It was the most diverse group of people I think I’ve ever travelled with, which made for some very interesting conversations during the course of the trip.
Aruna – my fellow AYAD and trusty flatmate who has become a close friend. Aruna invited her friend from Germany … 
Quyen – a just married Vietnamese/German who was 3 when they fled the Vietnam war seeking asylum in Germany. Quyen brought her friend …
Stephan –from Berlin (east side) who was aged 12 when the wall came down, now IT consultant in Munich.
Me – ... what can I say, i felt pretty boring compared to my travel buddies! I invited my friend from Manila….
Imelda – the life of the party, marketing guru and very generous person who was 6 when Marcos declared Martial law. Imelda brought 2 friends …
Cookie – the hilariously funny, very camp, fashion designer from Manila.
Shirley – the very sophisticated fashion designer from Manila.
Patrick – another AYAD who heard about the trip and tagged along for part of it. He’s the long haired walking encyclopaedia and heavy metal fan from Surry Hills.
So we had a Hindu, a budhist, an athiest, a protestant, a catholic ... and we also picked up Jeff along the way - a Mormon from Utah and well travelled motivational speaker who was very proud of his Obama belt he’d picked up in China for a US$1! As Imelda liked to joke - we were the United Nations!
Our first stop, after an overnight bus from Manila, was the city of Baguio. Here we met up with other AYADs who showed us around their ‘home town’ and introduced us to their favourite eatery’s. The café by the ruins was so good we went back twice in the same day!
Baguio is known for its beautiful woven fabrics. We visited a couple of weaving cooperatives and some purchases were made.
From Baguio, it was an incredibly scenic bus trip through the steep mountain passes – mostly dirt roads barely 1 lane wide with a steep cliff rising on one side and a steep drop off on the other. Some 2000 years ago many of the slopes had been terraced by the local tribes to facilitate the agriculture of crops, predominantly rice. It reminded me of cutting out cardboard contours at Uni for architectural scale models … but this was at 1:1 and had all been achieved without any mechanical assistance!
The attraction of Sagada (apart from the yoghurt house!) is it’s caves. I had my first experience of spelunking and loved it. This involved descending into the cave, squeezing through small holes, sliding down slippery rocks, wading through freezing cold chest high water, scaling limestone walls with the aid of a rope and of course, marvelling at the beautiful limestone formations. After 3 hours, we emerged again into the daylight at a completely different location to where we went in. It was quite challenging on the upper body, but so much fun! We definitely needed a massage after that!
Also famous in Sagada is the hanging coffins. In the past (and still practiced although not much anymore) is the practice of hanging the dead in their coffins at the entrance to caves rather than burying them.
Banaue was our next stop – the heart of the rice terrace area, which features on the 1000 peso note. On our way we stoped in Bontoc to see the excellent ethnographic museum to get a better understanding of the many tribes of the mountain area. Due to its geography, this part of the Philippines was relatively inaccessible by the Spanish and American colonisers, so the tribal culture and languages have remained relatively intact.
From Banaue we hiked to Batad – a village that only got electricity last year and is nestled in the most magnificent stone wall rice terraces. It was planting season, so the terraces looked lush and green. With our guide leading the way, we hiked through the rice terraces, visiting villages along the way and taking a swim in Tappia waterfall.
At this point the group split – some stayed for more hiking, others had to go back to work in Manila, meanwhile Imelda and I had arranged to go further north as I was very keen to see the architecture of Vigan – the only Spanish colonial town that remains relatively intact.
I was yet again overwhelmed by the Filipino hospitality. We stayed with friends of Imelda’s who gave us a car and a driver and kept us incredibly well fed! While I enjoyed Vigan, it wasn’t as extensive or as well preserved as I was expecting. It was essentially only one main cobblestone street and the buildings along it converted into kitsch souvenir shops. We took and Calesa (horse and carriage) ride around the town and also visited the Padre Burgos museum, dedicated to one of 3 Filipino priests who where falsely convicted and publicly garrotted by the Spanish in 1872.
This area is also where ex President Ferdinand Marcos’s family comes from and is still held in high esteem by the locals despite the years of martial law and embezzlement. We visited the Marcos Museum where Ferdinand himself is laid out embalmed in a glass box.
Then it was back to Manila for the In-Country Orientation. There were 9 new AYADs destined for various places in the Philippines and one, Rachael, will be in Bacolod and also working for GK. She’s a livestock farmer from rural NSW and will be working on the Productivity team assisting in improving the farms in the GK villages. As usual ICO consisted of plenty of Karaoke & San Miguel beers. But a new addition to the activities was the Pinoy Amazing Race - an initiative to introduce the new AYAD’s to aspects of Filipino life while also getting out and about in downtown Antipolo. Us experienced AYAD’s were stationed at various places such as a food store, a health clinic, a transport hub etc while the newbies, in pairs had to follow clues to find us and get from us a briefing on that particular aspect of life in the Philippines. They all finished up at the market where they were assigned certain foods to purchase and that night cooked up a Pinoy BBQ for everyone. The following night it was our turn to cook up a BBQ Aussie style! There were a few goodbyes also as AYAD’s Dan, Ash & Patrick finished their assignments and were heading back to Australia. It brought it home for me that I’m now on my last leg with only 10 weeks to go. That thought inevitably brings mixed feeling of excitement at the prospect of seeing Jordi, family & friends again soon and the comforts and familiarity of home yet the sadness of leaving behind the friends I’ve made here and the certain aspects of the lifestyle and culture I’ve become accustomed to. But, no time to dwell on that just now! I still have 10 weeks after all!
Before heading back to our respective cities, 5 AYADs and our 2 German friends took a detour to Donsol, in Bicol Province, South East of Manila. This is the time of year when the Whale Sharks come to this area for feeding. With the perfect cone of Mayon volcano as our backdrop, we headed off shore in search of these majestic creatures that range from 4 to 18m in length! One crewman stands on the mast of the boat – he’s the spotter. The boat peacefully glides up and down the bay and all the while he’s got a keen eye on the water. Somehow he detects the slight shadows under the surface of the water that indicates the presence of a Whale Shark surfacing to feed. And then it’s all on! The boat speeds up, the crew get animated, we race to put on our snorkels and fins and perch on the side of the boat waiting for the guides signal to jump! In the water it’s a frenzy of eager yet nervous bodies trying to follow the guide. And then it appears suddenly out of nowhere, it’s characteristic broad flat head, wide mouth and white spots on it’s blue-grey skin. For a few seconds we stare in awe as it swims past before our brains snap back into action and we power up our arms and legs to swim along side it until it’s had enough and dives back down into the depths. This sequence was repeated 5 or 6 times before we headed back to shore for lunch. A truly amazing experience! The video I made tries to capture it, but if you can't make it out, you'll just have to try it for yourself some day :-)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment