Hikes, Heavenly Terraces, and Hanging Coffins

Since returning to the Philippines last week we’ve been up in the Cordillera- a mountainous area in the middle of the main island of Luzon.  We traveled with our cousin Baba on an eco-tour sponsored by the Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement (SITMO).  The focus of the tour was a rice planting event in the municipality of Hungduan.  We also hiked around the amazing rice terraces of Kiangan and Batad.  After the tour ended, we stayed behind in Banaue and made our way to Sagada via Bontoc (which has a suprisingly well done museum).  In Sagada we got to check out some hanging coffins and a neat waterfall.  Tomorrow we’re back to city life (Baguio City) and visiting family!

One Night in Bangkok…

Or at the very least, one full night in Bangkok.  We arrived early yesterday morning and are headed out on a flight at 1:35 tonight (unfortunately, that’s not a typo).  Bangkok has made some significant progress in terms of making it easier for non-Thais to get around since I first came here in 1998.  The Skytrain and MRT are big helps in enabling people to get around without having to constantly argue with tuk-tuk (open tricycle-type motorcycle driven informal taxis) drivers and taxi drivers.  At the train station instead of trying to rip us off people directed us to the the ticketbooth that housed an English speaking attendant and someone walked us to our train car to make sure we found it okay (and didn’t ask for money!).  Damon wasn’t feeling particularly great yesterday so I ran a couple of errands and then checked out the Jim Thompson House.  Today we spent the day checking out the National Museum which has some amazing pieces in it- including some 5th and 6th century buddhist sculpture, the chariots used for Royal funerals, and really good exhibits on Thai history.  We are currently enjoying a Tiger Beer and some free internet at Cabbages and Condoms- a restaurant and gift shop run by the Population and Community Development Association.  The premise is that condoms should be as readily available as cabbages.  In addition to encouraging family planning, the group is working on water resource management programs and environmental programs among others. While traveling in Costa Rica we got to talking about having your money go to people/organizations that work for causes that you support- it’s great to know that proceeds are going to causes we believe in!

Last Day in Laos

We’ve had a fun week of exploring Laos- we got to visit Lot Khom Lor (a limestone cave) and the Si Phan Don (4,000 islands) region.  Highlights included the sawngtheow (benches on the back of a pickup truck transforming it into a mode of public transport) ride to our hotel, boat trips to the cave and to see the Irrawaddy Dolphins on the Cambodian border, actually seeing freshwater dolphins, and a visit to Wat Phu Champasak (an Angkor era temple that had an ancient road leading all the way to Angkor Wat!).  Tomorrow we’re off to Bangkok via the night train and then we’ve got one night in Bangkok!

Capitol City Hopping!

From Manila we jetted off to Bangkok via Cebu Pacific (an asian low cost airline), enjoyed a lovely stay at the Le Bua (thanks to our friends Colleen and Mike who got us gift certificates for Small Luxury Hotels for us for our wedding), wandered around China Town, had some delicious rambutan and lychee shakes, and caught a train for Nong Khai, Thailand (about 20 minutes drive from Vientiane).  After a brief scare where we thought our bags were gone for good (always keep bags with you when crossing international borders….), we made it to Vientiane.  For my birthday we rented bikes, checked out some amazing temples and other sights, ate yummy French and Laotian food, and are getting ready to head out of the city.  We’ll spend Damon’s birthday checking out some of the Laos countryside as we make our way to what’s supposed to be a really cool limestone cave in central Laos.

Merry New Year!

Squirt and Kim made it safe and sound to Manila. After they arrived we whisked them off to the domestic terminal where we caught a domestic flight to Caticlan. From there it was a 3 minute van ride to a boat to a trike to the hotel. After 24 hours in transit, they made it to Boracay.

Unfortunately the weather didn’t really cooperate during the 3 days we were there. It was overcast most of the time but the drizzles held off for some fantastic fireworks. I’ve seen some pretty amazing fireworks in my day (in particular the ones at our college Reunions and in Japan). The ones we saw last weekend win the prize for the longest duration- about 45 minutes- of almost non-stop fireworks. The fireworks were set off at several resorts along the beach which meant that no one place actually paid for that many fireworks, but we got to enjoy them all.

It turned out that a few of my cousins and cousins-in-laws were there so we were able to spend time with them.

 

 

DJ Matt Caselli drew quite the crowd on New Year’s Eve.

After 3 days of overcast skies and drizzle the few hours of sunshine were a great way to start the new year.

Tonight we’re off to Bangkok from where we’ll catch a train towards Laos. We’ve got 2 weeks there before we return for a whirlwind transit day before heading back up to Banaue to join a group planting rice up in the rice terraces. We hope your 2007 is off to a great start!