Diving back into the Philippines

So, here we find ourselves back in the Philippines with the main intention of heading north into the mountains to heck out some volcanos, iconic 2000 year old rice terraces carved into the side of the steepest mountains and maybe a spot of trekking.

They were our intentions until possibly one of the biggest typhoons in history wrecked havoc on several islands of the Philippines then our intentions changed slightly and we found ourselves wondering if their was anything we could do to help the Filipino people.

On our second day in Manila we made our way to the Red Cross' main headquarters to see if we could be of any assistance. They could only offer us a one eight hour shift at the end of November because they had more volunteers than they actually needed. Hard to believe, but a sight to behold with entire families forming human chains to pass the food supplies along the line and into bag that would then be flown to the worst effected areas. 

We also enquired with other volunteer groups, but yet to hear back from them so in the mean time we decided to stick with our original plan of seeing the north and if anything comes up then we'll go from there. 

We headed north to a cutesy little town called Sagada in the mountains. Town is maybe a little generous, one street of cafes, restaurants and souviner shops is far more accurate with the intention of doing some trekking. 

We did a 20 minute walk to Echo Valley to check out the hanging coffins. These things are hung on the side of a cliff with the oldest coffin rumoured to be 300 odd years old. 

The theory is that if the dead are buried then their souls can't make it through the earth up to heaven so they hang their coffins in the open air.

The cost of this process you ask, a lot. The family has to sacrifice 20 pigs and three times as many chooks!

The following day we did a morning trip through Sumaging cave where we has to squeeze through small holes, wade through crystal clear pools and climb limestone walls with the aid of the guides shoulder and a rope. 

The stalactite and stalagmite formations were very cool.

From Sagada we bussed it to Banaue to inspect the 2000 year old stone rices terraces that are still used today. We "trekked" to the main town Batad where the rice terraces are located and then down to a nearby waterfall. On our way back up another group who were waterfall bound told us that had seen a snake and refused to go any further, instead turning around and heading back. The guide was super reassuring when he said "it's ok, it was only a cobra not a viper!"  

With the weather grey, miserable and requiring the wearing of pants and a long sleeve top, I made the executive decision that I wanted to spend my last week somewhere hot, so we booked flights to the island of Palawan.

We took an overnight bus from Banaue arriving in Manila at 4am, then took a taxi to the airport and boarded a flight to Palawan. On arrival to it's capital, Puerto Princesa it was hammering with rain and I was beginning to doubt my decision. 

From the airport we got a mini van to the very northern tip of the island to El Nido. Lonely planet says that it arguably rivals Halong bay and I must admit that I think it even betters Halong bay....!

With not much in the way of activities other than swimming and sun baking (not agreeable with Ned's delicate skin!) we set about doing done more diving and getting our night and deep diving tickets.

We did four deep dives to a maximum depth of 30 and two night dives.

The difference between night and day is crazy. The luminescent plankton was awesome. We sank to the bottom , turned off our torches and twinkled our fingers in front of our faces watching all this little fellas light up.

We saw the coolest coloured shrimps, lion fish, crabs even fish sleeping and heaps of other things that you don't see during the day dives.

After qualifying and toying with the idea of more diving, but sadly realising we probably couldn't afford it we headed back to Puerto Princesa where I got hit by a push bike, we both good food poisoning and our room shared a wall with a rooster that crowed at 3am til sunset. We paid an extra $2.50 a night to sleep on the opposite side of the building get away from the rooster. I'm not sure if the hotel uses that damn rooster as a money spinner or not!!

To top it all off we peed out our bums for an entire day thanks to a not so great shwarma. Didn't even taste that good when we bought it. We didn't leave the room that except to buy powerade at reception (risky been more than 2 metres from the toilet) and the bathroom. 

Ned claims he probably clocked up about 10kms just walking from the bedroom to the toilet and back again!!

When we were well enough to leave the hostel (ned still had pockets full of toilet paper in case) we ventured to one of the 'New 7 wonders of the natural world.'  An underground river that flows through a mountain, what still claims to be the longest navigable by boat underground river in the world. 

Alas we know that the one we visited in Laos is twice as long, and thoroughly more impressive. The buffet lunch which was longer. 

A Whale (Shark) Of A Tale

After saying goodbye to Fez and B we caught up with Kate's cousin Andrew and his wife Mona who live in Bangkok. We checked out a massive market and had allegedly Bangkok's finest fried chicken. Later after a few drinks we went to this hidden bar without signs where you had to knock on the door to be let in like an old style speakeasy. 

