Magpet, Davao and Mount Apo....Mindanao, Southern Philippines.

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Southern Mindanao, Philippines. For once, I'm just going to try writing from my memory, as the memory is strong. I conceived of this trip 3 or 4 years ago, I always tend to seek out places not many travelers go. My reasoning is simple: I'll find more authentic culture, be able to interact with locals more, see things not completely changed by the dynamics of widespread tourism. There aren't many places on the planet like that, I keep managing to find a few though. Sometimes they are spots that have had some trouble in the past, sometimes they are just out of the way in a country that has better known locations. I don't delude myself into thinking I'm the first one to get there or that local people don't want my tourist dollar. On the other hand though, the memories are often priceless for me.

3 years ago, I was on my way to the Phillippines, soon after President Duterte assumed power. He exported his strong armed ways and extrajudicial killings from his province to the whole of the Philippines, I thought it better that I let things settle down a bit. It's a complex topic, no doubt the vigilante squads that Duterte is a proponent of shouldn't be a part of a civilized society. On the other hand, they say that before him, drug violence and corruption were rampant in the Philippines, people didn't feel safe on their own streets. Duterte, having been mayor of the southern city of Davao for years, had made that city statistically the safest in Asia. He had formidable challenges, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and more violent and focused Abu Sayaaf ISIS loyal group have operated for years in Mindanao, not far from where Davao is. Duterte's "one strike you are banished and two strikes you're dead" method was extreme, but ultimately became attractive to the rest of the Philippines, enough to elect him president. I'm going to let that go now, and tell you about the good, kind people of this country.

A word about Abu Sayaaf. Despite the Philippines military cracking down hard on them a number of times, they have found fertile recruitment grounds among disaffected Muslim youth in Zamboanga, Jolo, Basilan and Tawi Tawi Islands in the far southwest of the country. They have survived, and sometimes thrived, by hiding in dense jungles, currying the favor of locals by distributing proceeds from some very high profile kidnapping for money efforts. Although some infiltration by ISIS elements has truly radicalized a segment, most of the group functions as bandits, warlords and seems to be more interested in money and power than ideology. Their massively "successful" kidnappings have been primarily in the territories I mentioned and once in Palawan, once in Samal Island. They also pulled off one significant bombing at the Davao airport and a shocking raid a number of years ago at a night market in Davao. The police and military have responded by the methods we spoke of earlier, becoming was more vigilant and much more armed. Abu Sayaaf's reach and influence appear to be waning and geographically isolated.

The kind people of Mindanao have suffered by this violence and more importantly, been mostly taken off the map of places that tourists consider to travel. This is a true shame, as the vast part of this region is stunningly beautiful and incredibly welcoming. As I experienced in earlier travels in Somaliland, there are often very safe areas in regions that have had some troubles. So, I did my research, planned to stay far away from the southwest part of Mindanao, avoid the coastline. I mentioned that I had chosen not to go three years ago, this year I felt things had settled down politically and that the time was right. I had been watching Philippines Airlines tickets for the direct flight from Vancouver BC to Manila, was really surprised that the prices seemed to be very good and unchanged with short notice flights. Then a gift: a big snow hit Seattle early February 2019, more was said to be on its way. I knew real estate would slow. I bought my ticket one day at 2PM, packed my bags, drove away from Seattle at 4PM. At 9PM that night, my flight left Vancouver. Stunned and excited, I was on my way. I had three weeks to travel, lots of ideas but no fixed plans. It looked like the domestic flight network was good, the Philippines are surprisingly large so I would definitely use internal flights.

The flight over was smooth, I didn't sleep much, many conversations with Filipinos who live in Canada returning for visits home. I learned more about the complex history with Spanish rule for more than 200 years, US sugarcane company influence, the long history of US military presence, brutal Japanese occupation during WW2 and liberation and subsequent military presence by the US. I learned of the love/hate relationship the Philippines has with US service members, learned that more Filipinos speak very good English. I buried my head in my guide book. At some point, I realized that there was wifi available on the plane, I popped on and found a flight leaving Manila 2 hours after I arrived for Davao. I pushed the button and booked it, excited and a little scared. I hit the ground, got through immigration pretty well, thought I had a decent amount of time to get to my domestic flight.

