North Luzon

[WujouMao]

My North Luzon trip started after i was in Manila for a few days. i 1st went to Baguio, then towards Sagada to see the hanging coffins in Echo valley

Baguio Jeepney stop










serious big moth or butterfly


Echo Valley coffins


this is me, fully loaded


i backtracked to Banaue to see the rice terraces, but i always choose the wrong time of year.



foggy and misty. still, i've seen rice terraces before.


my next point of call was the cave mummies of Tinglayan. After peaking to a Canadian girl in Sagada, she told me its impossible to see the Mummies, cos she's tried. well, only one way to find out!



found the Museum with a display, plus a map of the area's walks, but not the mummy caves.


a few hours later and lots of looking at the map, found this


a good few more hours walking, then a climb uphill for another hour with our guide we found a village. almost all the caves have a door on them, to stop them getting sold, and he has the key.

anyway, he's asks me if i want to open it, sure, do you want me to get him out! SURE!


next stop, Kalinga. head-hunter country


look at his toes




scared shitless

and 20 mins later.......


beautiful countryside


My guide's Uncles funeral. the woman is banging two stick together with a chook hanging by the leg with rope. when the casket is sealed, she lets it go


slaughted a carabao for celebration


nothing is left to waste


my guide's Mother. see her tattoo's. she has more than me lol


another slaughter, but for a wedding this time. dont worry, i wont show the picture that was taken after, i just say the pig had a stake through its neck and drained.








want some pig fat?


typical, the day i want to leave is the day i wake to find the roads washed away, and blocked







went to the next city which decided to accept my bank card in the ATM. Laoag
meet some cute girls on the bus


and met some that thought they were girls


Laoag Church


colourful jeeney in good nick




i bought a burger and laughed when she gave me this from the fridge, as she ran out of ketchup. told her it looks like a blood bag lol


next stop, Vigan








thankfully it survived the american bombing of WWII


after that, i headed south, towards South Luzon, but i went and saw my 1st active volcano, which was Taal Volcano. i knew the old crater was big, but i didnt know the furthest body of water away was the edge of the old volcano!



* wiki

Volcano Island contains a lake about 2 km across, called Crater Lake. Within Crater Lake is another small volcanic island, called Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point is the world's largest volcanic island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island

[terry57]

Thanks for the piccys, nice work.

[Takeovers]

Nice pics.

i backtracked to Banaue to see the rice terraces, but i always choose the wrong time of year. foggy and misty. still, i've seen rice terraces before.

You were not impressed? They are ancient and enormous. Nothing like them in the whole world, I'm sure.

[WujouMao]

Nice pics.

i backtracked to Banaue to see the rice terraces, but i always choose the wrong time of year. foggy and misty. still, i've seen rice terraces before.

You were not impressed? They are ancient and enormous. Nothing like them in the whole world, I'm sure.

lol, mate, you're missing the point. if its foggy and misty, you're not gonna see jack, so i didnt bother. there is always a next time

[Takeovers]

ol, mate, you're missing the point. if its foggy and misty, you're not gonna see jack, so i didnt bother. there is always a next time

OK missunderstanding. I interpreted your

i've seen rice terraces before.

as the rice terasses of Banaue are nothing special and wanted to express they are something very special in my eyes.

[sunsetter]

some great stuff youve been and seen, nice pics wu, hope for more, welcome to TD btw

[WujouMao]

some great stuff youve been and seen, nice pics wu, hope for more, welcome to TD btw

Cheers matey. thanks for your replies too. well i had a fun time in North Luzon. ive spent a long time in the visayas, but i havent got anything of the sort of pictures that i have with the Tribes of the North. And not as many pictures either

[jandajoy]

Great pics, when was this?

[WujouMao]

Great pics, when was this?

erm, some photos were taken at differant times. between early 2005 - 2007, that iincludes the others in south luzon & visayas which i'm uploading.

[KID]

so how did you like the bannana ketchup? nasty crap it is !!!

