10 days in the Phillippines and 8 hours in Hong Kong

In between our RV summer trips we always try to explore new other places, this year we chose to visit the Philippines for 10 days and stop on the way back in Hong Kong with enough time to see the largest Buddha in the East.

The Philippines (Filipino: Pilipinas) is an archipelago in South-East Asia of more than seven thousand islands located between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea at the very eastern edge of Asia.

Many wonderful beaches are just part of one of the world's longest coastlines and it takes about 20 years to spend a day on every island. Since Spanish colonial times, the country has been Asia's largest Catholic country. Over a hundred ethnic groups, a mixture of foreign influences and a fusion of culture and arts have enhanced the uniqueness of the Filipino identity and the wonder that is the Philippines.

January is without doubt one of the most popular times of the year for a Philippines holiday. The dry season is in full swing, so even the more remote areas are accessible, and the cooler temperatures make for comfortable sightseeing and perfect beach weather.

After a long flight with a connection in Hong Kong we arrived in Manila the Capitol that is located on the biggest of the Philippines Island Luzon inhabited with 45 million people.

 

Clean Comfort room                                       Night time in downtown Manila

 Laundry anyone?

Town and village traffic

Ancient 3 floor Hut,sutable for 15 paople.

On the 3rd day we visited Lake Taal by sailing to the live volcano located in the middle of the Lake and then by horses to the “mouth” of the volcano.

    

The horse ride uphill was in some way OK we could hold a handle on the saddle in front of us, but going down was a bit of a challenge, one hand on the handle and one on a rope next to the horses tail to avoid sliding forward , I still can feel my behind....anyhow we made it in one piece all the way down.

The traffic all around Manila is terrible, so we had a payed policeman on a motorcycle that "opened" the way for our bus, sometimes he let us even driving on the wrong lane, he did it by riding in front of the bus and signaling the traffic aside, we felt like royalty..and saved hours to get from one place to another.

The Policeman OPENING for us the road.

The get to Pagasanjan Falls we used narrow boats pulled by two natives on a river in a deep canyon, the amazing thing is to see how the use their legs to avoid boulders and sometimes pull the boat upstream over rocks, the scenery along the way is gorgeous , deep canyon covered with vegetation and many waterfalls dropping from the top to the river, at the end of the canyon we left the boat for a raft that was pulled to and behind the big falls.

On the way to the falls we visited a remote village by ridding on a cart that was pushed on an old Japanese railroad from the second world road, at the end of the road the cart was lifted and turned around ready to ride back to the entrance of the village, it sure was another adventure we never experienced before.

A local flight took us Banaue in the Northern part of Luzon Island to visit the rice fields considered to be the 8th miracle of the world being at 1500 meters (4500 feet) above sea level worked by the Ifugao tribe.

To get there from our hotel we used a small local bus, some sat inside and some on the roof as we did, I think it was one of the most dangerous things I did since my service, the bus was squeaking on every corner and making a funny noise whenever the driver hit the brakes, but looking at the front tire made me wonder that we just had a miracle - we made it in one piece all the way down.

I asked the driver to exchange the front tire with the spare one that looked a bit better while we hiked the rice fields, and he actually did it, but I am not sure if he will not do the exchange again and hope that the next crazy tourist will not go into detailes...

Take a look at the Tire on the bus below….smooth like a baby’s ass.

20 Cents to use the restroom…a hole in the ground with no sewer system.

Climbing back from the rice fields through the village we experienced rice harvesting and saw the conditions of the day to day life based on hand labor totally.

Wallmart….

Guest House.

Leaving the rice fields we traveled the Island of Mindoro to Puerto Galera , white beaches, snorkeling above the corals ,resting , having BBQ on the beach and finding the inside peace on a deserted beach.

Leaving the rice fields we traveled the Island of Mindoro to Puerto Galera , white beaches, snorkeling above the corals ,resting , having BBQ on the beach and finding the inside peace on a deserted beach.

On the last day in the Philippines we had a great buffet meal with a traditional show, dance and hand reselling between the tribes ,later they asked if any one of the audience is willing to take a shot , well I did and actually beat him with my right arm but lost with my left...

On the way back home we used the 7 hour layover in Hong Kong to visit the biggest Buddha, a bus from the airport brought us to the cable cart and after an hour we were in front of uphill 1200 steps to the statue which we climbed partly due the short time we had.

Searching ,learning and experiencing the different and the unusual is LIFE.