Banaue Rice Terraces/ Philippines!

Banaue Rice Terraces:

Continued…

And then we were off to more crazy traveling, the Keith style…


We took a 4 hour bus, stopped by the hospital before the airport to pick up new crutches (keith’s cheap crutches broke while he was crutching around the island!), then took an hr. plane ride to Manila, then took an 8 hr. overnight bus to the mountains/ Banaue area, then took a 2 hr. jeebne, then a 45 min. bike/cart to the top of the mountains where The Native Village was (our guesthouse), which was near the rice terraces. We were exhausted!!!


But when we arrived to The Native Village, it was all so worth it! We could not, let me repeat, COULD NOT believe our view!!! We were in the area of Ujah, so it was the view of the Ujah tea terraces. Please check out the first photo I have posted, where I am sitting pointing to this painting-like viewpoint! It was truly the most amazing site I have ever seen! And the best part was that we were in this area and staying at this guesthouse for 3 days/ 2 nights! Let me give you a visual of the place we stayed. It was isolated from everything else, and it appeared to be on its own little hill. The views on all sides were of the rice terraces. There were beautiful flowers, plants and trees on top of the hill, and there were 2 pet monkeys (one in a huge cage because he was the naughty one and the little one was free to roam around). There was a wooden lodge which had books inside, board games, tables to eat, a fire pit, interesting artwork and statues of the tribes, and the back office/kitchen where the cheerful and relaxing staff cooked our food. If you walked through the lodge to the other side, there were the huts where we slept. Keith and I called it our treehouse because that is what it reminded us of. It had a mattress inside with tons of blankets and pillows, a light, some shelves, and then lots of space for our things. It was so simple, yet so comfortable and warm with no bugs at all! There was also a separate little area for the bathroom, shower and a sink. Everything was so clean and natural! I absolutely loved it and wish I was back there! One of our favorite things about the place, though, was the two different viewpoints. One was near our treehouse, which is where we ate breakfast each morning. It was so nice and relaxing to just drink some tea or coffee, have some eggs, hash browns and delicious European bread (which was freshly made!) and look out at the view. I took many of my photos from this viewpoint, where you can see us sitting at the table. There was another view that was near the monkeys and the entrance to the guesthouse. We usually had lunch or dinner there.

The first day we got there, we just enjoyed the view, ate some good food (curry, seafood, cheese and bread, banana smoothies, etc) and slept, slept, slept!!!

The next day we took a full day journey to the Banaue and the Bangaan rice terraces. We hired a driver which took us by a cart which was attached to his motorbike (like a tuk tuk). The cost of a driver for the day was only $12 (so $6 each). Crazy, huh? It was a dangerous route to take from our isolated guesthouse to get to the other rice terraces. This was because the roads were pretty much all dirt paths, very very bumpy and the paths were shallow and near the edge of the mountain! I almost had a heart attack (and a headache from bumping up and down so much) the first part of the day, but then I got used to it. I took my camera out to distract me and was taking so many wonderful shots the entire day! It was really a fun adventure. We made it near the Banaue terrices (the most famous ones) but had to stop because our driver, as well as some other locals) were concerned with Keith’s crutches. They said it was just not possible for him to take the 2 hr hike to see the viewpoint. Keith was skeptical and didn’t want to miss the opportunity; however, we saw another backpacker a lil later on and he agreed that the path was really difficult and it would not be possible for him to trek it with crutches. Too bad, but we’ll just have to go back again sometime!

Well, we ended up seeing the viewpoint of the Bangaan rice terraces instead and decided to hike down into the village. I’m really glad we did this because not only was the village actually in the rice terraces, which made for some great photos and allowed us to see the rice fields from close up, but we met the wonderful people who lived there.

Although the parents were all working in the terraces, there was a very kind grandmother there with about 5 elementary school kids. The kids were all laughing and smiling and excited for the foreign visitors. The game we saw them all playing was walking on tall wooden stilts. Looked like fun! The grandmother spoke very good English (most people did in the Philippines) and encouraged us to try on the traditional clothes that the tribes wear. You can see the picture below of us with the outfits on. They were very colorful and festive. The grandmother then told us we could look in their home and take a picture in front of it. Their home looked exactly like the hut/treehouse that we were staying in at the Native Village Inn! How cool. So we took the picture and one of the girls came and sat on our lap, pretending to be our daughter! Haha We had a great time talking to the children and the grandmother. The grandmother asked us the meaning of prejudice and image (words she had read in novels about saints). Before leaving, I wrote down her address. I hope to send her a letter and possibly a new novel one day. She told us she would like us to come back and visit and stay with them in their home. It was so kind of her! Keith asked how much it was to stay there in their village and she told them it was free, but if you wanted to donate to the rice terraces you could. I loved this lady. She was such a warm-hearted, relaxed and intelligent woman. I hope we meet her again in the future!

