Friday, April 2

We finished our trip in Baguio, which is a city people in Manila usually go to for colder weather, but because we had been further up north, it felt hotter. Maybe it was a good transition back into Manila. It is a much bigger city, like Manila, and I think it took a minute for us to get readjusted and used to doing things like catching taxis again. Things had gone so smoothly thus far, but the big city of Baguio seemed to stress us out when we first got there.

On the bus ride to get there, we rode with the windows down because there is no A/C (which I think ended up making me sick from either inhaling dust or fumes or something). Remember the pillow my landlord gave me for Valentine's Day? Well, I was sleeping with it propped up against the window area, made one small adjustment, and woke up as it was flying out of the window. I didn't really know what else to do, so I just leaned over to Hope and said "My pillow just fell out of the window." And that was that. I hope my landlord doesn't notice it's gone when she comes to collect my rent tonight.

We went to the market in Baguio, which was really overwhelming. People everywhere, meat all over the place...eels swimming in water and it splashing on my feet. We bought some fresh fruit, and other knick knacks...but shopping there was kind of hard. Women would come up to me and grab my arm to get my attention. Once I looked at them, they would push their (maybe) baby in my face while asking for money. It caught me so off guard I didn't really know what to do, and it was weird how forceful they were in getting my attention. I didn't want to dismiss them, or be mean, but I also knew I couldn't give them money. I didn't want to endorse women who "rent" babies to try to beg for money. While on the other hand, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to "feed Jesus." I was talking to Leah about what happened and was asking what I was supposed to do. She said she knew someone who would buy little packets of peanuts right when they get to the market so they would have some food to hand to beggars when approached. Looking back I wish I would have bought some fruit or something to just hand to them. I don't know...I guess I was caught off guard and will know for next time. I've never experienced beggars like that before.

Wednesday, March 31

In the Philippines, Easter is a huge huge deal, but not in a commercialized way like it is the United States. Earlier on our trip, someone was telling us about how people in certain cities actually crucify themselves (I dont think they end up killing themselves). Poor Leah got sick again and had to leave her vacation early. Fortunately she was able to find a driver to rent a van a take her home. She told us when she was driving through one city that traffic was stopped because people were whipping themselves in public. She saw red on their backs, at first thinking it was paint, before realizing it was blood and having to close her eyes. She said closing her eyes didn't help because she could still hear everything that was going on. How awful. Wasn't Jesus crucified so we wouldn't have to endure that kind of suffering? Here is an article about all of this:

Article

Back in peaceful Sagada, we hiked 3 hours through a cave! I'm pretty sure the U.S. wouldn't approve of people doing anything like this over there...especially since we didn't sign any waivers, or really have any equipment with us (hats with lights on them, etc.) and people have died doing this before...but that was from a flash flood during the rainy season. Plus we were only paying our guide the equivalent of about $15 including the massive tip because he was so great. If any rock had fallen, it could have maybe left us trapped, or if any one of us had fallen, that could be a disaster, as well...But it was amazing! And disaster free. I couldn't believe the little rock holes we would crawl through, or the caves we would have to climb up...or the massive amounts of bat poo we had to walk on near the end (which they didn't tell us was bat poo until someone was using their hands to hold themselves up). We all jut felt so....adventuresome. Which sounds so insanely corny. But we were! We were on an adventure. :)

Tuesday, March 30

From Batad, we took a Jeepney to Banaue, stayed the night (notice I didn't mention sleep since roosters were crowing all night long....one even sounded sick the sounds were so awful). Then we headed off to Sagada...which I can now say is one my favorite places in the world. I was very jealous of a Peace Corp Volunteer we met who has been placed there for 2 years. I don't know what it is about this place, but it just induced relaxation in me. I never felt unsafe, the weather was perfectly cool, I was breathing in fresh air, and eating all cheap, delicious organic foods. There is this one restuarant called yogurt house which had this amazing yogurt, but tasted nothing like the yogurt I'd ever tried before. We've decided we think it's caribao yogurt, the animal they use to plow all the rice terraces. It's different from the cairbou you are probably picturing in your mnd. Yeah, I thought people were pronouncing it wrong too.

Intitially we went on a hike to see the hanging coffins, a ritual from the Egorot tribes when they used to practice animism. Christianity is now the prevenlant religion there, although the practice of hanging coffins still exists. The belief is that when you're buried 6 feet under the ground, you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, but when you're body is placed higher up, you are closer to heaven. In order to determine where to hang the coffins, a spiritual leader is sent out into the woods overnight to stay near a potential place to hang the coffin. If they hear an owl or other specific sound it is considered bad luck, and they can no longer hang the coffin there. I don't know...I thought it was all super interesting.

