Marakina

We spent the night in Marakina, Manila and I hung out with the guys drinking Red Horse beer.

Nothing goes with Red Horse like a little balot.

For those of you who don't know, balot is a chicken egg hard-boiled right before its supposed to hatch.

Mmmm...

Ahmmmm....

Montalban

I had brought my rock climbing harness/shoes/helmet along on the trip to the PI, but was having a hard time finding anywhere to actually climb. To rock climb, you need an exposed rock face, the equipment, and a partner. Despite the presence of mountains all over the Philippines, exposed rock faces are surprisingly difficult to find. Its as if the lush tropical vegetation quickly covers every inch of land as soon as it is exposed. While sitting in a mall in Urdaneta, I ran into a group of folks who were part of the Metropolitan Mountaineering Society out of Manila. They invited me to join them on an ascent of Mount Pulag, the highest mountain on Luzon. I declined as I did not have any of the equipment one needs for this type of ascent (sleeping bag, large pack, etc). I immediately regretted not joining them and really think I could have roughed it and had an enjoyable time. Anyways, I told them that I was looking for a spot to try out some rock climbing. They recommended Montalban, right outside of Manila. This was convenient since Rose has some relatives in this area and we had to make a trip to Manila any way. Montalban was actually pretty decent...especially considering its close proximity to Manila. I still wouldn't call the exposed rock that great.

Montalban was an area where the Japanese military got backed into these caves during WWII and we, with the help of Filipino militia, were able to drive them out of the Philippines.

There were a couple of bolted routes at Montalban, but no climbers that day. So, once again, I lacked a rope and partner.

While walking through the small village of Montalban, I happed across some guys training their fighters. The spurs are wrapped to prevent injury. During an actual fight, the spurs are removed and replaced by a razor-sharp blade.

For me, the highlight of the trip was actually visiting Raymar's pig farm about 10 minutes from Montalban.

Raymar is a cousin to Rose by marriage. He commutes out here from Marikina daily to feed his pigs and then hangs out all day. Its a surprisingly relaxing area. There is a family who lives on his farm who is extremely poor. Every day, Raymar brings enough meat and vegetables to cook a meal for himself and the poor family.

Raymar's farm sits right downhill from a big coconut grove. This guy (the father of the poor family) climbed up and retrieved a buko (young coconut) for me.

Buko juice is a popular drink in the Philippines. All you do is chop the top with your machete and...

...enjoy!

Montalban just reinforced the idea that, in order to rock climb in the Philippines, you need to bring your own equipment and be willing to go search out good climbing spots. It is still such a young sport in the PI and information is difficult to come by. I told Raymar that I would bring my own equipment and teach him to climb next time I come to the PI. He seemed pretty excited about the idea. That's my future plans for now.

Wedding

Rose's cousing, Lisa, got married while we were in the Philippines. The festivities start at around 4 pm the day before the actual wedding and continue through the afternoon after the actual wedding.

Taking a break from preparation...

Marlon hanging out...

Cooking Filipino style...

The meat...

The women cutting vegetables...

Everyone was having fun except the pigs. The butchering of the pigs was kind of a spectacle attracting the attention of quite a few neighborhood children. A few men just grab the pig, hold it down, and then cut its throat.

Michael saw that the butchers apparently threw out the best part so he snatched up the pig's tail, stuck it on a skewer, and cooked it up. I saw the boys later dipping it in some sort of vinegar sauce and eating it.

The balot guy...

Hauling tables and chairs to the dance location...

The DJ's sweet ride...





Later that night, the dancing started and continued through the next morning when the actual wedding occurred at the church in town.

The Bride's party...

The Ninangs...

The Ninongs...

All dressed up...

Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines

Well, we made it to the Philippines alright. Shortly after getting there, I took off for Sagada with Dad, my brothers-in-law, Paul and Alpie and Dad's step-son, Lucky. It was about a 5-hour bus ride through the mountains north of Baguio which was pretty nice. Upon arriving there, I found a room with 5 beds at the Sagada Guest House ($25) and we went and got something to eat.
After eating, we went to the tourist center to sign up for a cave tour. While most folks opt for the Sumaging Cave tour which is more of a short scenic tour, we opted for the more adventurous "Cave Connection" tour where you enter through the Lumiang Cave and exit through the Sumaging Cave.

Entrance of Lumiang Cave.

What makes the "Cave Connection" tour different than the other tours is the technical difficulty. There were several 10-15 foot drops we had to maneuver...an easy enough feat above ground, but much more difficult on wet, glassy limestone.

Due to the very poor light conditions, I was not able to take alot of good pictures. The highlights of the trip were the more technical sections and seeing thousands of bats near the end. The bats were a mixed blessing though as I often found myself on all fours crawling through bat droppings;) While I did enjoy the one-time experience, I don't foresee myself investing in any spelunking gear.

The next day, we decided to take a hike to the big waterfall, Bomod-Ok. Along the way, we saw an old Ifugao lady walking down the road wearing the traditional weaved skirt and carrying some sort of farming tool on her head. The Ifugao people are an indigenous Filipino tribe who managed to survive the Spanish and U.S. occupations with most of their indigenous culture largely intact....a real raritiy.

Along the hike, there were some nice vistas with the steap valleys covered in the Ifugao rice terraces. In the mountains of the Northern Philippines, there are thousands of these terraces which were built by hand thousands of years ago to support the agriculture.

Now for the disappointing part of the trip. The hike to the waterfall takes about 2.5 hours and we made it all the way to within about 10 minutes of the waterfall when we came to a "tourist registration center". A lady asked us where our guide was. We stated that we were making our way just fine and did not need or want a guide. She said that we weren't allowed to proceed without a guide. I refused to pay even a dime for a guide to show me the way to a place I already know how to get to so we turned around and made the 2 hour walk home. The one thing that kind of bugs me in the Philippines is that you're ALWAYS treated like a tourist, even when you've been there a dozen times and can comfortably get around on your own. In a sense, I think they're usually just trying to be helpful, but it can become suffocating after awhile. My intent was to go and kick back by a waterfall. I had no interest in hearing a stranger yak on and on about it or wait around on me.

Upon arriving back at Sagada, we grabbed our bags and headed back for Rose's home, Pangaoan, Rosales.

Hakkoda Winter Summit

It can be tough to find new friends who take being outside as seriously as I do. But, I was lucky enough to find another climbing enthusiast who let me tag along on a winter summit of Mount Odake. Some will recall that I was up here last summer with Angelica. Of course, its a different beast in the wintertime.
Our target...the summit of Mount Odake.

The day was great right from the start. Northern Japan is not known for clear views and bright, sunny weather. As luck would have it, we were blessed with both throughout the day. I had never seen Mount Iwake before, but today I was allowed a distant glimpse of the beautiful volcano. Mount Iwake is famous for having an appearance similar to Mount Fuji, although Mount Iwake is much, much smaller than Mount Fuji.

Making progress up the mountain.

Gorgeous view of the river valley.

Group photo in the saddle before the final summit push....me, Sean, Justin, and Kap.

And now the hard part. With the trail being buried in snow, the only way we knew up to the summit was straight up the side of the cone. This would be quite a task in the summertime, let alone with a thick coat of snow covering the mountain.

Pushing up the cone to the summit...steep, slow, and grueling.

Still pushing...but with a brilliant view of Kodake Mountain in the background.

And the guys finally reached the crater ridge meaning an easy stroll to the summit.