Blogs from Banaue, Philippines, Asia

These are the photos for the last blog entry.... read more

The story of today is a story of when poor planning and over ambition meets good Karma and plain dumb luck. A day that started off on the wrong foot, and time seemed to be going out of control, turned into somehow working. Our day started lazy, waking up at 8:30, leaving at 9:00, accidentally passing our bus stop on our way to Los Banos. Our plan was to climb mount Makiling, enjoy the hot springs of Laguna, and if there was time left to go rafting. It would turn out that we did not have enough time for item #1 on that list. By the time we got to mount Makiling, it was already 3, but we said, never mind, lets do this! 3 hours of mountain climbing later, with our shirts drenched in sweat, ... read more

We couldn’t have asked for better weather today. The sun was shining but there was a cool breeze to keep the temperature at a perfect level. Tour guide Jay met us in the morning and we headed to the first lookout point over the rice terraces close to Banaue city center. At the second look out the view is the same photo you will find on the 1000 peso bill. A man who usually works in the field was dressed up in his local tribal clothing in hopes to make a few extra pesos having pictures taken. We were shown a traditional house that people used to live in. Animal skulls were hung on the outside which signifies wealth. When you butchered an animal you’d share it with others in your village. At the third look ... read more

After an incredible few weeks in Borneo, we didn't think anything could beat it... but the Philippines have come very close. Not even on our itinerary originally, after hearing some amazing stories, we decided that it couldn't be missed! We flew into the capital, Manila, and were bombarded with the chaos of the over populated city; taxis, buses, tricycles, people, dogs and jeepneys everywhere! Although very hectic, and at times grotty, compared to many other southeast Asian cities, Manila did have a lot of character and we had great fun traveling around it in our new favorite form of transport; the jeepney!  Now the 'jeepney' deserves a blog to itself! They are absolutely brilliant! They are converted army trucks and each one has it's own unique touch and design determined by it's owner, some even have flashing ... read more

First of all sorry that we have got a bit far behind with the blogs, internet access has been somewhat sparse here in the Philippine Islands. We have nearly completed our 3 week visas and are about to embark on our journey to Indonesia tomorrow. The Philippines is so very different to anywhere else that we have been so far, so we have decided to note some of our observations. Jeepneys The face of the Philippines; these colourful souped up American trucks are used as a form of public transport. You can bring along any luggage you like for a price, as the driver has no qualms about strapping barrels on the roof, chickens to the back, or wrestling a boat engine between the benches. Jeepneys run both short routes within cities and long distance routes ... read more

The scenery to Bontoc from Sagada is spectacular but I was so tired I fell asleep. In Bontoc we asked around where buses leave for Banaue, we got pointed to this dilapidated ugly bus,sign say Santiago but we were assured it goes through Banaue. It was full and some people standing, three people in my aisle, so uncomfortable, and it started raining they did not cover the roof where our packs are so i prepare for soggy clothes later. The ride was rough, dirt roads and hairpin turns but somehow we made it to Banaue before noontime. We decided to head to People's GH, very cheap for only 200 pesos a night, Jonas and I dropped our stuff in my room and had a quick lunch and we took a hired trike to Batad, about one ... read more

On our return to the Philippines we spent just one night and day in Manila before catching our night bus all the way up the Banaue in the Cordillera region, famed for it's rice terraces and beautiful mountain views. The bus was far from the best we've been on but like most transport in the Philippines it was stupidly cheap for a 9 hour journey at P450 (£5.92) so we didn't complain. We arrived in Banaue at around 7am and after only a few hours sleep on the bus we decided we'd have a relaxing day to catch up on sleep and take in the tiny town. In retrospect we could really have fitted in a trip to the famous viewing area overlooking the town but hindsight is a wonderful thing that lives only in the ... read more