Next we hiked to a waterfall in a nearby village in Sagada. Little kids went running past us on our way there, stripped off all their clothes and were diving in/climbing on rocks, jumping off cliffs...right before our eyes. For me, putting my toe in the water was just waaaaay too cold. When I finally fully immersed myself, I noticed my body starting to feel on fire....in this freezing cold water. Is that the first sign of hypothermia?

Sarah and Mike served as an inspiration for me because they climbed up the rocks and walked around underneath the waterfall. I eventually called on Chris, our guide, to help me climb up the side of a rock so I could jump of a mini cliff into the area the water was falling. So I climbed up in my little bikini and made it to the top! It was so envigorating. The minute I reached the top I felt a bee sting me on my belly, which I was pretty sure I wasn't allergic too. I asked Chris if I should be worried and he said they used bee stings there as antibiotics, so getting a bee sting is a good thing. That made me feel better, even though my stomach itched a little. I jumped in and immediately got out since I was freezing. Sarah later on told me that our guide had mentioned to her that fresh water eels live in the water. I'm really glad I didn't know that before jumping.

Sunday, March 28

We woke up insanely early this morning with the hopes of being able to catch the sunrise from the highest point. It was way too foggy to see the sun, however we still hiked up to the highest point, took eleventy thousand pictures, then hiked down to the waterfall. The waterfall was gorgeous and we got to go swimming in the bottom area. Rocks were falling into the water as we swam, which was a little disturbing, but not enough to make me not want to get in the water. It was so cool and refreshing. When we got back to the hotel, I was so sore I would moan as I sat down and stood up. It was a hideous sight.

When we first arrived at the hotel yesterday, we were making fun of some of the hotel staff for wearing t-shirts that said "I survived Batad." It was so cheesy and touristy, and didn't really seem to fit the tranquil atmosphere of this place. After the first strenuous hike, we realized how much we really wanted one of those cheesy things. So we bought the tank top style tishrts (the ugliest one possible) with a serene picture of the rice terraces saying "I survived Batad", and took the most obnoxious picture we could think of while wearing them.

After we packed up our things, we met Simon the owner of the hotel and restaurant we had been staying at. He was selling handmade knives which were just beautiful. I was asking him about how the knives were made and he said they were made from the good metal of a jeepney. There was a hole in the handle and when I asked him what that was for, he told me that when I am hiking in the woods and need to catch a monkey, I can place a stick in the handle of knife to make it longer, cut off the branch the monkey is sitting on, then stab the monkey. He used a lot of hand motions when describing all this to me. I bought a knife immediately. You know, in case I need to get a monkey.

Saturday, March 27

We arrived in Banaue super early in the morning to transfer all of our stuff onto a Jeepney. The Jeepney took us into Batad...I think maybe the ride was 1-2 hours, but the view was gorgeous. Once we arrived in Batad, we had to carry our bags on a 45min-1 hour hike to find our hotel...or more so...a place to stay. I'm not sure I would call it a hotel. On the hike, Edgar asked someone "what's the most remote place you've ever been?" For me, the answer now is Batad. I had heard of the rice terraces before because Leah had said it's the one thing she wants to see before she leaves. I didn't really understand why...then I heard rumors that the rice terraces were in the running or at least really wanted to be considered the 8th wonder of the world, and now I understand why. It's just gorgeous,and absolutely amazing to see in person. After we got settled into our "hotel", we hiked down to the swinging bridge not realizing when we were hiking down that it meant we had to hike all the way back up. I think it would have been much easier if each stair wasn't so big that I was doing one lunge after another. It was the most perfect workout because I couldn't give up. If I gave up, I couldn't get home. It was funny because as I was dying, dripping of sweat, and red faced, our guide casually turns around everyone once in a while to ask if we needed a break. I wanted to be like "look at me, of course I need a break." It gave me so much respect for the people living there. This "hike" is their livelihood. That's how they survive.

