaurants and Bars

Beach Front Bar

Ten minutes after checking in we are walking the shop lined street towards the ocean. Beach front restaurants line the shore, all with tables set in the sand and sandwich boards advertising their happy hour specials. John wants to sit and enjoy a beer in this beautiful bay, fringed with jagged black limestone cliffs and dramatic “Jurassic” islands jutting up from the sea. It is 3:50 P.M. and happy hour starts at 5:00 P.M I procrastinate drinks on the sand and suggest that we walk the pathway around the island and see what might be around the next corner? This area isn’t as touristy and there are guest houses interspersed with village houses. Joe knows a Japanese, American women who owns a guest house and we walk to her inn and find her in the courtyard. She is about 70, slight and genky and greets Joe warmly. They banter as old friends about gardening, Koi ponds and her apparently failing husband who repeatedly reads the same book over and over.

Taiyo Village Guest House

Handstands in the Sand

We return to the tourist strip of beach front restaurants and choose one at the far end for happy hour. Joe orders a banana smoothie which proves to be more expensive than the gin and tonics. We move to the restaurant next door where they have happy hour margaritas and appetizers. The margaritas are good and strong and the fried mushrooms are delicious. I leave the restaurant feeling a bit tipsy as we move down the beach to choose a restaurant for dinner. We choose on on the sand and our dinners are all pretty awful, but in spite of this we have a good time. We make our way back to our hotel along the side streets, past tourist shops, tiny massage parlor, nail salons, tattoo parlors and bars.

Happy Hour, El Nido Beach

Ten Hours to Manilla

Saturday, January 10th. Bangaan Village. Heritage village.

We wake early, check out of our hotel and are finished breakfast by 6:45. I have still not purchased a Hunter’s Backpack and I walk to the gift shop to buy the small rattan hunters back pack that I examined last night but it has been sold. I am very disappointed and don’t want to leave Banaue without one. Having shopped and compared in the village, the two at our hotel were/are the best. I tell the sales girl that I was prepared to spend $3500 pesos for the one that was sold but not $5500 for the larger one. She offers the large one to me for $4500 but the owner is not here and she is not authorized to discount it further. Just as I am exiting the lobby, the owner comes running after me and offers me the large one for $3500. ($45) I am still disappointed because I would have preferred the smaller one, that got away, which was beautifully woven and designed for a women with a closing cover. I quickly pay the $3500 and exit the hotel with my purchase.

Bangaan Rice Terraces

Bangaan Heritage Village

Bangaan Rice Terraces

Vista, Bangaan Rice Terraces

We meet the boys at their guest house for our morning tour of Bangaan Village. We drive the muddy cliff hanging road, clogged with heavy road work machinery and with jeepneys trying to pass each other on the narrow mud slick road. Our jeepney has isinglass windows that diminish the view yet not the morning chill. The mountains are shrouded in fog and we stop at several view points for the required photos and John and Marky climb on top of our jeepney for the final leg of the drive to Bangaan.

Trekking to Bangaan Heritage Village

Bangaan Heritage Village

This is my third day of rice terrace trekking and I feel somewhat conditioned and I appraise the trek down to the village in the valley below as an easy one. The initial part of the trail is steep and there are countless stone steps to descend. Once down the steepest section we descend more slowly, walking carefully along the narrow dikes dividing the terraces. The raised dike pathways are between 18” – 24” wide with irregular rock stepping stones imbedded in the mud. A few of the rice fields are lush and green with sprouting rice shoots and women, knee deep in mud, separate these brilliant green shoots and replant them with optimal spacing in the empty fields. There are just a few women planting and I take particular notice of a girl of about 13, wearing ear buds who thrusts the shoots deep into the thick grey mud.

Rice Fields, Bangaan

Marky Pounding Rice

Husking Rice

Fighting and Acrobatic Carvings

Relief Carvings, Bangaan Heritage Village

At the bottom of this steep valley is Bangaan village, a UNESCO heritage site and the villagers are subsidized by the government to keep the old traditions. Children scamper nimbly along the dikes, peeking shyly at us and a village woman shows us how to pound and husk the rice. There are a few souvenir trinkets to buy and John and I argue who will buy the one wooden lizard box. We are the only tourists and we wander the authentic village where pigs, chickens and one proud rooster wander. Three old and bent women walk by, presumably walking the steep terraces to the road above and I marvel that they are able to make the climb.

