Manila

After more than two weeks traipsing around the country, I’m glad to find myself back at our temporary home in Rockwell. Alasdair, obviously, does not feel the same as he hauled himself out of bed very early Monday morning to play golf in Canlubang. Where does he get his energy??? I, however, chose to lounge in bed...

Caught up with a few people this week. It hasn’t been easy as although this has been our longest sojourn to the Philippines, we’ve been out of Manila most of the time. Had dinner with Christine, who I last saw in 1989. Christine is now a travel writer and also continues to be very active with the family’s jewellery business. It was great to see her; however, it’s very difficult to catch up on nineteen years via one dinner. So we’ve vowed to keep in touch. I definitely will, as Christine has a very positive energy around her and she makes me laugh. I’m so happy we’ve managed to see each other again.

Met up with Lizzie and Margarita, two very inspirational women. They head a charitable organization called Sa Aklat Sisikat (In books we prosper, my literal translation, so don't quote), which aims to improve the quality of state education in the Philippines. I’ve always known that there is a problem – however, I had no idea of the extent. The problem is very deep-rooted and I can only compare their work to carving Mt. Apo (the Philippines tallest mountain) with a bent spoon. How these two women don’t fall into a state of despair is something I cannot fathom. Hopefully I can pick up something from them and help them improve education in this country in any way that I can.

Also managed to get dragged by Mayet to see a dermatologist who managed to bring out all my insecurities. Just when you think that your skin isn’t so bad, here comes an expert who starts to talk about how terrible it actually is, then proceeds to poke and prod it with a very tiny instrument of torture. I am now convinced that all dermatologists are sadists. After all, I have never come out of their clinics feeling relaxed – really quite the contrary.

Went to see a fashion show of Lesley Mobo, a Filipino designer based in London. His designs are sold in Harrods. His work is really really nice, but I did wonder how they would be worn in Manila as he showed his Autumn-Winter collection. Sad to say though, it wouldn’t really surprise me to find some desperate fashionista wearing one of his heavy woollen creations in the 30-degree heat.

After the fashion show, we headed off to Zuni for dinner and drinks. Great restaurant and with a great group of people. Fun night.

San Pablo, Easter weekend

Left for my parent’s weekend house almost immediately after arriving back in Manila from Donsol. Because we’ve moved around so much, we haven’t really had the chance to see them a lot. Mayet and her family will also be there. Alan and his were supposed to come, but Andie’s not very well so they’ve had to spend it at home. Pity.

It’s funny – every time I arrive here I immediately put on my swimsuit and a kurta, but more often than not, I end up not going anywhere near the pool. So I didn’t deviate from the usual and spent Friday chatting to my family and eating. Made bit more of an effort on Saturday and actually went for a quick dip as it was quite warm. Then went back inside the house to have dinner and ended up on the karaoke till one am! Thank goodness the neighbours are quite far, if not we would’ve kept them up too!

It’s Easter Sunday today and the children have had their Easter egg hunt, quickly followed by a dip in the pool. It’s quite hot today, and very humid. We leave for Manila after lunch today as the traffic will be quite bad, with everyone coming back from their Holy Week breaks. Then I’ll need to rush to the supermarket as the cupboards are bare as we haven’t been in Manila for over two weeks now! Oh joy…

Donsol

When Alasdair and I were debating on whether or not we were going to do this trip, we received an invitation from my sister-in-law Ditas to join them for a week snorkelling with whale sharks in Donsol on Holy Week. This was the catalyst to our 8-week holiday, as that very day Alasdair booked the flights to Legaspi, near Donsol – and we were committed.

We arrived in Legaspi City, south of the Luzon on Monday and were shown the ropes by Omar, our very capable Butanding Interaction Officer, or BIO. (Butanding is the local word for a whale shark.) Omar helped to build up tourism in Donsol, organising the whale spotting trips, and other attractions within the area. There almost seems to be some sort of hero-worship for him from local Donsol people – they feel that their province would not have attracted visitors without him. The plan was to go whale spotting Tuesday and Wednesday, and island hopping and snorkelling on Thursday.

