Pilipinas pt. 1: Up Up and Away

For the first part of our trip we headed to the Northern Mountain Province, more specifically Sagada. Getting there though proved to be an adventure itself.

Step one: get the heck out of Manila

Ok, ok in all fairness all that I really saw of Manila was through a bus and taxi window, and maybe there are some hidden gems. However, Manila gave me a very unsettling feeling and I really just wanted to leave.  Lucy and I made it through customs, and headed to information to get directions to the taxis. I has spoken  to the man at the desk for only a few seconds when he asked me who my travel companion was. When I pointed to Lucy he immediately got a very concerned fatherly look and tone of voice. He gave us very detailed information on how to get to the taxis and to the bus station, and kept repeating "be safe, please be careful." What a welcoming to Manila! In all honesty I never felt totally unsafe, just a little on edge. We made it to the bus station without a hitch. And the highlight of my first taxi ride in Manila was seeing a Seattle Sonics Jeepney. 

Jeepneys are one of the many interesting and at times hilarious modes of transport in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II. Its basically a jeep in the front with an extended truck bed, enclosed with a metal roof and elaborately decorated with colorful paint and ornaments.  You can sit on of the two bench seats that run along the inside, or on the side, or on the back, or if you are feeling adventurous you can even ride on top. 

Step 2: rainy, flooded ride to Baguio 

We bought our tickets, some snacks and boarded the bus for a 7 hour ride to Baguio. The ride was made especially interesting by the fact the we arrived the day after a typhoon hit the area. For about 80% of the trip we drove along roads that were flooded with almost a foot or more of water. 

Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore Baguio. We arrived late Saturday night, were completely exhausted, and went straight to a hotel. The next bus adventure began at 6 am Sunday morning. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the bus station, eggs, toast and something resembling ham, and bought our tickets. 

Step 3: nerve racking jungle journey from Baguio to Sagada

We were the first to buy our tickets, so we had seats 1 and 2. We soon found out that these were the best seats we could have gotten! The bus we were on had the door in the middle instead of in the front. So seats 1 and 2 were right behind the giant front windshield. Our bus ride from Baguio to Sagada was 6 hours straight up a, sometimes paved, winding mountain road through the Jungle. With our front row seats our entire trip was like watching the Jungle on IMAX. It was so unbelievably beautiful. At times were were so close to the edge that when you looked out the side window you couldn't even see the road, just steep green cliffs, and a huge raging river. It was still raining and sopping wet from the recent typhoon. There were many times that we drove over recent landslides or had to wait for new ones to be cleared. I took a really sweet video, but unfortunately my camera didn't make it back to Korea with me. Here are some pictures of the bus from Baguio to Sagada:

Sunday afternoon our bus finally rolled into Sagada............

Pilipinas: Intro

I just returned from what just might be the most amazing trip of my life. I know, I know that is a very bold statement, but in all seriousness it was beyond amazing. So great in fact, I don't think it can be contained in just a single post. So welcome to the Pilipinas mini series!

My good friend Lucy and I both had a week of freedom from our little monsters so we decided to explore the Philippines. It was a tough choice given that SE Asia, and really Asia in general has so many interesting places to visit. But for some reason I felt the Philippines calling my name and before long Lucy was hearing it too!

The only problem we found was the it had too many interesting things to see, could we possibly see it all? We knew 2 things, we wanted to be in the city of Manila for as little time as possible and we wanted to see both the Northern Mtn Province and the Southern beaches. This took quiet a bit of planning, research and patience, but we were able to see all we wanted and more. We think that if all else fails we would make some damn good travel agents.

Beach Bum Busan

*** this post was actually written a few weeks ago, but I never posted it. So here it is now:


It's monday morning I am exhausted, sunburned, and mosquito-bitten. All signs of an amazing weekend!

This weekend we found ourselves soaking up the sunshine on the beach in sunny Busan, South Korea. We boarded an early a.m. KTX train from Seoul. (my first time taking the super fast KTX train) We arrived in Busan and headed straight to the beach. It was the perfect break after an uber stressful week.

We opted out of visiting the most popular beach, Haeundae, and chose instead to go to Gwangalli Beach. It was a really nice day. We laid on the beach, read and chatted. Nothing overly exciting, but lovely nonetheless. The beach itself was not particularly pretty. The water was very murky, and kind of an odd color. We swam around a bit, but quickly learned you are not allowed to go out past where you can touch.

Later in the afternoon I happened to run into a friend that I have not seen since training 6 months ago! He was also just visiting for the weekend and happen to be with a friend who also graduated from WSU with a degree in advertising, just a year after me. The world really is very small. This has happened so many times!

After a lazy day of basking in the sun we decided to wander and find some dinner. Busan, like all Korean beach towns, is know for its seafood. We choose to have dinner in one of the many food tents that lined the streets surrounding the fish market. This market was a smaller version of Norangjin that I mentioned in a previous post. One thing that I have learned about Koreans and food is that they either like things incredibly fresh or extremely old. For example most meals are brought to you raw and you cook it yourself, which I think is great, and you will also have a ton of side dishes of foods that have been stored for years: kimchi, fermented bean paste, etc. Fish markets are the perfect example of this. You chose your fish, and few minutes later its on a plate in front of you. We at clams, clams with cheese ( a little strange) and eel. It was a very cool experience.

After dinner we headed down to the boardwalk, well I guess that's what you can call it. It was a large concrete and tile area where several families and groups of friends were hanging out on the stairs that ran along the edge of the harbor. Many korean parents were drinking soju and playing games while the children set off fireworks. Groups of young Koreans were playing drinking games. And a few vendors were walking around try to sell oysters and clams. It was a very lively and fun area. We sat down at the bottom of the stairs and following the groups around us played some games and watched the fireworks.

We woke up to a rainy Sunday and decided to see what else Busan had to offer besides the beach. Josh had heard of a coastal temple that was a little out of the way. After a long and hot hot hot bus ride we arrived at Haedong Yonggung temple. It was one of the most beautiful temples I have been to. Its a bit of a trek there, but oh so worth it. Its a gorgeous temple right on the coast.