I chatted with some helpful people in an information booth, was shocked to find out that the other "terminal" was on the other side of town not even connected to the airport I flew into, even though it was considered the same airport. The next transfer bus was an hour away, I would miss my flight. I went outside, grabbed a cab, paid him extra to take a fast expressway road, still heavy with Manila traffic. We got to the other terminal 45 minutes before flight time, then there was another very intense security screening and checkin. I was finally through 20 minutes before my flight, I threw my pack on, sprinted the long concourse, got to my gate sweaty just as they were about to close the door. I was last one on, got to my seat out of breath. We lifted off for our 2 hour flight to Davao, I was the only non Filipino on the flight. People were very kind, smiling, flight attendant brought me a cold beer. People asked me what my plans were, a number of them said "thank you for coming". As we flew across the beautiful blue waters and circled into Davao Airport, I knew that this had been a great choice.

There was more security screening in the airport, guard dogs, military and policemen with very big guns. In the midst of that though, smiles were everywhere, there was a police musical band playing and singing. Humidity hung heavy in the air, fruit trees outside, it was hot and tropical here. I traded a little money, walked out into the sun, it was now about 10:30AM. There were buses and cabs, I chose to just strap on my pack and walk out of the airport on foot. It was hotter than I imagined, hadn't changed into shorts yet. I stopped in a little cafe and popped on my shorts and flip flops. I got to the main road, heard that Davao proper, the city of about 2 million people, was 10 miles or so away. I could not have met more friendly people, people seemed genuinely happy that I was there as a traveler. Many colorful "jeepneys" (local buses) passed by, I waved a number of them off and walked about 2 miles, finally giving in to the heat and hopping on one. I had read about an interesting park in the middle of Davao and had the driver drop me off close to it. There was a guy selling fresh whole coconuts outside, I grabbed one and happily sucked down the juice, wandered the lush grounds. There were (in the park) large sculptures of local animals and indigenous tribes ingeniously crafted by a prolific local artist named Kublai Millan. I had read that his mother owned and ran a funky guesthouse nearby called Ponce Suites and that Kublai's art was all over the guesthouse inside and out. It was supposed to be fantastic, I had to see it.

It was hot but felt revitalized, walked about a half a mile. I got contradictory directions but finally found the place, evident by the massive whimsical sculptures out front. Amazingly, they had an AC room for about $15, I grabbed it, threw my things down, had another cold beer and a shower. It was probably now 3PM in the afternoon. I wandered around the guesthouse, met a few expats and a sprinkling of travelers, a number of them Western men married to Filipina women. The art around the hotel was just fantastic, creative, funky beyond belief. paintings, sculptures, some artistic, some functions, like a stairway in the form of a large lizard. I chilled for awhile, enjoying the AC. As it cooled in the evening a bit (relatively speaking) I wandered over to the Roxas night street market, started to get a feel for some of the tasty delicacies available. Coconut milk seemed to be everywhere, as well as tasty seafood and chicken skewers. Fresh fruit was in abundance, as well as welcoming people. I had some nice chats and then made my way back to my room, a great first day by any measure, crashed hard until morning.

Up early and excited the next morning, hopped a ride on a jeepney to the Ecoland bus station, was told there were somewhat frequent buses to where I was dreaming of going. The bus station was buzzing with activity but seemed orderly. I found a dark instant coffee, some pancakey things make with coconut and drizzled with syrup, plus a bag of quail eggs. I hopped on the comfortable larger bus with my breaky. The AC was way too cold, threw on a sweatshirt as we sped west on the coastal road. It was pretty early so there were only about 6 or 7 people on my bus, one guy seemed perplexed that I was headed the direction I was. He told me that although he had seen a few Western hikers going with local guides to climb Mt Apo, he hadn't seen someone on their own before. The ride was really pretty, skirting the south side of the volcano, lush soil and crops all around, Davao Gulf and sea to the left. We rolled through a good sized town called Digos City and then on to Kidipawan, on the west side of the big mountain.