Stooped Women of Bangaan

Stone Stairway, Bangaan

Marty in front of Bangaan Stilt House

How many feet do you see?

I take my time climbing the pathway and many steps up to the road and the return climb seems relatively easy.

It is 11:00 A.M. when we leave Banaue for our 10 hour drive back to Manila. Two hours into our drive we stop at a McDonnalds in Solano for lunch. John is sticking to a strict vegetarian diet and orders macaroni and cheese and French fries; a carb and trans-fat meal. I regretfully have the same, thinking how displeased Stephanie would be with my choice but I am unwilling to complicate travel by bringing food alternatives from home.

Art, Marky, McDonnalds

Solano McDonnalds

I withdraw $20,000 pesos at the ATM and we are on the road again. We pass the time talking. John talks about the electron double slit experiment and uses his phone to write an analogy between this experiment and proving the existence of God and how observation can change the outcome. The conversation shifts to Mizuho and the Mishima family history. Their eldest brother, Mizuho, who passed away 8 years ago, was a Green Beret in the Special Forces and flew 26 missions in Viet Nam. It is fascinating listing to the two brother’s memories of their childhood on Okinawa. The subject shifts to John’s beliefs and John tells us that he feels that he would have been a good fit for the military; a good and disciplined leader but that he doesn’t believe in what the U.S. is doing overseas and that he would not want to kill people. Art talks about Japanese history…..John more about our environment, species going extinct…etc.

Joe’s ex fiancé lives in Angeles about three hours outside of Manila. Joe has been texting her and the plan is to meet her briefly tonight. Our driver misses the turn for Angeles and I am not clear why we don’t turn back but Joe is quiet and withdrawn for the remainder of our drive. We drop Marky off at a bus terminal in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila. We say awkward good byes’ by the side of the road. The Sunday night traffic is light for Manila and we are soon pulling up in front of our Manila Crown Plaza Hotel. (Do not be fooled by the regal name; this hotel wears a very tarnished crown.) Art’s and my room has a king bed and all the expected amenities, but the paint has formed cancerous bubbles above the air conditioner and the smoke detector will later cause us sleep deprivation.

It is 8:30 P.M. when we step out onto the streets of Manila to find dinner. We are exhausted and want to choose a restaurant quickly. There are several sushi restaurants on either side of our “Royal” hotel and various female hawkers try to persuade us to enter their restaurants. One woman sidles up to John and asks him what he is looking for; would he like her? Another hawker asks John if he wants to go to a K.T.V; (Karaoke, T.V. and Video?) We do our best to sidestep these aggressive hawkers and quickly choose a busy, smoke filled Japanese restaurant. Art and Joe order beef and vegetable rice bowls but as vegetarians, it is more challenging for John and me. I order a spring onion omelet and stir fry vegetables and John orders a croquette and rice. The vegetables are delicious and we order a second serving and wash our meals down with St. Miguel beers.

Japanese Restaurant, Manilla

It is 10:00 P.M. before we are back in our hotel. After quick showers, we fall into bed, anxious for sleep because our alarm is set for 4:30 A.M. to catch an early morning flight to Palawan. I am beginning to drift when there is a chirp from a low battery smoke detector in the hallway just outside our door. The chirp sounds repeatedly at 1 minute intervals and Art calls the front desk. They tell us that they will call housekeeping. Chirp….chirp….chirp. Housekeeping comes and there is commotion outside our door but the chirp continues. Art calls again but no one comes to change or remove the battery. Chirp….chirp….chirp. My blood pressure is rising and there is no chance of sleep. I make a third irritated call and shortly, there is a sharp knock at our door. Art pulls on his clothes and opens the door and 3 maintenance men step into our room abruptly turning on the lights. They incorrectly assume that the detector is in our room and Art goes into the hallway and points up to the offensive alarm. There is more noise as the crew scrapes and bangs a ladder and it is midnight before the chirp is terminated. What we didn’t realize earlier was that the annoying chirp was distracting us from the thrumming beat and vibration from the disco a floor below. I manage a couple of hours of sleep before the 3:45 earthquake wakes us and our hotel begins to sway.