We headed off very early Tuesday morning to meet up with Omar and the rest of the boat crew. We had Florante, Omar’s right-hand man, Randy and a couple of boatmen. The routine was simple – the spotter would shout out if there was a whale shark in the vicinity, and we would have to very quickly put on our fins, masks and snorkels and be ready to jump from the boat. Omar had warned us the night before that the first experience with a whale shark can be quite daunting – to find yourself very close to a creature between 10 to 18 metres long can be quite a shock. It’s very easy to forget that they are very gentle creatures – whale sharks only eat plankton, which is why they come to this side of the world.

Our first encounter lasted about 15 minutes. We jumped from the boat, and Randy, my guide, grabbed my hand and led me towards the shark. I was adjusting my mask when Randy suddenly told me to look down – and I saw this absolutely beautiful butanding, around ten metres long, swimming a couple of feet below me. Admittedly, I let out a shriek! After a few seconds though, I got used to (sort of) to the breathtaking sight and we followed the whale shark around for around fifteen minutes. It had a few fish swimming around it – a combination of pampano (a local flat fish) and remora – parasite fish that feed off the butanding and in turn keep the shark clean.

The next jump was done by the children: Mica, Callum, Euan, Nikki, Sevi and Gio. We could not do a jump together as you need a guide to show you where to go. It was actually quite amazing at how the guides spot these mammals. Sometimes I felt as if Randy was just pointing at empty water when a few seconds later my eyes would adjust and lo and behold! A whale shark!


We spent the next three hours jumping from and getting back into our boat for an opportunity to see the butandings. We saw around three in total – at one point, when Randy told me to look down, I found a whale shark’s mouth barely a foot away from me. It swam right underneath me and I pulled my feet up because I was so nervous that I was going to touch him. This made the entire trip worthwhile and in fact, I would’ve stayed in the boat for another six hours for that opportunity…

Later that afternoon, we went on another boat ride - this time to check out the fireflies, or alitaptap (what a lovely word). We left at sunset and went on a very leisurely ride along the river waiting for it to get dark. Since it was such a clear night, we also went stargazing - and trying to find out how many shooting stars we could spot. On our way back, we stopped at a few trees that looked like they had been lit up with Christmas lights – they were just covered with fireflies.

We spent the next day on the boat again looking for more whale sharks and this time we saw more than ten. At one point we had one shark go underneath our boat. Egad. Because of the sheer size of these animals it’s very easy to forget that they are harmless… Admittedly, at one point I was quite sneaky and actually held on to the fin of the shark, but immediately let go as the thought of it suddenly going deeper and taking me with it occurred to me. We also saw a shark swimming very near the surface with both its fins above water (all we needed was the ‘Jaws’ theme tune) and Alasdair couldn’t wait for the guide’s shout of “Go!” and he immediately jumped in. Thank goodness they only eat plankton!


That afternoon Alasdair and Lito decided to borrow a couple of small motorbikes to ride the 45 kms to Legaspi City – we had run out of money and we had to get to a bank. Donsol is still a small fishing village and thus the hotels do not accept credit cards and there are no banks anywhere in the vicinity. They came back four hours later, having had quite an adventure. On approaching the first corner after leaving the hotel, Lito found out that his motorbike had no brakes whatsoever, so they had to stop and have these done. After a few minutes, he had a tyre puncture. So they had this fixed. Then Alasdair’s rear brakes went. So they had these fixed as well. By the time they got back, it was dark and they did not feel the need for dinner, as they had eaten so many bugs and flies on their way back. At dusk in the Philippines, especially in the provinces, all these little creatures suddenly come out, so no, they did not eat them intentionally. And they were obviously exaggerating. But gross, still.



Legaspi City is home to Mayon Volcano, the most active volcano in the Philippines and also considered to have the world's most perfect cone. There is always smoke coming out of it; but according to Florante, they only worry when the smoke starts to turn red. Its last eruption was in July 2006, and like most volcanoes in the Philippines, it comes with its own story:

There once lived a very beautiful native princess who had an uncle named Magayon. He was so possessive of his niece that no man dared to challenge his wrath by courting the favors of the young maiden. One day, however, a brave and virile warrior was so smitten by the princess that he threw all cares to the wind, clambered up through the window of the royal chamber and enticed the girl to elope with him. With Magayon at their heels, the couple prayed to the gods for assistance. Suddenly from out of nowhere, a landslide buried the raging uncle alive. Local folks now claim that it is Magayon's anger bursting forth in the form of eruptions.

On Thursday we went on a bigger boat to go island hopping. We left the island of Sorsogon and made our way around the islands of Masbate. Ten minutes into our trip we saw a school of dolphins - what a lovely site! And you'll just have to trust me on this as my pictures were obviously not very good...


We first went snorkelling on an island near a very


small fishing village. Our boat was immediately approached by smiling local children who had makeshift boats of Styrofoam and clear plastic bags. We then headed off to the second island for our lunch. While the fish which had been caught that morning was being grilled by our guide Florante, Alasdair, Lito, Ditas and I decided to go snorkelling. (The children were playing on the boat’s outriggers, jumping off from them and playing with them like monkey bars.) We spotted a poisonous sea snake and while Alasdair and Lito took photographs of it, Ditas and I hovered behind. Alasdair and Lito though suddenly made a start and started swimming away very very quickly – Ditas and I of course followed. As it turns out, the sea snake suddenly looked up and made very quickly for them. We decided to give snorkelling up at that point…

We moved onto two more islands to look at some fantastic waterfalls. We alit from our boat to visit the first one and drink its very fresh water. Alasdair made a valiant attempt to climb up it, but only made it halfway as the stones were extremely slippery.

Donsol is a fantastic place to visit – the experience of snorkelling with whale sharks is truly magical. Omar said on the first day that so many people go back to Donsol for the whale shark experience. I found this quite odd as I thought that this was one of those once in a lifetime experiences. However, after swimming with the butandings, I can now see how this can be very addictive. I cannot wait to go back.

The only thing that almost ruined this week was our choice of resort: Amor Farm Resort. Although the accommodations were alright, the service was extremely poor – it took an average of one hour every time for our food, which wasn’t that great, to arrive. Then on Wednesday they said that we had to move from our four rooms to three rooms without airconditioning – I got so cross that we ended up checking out the very next day and moving to a hotel in Legaspi after island hopping. It turned out to be a good decision as our flight was leaving very early on Friday. Still though – the proprietor was much too concerned about her profit, which was too short-sighted I think. As a consequence we will not be recommending her resort – on the contrary, in fact.

Alasdair has made a little montage of our stay in Donsol. Check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhGh07PFLbE

Banaue/Bontoc/Sagada/Baguio

Tuesday, Banaue
Left Manila for Banaue 8am. Not much to say about it - it was an eight (!) hour drive over some lovely country scenes and some really quite bumpy roads. Banaue is known for its rice terraces - the eighth wonder of the world. However, didn't get to our quite ugly hotel till after half-four in the afternoon, being held up by a landslide along the way. And when we did arrive at the Banaue Hotel (real monstrosity, architect should be shot) the fog was so thick we could barely see the terraces! Groan.

Despite the cold (16 deg - we're getting used to the warmer weather) the children decided to go for a swim in the outdoor pool but they didn't last very long. Alasdair had a massage. We then had our dinner, then watched a show featuring rituals of the Igorot people, who come from the area of the Cordilleras, where we are. Fascinating. Alasdair then had his second massage and I had my first. After the long drive, we felt we deserved it!

Wednesday, Banaue/Bontoc/Sagada
Checked out typical Ifugao village next to our hotel but it was too depressing, as the pathway was full of litter and dog sh*t. Bought tat from the gift shop, then headed off for Sagada. Passed by a viewpoint along the way - what a spectacular view! The rice terraces are truly amazing to look at and what a feat of engineering! And these are all more than 2,000 years old! The experience was heightened by the presence of native Ifugao people, one of whom was playing the flute. Beautiful stuff...
Passed by Bontoc to have lunch and also to check out the Bontoc Museum, which had been highly recommended. It has the best collection of Cordillera material in the area. It was very interesting, as it had original photographs by Eduardo Masferre, a photographer from Sagada, taken in the fifties. Headhunting used to be part of the Ifugao tradition (it isn't now) and it had some grisly photographs of hunters with their bounty. In the same area as the museum was a local school, so we stopped by to say hello and take photographs. They were so lovely and accommodating.

