Manila

After having recovered a few hours in a hotel room after my 8 hour busride to Manila I ventured out in to the capital. 

I met up with Gerald and he was kind enough to show me around one of the main attractions in Manila, the gated spanish city of Intramuros. Especially the fort that held the national hero José Rizal imprisoned before his execution by the spanians for infusing rebellion and unrest. 

 

After this we went across the city to the higest point of Manila that houses a resort/restaurant called Cloud Nine. This was also home to a friend of Gerald, an artist named Otto. Otto had his studio at the top floor of a tower accessible by two hangbridges. Stepping inside his studio it was a bit like entering a wizards tower, with skulls and other items decorating the walls. 

Despite having an adress and interior of a mad sorcerer Otto was a really nice guy, with a lot of interesting pieces of art. Most of his stuff is actually scattered across the world but you can see some of it here www.facebook.com/othoniel.neri

Otto was even nice enough to sketch me while I was there. 

 

Then it was up onto the roof to watch the lights of Manila, before going down the top hangbridge, which was a lot steeper and shaky than the lower one..

 

Coming back towards the city center we met up with the girls and went out for a nice seafood dinner that left me exhausted.. 

We stayed out late untill heading to the airport for my 5.15 am flight to Singapore. Then it was time for a last goodbye.. My plan was never to visit Manila but circumstances made it so and I couldn't have asked for a better 24 hours there. 

Since I first landed in Cebu airport a month ago everyone I met have welcomed me with open arms and hearts.. You all made this visit so much more than I expected and I'm you forever thankful! 

Banaue, Sagada & Batad

Arriving in Manila I got on a taxi, this time ready for any potential hustling and true be told the guy didn't start the meter and when I asked him to do so he said that he had forgotten and that I could just pay him 500 pesos and it would be fine... Boy did he pick on the wrong tourist that day..

Getting of the taxi and paying my metered fare of 250 pesos, of course only from the point when he managed to turn it on, I transfered to an overnight 12 hour bus to Banaue and settled in on the back seat of the rolling freezer that is air conditioned public transportation in the Philipines..

Next morning I arrived in the small town of Banaue at 5 am, pitch black darkness and all I knew was that I needed to find some kind of transportation to my final destination Sagada. Then as the sun began to rise my surroundings were illuminated and revealed green mountains all around me and I got my first taste of the rice terraces I had travelled so far to see..

By the end of this blog post you will be sick of rice terrace pictures, so now you are warned!

As the first jeepney didn't leave till 8.30 I had plenty of time to wander around the town and get some breakfast. I found myself a dodgy hangbridge that I couldnt resist crossing, of course only after being a perfect gentleman and letting an old lady cross first..

In the jeepney I met a nice French guy Damien that worked and lived in Myanmar, for a sub division of a french company selling small solar energy systems to villages and privates. When changing jeepney in Bontoc we ran into a danish romanian couple Nicky and Laura and the four of us jumped on the roof of the jeepney to better enjoy the panoramic  view of the landscape we were traveling through.

As it was easter there were people and celebrations everywhere, but also fully booked guesthouses, so I ended up crashing with Damien before we all four headed out to one of Sagadas main attractions, the Lumiang Burial cave and its underground connection to the Sumaging cave. Thats right traditionally people where not buried in the ground up here, they just put grandpar in a box and stored him on a shelf on a mountain side...

Putting the dead person in a featal position means that these coffins are actually quite small. You also see more traditional coffins because people up here are allowed to have a christian traditional funeral, which combines the two rituals.

Venturing deeper into the cave we traversed narrow vertical chutes, climped up small waterfalls and marveled at the huge cave rooms suddenly opening up. Before crawling up to the surface we went for a swim in the chilly underground pond. At the surface all hell had broken out as thunder and lightning rolled through the mountains. Fortunately we caught a ride with the local law enforcement back to town. Rest of the evening was spent napping as the weather didn't allow for anymore outside adventures and I had some sleep to cath up on!

Next morning it was up early again to get on a jeepney back to Banaue, as I had a compressed schedule up here in the north leaving no time to waste. And also the public transportation system runs on a "We go when we have enough passengers approach" so to make sure you get anywhere on time you better be there early. I left Damien, Nicky and Laura behind in Sagada but it wasnt long before I found some new friends to play with...

Again I had to change jeepney in Bontoc and here I met a diverse and entertaining group of four Philipinos traveling more or less the same route as me during their easter holiday. Before I knew it conversation was struck up as per tradition when meeting Philipinos and it turned out we had the same end destination for the day, the renowned amphitheater rice terraces of Batad. 

The four friends were Yuri, up and coming marine biologist, Jimae a chemist in the medical industry, Kareen the nurse and Gerald photographer and artist!

From left to right, Yuri, Gerald, Me, Kareen and Jimae

This little troupe originates from the southern province of Mindanao, a place unfortunately associated with kidnapping and unrest, but these four guys had me convinced there was much more to this place, that didn't stop me from calling them gangsters from time to time thou!

