one week left

Hanging coffins

It's been a while since I've written. Truth is, once I got here I just sort of got settled into a routine. It was nice for a while after traveling straight for so many weeks. But now I'm starting to get antsy and want to move on. I've been working on the video for the hospital for the past few weeks. It's a definitely an ambitious project and I wouldn't be able to finish it during my stay. I've been editing using Studio Plus and got some more experience using Adobe Photoshop. The video is starting to take shape. The section I've been working on is about toxins in the environment, and their adverse effect on human health. I've become pretty interested in the topic. It's easy to be concerned about health when you're in the mountains away from the pollution the cities. All the fruit and vegetables are grown locally, and there's no fast food anywhere. I wish there was more to work on with the video. I was looking forward hearing some of the testimonials when they were shot filmed. But that's the way things go. In the Philippines it takes a long time to get anything done.

When I'm not editing I hike, there's a lot of trails around Sagada. It's getting cold here. At night it drops to about 10 C - nothing compared to what it is in Canada. Except there's no heating here so I'm never really warm. My favourite restaurant here is the Yogurt House, which is famous for its homemade yogurt. The owner jokes that I'm there everyday. I'm almost, but no quite.

My favourite meal in Sagada - Yogurt House

Anyways soon I'll be moving on and discovering more of the Philippines, and then home. I'll keep you updated.

volunteering

I've been volunteering for about two weeks now. The juice fasting program at the hospital is on a bit of hiatus right now as Tom is doing some more research. Also soon there should be a similar program set up in Baguio (another town 6 hours away) and maybe eventually a couple of other hospitals in the Philippines. The program has run in Sagada for a year and it seems like many people in the town have tried it. As well people come from neighbouring towns and even abroad to participate. It has had success treating all sorts ailments including those with terminal cancer (however it has yet to be determined how effective it is in the long term.)

Sagada Hospital where I'm volunteering

The plan is to shoot a video, edit it (that's what I'm doing), and send it to networks in the Philippines, and other news networks in Asia. According to Tom it's a public relation dream here because most networks are so desperate for anything that if you give them a video they will run it. He has working with a network in the Philippines before and has a contact in India who owns a major network. Also the video will be posted on his website www.fasting.ws and YouTube.

For the first couple days you could say I participate in story meetings. Tom, the videographer, David, and I discussed some of the issues: who the target audience is, an Asia market so English is not their first language; where to shoot, mostly outside using the scenery of Sagada; lighting which are still be worked out after one day of shooting, the sun is really bright in the mountains; and how to make a video about fasting interesting. These discussions took place while Tom and David tore down a kitchen ceiling.

I have edited some b-roll of scenes in Sagada that was shot before I arrived. I have helped with some of the research for the video. I had gone to Baguio to renew my visa and while I was there I picked up some supplies that could refract the sunlight. There's only so much you can by in Sagada. I still have work to do put most of the project is on hold until the lighting is sorted out. Everyone else involved in the project is working on renovations around Tom's house.

Only 3 more weeks until I'm home.

Bontoc

I'm playing catch up on blogs right now. The day before my caving experience I had gone to Bontoc. Compared to Sagada this is a metropolis. I can do things like take out money. There's only one ATM in Sagada that's open from Tuesday to Thursday and it's unreliable.

Bontoc is an hour long, and once again, very bumpy trip. First I went to go see the Bontoc Museum. Some tribes in Northern Luzon still practice headhunting. At the museum there's some gruesome photos of the headhunters with their prize. At the back of the museum a village has been recreated and you can explore inside the traditional grass covered huts. They are so small you have to crouch down to get inside.

Riding on top of a Jeepney

After I ended up going to the rice terraces in Maligcong. The rice terraces are considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. Some mountains were terraced for rice fields over 2000 years ago. These plots have been passed down through generations. When I went they had already been harvested so it was mostly pools of muddy water. But you could still learn about growing rice which is a staple of the diet. A lot of the culture revolves around the harvesting and planting.

Rice terraces everywhere

The nightlife is thriving compared to Sagada. You can stay out until 10 pm. The plan was to do some karaoke, the national past time. Instead at the first two places bands were playing and at the last bar there was a lady boy show. By 10 pm the ladies brigade in their matching jackets was out to make sure that we left the bar. The next morning I was tired from my late night out.

