Rob and Jolene

November brought one of our biggest treats since we've been here - a month long visit by my brother and sister in law, Rob and Jolene.  Getting here from North Carolina, 12 time zones away, is no easy task, so I was surprised and delighted that they actually followed through on threats to come here.

One place on Jolene's bucket list was Angkor Wat, so just a few days after arriving here, and with them still suffering from jet lag, we boarded a plane for Siem Reap, Cambodia.  About a three hour flight west of here, Siem Reap is home to dozens of ancient temples dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries, Angkor Wat being the most famous.  We spent several days wandering temple ruins under the care of our tuk tuk driver, guide and friend from a previous visit, Da.  We also managed to see a silk farm, visit handicraft centers, and get leg massages after all the walking.  Cambodia remains one of my favorite places to visit.

For more photos of Cambodia, CLICK HERE.

After a few days back in Manila, we drove to our house in Tagaytay for a few days of rest.  Tagaytay is an excellent place for restaurants, and it didn't disappoint.  There are also great views of the volcano in the middle of Taal Lake, and we enjoyed those over lunch or afternoon drinks or coffee at Starbucks.  We also took a drive down to the lake to get a better view of the volcano and all the fish pens in the lake.  I even tried to get Rob's help on a house project, but of course he left it only half finished.


Next up after a couple more days in Manila was the island of Bohol.  About an hour's flight south of here, Bohol is a tropical paradise with white sandy beaches lined with coconut trees.  On the first full day, we got up at 5:30 am to catch a boat for a morning of dolphin watching.  After watching the dolphins feed, we headed over to a small island for some snorkeling.  Neither Rob nor Jolene had ever been snorkeling, so I think they were a bit nervous about it, but once we got in the water and they realized breathing with a snorkel isn't hard at all, they were amazed by the number of colorful fish swimming right up to them. The second day included a tour of the chocolate hills in the interior of the island and lunch on a boat headed up the river at Loboc.

 CLICK HERE for more photos of Bohol.





Our final trip was to spend Thanksgiving at the beach at Anilao, a couple hours south of here.  We stayed at our friends' delightful place there which is right on the water.  I was a little afraid that we might get bored there, but that certainly didn't seem to be a problem.  It was so easy to sit in the lawn or the "living room" with a drink in hand and visit while watching the water.  In the mornings, we were even treated to dolphins feeding off shore.



For more photos of Anilao, CLICK HERE.

Those were just the highlights and trips outside Manila.  We also toured our neighborhood, Makati and other areas nearby.  Jolene seemed to especially like buying pearls at the nearby markets since they're so cheap.  Rob loved losing at farkle (a dice game).  Both of them were real troopers about exploring new things to eat and getting up at odd hours for our travels.  I think we probably wore them out, but we sure had a great time.  I hated to see them go.

Italy

It's been awhile since the last travel post.  Guess we were saving up for something big, and Italy turned out to be it.  We recently spent several weeks eating our way through the country.

We started off our adventure in Rome.   It's quite an amazing city, full of so much history and beauty.  Our hotel was centrally located near the Spanish steps, and we walked everywhere.  Tony claims his phone app recorded one day with 20 kilometers.  I'm not sure I trust the accuracy of that, but I can tell you my legs felt like it.

Scenic highlights included tours through the Colosseum, Forum and Vatican City together with visits to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain.  Culinary highlights included the prosecco, prosciutto with melon, pasta and gelato.  The food everywhere was sooo good.

An even bigger highlight was a visit from fellow nitwit Raleigh, who flew down from Geneva (where he and Scott are living this year) to hang out with us for a few days.  Scott tried to make it, but a meeting in Lisbon got in the way.  The visit with Raleigh was a great unexpected treat.



After five days in Rome, we took the train to Lucca, a town in Tuscany known for the 500 year old walls encircling the city, narrow cobblestone streets and beautiful character.  Very good friends Bob and Don have been traveling there for the past 20 years and have a wonderful condo in the heart of Lucca.  They played host to us for the next week and half.


Being in Lucca with Bob and Don is quite extraordinary because they've become part of the town.  With their knowledge of Italian, they know all the shop keepers and have local friends everywhere.  They are also foodies, so they know the best places to eat.  And boy did we eat!  Tony couldn't get enough of the gelato, and I ordered different pastas everywhere we went.

