Family Tour

Earlier this month I was blessed with the opportunity to see my family when they came to visit the Philippines! Their two week stay didn't seem anywhere near long enough, but we made the most of their short time here. They got to meet my friends and see my community, try the local cuisine, and experience a culture completely different from our own. Since it was my vacation also, I got to see some new places also that I've been wanting to visit since I arrived last July.

Best cure for Jet Lag? Don't stop moving and don't go to sleep! They may have hated me for it at first, but from the moment they stepped off the plane I had them on the move. After an eight our night trip to Baguio, we ate some breakfast and packed the car we had hired for our first week in the Cordillera Region.

The first official destination was my site in Mt. Province. After a delicious dinner provided by my host mother, my parents settled down at the Mt. Data Lodge and my brother and our friend/driver JL came and slept with me in my apartment. The next morning, I gave them the tour of the school and took them to the shaky 800ft hanging bridge.

The haunted Hanging Bridge.

 After lunch we headed to Sagada. The following day we went caving and hiked to Echo Valley to see the hanging coffins.

In the cave in Sagada.

I forgot to mention the bit of technical rope maneuvering.

The hanging coffins in Echo Valley.

Keeping on the road, we made the drove to Banaue in the afternoon, stopping over in Bontoc to see the museum. Banaue truly is an engineering wonder; terraces on top of terraces are crafted into the mountains by hand and without the use of stones. An amazing irrigation system taps the water coming down from the mountain and channels it through the rice patties. We took a 3 hour hike which turned out to be pretty intense due to balancing on long stretches of 4 inch wide irrigation walls. However, the views were outstanding and beautiful.

World's longest balance beam.

Figures like these are carved from the trunks
of fern trees.

Traditional Nipa Huts in Banaue

From Banaue it was straight back to Mt. Data for two nights. On the way to Baguio, my brother John stopped and picked out his bolo (machete) knife that he had been searching for.

 We explored Baguio for one day. It was rainy, but my family got to experience the enormous Baguio Public Market- a maze of stalls containing produce, meat counters, souvenirs, tobacco, coffee, wine and thousands of other products. The next day we took the 5am bus to begin part two of our tour: The Lowlands!

Actually, we had one destination in mind: The white sand beaches of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. I had heard rumors about the beauty of this place and, having never been there, was willing to risk the 10 hour trip to see for myself. My family had requested we see the beach at least once while they were here, so this seemed like a good time!

The rumors were true! Pagudpud is a small town near the tip of Luzon. Although there are what seem like hundreds of resorts and homestays, the town still manages a local, small-town atmosphere. Clean sand, clear water, lined with palm trees. This picture-perfect place is somewhere I definitely want to come back to...

Local fishermen hauling in the nets.

I hope you enjoyed your vacation. I miss you guys!

NOT as good as MacDonalds but
that is up for debate.