Sagada

I've been in Sagada for over a week now; the longest place I've stayed since I started my journey. I've started some of the editing for the video. However since the shooting there's not much to do. Instead I've spent the weekend exploring the area.

Sagada is a small mountain village. It's supposed to be a backpackers haven and at certain times of year tourists outnumber locals. Although slowly more tourists are filtering in, I still don't believe that. However the typhoons have had caused a decline in tourism.

It's nearing the end of the rainy season, but it hasn't rained since I've arrived. Apparently after typhoons there's really nice weather. It cools down very quickly at nights. This is the first place I need to carry a sweater with me. The sun sets around 6 pm, and gets very dark since there's no street lights, so I also have to carry a flashlight when I go out for dinner.

There's not much of a nightlife in the town, since there's a curfew at 9 pm. All the restaurants and stores close by this time. And the ladies brigade (who are the older women in the community) makes the rounds to ensure everyone gets home. I've only been out late enough to witness this in the neighbouring town where curfew was at 10 pm.

Instead I've been taking in the nature while I'm here. There's a lot of hiking and caving to do in Sagada. I opted to the cave connection which is the most difficult option. I wanted to get the full cave experience. I spent four hours underground crawling though bat poop and clinging to rocks for dear life. There were a couple of times I wanted to give up although there was no going back only through. Every time I started to feel comfortable and couldn't imagine how it could get any more challenging, it did. At one time I had to climb along the side of a rock and could barely see where I was supposed to put my feet. Luckily my guide was amazing, and many times would act as a ladder, telling me to step on his knee or shoulder so that I could get to the next foothold. My guide described my caving skills as like teaching a two year old to climb stairs. I guess he wasn't too impressed.

Me and my caving buddy in front of limestone rock that looked like curtains.

The limestone formations were amazing to see and well worth the effort. But it will be awhile before I recover and go into a cave again.

finally the Philippines

So after a couple of weeks delay I finally arrived in the Philippines. I spent five nights in a row in a different city. First I had to back track from Siem Reap to Bangkok in order to catch my flight to Manila. I spent one night in Manila and left right away. There's not much to do in Manila except go shopping. I'll save shopping for the end of my trip when I don't have to carry everything around. During a taxi ride the driver was pointing out areas that a just a couple weeks before had been under water.

The next city I stayed in was Baguio. It's clear they do not get many tourists in the city. I attracted some attention. Many people just wanted to say hi and most were actually pretty helpful. English is a national language here and so most people speak English well. It's a relief after struggling through Bangkok trying to find my way around and I couldn't communicate with a lot of people.

After a six hour, bone-rattling bumpy ride I arrived in Sagada where I'll be volunteering for the next month. I met Tom who has designed a juice fasting program to treat terminal cancer patients. I'll be helping putting videos together that promote and explain how the diet works. I'll keep you updated on the work.

beach days

It's been a couple of days since I've left Sihanoukville, Cambodia. It was a good time, everything I needed, a chance to relax and try some snorkeling. For the first couple of days I didn't do too much, except swim, sleep and eat. Sihanoukville had some amazing BBQs at the beach front restaurants and I took advantage it. It was quite nice watching the sunset while enjoying fresh fish. The coast had been effected by the recent typhoons. The beach had been flooded and the water came right up to the steps of the bars.

dinner on the beach, except no beach just water

One night a friend and I went to a music festival on the beach. It was the first year for this festival so it was small, yet it attracted a lot of locals. The music was mostly top 40 djs. We had fun dancing with the local girls who seemed shy at first but really got into the music. The boys really know how to dance and loved showing off.

The last day I went on a boat tour. I spent the extra money to be on a boat with cover (last time I was on a boat I got really sunburnt.) This boat also had an exclusive license to go to a white sand beach where the prime minister owned a house. I was able to do some snorkeling, although it's not as good as what's in Thailand. It was pretty freaky looking below and seeing all these creatures and coral right below you. I was so afraid that I would kick too hard and end up cutting my foot on one of the sea urchins or coral.

on the boat

That night I left for Siem Reap, and today I said goodbye to Cambodia and it's insane driving and crazy children that stop at nothing to make money; including putting live tarantulas and won't take them off until you give them money (yes this does happen, but luckily not to me)

It was an interesting country and there's so much to tell that hasn't made it into this blog.

Now I'm in Bangkok and will be flying to Manila tomorrow.