I wore flip flips on this hike because I thought we were going to the waterfall (which we didn't end up doing that day), but humble pie was eaten once again today. There was a portion of the trek down to the bridge where we had to walk on top of rocks surrounded by muddy rice terraces. Hope had just fallen in while saying "this ain't my first rodeo" so Leah said she was going to film me as I walked across, feeling confident I would fall in. Proving her wrong, I walked accross most of the way beautifully. I even started prancing near the end, as my confidence grew with every successful step. As I reached the end....I lost balance and fell in. and it's all on camera. Humble pie tastes sooo good.

There was a restaurant inside (well outside...but attached to) the hotel. We noticed the server would ask for our names then write identifying descriptors so she can know who to serve when the food comes out. Hope was "cute lady", Lauren was "white girl in white shirt" and I was none other than "rosy cheeks." I've never been able to get away from that.

After dinner, I was excited about showering. At this hotel, you had to pay for boiling water. So we paid 30 pesos to get a bucket of boiling water, we would fill it up with colder water, and then use a bucket to pour over our heads to "shower with hot water." Did I mention this hotel cost less than $5 to stay at? This was the nicest place we could find in Batad. and it really was just incredible...simply by the view that surrounded us.

I had to sleep that night with a sheet over my head because moths kept flying around my face and I would irrationally squeal and run all over the place...disturbing the other ladies the moths weren't attacking.

Friday, March 26

Egdar and I had to make a last minute trip to the immigration office today to make sure our visas were renewed before heading out of town to the rice terraces. The immigration office is just chaos....and getting there took forever since it was Friday and something was happening somewhere with someone important so I ended up spending at least 2 hours in a taxi today before getting on a bus overnight. It was good to get it over with though.

I had to eat a pretty large slice of humble pie tonight once getting on the bus. In my mind/memory....I remember Leah handing me the bus tickets for everyone....all 9 people going on the trip...and when she gave them to me I immediately felt an insane amount of responsibility and tried to hand off the load of responsibility to the bus conductor man as soon as possible. I remember handing him the bus tickets.

When he came to the back of the bus where we were sitting and asked for the bus tickets, I firmly told him how I had already given him the bus tickets...which he didn't have. I was very adament, and Dior who had planned the trip for us and speaks Tagalog, stood up for me and told the man how we had already given him the tickets. Edgar looked through all the tickets he had, and ours were not there. I truly rememberered handing him these tickets. After a while, and feeling so frustrated, and potentially almost getting kicked off the bus, I lifted my pink backpack up off my lap to find all 9 tickets....in my lap. I'm not quite sure how to say "my b" in Tagalog, but it would have been a good time to know.

Later on in the middle of the night, one of our friends woke up desperately needing to use the bathroom. At first I willingly offered to go to the front to ask the man if the bus could stop for my friend, then realized how much he would probably hate me if I did so. Fortunately, the bus stopped soon after and I continued to gravel until I finally got a smile out of him. I think he forgave me.

The bus ride there was pretty entertaining. I'm not sure how to explain it if you weren't there, but I'll try. 2 people sat in lawn chairs in the middle of the isle because I guess they bought tickets at the last minute when the bus was full. Somehow, amazingly, they were able to sleep in these lawn chairs.

Some bathrooms we stopped at charged money...very small amounts...but for toilets that didn't flush or have any toilet paper.

The roads were super windy, so sleeping was pretty difficult since we were rocking back and forth all night long. Plus, since it's a 2 lane highway, the bus was passing people all night long which was terifying. I woke up several times hearing the horn honking and then seeing oncoming traffic. Don't worry mom and dad, I'm safe and sound at home now :)

Thursday, March 25

For Holy Week, we had some time off, so it was fitting that one of our friends planned a trip to see the rice terraces in the north of the Philippines. I felt as though I needed to get a backpack for the trip coming up. No...I just really wanted one. A pink one.

I must say shopping in Manila is SO FUN. The workers don't really work on commission, I don't think, and they are so insanely helpful! They pull everything down for you, show you all of the features....and tonight one worker even threw in an extra bag for me if I bought....the pink backpack. Yes. It was fate. At first I felt a little girly....not really outdoorsy...and really foreigner...y buying a pink hiking backpack....but I felt better when Corey said getting a pink backpack would be good because when I get lost and seperated from the group, I will be much easier to find. I felt better until I realized what he was really saying in that statement. He started telling me all the things I needed to pack in my new pink backpack to be a successful hiker, so just to frustrate him, I told him I didn't need a swiss army knife or a flashlight because my backpack was just big enough to fit all my makeup to make sure I looked good in all the pictures we would be taking.

Good thing I got a hiking backpack, but little did I know how much hiking I would actually be doing over the next week...