Well, after about an hour of visiting with them, we left the village and took the 20 minute hike back up to where our driver was waiting for us. I didn’t mention this, but Keith did a great job crutching and hopping down all the steps and on the tiny paths. His arms are going to be HUGE from all the crutching he does!

On our way back home, our driver showed us more great viewpoints of other rice terraces. There were many homes on the side of the mountain and we met some old women who were wearing the tribal clothes. Supposedly, everyone that lives in these areas is still in tribes. However, most just wear regular clothing. I hope to learn more about the tribes online since we didn’t ask about their traditions or culture.

After a long day of site-seeing and traveling around the mountains/ rice terraces, we spent the rest of the night relaxing by our favorite viewpoint outside of our treehouse. We ate a delicious dinner (I had tilapia and veggies and Keith had a chicken curry) and sipped on hot tea while talking about future travel spots and what we had seen thus far on our trip. We also kept wishing we could somehow transport our friends and family to that area with the viewpoint so that you can all see this amazing site and experience it all too! All we can do though is encourage you to take a trip here and see it for yourself! We would love to take a trip together one day though, so if any of you have the urge to take an adventure to a new country, let us know! We would love to travel together!

On our final day at the tree house guesthouse, we relaxed and enjoyed the area one last time. We were entertained by the lil monkey that walked around freely. Don’t worry, I took tons of videos of him so you can see the little games he was playing! He was trying to get some food from us and steal our milk for our tea! That lil trouble maker! Haha

Later in the afternoon, we left the guesthouse and went early to the village where we waited for our overnight bus. We ate a traditional Philippines meal at a restaurant in town and spoke for a few hours with the owner and his lil 4 year old nephew. Two things I love about traveling are the wonderful and unique people you meet and all the delicious food you get to try! I ate a fish curry dish which had a great taste to it, and Keith and I shared this tasty noodle dish. American Idol was playing while we ate, and then popped on the news, which was about the chaos in Islam. It’s interesting to see people from all different countries watching the same entertainment and being informed about the same news. It was also funny to hear that the owner’s sister is currently working in Chicago as a nurse. What a small world, huh? He told us that she sends boxes of clothes and food each year from Chicago to the Philippines for the family.

Usually on trips, because of all the traveling, I am exhausted by the end and am ready to get back to a schedule and to Jeju life. However, surprisingly on this trip, I was not ready to return back to real life. Part of it was because the new school year was beginning the day after we got back. But another big reason was that I was very sad to leave behind the wonderful Philippine people, the good food, the incredible rice terrace viewpoints, and the relaxing time Keith and I got to spend together. It was probably my favorite trip so far and I’m sure we’ll end up taking another vacation back there at some point. There’s still so much to go and see!

Well, hope you enjoyed hearing about the Philippines! You should go visit if you get the chance!

Malapascua Island/ Philippines

Malapascua Island:

The beginning of our Philippines journey began by taking a 4 hr plane ride to cebu (from 9pm-1am), then taking a 4 hour car ride to the small boat that would take us to Malapascua. We had to wait a few hours in the car though because our boat would not arrive until 6am. Keith and I, along with our driver, took a much needed nap in the car. At 6am, we took a 20 minute boat ride. First we went on a lil canoe boat, which transferred us onto a bigger boat. We arrived onto Malapascua island early in the morning, around 6:30am. As we got closer to the island, we saw our pretty Blue Corals resort that we were staying at. Luckily, it was located literally right next to Thresher Shark Dives, the scuba diving company which I got my open water PADI course in.

We first checked into our place, which we found really comfortable, clean and with upbeat, very friendly staff. Our view from our porch was the ocean and a private lil beach…this was a surprise! It was beautiful and the room was so big with 2 big beds. We were so excited to be there! We then went down to Thresher Sharks and met the owner (who was from England) and also spoke with my main master diving instructor who had a nice Italian accent (which I struggled with for the first day!). He was very kind and understood about my situation of not sleeping much the past night because of all the traveling, so instead of our intended start time at 9am, he let me go take a 2 hour nap and come back by 11:30. This helped a lot!