This very small bar is run by a British former child star who is a film buff and upstairs is a private 9 seat movie theatre. That night he was showing The Breakfast Club, one of my favourites so we all sat down and enjoyed that.

After Bangkok we caught a bus and ferry to an island called Koh Tao. I wasn't too keen on heading down as we'd done a bit of beach time already and were heading to Sri Lanka (where some of the world's best beaches are), but after a while it clicked, Kate had organised for us to get scuba training as my birthday present!!! You might not know but snorkelling is (was) my favourite activity, so this was pretty exciting for me.

We were picked up at the ferry by one of the Roctopus Dive crew and taken to our lodgings before getting straight into the theory. Our instructor Sanne was Dutch and amazing, she made it all seem so easy and it turned out her birthday was the same day as mine, the day we finished our course. 

There was only 3 students in our group which was ace, they never have more than 4 which makes for a very personal learning experience. We had 2 theory lessons and homework learning all the basics before heading out to learn to dive in the shallows. 

We picked it up very quickly and soon felt very confident in the water. Any worries you might have are quickly forgotten once you see what's under the water. We saw all kinds of fish, rays, corals of all colours which were so beautiful but they had nothing on what came next....

Suddenly there was lots of pointing and people swimming up, we looked skyward to see the sun shining brightly through the clear water and then an eclipse, a giant whale shark sized eclipse!!!!!!!!

We swam up to and alongside this huge (although apparently still young and growing) whale shark. It was ri-goddamn-diculous how awesome it was. It just slowly cruised around us, even making eye contact with us as it passed. Everyone was crazy pumped, especially Sanne who said it was our birthday present. One of the dive crew said a previous team member dived almost every day for two and a half years and never saw one and we were lucky enough to swim with one on our second day in the water!!! 

That evening we all went to the pub for birthday drinks and watched our graduation video which heavily featured the shark, it was amazing.

Needless to say we were hooked. Every day we'd wander down to the office and ask Westy the kiwi fella who ran the desk where they were going the next day and would sign up. We even got to dive on a shipwreck!!! So bloody cool, the type of stuff you dream about as a kid, addicted!

The CHANGover: Part 2

Now it's a bit hard to remember all the things we did in Phuket as it all seems to be a blur but I'll try my best, I'm not sure if all these happened on the same day or not. 

After the first CHANGover I think we were a bit rough and took the day easy. The next day was deemed 'Activities Day' where we planned to do stuff for most of the day.

I think we started with beers at a microbrewery and then went to a shooting range where we popped a few very expensive bullets into targets from a .45 magnum followed by a not so relaxing fish foot spa. We then went bowling for a very long time, mainly because we were able to have cheap jugs of Chang brought to us regularly. No one scored overly highly but I reckon we set a world record for the amount of 9's knocked down, it was like it was rigged by carnies.

We ended up at the only bar that seemed to have live music and I continually requested the only Thai song I know, a reggae song called Do Do Do, they played it twice, I was happy. I think we ended up on mojitos watching creepy guys through the window chatting up working girls and Fez got his beard braided and then I found that KFC put Doritos in their twister wraps.

We also drank more mojitos, went Zorbing which was awesome, drank our way through a cocktail menu, drank beers on the beach, drank more mojitos, went to the Muay Thai kickboxing and drank even more mojitos.

By the end of the week we were so spent we weren't even sure if we'd make it to our actual birthdays the following week.

I'm glad B and Fez only visited us for one week cos I don't think my liver could have lasted much longer!

Sri Lanka-Untouched, unspoilt, undeniably beautiful. Part 3

We then caught a second bus back to Galle. We day tripped it to Talalla to check out Secret beach which Lonely Planet says is the next big thing. 

We arrived and Secret beach is the perfect name for it. With only one resort nearby it's camouflaged by grasses and trees. The beach stretched for a good kilometre and was completely untouched. There were four other Westerners and us there, one local fisherman, maybe a dozen little fishing boats and the stock standard number of mangy dogs.

It really was exactly what you see on a postcard. Exactly how you imagine paradise to look, well with the exception of the middle aged Russian swimming in her g-banger bikini!!

We bit the bullet and decided since we had the time we may as well sneak in a scuba dive as well. Unfortunately for us the conditions were not ideal with strong currents and poor visibility making it difficult to swim around the underwater rock formations, not to mention the huge jellyfish that were everywhere. They probably should of told us they weren't poisonous at the beginning and I might of sucked down on a bit less oxygen!!

