Philippines (2) – TRAVICARIOUS

Typical scene outside the big city of Manila. Scooter, tricycle, dogs, little shops.

We flew from Manila to Dumagete on Philippines Airlines. I am not a talker on planes — I just put on my headphones and listen to music and read. But on this trip I couldn’t help but interact with a young girl (20’s) who was traveling with friends for a dive expedition. They get on a boat and and for 11 days just did dives 5 or 6 times each day. She lived north of Seattle and worked on a whale-watching boat in the summers. I never knew diving like that was a thing! She was animated and friendly and I hope she had a good trip.

Stopped at a place called Casaroro Falls that was developed by a woman who provided food to people making a stop between destinations; and it kept growing. All pools/ponds are filled with the natural flow of water from the mountains above. Many locals use this as a vacation spot not far from home. Paradise.

I love a rickety suspension bridge!

Cocoa trees. They don’t grow enough to export, but their local chocolate is delicious.

We walked upstream to find farm-raised tilapia (fish) and ducks and pigs. They have a ‘delicacy’ called balut (pronounced bah loot’) which is a fertilized bird egg (usually a duck) incubated for a period of 14 to 21 days, depending on the local culture, and then steamed. The contents are eaten directly from the shell. Balut incubated for longer periods have a well-developed embryo and the features of the duckling are recognizable. The partially developed embryo bones are soft enough to chew and swallow as a whole. (yuck)

First mistake was that I ate a shrimp dinner before heading to the falls with 337 steps down and, of course, up. I only exercise on an empty stomach.

The 337 steps weren’t the worst of it. We had to cross the river THREE TIMES! And it was no easy feat. You couldn’t see what you were stepping on next and the current was quite strong — as shown in the video of Tom crossing. I was no better; I just don’t have video proof of it. Climbing the steps were the worst. I can do down steps easily and Tom has trouble due to his knee. But Tom climbs steps like a mountain goat and I’m always lagging. It was a WORKOUT! I’m not sure all that exertion was worth the waterfall sighting.

click, please

click.

We were wet and barefoot.

And look who was waiting at the top. He bounded up the stairs like nothin’ and waited to be sure the old lady lived.

The view outside my cabana at the Atlantis Dive Resort. And this is what this resort was all about — diving!! They go out on a boat each day and dive, dive, dive.

I was sure it was all young people — but I was wrong! Most were past 50. Young divers can’t afford resorts like this.

Needless to say, we did not partake.

NOAH stands for Negros (the name of the island) Oriental Arts and Heritage. It is a small group of local woman who did handicrafts in this building until COVID. Now most work is done at their individuals homes. The artwork was beautiful.

Another church. Many of these collapsed either during the war or during the 2013 7.2 earthquake and they have been rebuilt.

This is where locals buy their bread. Our tour guide stopped here. Apparently is was for himself, because we never got any.

This is a museum about war artifacts, all personally collected by one man. Jeeps, mortars, hand grenades, fresh water for medical uses in a glass vial.

This is the collector. He sat and recited the ENTIRE article listed above. Amazing.

The bones of many murdered soldiers have been returned to their families. But there are a couple that never found homes. You see them in the wooden box, including teeth.

This box weighed a TON. It’s full of bullets and soldiers would carry them into battle.