[WujouMao]

so how did you like the bannana ketchup? nasty crap it is !!!

lol, what? i could barely eat purple sweet pototo and congeled pig fat from the night before, let alone that. i guess its never caught on over in the west?

[sabang]

Nice pic's- some great travelling to be had in the Fil's.

[Thai Pom]

so how did you like the bannana ketchup? nasty crap it is !

I have had some fun in Thailand with that and Thai Kids. Cook up some fries, put the Ketchup in a dish and watch their faces as they taste it. Looks like it but...

[mancon]

Great pictures, thanks for posting!

[Happyman]

keep 'em coming

[KID]

Had Some Great Pics Of The Phils, But The Ex Took Them Like Everything Else !!!!! As Long As The Bitch Is Gone It Was Worth The Price To Get Out !!!!

[phuketbound]

Great pics! Some of the rice paddies look a lot like Sapa in Vietnam. Did you notice that too?

[KID]

WujouMao DID YOU TRY THE BALUT???? NASTY CRAP BUT THE QUAILS EGGS ARE GREAT !!!

[WujouMao]

WujouMao DID YOU TRY THE BALUT???? NASTY CRAP BUT THE QUAILS EGGS ARE GREAT !!!

funny you should say that. yes, i did have duck fetus the 1st time i was there and made a right pigs ear of it, and i was eating in the dark as thats what my x told me to do. i couldnt even swallow the last bit cos of a bone, i kept reaching cos my mind was thinking, mate, you're eating a fetus with feathers.

but now, now that i explored Malaysia KL a bit more, i found out where the Filipino's hide and where to eat balut. its not as shocking as what i first remember it. better stick to 2 cos its too high in colestril [spell?]

[vin]

Hello!

You been here in our place! I'm from Iloilo, Philippines....

[brianamorgan]

Hi there! That's a very nice photos of Philippines. Where else have you visited in the country?

[WujouMao]

Hi there! That's a very nice photos of Philippines. Where else have you visited in the country?

i'll list everywhere ok,

north luzon

manila [ of course] and pasig
Taal volcano
tarlac [ bugger all there to do]
baguio and la trinadad
sagada
benguet and timbac caves
ifugao
bontoc
kabayan and timbac's mummies
kalinga / tinglayen
laoag
vigan

south luzon

batangas [ for puerto galera]
naga [to ride the filipino version of the bamboo train. haven't uploaded the pics yet]
legaspi to see cagsawa church or whats left of it
sorsogon
matnog

Visayas

northern samar -
allen
calbayog
catbalogan

leyte -
tacloban
bato

bohol -
ubay
carmen
tabilaran

cebu -
maya - for malapascua island
bato - for Negros

Negros -
dumaguete - for siquijor [thats sicki hore in English or near enough]
bais city
bago
bacolod
silay and old silay
sagay
escalante

romblom islands

panay

mindanao -
camiguin island
cagayan de oro
illigan
gingoog
butuan
prosperidad
tagum
davao
general santos
koronadal [marbel]
lake sebu
surallah

thats about it, more or less

[omgim]

Balut is good stuff. Eat it in the dark is the key. As long as You don't get one with Feathers or a beak its all good.

[expatjack]

I'll give Balut a thumbs up and have downed a couple on many occasions after a night of drinking and discovered that it greatly lessened the efects of alcohol and less of a hangover...
But back on topic...I know Ifugao quite well, having lived there for in a native hut with a sweet young girl to keep me company and I had the best view in the area.....looking 1,500 ft down into a terraced valley with a quaint village below and small clean stream running beside my house.....best way to recover from a marriage to a white feminazi! Had a garden in the 2,000yr old terraces and even farmed rice in the old way. I may be returning this year for a quick visit, but I'm afraid that the changes will be depressing, as I've heard that the native houses are being replaced by cement and galvanized sheets and lots of neglect in the terraces.

[WujouMao]

^ Same too about the houses on Batanes. The locals would rather knock down their 300 year old house and put a ugly concrete monster in its place. That aint going to last half as long. I can already picture it. Re-bar sticking out all over the place.