Due to the shitty conditions we canned our second dive and headed back to Colombo. 

We arrived in the early evening and went to one hotel that had a sign welcoming dignitaries and a rolled up red carpet. In our grotty singlets we asked if they had any rooms available. We had roughly been budgeting $12 a night for accommodation, their cheapest room....$222! We left pretty quickly!  

With accommodation completely booked due to Colombo hosting a meeting for all the Commonwealth leaders we got yet another bus (I was over buses by this stage) to Negombo, but not before telling the Sri Lankans that if they wanted to keep Tony Rabbit they were welcome to him!

Negombo is one of the more popular beaches for Westerners. It's close to Colombo and also the airport.

We wandered into the main part of town, past the prison and all the visitors waiting for visiting hours to begin and into the fish market which apparently is a must when in Negombo.

Thongs were a poor choice of footwear. I hate street juice flicking up the back of my legs at the best of times, but fish juice is taking it up another couple of levels in the grossness stakes!

A friendly fisherman wondered over for a chat and then took us on a "tour" along the beach to explain the processes they go through to preserve the fish. From drying it under the sun, to the woman gutting it to stop it from smelling, to the young men washing and curing by salting each of the fish.

I though wiping a stanger's bum was gross, but working in a fish market takes the cake and they are paid about $3 a day...!

We've ticked off vegetable and egg rottis, vadai, devilled chicken and prawns and sipped on the local Lion beer.

This gem bobbing in the middle of the ocean is where it's at. Yet to be corrupted by tourist, or greed that so often is accompanied by tourism.  

The people are genuine, the natural beauty of the country that no description or photo could do justice (i wish my eyes could upload what they saw to Facebook!), the food is the best and when you request spicy you get a cheeky smile of approval in response. Almost as it's a challenge for both sides, how hot can they make it and how hot can you take!!

People still charge local price or a very minimal skin tax, start a conversation because they're generally interested about you and ask for nothing, but for you to come back and to bring your friends with you!

The only thing that confused us a bit was the head wobble. Shaking their heads while saying ok or agreeing with you in an accent that took me a little while to get!

All this and we didn't even make it to the north or east where culture, language and religion are completely different. I'll be seeing you again hopefully in the not too distant future Ceylon!!

Sri Lanka-Untouched, unspoilt, undeniably beautiful. Part 2

Dalhousie, a ghost town in the off season with at best two shops open and every hotel vying for you to stay with them. this was to be our base for climbing Adam's Peak.

We awoke at 2am to begin our accent up Adam's peak. There are two stories, the first been that it was the place where Adam supposedly first set foot on earth and the other been that's where Buddha left his footprint on his way to paradise.

Either way it didn't change the fact that it was 5,500 odd steps up and the exact same number on the way back down!

We arrived at the top at about 5.30 just as the horizon was beginning to change from the dark of night to the oranges and blues that indicated a new day was about to begin.

We watched the sunrise from a point that could of been the top of the world looking down on the surrounding valleys with thin layers of cloud flowing through the middle of them was beautiful. 

At the back side of the mountain the sun cast a shadow of Adam's peak in the shape of a perfect triangle.

The descent was not as difficult as we had predicted and our knees only jiggled slightly once we reached the bottom. 

I think the worst part was not the steps or the early start, but having sore legs for four days afterwards and waddling like a duck with a pole stuck up its clacker!!

After Dalhousie, we continued our journey north to Dambulla famed for its Golden temple and the easy access point to Sigirya Rock. 

Arriving early enough in the day, we decided we may as well hit the ground running, so we headed for the Golden temple. A rock overhang that was converted into five separate temples. 

With our freshly sore legs we hauled ourselves up to the temples, checked out the some 500 Buddha statues and images, listened to some female monks (monkettes) chanting and left. 

After a solid nights sleep and a hot shower, we set off for Sigirya Rock. This is the site where over 2000 years ago meticulously manicured gardens and water fountains stood and an enormous rock that had a palace and later a monestary which occupied the top of the rock. The rock is actually the magma centre of a long extinct volcano that had it's sides eroded over millions of years.

Buggered if I know how they got the bricks, furniture and themselves up the side of the rock face. 

Now there are just the remnants of what used to once rule the rock and surrounding area. There is still a pool up there that is half full with water. 

The locals say that many hydro engineers and experts have visited the site to try and determine how they got the water up there and none of them can work it out!! The Sri Lanka's are pretty proud of this fact!!

Our next dilemma was whether we continued north to another ancient city or head back to Colombo (poor us!!) with only a few days remaining. We decided we'd probably aeen enough temples and opted for the Colombo route. 

Sri Lanka-Untouched, unspoilt, undeniably beautiful. Part 1

To tell the truth or to keep this little slice of paradise a secret? That is the question....

Ok I'll share, but only because it was so frigging amazing!!

After spending the first night in Colombo and on the advice of others who have been to Sri Lanka before, we got out of the city pronto and headed for Galle.

Once occupied by the Dutch and English it was very much a fusion of European architecture and Sri Lankan culture and food.

We stopped by Uda Walawe National park for a morning safari and animal spotting. We spied many elephants, jackals, buffalo, monkeys, a large assortment of different birds, some that had migrated from as far away as Russia. We watched as a peacock took flight. I didn't even know they could fly until that morning!!

From wild animals to the tea plantations of Haputale in the hill country.

We stayed with a local family in a cute little cottage perched on the edge if a cliff. The view out of our window was phenomenal.

Ned and I spent two night sleep over in Haputale and even though our cottage views rivalled those of World's End, it did not stop us from rising early and doing a 9.5km walk to see World's End in Horton Plains National park. 

What breath taking views!! 

We think we heard a leopard and we definitely heard monkeys!

We departed Haputale bound for Nanu Oya on what would be our first train journey and far out...the vistas were out of this world!! Choo chooing along the mountain ridges with both sides dropping away steeply covered with thousands of tea plants.

From Nanu Oya we caught the local bus from the train station to Nuwara Eliya. The bus was so full that it made the central line in London at peak hour look empty and with the roads in atrocious conditions, it made for a very slow, bumpy and hot trip into town.

Nuwara Eliya also known as "little England" was more of a tourist spot and I think this made it a little less enjoyable. We only stayed here for one night before heading to Dalhousie to tackle Adam's Peak.

In the morning we took a tuk-tuk to Blue Field tea factory to see how they transform a waxy green leaf into a delicious cup of tea.

The "pluckers" (woman who pluck the tea leaves from the plant) bring hessian bags of leaves carried on their heads to factory where it is dried, grinded, dried further in a wood fired kiln that was imported from Belfast, Northern Ireland over a century ago, graded and then sent to Colombo to be auctioned and turned into brands such as Liptons, Dilmah etc.

From 2 tonnes of leaves they finish with 500kgs of tea!! The tour is fittingly finished with a free cuppa. 

We caught another train from Hattan bound for Delhousie. 

You could never get sick of the views, the people watching, the pluckers and the hilarious reactions and facial expressions of the kids when they see a fair skinned, lighter coloured hair Western with her fairer skinned, red bearded (edit; strawberry brown thanks -Ned) boyfriend. Utterly priceless!! And their parents bringing them over to us and forcing their children to say hello to us. One man even wanted me to kiss his kids!! The kids weren't so keen on this idea and I can't say that I can blame them either!!

Back in 'Nam

After 26 hours on a bus (it's not as bad as it sounds) we pulled up in Hanoi, Vietnam. A city where there are gazillion motorbikes going in a thousand different directions, but yet nobody crashed into each other. To make it even more impressive is you can cross the street without looking and be 85% confident that they will ride around you.

Another interesting thing about Hanoi is the shopping set up. Each street is dedicated to a particular thing, so there is an reg grundy street where you go if you've blown out your old jocks, a paint street, kids' toys to mention a few.

From Hanoi we arranged a one night, two day stay in Halong bay with our then new friends Ruth and Kieran who we meet on the bus to Hanoi.

Halong bay is beautiful. Aqua waters and mini mountains jotting out of the ocean. We had the option of swimming in a designated area, but it was more like been deep fried in oil from all the surrounding boats. One can only imagine what is must be like in peak season.

In the early evening we canoed through a little tunnel that opened up into a small lake which once might of been a volcano. It was pretty cool!

That night we slept on the boat before slowing meandering our way back to the wharf to get the mini bus back to Hanoi.

Next stop the hills and rice terraces of Sapa in the very north of the country.

We were to go "trekking" into a village and staying the night with a local family. It may have only just scraped in for trekking because it had been raining the previous night and the track was slippery.

I ungracefully slipped and proceeded to slid down the hill, past Ned and all in slow motion and all on my stomach!!! (Thanks for stopping me Ned!).

The rice terraces of Sapa are something else. Stunningly beautiful, but one has to wonder what made them think that digging terraces into the side of a mountain was a good idea! But it seems to work and word on the street is that's where the best rice is grown.