While in Lucca, we took the train to Pisa one day.  It's only about an hour away, and well worth the trip.  Another day, we took the train to Carrara at the foot of the mountains where all of the carrara marble comes from.  A short taxi ride up the mountain took us to the small village of Colonnata, known worldwide for lardo, a pork fat delicacy.  I couldn't think of much that sounded less appetizing that a slab of pork fat, but it turned out to be really really delicious.  The lunch we had there was amazing.

We spent the final two days in Florence, Bob and Don joining us there.  The history, art and culture are overwhelming.  We toured the Uffizi gallery and Acadame, home of the statue of David, among other places.  And of course we continued our eating extravaganza at some wonderful restaurants there.

The entire trip was delightful.  We're now working on losing the pounds we gained in Italy.

For more photos of Italy, CLICK HERE

Baler

Our latest adventure took us to the town of Baler, a surfing hangout northeast of here on the Pacific Coast.  It also neighbors the town I lived in during my second year in Peace Corps in 1978/79.  I've been anxious to get back there to see how things have changed.

Although Baler is only about 150 miles away, you have to pass through the Sierra Madre mountain range to get there.  The area is rather remote and very rural.  It takes about 5 - 6 hours to get there, but that's about half what it used to take me in the 70's.  The road zig zags through the mountains, but its now paved and has two lanes.  That's a big improvement!

The town of Baler is on the coast.  During the 70's, it was just starting to become known as a place for surfers.  Now that it's easier to get there, development along the beach front has grown tremendously and there are lots of tourists.  I never used to see that.  And there's electricity, another big change from the old days!

Surfing lessons are popular and only cost about $8 an hour.  Both Tony and I tried it out and had a great time.  I thought it was a perfect way to thumb my nose at the fact that I'll soon be eligible for Social Security!

Maria Aurora is the town I used to live in and is just a few miles inland from Baler.  We visited one afternoon stopping by city hall, the street where I used to live and driving around town.  The streets are all paved now, and there are certainly more people, but the town still retains its very rural character and hasn't changed all that much.  I didn't find anyone I knew, but was able to learn about several of the people I used to work with pulling up some great memories.  Tony called it my "Fried Green Tomatoes" afternoon.

  

 For more photos of Baler, CLICK HERE.

Tagaytay House

Tagaytay is a city about 40 miles southwest of Manila.  Overlooking Lake Taal and the Taal Volcano, it sits about 2000 feet above sea level and is cooler and breezier.  Its one of the most popular weekend getaway locations for people from metro Manila.



Tagaytay is also home to a house Tony's family has had for quite some time.  Not so long ago, it was used regularly by his mom, but it sat largely unused for several years.  We've slowly been renovating and fixing things to make it more livable, and now that the bedrooms and bathrooms are done, we've started going back and forth more often to spend time there.  During weekdays when there's no traffic, it takes us an hour and a quarter to get there.  Weekends can be double or triple that, so we avoid going up then.

The house has 2 bedrooms and bathrooms, a large open area on the first floor and a loft running the length of the building on the 2nd floor.  It has patios on both ends of the loft, and a large brick patio on the ground floor.  The development includes only about a dozen homes, and has a swimming pool available to everyone.  The landscaping is maintained by the development and is beautiful.

The city of Tagaytay is spread out along the southern ridge of an ancient caldera containing a large lake.  An active volcano sits in the middle of the lake, and the views along the ridge are spectacular.  Although it hasn't erupted in about 40 years, the volcano is considered the second most active in the country.  In recent years, there have been small seismic earthquakes and temperature increases in the lake water, but the activity has died down.  So in addition to floods, typhoons and earthquakes, we get to be alert for volcanic activity.  At least we don't have to worry about ice storms and blizzards!

CLICK HERE for more photos of the Tagaytay House

Singapore

Singapore marks its 50th birthday this year.  So does Tony.  What better excuse for a  trip than to combine the two celebrations?

A group of islands at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula that became an independent country in 1965, Singapore has grown into one of the biggest urban centers in Asia.  It has a deep history with Indonesia and Malaysia, and was part of the British empire.  There have been significant immigrations from China and India, and it even has four national languages including English.  Talk about a melting pot!

A 3 hour flight from Manila, we spent 4 days and 3 nights there wandering the city.   It has a beautiful skyline and is clean, well organized, with great public transit, has lots of parks and green space, and the drivers followed the rules and didn't try to run me down in the cross walks.  A bit dull compared to Manila, perhaps, but it worked for me!

We stayed in the Orchard Road area, a shoppers mecca, but centrally located and easy to get around.  The hotel was in a new high-rise building with a great rooftop pool and outdoor area including a panoramic view of the entire city.

We used the subway a lot and found it really easy to navigate.  We also played tourist using the hop on / hop off bus that makes its way around town.  We saw a lot more of the city that way.  I loved the colors and character of Chinatown and Little India, and the new Marina Bay Sands development is quite an architectural wonder.  The Botanic Gardens and Orchid Garden were also quite amazing.

Singapore is well known for its food, and we weren't disappointed.  The street food vendors, locally known as hawkers, are especially well known and we sampled lots of food from them.  Crab is a local specialty, and Tony got his fill with two crab dinners.

It was a great celebration!

For more Singapore photos, CLICK HERE.

Palawan

Palawan is the largest province in the Philippines and comprises more than 1,000 islands on the west side of the country far out into the West Philippine Sea.  It's been the source of a lot of travel media attention lately and is often named as one of the best island destinations worldwide.  We used Stephen and Owen's visit from San Francisco as an excuse to check out those claims.

 

We first flew from Manila to the provincial capital, Puerto Princesa, in order to visit the famed underground river.  Located about 2 hours north by van, this world heritage site includes a river running through about 5 miles of limestone caves.  A well organized tour of the first half mile or so is available to the public.

I wasn't expecting too much, but was thoroughly impressed.  The tour was extremely well organized and the tour guide knew his stuff.  Once the van got to the national park, we transferred to a boat for a half hour ride to the site of the underground river where we boarded yet another boat for the actual underground river tour.  The scenery everywhere was amazing.  The cave and underground river itself were especially awesome.  The entire day was well worth the visit.

The main purpose of our Palawan visit, though, was a stay in El Nido.  Famed for its limestone islands, protected ecosystem and water activities, we splurged for a stay at the El Nido Resorts island of Apulit.

To get there, we traveled from Puerto Princesa by van for 4 hours north to the town of Taytay and then transferred to a boat for the one hour ride out to Apulit Island.  The scenery along the way was beautiful, and once we realized what the resort looked like as we neared it, our jaws dropped.  Upon arrival, we were met by the resort staff singing welcome songs.  They gathered us for a quick orientation and then showed us to our cottages.  Somehow, our luggage was already there, even though not all of our bags had name tags.  I'm still mystified how they did that.

Apulit is a small island, and the resort is the only development on it.  There are 50 cottages that sit over the water together with a pool and club house area.  We had one of the larger cottages, and those had a private stairway to the water below.  The entire waterfront was full of coral and sea life, and we could watch colorful fish from the cottage deck.  It was stunning.

El Nido Resorts is known for its customer service, and they did not disappoint!  I've never been anywhere more friendly and welcoming.  All food was provided with large buffet meals that were excellent.  Virtually all of our activities were also included.  They provided us with complete snorkeling equipment for the length of our stay.  Kayaks and paddle boards were available.  Even a half day island hopping boat tour was included.  Owen and I "mastered" the paddle board, and all of us kayaked.

Snorkeling on the island is spectacular and among the best anywhere in the world.  The water is very clear, and colorful coral and fish are everywhere.  We floated for hours every day marveling at the wildlife.  It seemed especially difficult convincing Tony to get out of the water!



Every day seemed better than the last.  On our final full day, Stephen and Owen arranged for a special lunch.  The resort had two helpers bring the food and setup to a hut on a private beach where they cooked a wonderful meal.  We snorkeled, then gorged on a special Filipino menu, and then snorkeled some more.  It was a perfect day!

We took a direct flight back to Manila from the El Nido airport, still a one hour boat and two hour van ride away.  The airport security and check in area was an outdoor area about the size of someone's living room and had a view of the beach and ocean.  The boarding passes for the 50 seat propeller plane were small engraved wood plaques.  It wasn't your typical plane trip.

The entire Palawan island vacation was a really spectacular adventure with great company, and we all can't wait to go back!

For more Palawan photos, CLICK HERE.