Guihob Hot Springs

Friday, January 9th

Trek to the Hungduan Rice Terraces.

Hungduan Rice Terrace Vista

Art riding inside the Jeepney

Vista stops on the road to Hungduan

John and Marky on top of the Jeepney

Hungduan Rice Terrace Sign

Papa and Son

The trek down is not as strenuous as yesterday’s and is mostly along the narrow, meandering, stone dikes framing the rice terraces. The uneven stone pathways vary between 12” – 18” wide and are slippery with mud so I must pay close attention to my footing and balance. We hike down, edging along the terraces for an hour before the rain begins in ernest; cross over a bridge footpath in the valley and begin our ascent on the other side.

Walking along the rice terrace dikes

Stepping stones along the dikes

Planting Rice, Hungduan

Hungduan Rice Terraces in the rain

Hungduan Rice Terrace Vista

Everything is deliciously green, slick and lush and I am chilled when we arrive at the Guihob hot springs and we all look forward to slipping into the warm sulphur water. When we arrive, we sign a simple guest book and our guide pays the modest fee (included in our “tour.”)

Sulphur turns my ring black

Guihob Hot Springs

Frigid river beside the hot springs

Guihob Hot Springs

My swimsuit is underneath my clothes and I slip out of my damp jeans and stow my gear under wooden benches protected from the drizzle by an open round tin roof shelter. The natural hot spring is dammed and a half dozen other bathers soak in the clear hot pool. The frigid river is diverted and rushes along side the hot springs compound. I am wearing my silver Mavericks Wave ring and I notice it has immediately turned black from the sulphur. We soak and visit with the other bathers for 30 minutes before drying off and eating our meager lunch under the shelter of a picnic area. My egg and cheese sandwich is pasty and cold but I chew it dutifully, knowing that I will need the energy in order to ascend to our jeepney high up on the cliff road beyond.

Mossy stepping stones

Stone stairway to Hungduan

We arrive back in Banaue mid afternoon and treat ourselves to afternoon coffees and hot chocolates at a local café. There are no Starbucks here and no other patrons in the cafe which is dark when we enter. The waitress turns on the lights and a small T.V. glows from a corner of the ceiling. A science fiction movie is showing that is of some interest to John, Marky and Art and just like back home, we check our phones for wifi. There is a bakery next door and Art steps out to buy pastries and returns with the uninspired sweets. Although this gloomy cafe is a far cry from the trendy cafes back home, I feel an overwhelming contentment, sipping the warm drinks and nibbling on odd pastries in this remote mountain town with my extended family. Late afternoon, Art and I hire a trike to take us back to our hotel to shower, rest and write. We ask our driver to pick us up at 6:15 for the return ride back to town.

Chess Game, Banaue

Banaue City

Banaue City Cafe

Video Game Arcade, Banaue

Our trike is waiting for us at the appointed time to take us into the town meet our family at the Las Vegas restaurant, just across from the Greenview Guesthouse. I have come to expect little from the food but surprisingly this meal is reasonably good. John and I are trying to be vegetarian, but tonight, following Marky’s lead, I choose a saucy chicken dish and we order a bottle of wine for $400 pesos ($9) that tastes rather like a fruity “Thunderbird.”

Las Vegas Restaurant, Banue City

John, Marky, Karaoke Bar

John, Art, Karaoke Bar

Marky, Karaoke Bar

Not ready to call it a night, we walk up the street to a Karaoke Bar. The bar is on the second story of a rickety wooden building with a plank floor and wood shutters thrown open wide. The mountain air is cold and damp and Art who is looking forward to a real drink is disappointed that the bar serves only beer. We order beers and Marky shows us how to operated the karaoke machine and soon Marky, John and Art are singing away. Joe and I are more timid but I eventually decide to try my skills at “On The Road Again,” and completely humiliate myself. An hour later, the boys walk back to their lodge and Art and I take a tricycle back to our hotel.