Batad is currently only accessible by foot so all supplies has to be carried in and all the production of rice out. Coming in is not so tough as its mostly down hill but out..

We took the "shortcut", but the look on people faces coming the other way was not pleasant. 

Walking down through the village we checked into the hillside guesthouse that featured an impressive view from their bar/eatery. 

"Breakfast omelet and an 8th wonder of the world view on the side please.."

From there it was straight on to the Tappia waterfall that took us on a route through the terraces. Having learned from the best waterfall chasers in the business this one was soon in the bag and we headed back over the terraces for a well deserved evening meal after a long day of walking, climbing and swimming. 

Next morning we were up at 4.30 to walk to the top of the terraces and view the sunrise as it came up over the mountains and illuminated the entire area. So it was pitch black as we made our way on the small walkways of the terraces and through the village, practically going through peoples homes.

  

Gerad is setting up his camera for some impressive shots of the sunrise. See https://www.facebook.com/artisrago for more of his beautifull work particularly in the Luzon province

Returning from the sunrise me and my new friends split as they were heading back to Manila, ready to go to work monday morning, while I hired a guide to go on a hike through the mountains that would take me back to Banaue, but on foot..

I would start the trip with a short 1.5 hour walk from Batad to the small village of Cambulo. There I stayed overnight, ready for departure at 6 am for the beautiful and demanding hike to the little cluster huts called Pula and beyond to the main road leading back to Banaue. 

It was an amazing walk along the terraces, but exhausting every time a ridge had to be crossed!

Back in Banaue I settled in and waited for the night bus back to Manila to rendevouz with my new found friends!

Malapasqua

It was a long bus drive before I made it to the northern tip of cebu island, a tiny little harbor town called Maya, where I got on a boat that would ferry me to my final destination, Malapasqua island and ultimately the thresher sharks. In Maya and on Malapasqua I experienced for the first time people trying to hustle me, not just sell me some stuff I didn't need but actually lying to my face telling me the boat would not be leaving for hours and I needed to buy their special boat or people grapping your luggage and passing it from hand to hand and then charging you money for each guy that touched it.. I really don't like to write something bad about the Philipines but these people just gave everybody else a bad reputation. I managed to navigate through this with the help of some honest locals, but I ended up on the boat next to a couple that had paid 4 times more than me and we were on the same boat!!

But with that little hickup put aside I really enjoyed my time on Malapascua! The weather was basically overcast the whole  time, it was breasy and the temperature about 5 degress lower than anywhere else I had been.. I loved it!! 

Sunset behind the rain clouds gave me a beautifull welcome to Malapasqua

I went straight to my recommended dive shop, Thresher Shark Divers and again I experienced that camaraderie between divers, where you are immediately welcomed by everyone hanging out in the dive shop bar straight on the beach. 

To go diving with the sharks I needed to start up my PADI open water advanced course, where you complete 5 different so called adventure dives that each certify you to do different things your normal open water certificate will not allow you to do. For this I needed the deep dive class as we would be going down to 30 meters depth to see the sharks at the so called cleaning station where they come early in the morning to get a beauty scrub by the little fish there after having fed all night at depths of 200 meters. 

I got paired up with my instructor Jesus from Spain and his young padowan Victor from the Netherlands. I was told to read up on a specific chapter and be ready for a review at 4.30 next morning before going out to see the sharks. So I leaned back with a mangoshake and started on my homework

Study time at Bounty beach, Malapasqua

My accomadation was 1 min walk from the beach and the dive shop so I was up at 4.15 walking out into the dark night, out on the water I could see the fleet of dive boats starting to gear up, lights on and I couldn't help but feel a little bit of excitement as the wind was kicking up causing the sea to be a little rough. Knowledge review was completed together with my diving buddy Gordon and we were now ready for the deep dive.

We steamed out into the darkness, maybe 10 diving boats from different companies creating a line formation, the waves crashing at the keel of the boat causing sprays of salt water and making me regret not having one of those cool waterproof diving bags.. This was definently something different than the quiet reef dives I had made before, as we jumped into the high waves and quickly went down the anchor chain to get out of the worst current. On this dive I was using a dive computer for the first time as it was part of the deep dive curriculum, unfortunately it had been put on a altitude setting making it believe I was diving in some alpine mountain lake. This caused it to immediately show an available bottom time that was much lower than everybody else's computer. This was obviously an error, but it being a course we had to go by the computer so after only 15 min we had to ascent a little having only seen one shark in the distance, but while we ascentet up towards a platou suddenly this fellow came cruising by at about 3-5 meters distance and slightly above us so as to be in a siluette against the light. Now in the clip it might seem far away, but the camera films with a very wide angle making things look distant, trust me this guy was close!

