Dougie Barnes and your beloved Jan
traveled with Air Pakistan (yes; again) to Manila, which we soon discovered to
be a capital without much to write home about. The city
does not have many sights worth mentioning, so leaving Manila at once is therefore recommended. The only tourists who seemed to enjoy themselves in Manila were old guys well beyond their prime,
as apparently even unemployed Europeans can afford a prostitute in the Philippines.
We stayed at Malate Pension in Ermita, where charges vary from 550-850p depending on what room you are able to get. The service is bad, but visitors to the Philippines will soon discover that people get friendlier as you get out of Manila. It is after all a less than pleasant city, so people have a much better reason to be pissed than say people in Paris.
After having watched several movies at Robinson, including the unforgettable TV-movie "Tidal Wave (a tidal wave turns a ship around, and the passengers have to struggle to find their way out. "The biggest of all disasters!"), we were happy to leave Manila on February 8. Seeing a movie in Manila cost about 50p, or a little more than a dollar at the time. Calling Japan was expensive though; about 10 dollars for 3-4 minutes.
We took a bus from Manila-Baguio, a city known as a mountain resort for vacationing Filipinos. The trip cost 235 pesos (6 dollars), and took almost 7 hours. We later heard that Baguio can be nice for a couple of days, but even though we enjoyed the atmosphere we decided to head straight for Sagada the next morning. Partly influencing the decision was the rat Ratbert, who kept us awake most of the night while running back and forth inside the ventilation shaft of Hotel 45 (450p or 11$ for a double room).
The trip to Sagada cost 136p (3,5$) and took 7 hours. It's worth going up to the mountain province just for the bus tour itself, and culturally was North-Luzon without doubt the most interesting part I visited in the Philippines. Situated 1,480 meters above the ocean, Sagada demands some warmer clothing than the rest of the country.
Except from the prices in Sagada, that are absolutely crazy, there are many things to do and many activities to take part in. The highlight of my entire trip to the Philippines was perhaps Balangagon Cave. Renting a guide to explore the cave is as fun as it probably is dangerous, this as the attraction probably would have been off limits to tourists in most Western Countries. There even was an indoor pool where we could take a swim in the end, so it certainly is a story to bring home. Don't even try bringing a camera though!
Apart from that does Sagada have the best home-made banana cake I have ever tasted, not to mention the beautiful rice terraces that are only surpassed by those in Banaue and Batad!
Banaue is another must. The village is not as quiet as that of Sagada, yet the rice terraces surrounding it are thus more extraordinary. While there we stayed at the People's Guesthouse, a fairly descent place at 200p a room. Going there takes a total of three hours, and Eric from Las Vegas helped make the trip seem shorter. When reaching Banaue from Sagada, Eric desperately tried phoning a friend in Thailand, this as Banaue in contrast to Sagada is meant to have a phone connection. Encountering dead phone lines though, Eric was not successful, so visitors to the northern part of the Philippines should be prepared to live without hot showers, electricity, phone lines and the Spice Girls while there.
Traveling in this very masculine territory for a couple of days, we were by the way very surprised to see two beautiful European girls on the way from Banaue-Batad, this all other Western women visiting looked like pro-wrestlers of the less feminine type.
Oh, I just love adding some chauvinist stuff to some otherwise serious material! To add some more; Having lived in Japan for around three years now, I am getting less and less used to public showings of affection. Especially disgusting was it therefore to constantly end up with a German guy whose eyesight must have been pretty bad, this as his wife (also German) must be the only known successful offspring of farmer's love relationship with a horse. For three days we had to bear some really monstrous kissing, but I only feel grateful for being far away from where their eventual offspring is going to grow up.
The highlight in North-Luzon is Batad, and going there is the closest I have ever been to going back in time. To reach the village one should hire a jeepney from Banaue, something that should cost around 600p (15 dollars) a day. It is possible to stay over in Batad, and it is perhaps also recommended. We didn't, and could feel that in our legs afterwards. You have to walk to the village from the point the jeepney drops you off, this as there are no roads all the way to Banaue. Seldom have I done anything more tiring though, this as a small mountain separates Banaue from civilisation. In some ways it reminded me of climbing Mt. Kinabalu on Borneo.
Batad is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and to me it is up there with the Great Wall and the Grand Canyon. Our guide, a 12 year kid called Wilmar, happily told how we could get prostitutes in Banaue for 50 p (1$) a piece. Not being a big fan of the local women, Dougie and I were not particularly interested, but a dive instructor named Randy certainly was. Having already done around 60 different ones in the Philippines, he was ready for some more fun. Yet, you forget about otherwise irritating aspects when faced by one of the world's most intriguing wonders. Explaining will be as futile as trying to explain the Grand Canyon, so I will not even bother. But skipping Batad on a tour of the Philippines will not make for a complete journey, while on the other hand a combination of North-Luzon and Palawan will...