That night our group (maybe 8 of us) all  stayed with a local family. A young buck who had tagged along to improve on his English and who aspired to become a guide decided that home brewed rice wine was a good idea.

Let me tell you, it tasted nothing short of revolting, a cross between metho and nail polish remover. The girls bailed early, but Ned and Jamie decided to accept the challenge. They went one for one until it was time for bed.

As soon as everyone was tucked up in bed, a mystery person was heard hurling up their rice wine. In the morning fingers were pointed and allegations directed at each other until it was concluded the young buck who throw down the challenge throw up his guts!!

He didn't make the trek out with us!!

We bid farewell to Hanoi and boarded the night bus headed for Hue. A smaller town that didn't seem to offer much, but it did have an Aussie pub that was showing the football granny.

This is where we spent the day. Ned and I decided we would lash out and have a $7 (this is an expensive meal in Vietnam) and have a parma for lunch. 

The "parma" was not much bigger than a chicken nugget and came served with spag bol. For a pub run by an Australian guy....shame on him!

We did, however, have a win each on the sweep he was running so that was something. 

One day was more that enough in Hue, so the next day we headed for Hoi An and what a delight this city is.

Known mostly for its custom made clothes shop, it had a sweet little river side dotted with cafe and gift shops and a market that sold the freshest of vegetable and the most delicious looking seafood. 

After much looking around Ned and I finally decided on a tailors to get some clothes made. You simply google or troll the most recent magazines, choose what you like, choose the fabric and they whip it up ready for finally alterations all in 24 hours.

When I didn't find the material pattern I was after, they put me on the back of a motorbike and drove me to a fabric shop where the option were far greater!

Three days later we collected our final products. Three dresses for me, two winter coats, two shirts and a pair of jeans for Ned all for $150. Now the biggest challenge is to not put onto too many kilos between now and when we get home. This could be difficult with a week in Phuket with two of Ned's mates on the horizon...

We also caught up with friend of dad's (Greg) who now lives in Hoi An. 

He and his Vietnamese friend Tuong spent the next three days showing us the sites. 

We took a boat trip up the river, played pool at a beachside bar, ate frogs, scollops, BBQ pork ribs and drank far too many ba ba bas (333 beer)!

We rode the coastal roads and visited Marble mountain where shrines and statues are carved into the caves and rocks of one particular mountain.

From Hoi An we headed for the hills to a town called Dalat. 

Our biggest dilemma while there was how to keep warm. Having spent the last couple of months living in summer attire we struggled to find something to keep us warm in the cooler climates of the mountains.

Our only reason for visiting Dalat was because someone had recommended the canyoning there.

We first learnt how to abseil and then we got to it, abseiling down cliffs, through waterfalls, jumping off cliffs into the water (I jumped off the 7m, Ned conquered his fear of heights and jumped off the 11m one)  using the rapids as water slides and drifting with the current to the next point.

Awesome fun and I think that had we stayed longer we would of gone out a second time!!

We also found a restaurant that served delicious food, but even more delicious local red vino. The best bit was it cost $1 a glass!! No surprises that was the only place we ate at while in Dalat, plus the semi crazy lady that owned the restuarant provided plenty of entertainment for free (including a song for our farewell)!

 

After leaving the chill that was Dalat we were Saigon bound to what would be our final stop in Vietnam. 

We took a tour to the Chu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong hid from the Americans during the Vietnam war.

The shit that they invented and the tactics they used to trick the Americans were ingenious. Underground was equipped with a hospital, a weapons manufacturing area, kitchens as well as all the areas where they would sleep. A complete community living almost entirely underground.

After learning about the tunnels and strategies used by the Vietnamese, we made our way to the war museum and boy was this a no hold bars area.

The picture were more graphic than one could even imagine. Photos of soldiers carrying half a body that had been blown up by a bomb, photos of entire families killed by the Americans and the devastating effects of agent orange and napalm. 

Photo after photo depicted how even now, some three generations later children are still born with the most unusual of deformities due to either their parents or grandparents been exposed to agent orange. 

An interesting fact to read was that scientists and the medical profession believe that the chemical actually caused DNA mutations that continue to be inherited by the next generation. 

When a class action by Vietnamese soldiers and their families took the company that produced agent orange to court, the case was thrown out. Not idea for a country that has no social system, no disability pension and not enough facilities to look after all those affected.

After that, all flights lead to Phuket. Hold on 'cause hings could get crazy!!