Coming up from the dive we practiced using a drop tank, hanging 5 meters below the boat to provide air for our safety stop. The sea was so rough now that I simply hugged the tank with arms and legs while I was thrown about beneath the boat. Quite interesting and funny :) We were back on the island at 7 just in time for breakfast! 

The rest of the day I spend doing another  soft coral dive and also studying for a night time adventure dive. Again I was with Jesus and Victor, while we prepped for the night dive practising compas navigation, hand and torch signals in the dark. Night diving was definently an experience I enjoyed! We went out to see the mating of the mandarin fish that happens just as dusk sets in, but they werent in the mood this night.. But luckily there was plenty of other stuff to see in the darkness, like sea horses, little octopuses, crabs walking about in their shells and most interesting bioluminescence that makes the water sparkle and twinkle around you when you move so its feels like your swimming in pixie dust! Sometimes just ascenting a few meters and having a look around in the darkness at all the other divers, torches and flash cameras is impressive in itself making it look like some scene from a space movie or something!

The next couple of days went with the same rutine of getting up very early to swim with the sharks and my new diving buddy Laura from Germany, then breakfast and a nap before going out diving and again at night. When I left Malapasqua I was now up to 21 dives in about 2,5 weeks. 

The last day on the island I spend relaxing as I should not be diving 24 hours before flying to Manila. Well my idea of relaxing was to jog around the island saying hi to the local kids and sweating a lot. Leaving the confines of bounty beach and heading to the north part of the island I got the real picture of how super typhoon Yolanda had impacted this island. Now the average Phillipine village might look like it was hit by a typhoon just the day before but this was different. Still among the destruction there were beautifull places, people seemed happy especially the kids, always waving saying hello or high fiving you as you ran around. 

Then at one point I spotted these guys and I couldn't help myself..

Getting up early to catch the first ferry back to Cebu island at 6.30, the weather seemed to clear up giving me a glimpse of this little paradise island when its not overcast

Ahead of me lies about 24 hours of travel first down to Cebu City to catch a plane up to Manila, then a 12 hour bus up to the region of Luzon to see the second so called 8th wonder of the world of my trip,the rice terraces of Sagata and Banaue...

Bohol

My driver dropped me off at the end of a dirt road and assured me that only motorbikes could traverse it. So I strapped on my pack and started to walk the 800 meters to my destination. 

Accomadation included free step fit class every morning!

I made it to Nuts Huts a place I was recommended and with a nice central location on Bohol and in the middle of the jungle. A real laid back place with bamboo huts and lots of mosquitos..

The place was right next to the Loboc river and with steep mountains on each side. Floating restaurants and boats would come sailing past playing music and wawing. 

If you have sharp eyes you can spot a wire going across the gorge, which will be important later.. 

As the rest of Bohol, this place was clearly marked by the earthquake last year. 

But that didn't stop it from being a really nice place with great food and a real backpacker atmosphere. When I arrived I met Robert a 53 year old Australian who had been backpacking for 33 years... And I learned that I was in fact not a backpacker but a so called flashpacker, someone who spends more money in 3 months on traveling than he would do in 14 months.. You got to respect the seniority and the experience but even Robert admitted that he was a dinosaur these days..

But that didn't stop us from spending some time together visiting the main attractions of Bohol interior. 

Next morning it was up early to go visit the so called chocolate hills. An area of limestone sea bed, where the water has eroded away the softer stone creating a range of nicely rounded hills, that in the fall will turn brown as the vegetation withers. At this time of the year they are more like the lime hills as everything was quite green and fresh. Jumped on a local bus there, which is always funny as people will talk to you and wants to hear about your experiences in the Philipines. In addition they are always helpfull in making sure you get off at the right stop. 

The whole thing is not really that spectacular, but as long as you keep your expectations in check it is a nice experience. On the way back we jumped of at an eco action park close to the nuts huts, which featured a 500 m zip line across the gorge! 

After this thrill ride it was time to kick back on the Nuts Huts porch, sip some mangoshake and pet the house cat Ice

  

Had a dinner conversation with a spanish guy who just quit his banking job in Hong Kong because he found they didn't know how to live their life there. A good talk and I got some hiking tips for Australia. The food at Nuts Huts was particularly good, serving you freshly baked steaming hot buns with butter for breakfast and delicious variants of pancakes for dessert

 

Home made pancakes, rhum raisins and icecream..Mmmm

On my way back to Tagbilaran and the ferry to Cebu island I stopped by the other major attraction of Bohol, the Tarsiers. 

Tiny little fragile primates that commit suicide in captivity because of stress and handling by humans. In the santuary I visited they live in the wild and every morning the keepers have to go out and spot their daytime resting places so the tourists can have a discrete photograph. 

The living embodiment of the expression "Too cute to live!"

Right now the plan for the remaining time here in the Philipines revolves around diving with Tresher sharks and manta rays on Malapascua island and then going all the way up north of Manila to see the rice terrases there before I fly to Melbourne on April 24th. But as with all plans..