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A noob's great adventure - trip to the Philippines
I was fortunate enough to make a trip to the Philippines in July 2006. 2 weeks was barely enough time to scratch the surface of this country. I managed to brave the incredibly congested streets of Manila, Makati and Quezon City and make my way to an active volcano (Taal). From there a short plane ride brought me to one of the many, many islands (Boracay) that was beautiful - hopefully that beauty comes through in some of my photo's. I completed my journey in an area 250 kilometers north of Manila known as "The City of Pines" (Baguio) where at elevations of around 4,500 feet the temperature remained in the mid 60's a nice contrast to the heat and humidity found in the city. Please feel free to chime in - I'm always ready, willing and eager to learn how to do things better. All these photo's were taken with a Canon A510 Powershot 3.2 megapixel.
Captions for the photos:
"Um. Toto we're not in Kansas anymore" or in my case New York...
"Holy cow! Gas is $44 bucks a gallon...Oh that's pesos per liter. At the then exchange rate of 55 pesos to the $1 - quick get the calculator"
"Hmmn. What's that? A big mountain with a chunk missing. What's that - it blew off during a volcanic eruption? It's safe?? How do you know?"
"Okay let me get this straight. We are crossing a lake (formed from a huge eruption millenia ago - crater lake) to get to a volcanic island (active - steam vents, the whole 9 yards) and we're going to ride horses (I'd argue for large pony at best - and believe me those horses weren't fond of me at 6'2" 240lbs) to the top of the volcano to see a lake in the crater and a small island in that lake. So its an island, in a lake, in a volcano, on an island, in a bigger lake, formed inside a bigger volcanic crater. Got it straight now?"
"Buko. What the heck is that. Oh coconut. So they sell, coconut pie, coconut juice, coconut milk, coconut...." (I'm having Forest Gump and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. flashbacks at this point)
"Wow. Look at that water. What can I say. Looks, feels and smells like paradise. It's actually White Beach on Boracay. Nothing like $1 San Miguel beers at the resort and hour long massages for under $20 - No not that kind of massage - shiatsu and swedish melt your muscles type"
"Speaking of massages. This is where the action was at - a plant screened "room" on the beach with some soft music and the sound of waves breaking nearby ahhh..."
"This is what the energizer bunny looks like after it runs out of juice..." Actually it's my 2 kids after a little too much surf, sun and sand...
"An ominous looking cloud"
"After the multi hour trip up ever steepening roads which are frequently washed out or obstructed by landslides (think precipitous drop of hundreds of feet inches from wheels of the bus) you may feel inclined to give thanks at a local church in Baguio"
"The faithful ascend all 275 steps (at an altitude of 1,500 meters) to see a shrine" (I had the bus drop me so I only had 50 steps to the top)
"A final view into a mist shrouded valley in Baguio"
Captions for the photos:
"Um. Toto we're not in Kansas anymore" or in my case New York...
"Holy cow! Gas is $44 bucks a gallon...Oh that's pesos per liter. At the then exchange rate of 55 pesos to the $1 - quick get the calculator"
"Hmmn. What's that? A big mountain with a chunk missing. What's that - it blew off during a volcanic eruption? It's safe?? How do you know?"
"Okay let me get this straight. We are crossing a lake (formed from a huge eruption millenia ago - crater lake) to get to a volcanic island (active - steam vents, the whole 9 yards) and we're going to ride horses (I'd argue for large pony at best - and believe me those horses weren't fond of me at 6'2" 240lbs) to the top of the volcano to see a lake in the crater and a small island in that lake. So its an island, in a lake, in a volcano, on an island, in a bigger lake, formed inside a bigger volcanic crater. Got it straight now?"
"Buko. What the heck is that. Oh coconut. So they sell, coconut pie, coconut juice, coconut milk, coconut...." (I'm having Forest Gump and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. flashbacks at this point)
"Wow. Look at that water. What can I say. Looks, feels and smells like paradise. It's actually White Beach on Boracay. Nothing like $1 San Miguel beers at the resort and hour long massages for under $20 - No not that kind of massage - shiatsu and swedish melt your muscles type"
"Speaking of massages. This is where the action was at - a plant screened "room" on the beach with some soft music and the sound of waves breaking nearby ahhh..."
"This is what the energizer bunny looks like after it runs out of juice..." Actually it's my 2 kids after a little too much surf, sun and sand...
"An ominous looking cloud"
"After the multi hour trip up ever steepening roads which are frequently washed out or obstructed by landslides (think precipitous drop of hundreds of feet inches from wheels of the bus) you may feel inclined to give thanks at a local church in Baguio"
"The faithful ascend all 275 steps (at an altitude of 1,500 meters) to see a shrine" (I had the bus drop me so I only had 50 steps to the top)
"A final view into a mist shrouded valley in Baguio"
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Should be pic 9 oh well I goofed.
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