Myanmar and home

So, now the new passport is at the Myanmar embassy to be picked up on Friday to leave to Myanmar on the Sunday. I only had it in my hands for about 5 hours!

I think we also need some time where it's warmer like here in Manila ready for the serious heat we are expecting when we hit Yangon.... My weather widget says it's 39o there currently!

We think it is likely that whilst in Myanmar we will not be able to get online so this may be the last blog entry for a while.  If you have anything to say to us, better make it before Sunday.

We have also firmed up dates for more travel and have booked a flight back to London to arrive just after midday on Thursday 9th May. We have a maximum of 13 days before we leave again.

Sagada, 10 days in the hills.

Welcome to ten days at a contender for surreal hotels of the world competition Phillipino entry:-
where service dithered between superb and non existent. I had literately stumbled across the place about 3k out of the small high mountain town of Segada. It was a good price and it had an en-suite bathroom AND hot water AND a balcony from which the next set of pictures were shot.

An evening playing cloud pictures....

 A flying duck

 An angel

 Rabbit

 And just to be silly two elephants cuddling under the moon!

 The following morning

I have no pictures of the actual hotel because I just could not find a shot because the place was surrounded by trees, rocks and steep slopes.

Liza, I know is going to be forthright in her views that this was all 'Liza's boot camp', a truly unwarranted and unjust accusation, so we did walk, a fair way. OK a fair amount was up, but it was all very gentle really.

Our first walk took us up the gentle incline of the local hill (5367ft) but only about an hour of gentle incline to the top, where we looked down at what will undoubtedly be the theme of this blog, terrace after terrace after terrace of rice fields.

 When we first arrived the fields were almost ready to be sown, the terraces themselves were pools of mud. The stone walls between them can be up to 3m.

 The pine woods you walk through give plenty of shade and the altitude does make it cool

 The wild flowers are quite cute!

 And although all houses have a scruffy first look, they all tend to have superb location.

 That evening we had mist not sunsets!

 The next day (ish) we caught the jeepney from our deserted mountain village down to the local town of Bontoc, from there we walked up to the town of Maligcong where there were reckoned to be some spectacular terraces. The graves are kept close!

Bontoc below

 I think the town just overgrew the graveyard!

 Bontoc below again.

 And here she comes up the gentle incline!

 Right to the top..... we had a gentle stroll up the very top, along the ridge and round the butress and got to see Malicong for the first time:-

 My wife looking happy, fresh and not thirsty!....

We thought these didn't look as spectacular until you get not only closer but into the terraces........

The more spectacular it becomes.

 The bright green patches are the seedlings, almost ready to be planted out into the other terraces.
Also notice the damage to the terrace middle-left these things have to be constantly maintained...
Thirdly note how the terrace is dammed with mud you can only walk on the paths unless you have a guide.... not only is it an amazing 3d maze you can also tread in the wrong place, break the wall and drain the pool.
To actually walk across them needs quite a head for heights as a slip is either a large fall into mud or a small fall into mud!

As you can see, most if it is wall not terrace so these used to be used; to plant sweet potato into. However not at this time of year and we did not find out if this was still done.

 The more I saw of these terraces, the more amazed I became, the cover significant parts of the area around here. If they are as old as reported I cannot think, or find anything on a quick trawl through the web of anything nearly as significant, or as large or as old of a structure on the planet that has been in continuous use for what it was originally intended. The longest surviving design in the world!

 To talk of more intellectual things, looks like tomato ketchup, tastes like tomato ketchup.....!!!

And to finish off the photos, another view from the balcony, a gold leafed plant!

Our hotel catered for the local trade, Sagada is a mountain resort where the locals drive up out of the cities at weekends so it is a weekend only place. We had the 25 room hotel to ourselves Sunday afternoon until Friday afternoon then over both the weekends the place would be full. The locals also always travel mob handed, all groups were at least 5 often 8 or 12. These groups would arrive and treat the place as their own, walking round the back to the log pile, lighting a fire in the lawn, bring in their own food and drink and start cooking!, To see one group kick off the large ornamental fire in the lounge only to start grilling fish on it made us smile. While during the week we played a perpetual game of 'hunt the staff'.

Tuesday we caught the first bus back to Bagio, where after a 6 hour coach ride over the mountains in the pouring rain we stopped for 35 min before getting another 6 hour bus to Manila, I think that the long rest beforehand - just strolling up gentle inclines - made this much easier than it sounds especially as we arrived about 12.30pm in our hotel to find, courtesy of the British embassy Hong Kong this:-

Love to all.

Siquijor and then 700 miles north, a four day epic!

 We Headed from Dumagette to the island of Siquijor where we found the coast, the coral, and more.

Liza:-Siquijor

We stayed on a resort on this cute little island.  It feels slightly like being in a bubble because all your food and needs are sorted out by friendly people but its nice to be cosseted once in a while.  We took a trip round the island and the views were magnificent.
We also went snorkelling at low tide.  It was amazing because we were just above the coral and were swimming with the fish.  I began to understand why people love to go diving because normally you have to dive to get that close to things.  I still don't fancy it much though because of all the kit, I just don't like wet suits.  We went out again when the tide was quite high and it made such a difference looking at the same environment when it was completely submerged and several feet in water the visibility was amazing letting us easily pear at this under water world.  We made some of the guest quite jealous because we came back and described a long eel like thing we had seen and it turned out it was a shy sea snake that is difficult to see.

When it came to taking photos, sunsets!.....

 We did do a lot more here, we took a trip up the mountains however the camera took an off day.



We moved on via another ferry to the island of Bahol, a wonderful and weird place. This was where the Spanish fist set up shop and where Magellan stopped.

In the nearest town was this 17th century Bell Tower.... all falling to pieces.

We stayed in the deepest Jungle at a place with film names huts. Above is view from hut, below the hut.

 No prizes for guessing the name of our hut.

The place was accessed by 267 steps!!! great fun in and out when we left to go on adventures which consisted of:-



The deep deep jungle in which we stayed.....in which lived Tarsiers... the worlds smallest primate. Their main problem is their cuteness!

After which we stopped at a small roadside stall and were invited in to be given too much food and too much beer by what turned out to be the local copper. We had a whole afternoons chat in which cock fighting was big. Here he is with his best hope for the next competition.

Our other visit from here was to the chocolate hills which look like this:-

I did take one of Liza here but am sure without asking she will not want it published!

These are created by volcanic uplift of coral reefs for those who needed to know.

A cock fight

We lift Bahol and started out epic journey, all of 700 miles but a full four days:-

Day one Ferry to Cebu where we spent the night... think Liverpool in the 70's not a nice place but they did sell Chubby Bars!!

Day Two
Then the 26 h ferry journey to Manila, great fun but photo free....

Day Three
Arriving in Manila at 8.00 am but on the 9.00 am bus out to Baguio a large town which was full of Phillipinos doing Ash Wednesday, ash crosses worn by many. ... The only photo of here is the hotels power cut provision.

Day Four

On the six hour bus epic to   Some sights on the way.

Note the rice fields... apparently 2000y old stone walls here, In Bontoc there are regular 1 hour jeepneys to Sagada where we are now staying deep in the North Philippines mountains, 1000m make it a little cooler.

Dusk setting last night over Sagada where we intend to be quiet and slow for a while after the island hopping epic of the southern Philippines.

Too much travel not enough washing, hopefully we have sorted clean clothes for the morrow!!