I hopped off at the bustling bus station, was walked by a guy on my bus over to a part of the station where tricycles (tuk-tuks) were. A man was calling out "Magpet, Magpet" needed one more rider for the journey. That was me, I hopped on his motorcycle sitting sideways, the sidecar already full of people. Everybody smiled, the sun was shining, we zipped off down smaller roads into the beautiful countryside. I had discovered Magpet quite by accident a month or so earlier while researching the area. I wanted to go to a smaller town somewhat close to Mount Apo, a place that was unique and different. I knew from past trips that villages near volcanoes can be beautiful, lush soil, sometimes waterfalls. I had located this place just as a blip on a map, looked like about 45,000 people. I found this obscure link on the computer mentioning the ecotourism potential of the area, indeed beautiful waterfalls, access to trails to climb Mt Apo, existence of some of the last indigenous tribes in the Philippines. It almost looked like a website that was created with hope, then the reality of the problems in Mindanao set in and people never came. It looked extremely interesting and I was on my way. It turned out to be a brilliant decision.

About 30 minutes later we rolled into Magpet, I was dropped at the main intersection of this small town. It was a little dusty though seemed to have many trees. It was in an area of rolling hills, I could see larger mountains in the background. It was hot outside, but not stifling as we had gained elevation since I had left Davao. I asked a couple people I met on the street if there was anywhere to stay for the night, someone mentioned a nice hotel in the hills about 20 minutes away. I wasn't interested in that, wanted to be in town in a place I could get to know the local people and really experience the culture here, access motos for journeys I might take, be close to life, food, laughter, vibrancy. Asked a few more people, no luck. Found a little cafe, sat down and ordered a tasty bowl of chicken soup and a delicious halo halo ice cream dessert. Toward the end of my meal, the really sweet owner walked over, asked me what I was looking for. It became apparent that no tourists come to this town. I was surprised as it seemed to be a great location, filled with friendly people and beautiful scenery. Well, maybe I was the first, a beacon for others who would come later. That is in part why I take the time to write these little blogs.

So the owner asked me to sit tight, went to talk with someone, then called someone else. She was unbelievably sweet in helping me, found a friend of a friend who had some rooms that were used from time to time by visiting preachers and people passing through. Her husband walked me through back streets in the town over there, I met the very sweet people who lived in the place next door to where the room was. It was actually in a building of about 6 rooms that was completely empty. They showed me to a small but tidy room, shower just outside, the room even had AC. They asked me if $9 would be okay? Amazing, great, I was home. There was magic in this town, i could feel it. I was excited to be here and eager to explore. Once I was settled and showered, I walked out, found a guy over on the corner who took me out exploring on his motorcycle for most of the afternoon for about $5. We rode way up to an indigenous village called Manobo, went to the stunning Bongolanon jungle waterfall, stopped by the Lake Agco Hot Springs and just drove around the countryside. I was rather shocked, this place was straight up gorgeous, yet no tourists, none, zero, only me.

The next day I just relaxed, worked through some jet lag, got to know the people next door, who had a great little family. I was quickly adopted by them and shared coffee, food and stories. The food was tasty in this region, delicious fruits, roast pork, chicken soup, lots of things I couldn't remember. I started meeting all kinds of great people, getting invitations to do a variety of things, go to church, go to family picnics. It was almost overwhelming, I loved these people and felt like i had discovered something very special in Magpet. It makes me smile ear to ear now to think of it. I had decided I wanted to climb Mt Apo, that night a guy came by who had said he would be willing to guide me, we were to speak of details. We got everything sorted, agreed on a very reasonable price for him to guide me, guess we needed a porter too to carry food, tent, little stove, supplies. They told me that there were some water sources on the trail but that they would take a little extra just in case. After an evening stroll in the cooler air, I packed my smaller day pack for the next morning, I would be picked up early by moto. I slept pretty well, awoken by village chickens about 5AM, bite to eat then got picked up and I was on my way.

