The Philippines: Home to jeepneys, cockers, and Mamaley

Well folks, I am way behind.  We're currently in New Zealand and I have yet to tell you all about our adventures in the Philippines (November 15-29).  My apologies!  We caved and bought a MacBook Air so that we could better manage business and upload all our pictures.  When not driving through Middle Earth or calculating our internet usage (in NZ you are charged for internet based on megabytes), we've been busy importing and sorting our photos.  The good news is that we're making progress and that you now get to view better pics than what we can take with an iPhone!

So, without further ado, the Philippines!

The Philippines are made up of 7,000 islands and the islands are divided into three groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.  We traveled to the Luzon and Visayas islands.  We flew into the city of Manila on the island of Luzon (and in the Luzon island group).  A few days later we flew to the island of Palawan where we spent most of our time.  Palawan is in the Visayas group of islands.  There we visited the cities/towns of Sabang, El Nido, and Puerto Princesa.  Last, we flew to Cebu, also in the Visayas island group, and stayed there for two days before heading to the land down under.  

MANILA

Manila is the most densely populated city in the world, though after visiting some of China's cities it didn't feel as overwhelming as one might expect.  What was jarring, however, were all the street kids.  In China, the elderly and disabled constitute the homeless and beggars.  In the Philippines, it's children.  I'll never forget this one toddler in only a diaper and sucking on a pacifier who followed us about 100 feet with an outstretched hand.  It took me a moment to realize that he didn't really know what he was doing - he was just mimicking the behaviors of other children.  Still, it was tough to stomach the fact that this baby knew how to beg before he knew how to speak.

While Manila introduced us to poverty in the Philippines, it also gave us our first glimpse of the country's beauty.

Volunteers at the Manila Red Cross packing up food and supplies for typhoon-devasted areas.

Spanish-style buildings are at every turn in Intramuros, the historic part of the city. 

A sunset from the bay.

SABANG
After two days exploring Manila, we hopped over to the island of Palawan.  Whereas Manila is nicknamed the concrete jungle, Palawan, known as "the last frontier," is anything but.  To get to our first stop, Sabang, we jumped aboard a jeepney and stared out at rice fields and lush, green jungle as we drove on gravel roads for almost four hours.  Although it was nearly dark when we arrived, there was just enough light to see Sabang's beautiful beaches and just enough time left before the electricity went out to get our mosquito net set up in our bungalow (in Sabang there's no electricity after 10pm).

Check out our sweet ride!  (minus the Chargers...)

A real live rice field!

The beautiful beach at Sabang.

The next day we explored the Underground River, one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.  This UNESCO World Heritage site was jaw-dropping, but as our guide kindly reminded us -- when adventuring in caves with bats, it's always best to admire with mouths closed!  Since our camera isn't one of those super-duper high tech ones for National Geographic and the like, our pictures inside the caves are pretty lousy, but if you google it you can find some great ones.

Hi mom!

This is what it looks like at the mouth of the Underground River... 

...and this is what it looks like inside if you shake your head (I told you our pics were bad). 

Brian also explored mangroves with a local legend, George.  George got lost hiking through Palawan one time and a tribe took him in. 

Brian and George (of the jungle).

EL NIDO
It was a long and bumpy road to El Nido, but completely worth it.   El Nido is nicknamed heaven on earth because of its beauty.  Ta-da!

This was the view...from our bed!

Our friend Lauren is from El Nido and encouraged us to go visit when we told her we'd be in the Philippines.  Many years ago, her grandmother, Mamaley, found German travelers sleeping on the beach.  She opened up her home to them and thus was born "Gloria's Cottages," the first & only of its kind in El Nido at that time.  Mamaley still has the original sign as well as many other artifacts in her collection.  Talk about adventures!  She has on display pottery that's hundreds of years old that she found while exploring caves, memorabilia from General MacArthur's home, and traditional Filipino dresses that she wore back in the 1940's.

The Plums and the famous Mamaley.

When we weren't entranced by one of Mamaley's stories or off exploring waterfalls, hot springs, lagoons and secret beaches, we were enjoying the best El Nido has to offer - her people.  Brian spent several days with Lauren's uncle, Rico, who is a famous cock fighter.  Cock fighting is legal in the Philippines and, as Brian learned, is a serious sport.  Ever the sports enthusiast, Brian made the keen observation that at the cock fights people from all economic backgrounds rubbed elbows, but in the States classes tend to be divided by box seats and nose bleed sections.  He also discovered that there's a science to raising and training roosters as well as to picking winners.  It took Brian some time to learn this science (i.e., he lost), but he won a lot of friends.  By the end of our time in El Nido, we couldn't go anywhere without someone coming up to him to ask how he made out or if he was going to the next fight.     

Taking a dip in the jungle.

 Rico and one of his fighting cocks.  And yes, that is the rooster's home in the background.

The fighting is about to commence...

While Brian was off with the men trying to earn his keep as a cocker (that's what you call a cock fighter), I was at home with the ladies who were kind enough to let me hang around while they worked.  El Nido is without power from 6:30am to 2:30pm every day which means that my new friends went about their business the old fashioned way.  I watched them do the laundry by hand, manage reservations with paper and pencil, and kindle a fire to cook over.  At first I thought the lack of electricity was a hindrance, but after a few days I realized that it was what helped to keep life in El Nido wonderfully simple.  And then I started to wonder what was the "electricity" in my life?  What complicated instead of simplifying as I assumed it did?  It's a good question to be struggling with.    

Watching the Pacman fight.  You better believe that the generators were on all over town!

It was tough to leave El Nido.  We were only there for a few days and yet it felt like we were with family and old friends.        

PUERTO PRINCESA and CEBU CITY

To ensure we didn't miss our flight from Palawan to Cebu, we got there the day before and spent the night in the capital city, Puerto Princesa.  We had good conversations with a retired Marine and former Peace Corps Volunteer also staying at our guesthouse and Brian led a group of elementary schoolers to victory over the big kids in a game of basketball.  

Brian rallies his team. 

Semper Fi!

Then it was off to Cebu.  

Being in Cebu, a transportation hub for Yolanda relief efforts, brought us yet another a step closer to the tragedy and so our last few days in the Philippines were not so much filled adventure as with reflection.  Before we arrived in the Philippines my reaction to the storm was sadly superficial - I said, "Wow, that's awful," read a story or two in the news, and then checked to see if our flights were impacted.  Once in Manila, however, I couldn't detach myself as mindlessly.  All the stores had donation buckets and every TV & radio station was broadcasting something related to Yolanda.  We went to the Red Cross to see how we could help and at their request made a donation (without medical training we couldn't really do much else).  As we continued to travel throughout the Philippines, we heard heartbreaking stories at every turn.  Our waiter's mother-in-law survived by climbing up a water tower where she watched her home and friends get washed away.  Our taxi driver was filling in for a colleague who lost twelve members of his family.  Suddenly, the gravity of the situation sank in.  I mourned what was lost, I cherished what was saved.  There's some adage about caring when things are happening in your own backyard.  The Philippines helped me recognize that my backyard is much bigger than I thought.