Las Filipinas

Kevin and I went to the Philippines for two weeks for a wedding for our friend Chad who we met in Peace Corps. He  was in our training group and lived in the next town over so we spent a lot of time with him and were so excited to meet Gladys and share in their special day! That being said, it was a little nerve racking for me since we had only been gone at the same time and left the kids with someone else twice the longest being three nights. They were bounced from house to house with Aba, los Abuelos, los Tios, and even Tio Robert and Tia Erika took a night! The kids had tons of fun but were definitely ready to see us when we got back. After a week I was ready to see them and decided that being away longer than a week is really too much while they are so little.

We had a great trip! We left at midnight on a Thursday and due to the time change didn't get to Manila until Friday. Our friend Eyal happened to be on the same flight from Taiwan to Manila as us so it was awesome to reconnect with him! We caught a flight from Manila to Legazpi, took a bus to Donsol, and finally got to our hotel around 8:00 PM. Needless to say we were exhausted and ate and went to bed. On Saturday we headed out on a boat to try to see the whale sharks. Donsol is known for having an influx of whale sharks at this time of year and you are able to swim with them. Unfortunately we did not see any and none had been spotted for two weeks. Someone told us this was due to the volcano in Legazpi erupting, but who knows. It was disappointing, especially since that was the whole reason for this detour, but we made the most of it and went on a tour to a small cave with an underground river. We rode on the backs of motorcycles (my first time on a motorcycle) without helmets which scared me. Luckily they never went above 60 kph (about 35 mph) and the roads were pretty empty. It was a beautiful ride through the super green countryside. We went through tiny towns, rice fields, and past beautiful forests. We saw tons of animals including water buffalo used for the rice fields and even a pig riding in a motorcycle sidecar! We stopped to check out a crazy hanging bridge and walked up into the little town across the river. I was so impressed with the roads and the fact that even tiny towns had paved roads (albeit only big enough for a motorcycle) going up into the mountains. We went on a raft through the river and Kevin jumped off a cliff into the water. We also went up to a lookout with amazing views of the surrounding hills. It was a beautiful view complete with water buffaloes that they use in the rice fields. The impromptu trip was probably one of our favorite parts of the vacation!

Egg shells to give the trees nutrients

The volcano erupting

The next day was super rainy so we headed out early for Legazpi. We had had time to kill before our flight, and there was a break in the rain, so we decided to explore Legazpi. It was a very dirty and poor town, but we found some interesting places and great views of the volcano that was erupting. We love going to McDonald's in different countries to see what unique and interesting things are on the menu so we hit one up. Kevin enjoyed a banana pie and there were things on the menu like pork covered in gravy, spaghetti, and of course, rice! He also tried a halohalo (ice cream with all kinds of weird stuff like corn, boba, jello, and purple yam) at a different restaurant and was pleasantly surprised. Our flight to Cebu was uneventful and we were surprised at how big and nice Cebu was (at least parts of it). There were giant malls, skyscrapers, and it was still bustling at 9:00 PM on a Sunday! We walked to a mall and ate some great Japanese food while listening to Reggaeton (such an infusion of cultures)!

Monday, we checked out the local market and were impressed by its size and variety of things offered ranging from fruit to flowers to amazing handmade furniture. I nearly vomited walking through the meat section. We took a ferry to Bohol and then a taxi to Panglao. It started pouring when we got off the ferry and everyone was pretty soaked trying to find rides. Luckily the rain stopped long enough for us to go into town and book a scuba trip for later in the week and eat some amazing fish. The town was tiny and the beach was beautiful and white but also super tiny. Our hotel had a nice beach in front of it so we spent some time there as well.

I don't even think this cost $100!

I had to cover my shorts!

Ube (purple sweet potato) covered ice cream

Tuesday, we went for a run and managed to survive the heat and humidity! We were picked up from our hotel for a tour of the Chocolate Hills. Our first stop was the Tarsier sanctuary. They are tiny little primates that look like a cross between a monkey and lemur and are vulnerable to extinction. They would be impossible to spot without assistance and there are employees located throughout the path in the sanctuary to point them out. They do not do well in captivity and apparently commit suicide if caged so we had to be quiet and no lights. They were the cutest things ever and I wanted to take one home! We then headed to the Chocolate Hills which are a series of hills that look so out of place as they are fairly uniform and dotted all over the area. There are various myths about how they came to be. They turn brown in the dry season (hence the name) but were not quite there yet. It was a pretty impressive sight and a weird geological phenomenon. We went up the million stairs to the top of one and had a great 360 degree view of the area. After that we headed to a river where we boarded a floating restaurant for a trip down. The food was delicious (minus the anchovies which I accidentally took a ton of) and we stopped at a floating stage where a local group of women put on a show for us. I even volunteered to dance with them! After lunch we stopped at the man made forest, a ton of mahogany trees that look very out of place in the jungle and then at a little butterfly farm/tiny zoo. We held some giant snakes and let butterflies land on our faces. After that we made the long drive back to our hotel.  We went into town for dinner and I had one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had coupled with the worst daiquiri (I had never before had a daiquiri that was not blended).

I want one!

I never need to eat anchovies again!

Playing with my new tiny friends