Philippine Travel Journal (Updated from an earlier version) We made our way up a crude earthen walkway to the top of Mercurio Hill. Looking back over my shoulder was Olongapo City with its newer modern look, its bustling commerce, and fleets of speeding jeepney drivers hell bent on reaching their next stop. With the Nalica household now in sight, we walked further up the flattened stones buried in the packed earth. We saw hollow block houses with wooden louvered windows and old men sitting on benches drinking beer. The gumamella shrubs along the pathway, with bright red blossoms, struck me as beautiful. Some errant chickens foraging nearby for specks of discarded rice stopped eating to stare at us. On this trip we would pass through Pampanga with stops in Manila and La Union. Visions of ... read more