We stopped to have lunch at the Cable Café, one of two restaurants in Bontoc recommended by our guidebook. We opted for this particular one because the other one apparently served dog meat; a practice which, we were soon to find out, is still quite common in the Cordilleras, despite it being illegal. This was quite distressing, and I also became highly suspicious – I made sure that we didn’t order anything with meat in it! We did learn later on however that dog meat has a very particular taste and cannot be mistaken for anything else. (We didn’t taste it – we quizzed everyone about it.) Phew. That’s a relief.

Arrived in Sagada after a 3-hour very bumpy road ride and we were greeted by Bang at the Rock Inn Hotel, which had been recommended by Martin, from whom we had bought the lot in Tali. Great place. Quite surprised to find that Sagada is surrounded by limestone - this area is one of the highest in the Philippines and the thought that it was all once underwater is quite staggering. Left the hotel to check out Lake Datum - we wanted to catch the sunset. So made our way through more bumpy roads only to miss the sunset because we couldn't find the lake. Oh well. Ended up just walking around the lovely town.

Thursday, Sagada
Went straight to town to register at the Tourist Office and find ourselves a guide. (We didn't want a repeat of the lake episode.) Met up with Madrid (his real name) and Sam (real name: Saddam). We decided to see the Sugong Hanging Coffins, the Burial Caves and make a visit to the Big Cave. Saw the Hanging Coffins from a distance – basically, these are coffins placed on the cliff face. Sagadans believe that being hung (rather than being buried) makes them closer to heaven. When someone dies, he/she is placed in a chair and left in their home for around 5-6 days. During this time, the coffin is already placed on the cliff face – it would be too heavy to do it with the body. On the day of the ‘burial’, the body is then passed from person to person until it reaches the coffin, where it is then placed. According to Madrid, the elders believe that the smell of the dead is lucky, and that you shouldn’t wash after the body passing ritual. He said that the first time he participated in it he could not sleep as the smell was just awful. I can imagine…

The bodies are placed in the coffin in a foetal position, because they believe that they should go back the same way they arrived. Although the practice still goes on until the present day, not everyone can avail of it as it is quite expensive. A sacrifice of 21 pigs and a few chickens is required for it to be done. Madrid explained that once, while the passing of the body was being done, it fell – so to counteract the bad luck, they had to sacrifice another chicken. For this reason, most of the people placed in the hanging coffins are much older, as they feel that they are the ones who most deserve the honour. Most of the younger ones are buried in the Christian cemetery. Apparently, most Sagadans believe a combination of their traditional beliefs and Christianity.

From the Hanging Coffins, we checked out the Lumiang Burial Cave. Here, after a short hike, we found around a hundred coffins, some at least 500-years old, a few of them with skulls and bones sticking out. Sam explained that there had been an earthquake around 1997 and a lot of the coffins had to be recovered from the bottom of the cave. As a consequence, the coffins are in disarray.

We then headed off for Sumaging Cave (aka Big Cave). We were under the impression that this would be a short and interesting visit. It turned out to be two hours of thrilling and invigorating spelunking. After a steep hike through some slippery stones, we had to take our shoes off and go through the cave in our bare feet, as we were surrounded by water. By this time, we were in darkness if not for the kerosene lamps carried by both Sam and Madrid. We had to do rappelling, traversing, crawling, swimming and kerplunking (when you accidentally fall in the water when you don’t mean to, such as what happened with myself and Euan). We came out of the cave, a couple of hours later, dripping wet but exhilarated and having had the time of our lives.

Rushed back to our hotel for a quick shower and lunch, then met up with Madrid to visit Echo Valley and the Bokong Waterfalls. We hiked to Echo Valley and shouted a few inane things just to hear them being echoed back at us. We also saw a few more hanging coffins – there are quite a lot in Sagada, after all. Headed back to the car to go on a short but very steep hike to see the small and pretty falls, where the children and Alasdair went for a short dip. They also did quite a few jumps from the ledge. I opted out.

Made another attempt to see the sunset at Lake Datum; and this time, we found it. But sadly the clouds covered the sun so we didn’t see the sunset. Some things just aren’t meant to be. The lake in itself was lovely – however, the presence of so much litter around it made it experience less so. Took a photograph of the children with dramatically sad faces next to what I can only describe as a mini landfill. Disgusting.

Note to self: write a letter to the mayor of Sagada to ask that something be done about this!

Friday, Sagada/Baguio
Met up with Madrid to visit the much larger Bomodok Falls. Our hour-long hike went through the rice terraces and the local village. This was our first chance to see the rice terraces up close and we saw a few people attending to their plots. At this distance the ingenuity is much

more impressive: how they manage to irrigate the terraces evenly without flooding them, and having each area watered is amazing. All the rice harvested here is organic: they do not use any chemicals or pesticides.

Apart from being awestruck by the beauty of the place, I was also very impressed with the children. They were basically skipping along these quite steep terraces, while I hobbled meekly behind. I definitely do not have the mountain goat within me. Admittedly, while going down, I was also slightly worrying about the trek back up…

Along the way, we met up with a local weaver and passed a very traditional Ifugao house. Halfway down the valley, we were joined by three young boys, who recognised Madrid and decided to join us.

Arrived at the falls, which I can only describe as beautiful. What an impressive, powerful sight which our photographs cannot fully capture. And we had it all to ourselves. Alasdair went for jump from the ledge, which we decided not to let the children do as the climb to the ledge was very slippery and quite treacherous. We all went for a very short, but refreshing dip – the water was freezing!

When we arrived, Madrid also decided to take a shower – he had bought a small sachet of shampoo from the place where we had stopped to pay a toll to visit the falls (12p a head) and used it now. He lathered his hair and body and then jumped into the water. What a great way to get clean! At which point his three friends gave him a massage. We were thoroughly impressed.

After sunning ourselves and making more feeble attempts to enter the water again, we made the trek back. Got back to the top 50 minutes later, very hot and very very tired. Rode back to Rock Inn to pack and check out. Bang gave us a little goodie bag of their oatmeal cookies and their homegrown blueberry jam. Yummy.

Sagada is a fantastic place for people who love nature and adventure. It is certainly not for those who are looking for a relaxing time. However, if you enjoy challenges, this is the place for you. We were not able to do everything as we had the children with us, and we also did not have enough time. But Sagada has more to offer. I would certainly go back… but probably once the roads are better.

At the end of the day the lack of a good road system has worked for Sagada – it still retains its very traditional way of life and is not inundated by tourists. However, it is an absolute pain to get to. (The funny thing is most of Sagada is paved – it was just getting to and from there.) Every single time we had to get back to the car to go on yet another bumpy ride, I felt physically sick. I had just had enough of the bumping around. Alasdair and the children managed to reach a Zen-like state at the point, just accepting the bumpy windy roads. Every single atom of my being however, just screamed a very very loud ‘NO!!!’ Despite this though, and my currently sore body, I had an absolutely amazing and wonderful time and would not take back a single second of it. Bumps and all…

The good news is that on our way up (and down), we saw that most of the roads are currently being paved. Which means that in a couple of years, access will be a lot better. So this is the choice – do you go now and bear the bumpy dirt roads, or go later when it will be much easier, but then you might be greeted by the neighbourhood Starbucks or McDonald’s?

Currently in Baguio, the nerve centre of the Cordillera. From the peace and quiet of the past few days, Baguio feels like an absolute assault to the senses. But we’re here just to cut our drive back down – a direct trip from Sagada to Manila would have been too toxic. Twelve hours driving through mostly bumpy roads would have been unbearable. So we’re here for the evening and head off for Manila after breakfast tomorrow.