Phun Philippines and the In Betweens...

The nomadic lifestyle is one that is hard to explain to people that have never done it, or who don't even really know what it is. The idea of giving up all that you know to be real and right. Leaving behind the comforts of home and your hard earned possessions. Living off of what you can carry on your back. Wearing the same clothes day in and day out. Sleeping in a different bed every 2-3 nights, if your lucky enough to have a bed instead of a uncomfortable seat on a bus or train. Having your only expectations being to have no expectations. This lifestyle brings with it amazing, unforgettable, inspiring highs. The golden moments of traveling.  But as with any lifestyle you choose, with the highs also come the bitter, exhausting and downright depressing lows. No one at home will want to hear about them or even understand that it is possible to have them. Heck, we are on a year long trip of endless vacation, right? Living the dream, isn't that what everyone always says to us?

 The Philippines which was a country high on our list to visit seemed to start with a depressing low. The day after we arrived we found out that a typhoon was heading straight for where we wanted to go. Of course, at the moment we didn't know exactly how devastating it was going to be, but logic told us that we should probably stay put for a few days to see how things were going to play out. Two days later, while watching the news we realized that what was said to be the biggest typhoon ever recorded in history, blew through the country and blew through our plans to see a large portion of it. Mixed with feelings of disappointment and annoyed by our timing, were the feelings and emotions of how grateful we were that we had checked the weather (something we never do) 30 min before almost booking a flight to Cebu. The worst hit area of the terrible storm. It took some time to revamp our plans. We had thought about heading south to help with the relief work. But realized that not only could we not get there because the airport had been ruined and boats weren't running, the level of destruction was so huge that a few backpackers wandering around aimlessly would be of no help at that point in time.

Out of coincidence 2 of our friends, Chorouk and Kader,  that we had met 3 months early in Borneo and 2 months earlier in Bali, had flown in to Manila 2 days after us. They were at the same crossroads of "what do we do now?". We made a plan together (excited to travel with friends again). Giving up on our idea to head south to the beaches (at least for a few days) and instead we went north, to the rice fields and mountains. To be honest, we weren't to excited as we have seen our fair share of rice terraces so far this year. Little did we know that where we were heading would be some of the most beautiful landscape we had seen in the last 7 months. We were in for a treat for the eyes. 5 days that would be so amazing that no plan we could have made would have prepared us for the 'highs' that were to come after a several days of lows.

After a long overnight bus ride from Manila, we arrived in the small hill village of Banuae. Our home stay literally seemed to hang off the side of the mountain with a view of absolutely stunning rice terraces etched into the side a jagged mountain range. The terraces are over 2000 years old and have recently been named a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is said that if stretched out, and put into a single row, the terraces would wrap around the world! We wasted no time and headed out on a 4 hour hike along the top rim of the terraces.

The next day we loaded on top of a jeepney (the local transportation) and made our way to the village of Batad. Here we did a more difficult hike, it was either up or down with no in between. Terrace walls here were built with stone instead of mud. The amount of work required looked astounding. It is said that at the base of the terraces if you measure the vertical height to the top, it is taller then any building on earth.

A local Jeepney.

From there we traveled further into the hills to the town of Sagada. It too, was stunning and had crystal clear refreshing air. Our room had a wood cabin design, which added to the charm of town. Sagada is well known to tourists for it's caves and hanging coffins. Some people still follow tradition and choose to have their body put in a coffin and hung from a side of a cliff. A decision that is made before they pass away. It was a unique experience to witness some of the "hanging cemeteries".

It was here that we had our first true caving experience. We have been in lots of caves but most were led by a trail and were a leisurely walk. After arguing with the locals that we could do it on our own, we finally settled on 2 guides for 5 of us. (We had been joined by a new friend, Josh, from Kentucky, USA) It didn't take long for us to realize that this was beyond anything we had ever done before. The cave was massive and we could only see via 2 kerosine lamps and a few head lamps. We climbed, slid, scooted, slipped, squeezed and swam our way through. It took us just over 4 hours to make it all the way through. That was one of the best days we have had. It challenged us physically and mentally and if we're being completely honest, there were a few times that we thought this was way over our abilities. In the end we emerged dirty, wet and with huge smiles on our faces. The guides were singing a song to us "now I understand" and boy did we. We needed those guides after ten minutes of walking into the cave.

Dirty, wet and smiling after we finished in the cave.

Once we realized that it was safe to head to the island of Palawan, we headed back to Manila to jump on a flight. We sad goodbye to Chorouk and Kader. Our first destination was El Nido (One of Dean's top 3 destination for the trip). We'd finally made it to a beach in the Philippines and it did not disappoint. After a day of relaxing and swimming we met up with Josh again and made a plan to spend a day kayaking to a remote islands. The kayaking was difficult as the wind decided to show up but when we made it to the island we were rewarded with a white sand beach that we could enjoy all to ourselves.

On the way to the beach, we passed by a dog on a beach whining and barking at us. We all decided that we would stop on the way back. There was two homes built there, but the dogs actions just didn't seem right. When we returned later that day it became very obvious that the pup had been abandoned and was slowly starving to death. The homes were abandoned and had zero signs of life. We fed him all we had left and unanimously decided that we couldn't leave him. Even though we weren't sure what to do with him when we got back. We all agreed his chances on a populated island far out weighed his chance alone with no food or water. Dean and I got in our kayak and Josh loaded the pup on. It only took about 5 mins for him to calm down. We like to believe he knew he had been rescued. We left him at the guesthouse where we had rented the kayaks. Some guests were giving his some snacks and he seemed alright. We named him Red :)

Time was running short and with only 2 days left to spend in El Nido the three of us rented dirt bikes to ride around the top of the island. On the completely opposite side we heard of a place where we could rent tents and make our home for the evening.The road was very much new. Pavement was in small patches and most of the road was dirt and loose gravel. It was a blast!!  We had a campfire and went snorkeling. It was so relaxing and a great 2 days.

From El Nido we took a bus back to Peurto Princesa where we took a tour through the Philippines longest underground river. The river is fed from the ocean and is 8km long. We could only go in 1km and it was much easier than our last caving experience, all we had to do was sit in a row boat and listen to the guide. It was impressive and was worth a visit as it was so unique having the river flow through.

Before we knew it our time in the Philippines was over. It went way to quickly and we both agree that we need to make an effort to go back and see all that we missed. It is an amazing country.

 

 Our flight from Peurto Princesa had a connecting flight in Manila which we missed due to high traffic on the Manila runway. Normally this would not have been a problem, but we were on a timeline to get back to Bangkok to get our visa's for India processed. When we were told that our perfectly planned out flight wasn't so perfect and we would have to spend the night in Manila, we realized that our time in the Philippines was about to end on a low just as it had seemed to start. Thankfully, after some pleading with the Philippine Airlines we received some amazing customer service. They booked us a new flight on a completely different airline so that we would be in Bangkok by next morning. We arrived to our hotel at 3am but we were so grateful to the gentleman that helped us.

We knew the process for the visa for India was a long and complicated one. We set aside 8 business days for what we were told would be a 6 business day process. After a pretty detailed application process we decided that we didn't want to spend another week in Bangkok while waiting. We instead took an over night train and then bus to Phuket. We decided to volunteer our time at Soi Dog Foundation. A shelter that rescues and adopts street, abandoned and abused dogs and cats. With a high emphasis on sterilization of street dogs and returning them to where they were found. Usually 20 a day!! We spent 3 days assigned to a 'run' of about 20 dogs. We went with a particular dog in mind that we wanted to meet that Dean had been reading about on their website. It quickly became apparent that at a shelter with over 400 dogs it would be easy to fall in love with more than 1. When we left we had narrowed it down to 4 that we want to adopt. We will stay in contact with the shelter and see how things pan out with that in a few months time.

This is Raindrop. We want to adopt her.

To top off, the last 5 weeks nearly ended with what was our most stressful and 'low' moment of the trip. Our India visa actually getting processed. We had flights booked out of Bangkok to Myanmar to meet Dean's parents. When we had not heard anything from the Embassy about our visa's being processed it became apparent that things might not go how we had hoped. We quickly realized that we might not meet Dean's parents when we had planned and even when we did, we might not have our visa for India.That was a problem because we were out of time to apply again before we were to meet Dean's cousin there. After 8 business days, which turned out to be a Friday, we picked up our visa 30 min before the Embassy closed. It goes to show that sometimes even with the best of planning comes stress, anxiety and a low in a time that is suppose to be so exciting. Thankfully for us, it turned out well again. We are so excited to meet Dean's parents and to spend Christmas with them. Starting out the next chapter to our adventure on a high, and that sure feels good!!

PS- Some of these photos are courtesy of our new friend Josh. :)

Vietnam

We speak of wishes and dreams and generally give little thought to an outcome. I am so very grateful, my dream has come to be. I am so blessed to have the family I do; my Dad who introduced me to Vietnam as a child and answering all my questions as we watched news casts of the US war in Vietnam. Kelly and Dean who you know so well, Mur and Christina for always believing and of course Randy for being who he is. I arrived, I ate well, I slept amazingly well, we laughed, I lived. We met the most amazing people who welcomed us, genuinely happy to have us as guests and most going out of their way to make us welcome and share their way of life with us. Some we met had so little and that mattered not at all. I have had the best traveling companions. Together we have sailed, strolled China Beach, risked our lives on the back of scooters on treacherous mountain passes and in unbelievably crazy city streets, barreled down horrendous mountain roads at breakneck speed in a rattling sleeper bus, arrived at an airport to find our tickets had been booked for 2014 (how does this happen), we have seen uncomparable beauty and kayaked in the South China Sea. There was so much more that is so difficult to put into words so I will end with this - I am so very happy to have seen my Vietnam Dream 1967 - 2013. It was everything I ever dreamed it would be and then so much more.      

                                                                                                      Holly Therrien.                                         

Vietnam.

 

Whether it's the war from a not so distant past or the pho that I'm sure most of us have tried, Vietnam has made its mark on a lot of people. But to actually see and breathe it in, is a whole other story. To wait impatiently over the seemingly endless slow drip of an individual percolator, dripping over a bed of sweetened condensed milk. To the fantastic, traditionally based ingredients of the mouth watering spring rolls. From the screams of the street hawkers, to the exasperating honks of the impenetrable barrage of motor scooters. Vietnam is truly an exhilarating assault on the senses. It really makes you question your beliefs in life on what's edible and what is not. You really can push your limits. Fluffy little rabbits, they're so cute. But delicately slow roasted, their cuteness turns to pure deliciousness. Vietnam truly has a belief that if it moves, it can be eaten. They take this belief to the far ranges of what most of us in the western world believe to be incomprehensible when it come to our beloved fur babies. The scary things for us, we feared that if we had tried dog or cat, we may have liked it. We had heard from many travelers that when it comes to Nam, you either love it, or you hate it. For us, we feel that our 6 months on the road has numbed out the reptilian part of our brain that screams DANGER with all the chaoticness that is Vietnam. For Holly to travel with us, we're sure she felt comfort having us on either side. Most travelers we talked to said, Vietnam truly started once they got off the bus and were dumbfounded at how they were supposed to get across the street to their hotel. To us, it's chaos, but to the trained observer it's Beethoven's symphony at a rock concert.

 

We started in the south, Saigon. Kelly and I had our first real taste of luxury since leaving on this trip, thanks to Randy (Kellys Step-Dad). He was of the belief that if his wife was to backpack Vietnam, she needed to rest and recoup after the long flight. Holly arrived looking refreshed and ready to go. She was expecting to be sleeping in a dorm room, so when we showed up to the 5 star hotel, (which was a surprise) she actually seemed a little disappointed. But as the day wore on, her eagerness settled down and the need to get caught up on sleep crept in. The 5 star comfort became a welcomed, unexpected pleasure as she dozed into a silent abyss for 12 hours of sleep. :) All the while, Dean laid in the next bed over hoping his ibuprofen would kick in after a nasty mishap with hot, oily soup broth that burnt both his legs and a thumb. The 2nd degree burns would put him out of commission for the next day, which was disappointing. 

  Museums are not usually on the top of our list of places to visit, but after some really good reviews online, Kelly and her Mom decided to give it a go. It's important to learn about the history of the countries we visit, especially ones that have as much history as Vietnam. Nearly 3 hours later they left the museum with a heaviness looming over from the purely horrific portrayal of the Vietnam War, or better known here as the "American War". The tourist attractions in and around Ho Chi Minh are helpful. Painting a very clear picture of the well known war, how the people endured it, survived and moved on. We visited the famous Cu Chi Tunnels which were impressive to say the least. Amazing what people will and endure to ensure their survive.  To lighten the mood we spent an evening on scooters and went on a scooter/food tour. We all had so much fun and ate some very delicious food. We left Saigon after three days and began our cross country adventure.

Just one of the many booby traps used by the militia.

Inside the Cu Chi tunnels. Made bigger for the tourists. Used by the Vietnamese for 30 years.