I was still so nervous about the class though. Keith and I were supposed to take it together and we had prepared by taking the 25 hour online portion of the class before coming (and yes I said 25 hrs!!). However, only a few weeks before our vacation, Keith twisted his ankle while playing basketball and he found out later that he had torn ligaments. This means he’s on crutches for about 3 months until recovery! Poor Keith! He had to cancel his basketball tournament, beach volleyball tournament, marathon, ultimate frisbee tournament, and a few other events that are here on Jeju. But he’s staying positive and finding plenty of other hobbies to keep him busy. But, back to the scuba diving….
There was so much to learn for the class. For example, we learned about all the equipment. We had to learn how to set up the equipment and assemble it correctly before we headed out to the water. The equipment includes the air tank, regulators, pressure gauge, snorkel, weight belt, BCD jacket, etc. Once I completed this task, we headed to the water and began three days of intense skills and underwater training.

The first day I had three instructors with me and since Keith had to cancel the class, I was the only student in the class. One of the teacher’s was from England. Her name was Alex and she was only with me one day to help me feel more comfortable. She was actually there because she was getting her master diving certificate. Then the main instructor, Alex, was from Italy. He was great. He really knew his stuff but also had high expectations from me. I had to tell him how horrible my memory was so he could believe that I actually did study through the online course before coming. And then the 3rd instructor was Steve, who was a really nice guy from Canada. He made sure I understood everything that the Italian instructor was telling me (haha) and he was just a great friend throughout the whole three days, calming me down when I felt a lil anxious.

Throughout the three days, I went diving 4 times, each time going a little deeper into the water….first at 6 meters, then 8, then 12, and then 17. I learned many skills like taking off your mask under water (in case our mask ever gets bumped off by another fin or in case water gets in), learning to get the water out of your mask, learning how to use the compass, taking out the regulator and using your buddy’s emergency regulator, using the snorkel, practicing buoyancy (balancing), learning how to squeeze your nose and blow if you feel pressure in your ears, etc. There was a lot of safety precautions to learn and a lot overall to remember. However, once you learn everything, a fun dive is actually very easy and relaxing. My instructor, Alex, told me that diving was his yoga. It always was relaxing and a lazy sport to him.

While I was diving for the three days, Keith kept himself very busy! The first day was spent just relaxing and drinking tons of Sam Miguels However, by the second day, Keith was getting antsy and decided to crutch around the entire island! He came back that evening with tons of photos to show me that he took on my camera! He met so many families, who invited him inside their homes and cooked a meal for him. He also discovered different beaches and resorts, met children at the schools and some children went with him to go see the lighthouse. The pictures he took were great! I especially liked the one he took of him lying in a hammock with his foot up, drinking a beer! Some locals that he met even gave him special medical/ healing plants that he wrapped around his foot. They actually worked and made the swelling go down after a few days! Luckily, Keith was able to bring extra leaves with him for the rest of our trip. I was very proud of Keith’s crutching abilities! Good job babe! And then on the 3rd day, Keith’s friend that he met took him on a boat ride around the island. He was able to go fishing and hang out with the locals and again took some great photos while out on sea.

That 3rd day, I had completed my certificate and everyone at the dive shop cheered for me as I took a “Shresher Shark shot” which verified that I really am a scuba diver now! It was a great night and I met a lot of cool people at the dive shop throughout the past few days. I would love to go back sometime and swim with the sharks, since I ended up being so exhausted from the 3 day course. I also didn’t have enough time for that dive because you have to wait a certain amount of hours to fly and our flight was that next evening. But I was ok with missing out on the shark dive, since you don’t always see the sharks. It takes some divers a bunch of times to go out before they actually spot one. Maybe one day in the future I’ll be back for some shark spotting.


On the final day on Malapascua Island, I layed out on the beach and just relaxed. Some kids came over to me and sold me shells that they had collected (the money went towards their school) and I had a nice time talking with them about their school and future. And then as we got on the boat that took us to the mainland of Cebu, someone had to literally carry Keith onto shore from the boat because it was a rocky cliff that we had to step on. I took a funny photo of that! Keith looked like a little kid on the man’s back!

And then we were off to more crazy traveling, the Keith style…


We took a 4 hour bus, stopped by the hospital before the airport to pick up new crutches (keith’s cheap crutches broke while he was crutching around the island!), then took an hr. plane ride to Manila, then took an 8 hr. overnight bus to the mountains/ Banaue area, then took a 2 hr. jeebne, then a 45 min. bike/cart to the top of the mountains where The Native Village was (our guesthouse), which was near the rice terraces. We were exhausted!!!