We stopped first at the tourism office, to get my permits for the trek, at 9,500 feet the highest mountain in the Philippines. It looked like no one came in this tourism office, yet it was very well run and I was issued a professional looking permit and badge. Again, it seemed many of the pieces were here for the tourism and backpacking culture in this area to take off, I really hope it does someday as these good people deserve it. The tourism official told me it got cold on the mountain, asked if we had good supplies. My guide said we did, we hopped on the moto and were off, arriving 20 minutes later at the beautiful waterfall I had seen earlier. Soon, we were joined by the porter, another one of the Manobo tribe members. The guys finished getting supplies, they found some local brandy and beers I had asked for, we strapped on our packs. It was getting hot, we headed out up a very steep trail behind the waterfall. We were off, into the first canopy of trees, the settlement around the waterfall faded into the distance. I was alone, with two guys I didn't know, in the middle of the jungle. The guys spoke poor English, their answers were somewhat cryptic about how long our hike would take this day. The one thing I did know was that we were headed to a place called Lake Venado to tent for the night, 7000 feet on the flanks of Mount Apo, heard it was beautiful. Maybe the guys were hedging on how long it would take because they didn't know my fitness level.

The trails were pretty good, albeit steep. We crossed a few rivers, were actually under jungle cover most of the day, made the midday heat more bearable. My jet lag was better, I felt strong on the trail, amazing how my incline treadmill training simulates hiking. We stopped a couple times for food and water but hiked mostly straight through. I would say we were a solid 7 hours on the trail, hiked up and down many ridges, gaining elevation significantly. We came through a misty, muddy giant fern filled area and finally broke out of the trees at Lake Venado campsite, noticeably cooler. We skirted the jungle behind us, walked across the grassland leading to a place we would camp, stunning point blank views of Mount Apo on the other side of the lake. We got to a protected place were a few other groups had pitched their tents, some people planning to summit the next morning, some having just submitted and camping here for the night. Lake Venado is so perfect as there is a water source, the ability to bathe in the lake (carefully as legend has it that a spirit takes bathers sometimes). There actually were about 4 hiking groups, we had the chance to share food with them, broke out the brandy and had fun time, in this mountain paradise with our tents around. There is something to meeting others in a place like this, I've done it before and it's pretty wonderful, to be in the same place at the same time. I met a Canadian guy and his Filipino wife, a couple from Belgium and a few Filipino mountain climbers.

Finally turned in, the guys had brought a tent for me and one for them. They gave me a small blanket, I was worried as it was starting to get colder. I actually had no idea how cold it would get later, it dropped close to freezing. My blanket wasn't nearly good enough, I put of the three long shirts I brought , the two long pants, my hat, curled up the best i could but was extremely cold. My first thought was to be angry at my guides for not preparing me better, I learned though that it had gotten a lot colder than anyone imagined it would during the night. I was so cold I literally slept not one minute during the night, getting up multiple times to move around and warm myself. The original plan had been to wake hours before sunrise, summit the mountain in 3 hours and be there as the sun came up. I had also heard that the trail was muddy, whatever I wore would be soaked. If we sumitted, we would be sleeping in the tent at the lake one more night. I was exhausted, freezing, made the decision not to summit as I clearly didn't have the right clothes or blankets. If I were to summit, the clothes that barely kept me warm enough would be wet and cold. Sometimes you don't have to make it to the top to have a great trip. I choose to hang out at the beautiful alpine lake.

I got up, exhausted but at peace with the decision. Got some warm coffee and food in me, took a while to warm up but the sun came up and helped. Got some beautiful lake-mountain photos, explored and relaxed around, decided to hit the trail about 11AM. I wanted to go a different direction, headed toward Lake Agco. A fellow hiker told me the trail was called "90 degrees", I laughed and told them that the rules of physics made that impossible. They returned the laugh and just said "you will see". Crazy crazy trail, they were right. Much of the first two hours was climbing down handmade ladders, some of the steepest slope I had ever seen. Thankfully it wasn't raining but the ground was still soft under the jungle trees. We crossed a few more rivers, some on nice footbridges, others on ones that were quite rudimentary. It was hot, really tired from the hard hike the day before and lack of sleep. After 4 hours of brutal decline and climbing temperatures, we finally hit the main road, slipped into a little store and had a cold Coca Cola, can't tell you how good it tasted. Crazy journey, exhausted and thrilled. I said good bye to my guides, a little upset about not summitting but pretty thrilled at the adventure I had. There didn't seem to be any rides going the direction I was , Lake Agco was mellow as it was a weekday. I flagged down a passing moto, he was fortunately going close to Magnet and dropped me off, going a really pretty way I wasn't familiar with. We stopped at another waterfall and some other villages, there seemed to be so much to see here. I got back to my room, no one around, showered, took a power nap.