  We started the journey from Saigon to the highland cities of Da Lat and Boun Ma Thout.  We were forced to head to the interior due to a typhoon hitting the coast. Da Lat was a beautiful little city that the french had established as their highland get away for big game hunting. We had a lovely couple days walking around and one day was spent on a guided scooter tour arranged through our guesthouse with the owners son. He was, without a doubt, the nicest guide we have ever had. Such a pleasant, good hearted young man. Holly sat on the back of his scooter and the entire trip they talked, him showing her everything. The drive was gorgeous. We visited a silk farm, rice whiskey brewery and observed the excruciating hard process for removing granite boulders out of the hills to make granite bricks. We went to Elephant Falls and Holly really pushed her limits by hiking down to the bottom. It was such a great experience to watch her conquer an obstacle that she wasn't sure she would be able to do.

Almost to the very bottom of the falls. So happy with our progress.

Huge boulders of granite which gets broken into small bricks by chisel and hammer.

Inside the silk factory. A big source of income for Vietnamese people.

 Boun Ma Thout near the border of Cambodia doesn't see many white foreigners. This was made evident when Kelly and Holly went for a swim in the outdoor pool. They were causally swimming around when they looked up and the entire conference room which was full of people, everyone was now standing at the windows taking photos. Embarrassing? Just a little. We had plans to visit a small village out of town where we could ride an elephant to a near by river and give them a bath. But unfortunately for us, when we showed up, the river was flowing to fast and was to high for the elephants to enter. We left Boun Ma Tout for Da Nang on a 16 hour sleeper bus. Despite the luxury of 'lay down' seats, the ride was long, too long. We vowed we wouldn't do that again...at least not when Holly was with us. 

Da Nang. We arrived just missing the typhoon. The beaches were in full repair mode. So much sand had been blown off the beach and onto the streets and boulevards. It was all being swept up and delivered back to the beach. It was a shame because this was the famous "China Beach". One spot that was on the top of Holly's must sees. Despite the fact that we couldn't swim, we had fun on the beach with our umbrellas and dipped our toes in a few times. We had some fantastic meals here and did some sightseeing to the Marble Mountains with their impressive caves and temples. 

Dragon bridge. Shoots water and smoke on Saturday and Sunday.

This was a beautiful cave with a temple built in it. The Buddha in the upper back left was carved out of the marble in the  mountain.

 We also spent a day at the neighboring town, Hoi An. We arrived not knowing what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. The town still has its original charm from when the french built it. It was too bad that we didn't have more time to explore. After enduring the 16 hour bus trip, we elected to fly to Hanoi. Why not? Tickets were only $38 each. Slight problem though, the tickets came in for 2014 and we didn't realize it until it came time to check in. Oops!Oh well, nothing a credit card and a smile can't fix.

Hoi An at night lit up by hundreds of lanterns.

 Hanoi. We arrived in the old quarter of town and found a pleasant place to stay. Our plan was to head out to Ha Long Bay for a 3 day/2 night tour. We quickly put the plan into action and booked ourselves on a ship leaving in a couple days. It wasn't sunny, nor was it hot, but the fact of the matter was, we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. What we had was perfect in its own way. The almost 2000 islands jet straight out of the ocean and when viewed from a distance, appeared magical. Almost like an optical illusion.The food served was top notch. We sure got our seafood fix. We met some great people (2 Irish girls who work for Facebook, who were an absolute hoot). Had fantastic service, so good that our room greeted us with a free bottle of red wine, fruit and a bouquet of red roses.

Our boat.

Fertility Cave :)

 On our 2nd day, we boarded a smaller day boat and found some relatively untouched waters. It was clean, calm and perfect for jumping off for a quick dip. When the boat anchored for lunch we got to go kayaking and boy was it stunning. We were thrilled to find out that we were paddling only 200 meters from the water border of China. Kelly says that those few days on the boat were in her top highlights of the trip so far.

We stopped at a pearl farm. We were all to cheap to buy anything.

We ended our 3 weeks back in Hanoi shopping, eating and celebrating Dean's birthday with a movie at the theater. Yep, 31 has arrived for him....isn't he getting old? ;) It was such a pleasure to share the time with Kelly's mom in a country that has a always been on the top of her list to see. It was also nice to have family see how we have been living for the last 7 months. To be able to appreciate the joys, sickness, exhaustion, laughter and awe that comes with this sort of traveling. So, in saying that, the next few months are exciting as we will be visiting the top 3 countries on Dean's list of places for this trip. Philippines, Myanmar and India. And it just so happens we will be meeting up with friends we met in Borneo for the Philippines. Dean's parents for Myanmar. (and Christmas!) And Dean's cousin for India. :)   This year just keeps getting better and better!!

Vietnamese Currency - Dong