I was so excited to talk about the hike, I neglected to speak about the fun day I had in Magpet before I left for the hike. One of the friends of the cafe owner took me all over to 3 or 4 different church services. We passed rubber tree plantations, lots of fruit trees, winding in and out on foot and on motorcycle. I was welcomed in each place I went, some Catholic, some Evangelical, even though they were dressed nice and I was wearing shorts and flip flops. The places were all pretty much dirt floors and open air to stay cool on hot days, Some had fans which the people were nice enough to point at me. The woman seemed happy that I was with her, made a speech welcoming me in each church and urged me to say something to each group of people. It was a funny day, lots of nice people, smiles, hugs and singing voices. I was dropped off at my room and then immediately picked up in a sweet SUV by the owner of the cafe and her husband. Loads of family members joined us. We drove out to the outskirts of town to a lovely little spot they own next to a bubbling river, a pavilion where they have family picnics. It was a most excellent day. I was welcomed as an honored guest by their family, older and younger relatives, parents, aunties, uncles. There were huge amounts of food and they made sure I ate it, comfortable breezes coming from the river. A bunch of the younger people waded across the river to a swimming hole. The water was cool and clean, i had to join them. That night, amazingly, some finds picked me up and took me over to a BBQ out back of their house, cold beers too.

The morning after my big hike, I needed money and the one ATM in Magpet wasn't working. I took a tricycle (tuk tuk) back to the larger city of Kidipawan that I had come from only 4 days ago. Compared to my lovely peaceful Magpet, it seemed polluted, congested, dry, dusty, hot. I got my money and left, walking around the interesting fish market first. My things were back in Magpet, I had the rest of this day and night there. I rolled back and rested in the afternoon as the day was hot. I had planned to leave the next day and was really struggling with it. These people were so nice but i knew I had much more of the Philippines to see. That evening, I was invited over to another family gathering, more very tasty food and good family time, a gathering of the extended family of the people who live next to the place I stayed. Later that evening, I went back for one more visit and a final celebratory halo halo dessert with the owner (and husband) of the cafe I first landed at when i first got here. I gave them big hugs, almost amazing what had happened to me in just a few days. People were greeting me all over the streets with hellos, what a friendly and amazing place. As I fell into sleep that night, I did it with a smile on my face.

The next morning, after some strong coffee and eggs and bread with my next door friends, I hopped in a tricycle and was on my way, transitioned well to a minivan that took me all the way back to the big city of Davao, only blocks from my guesthouse I had stayed before. They had the same room for me, the city felt fun and welcoming, not slightly scary like it had days before. It's always like that. You plan, you have fear, are a little nervous, then you realize that the nervousness has very little basis in reality. I settled in, walked down by the port, relaxed a bit. Later that evening, I had arranged to meet the Canadian guy and his Filipino wife at a (believe it) cowboy bar in a popular part of the city. The place was packed, it was Valentines Day. The live musicians were excellent, a lot of covers but very well performed. There is a joke that one of the Philippines main exports is cover bands, they play on cruise ships, casinos all over the world. It's true, they are good. Pretty cool to reconnect with my friends from the mountain. We ate, drank, told stories about the brutal descent down the steep trail, we had gone separately. In the midst of our evening, they told me all kinds of things about other amazing places in this area, that I could stay with them for the next couple weeks and be welcomed to family events.

I was so tempted, great people. Again I somehow managed to say "thanks but no thanks", I had a journey coming up, a plane flight up to another island of Samar the next day. I strolled back to my funky art hotel, in this city of Davao that i didn't know at all a week ago and now knew pretty well. The policemen with huge machine guns who looked menacing before, no just looked like nice guys with big guns and smiles protecting me. I had one more beer on the patio with some locals artists and headed off to another good sleep. So many memories, time to travel. The next morning i was up, off to the airport and the next part of the trip. Thanks for an amazing week to ALL the good people of Magpet and Davao, Mindanao.

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