So Many Excellent Adventures Part I

The past few months I have been a horrible blogger, Mark and I have been having such excellent adventures and I have not shared them with you! Here is the first of many attempts to catch up!

So Many Adventures Part 1: Manila

Back in December I was able to join Mark in Manila, Philippines for two weeks. We spent Christmas and New Years in the city. Mark was there for work and I spent most of my time laying by the pool, wandering the malls connected to our hotel and going on day trips with Mark.

We took a canoeing trip to Pagsanjan Falls, which was absolutely breathtaking.  It was like something out of Jurassic Park. Unfortunately when I say canoeing trip I mean that two men canoed us up the river while we idly sat by taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of nature. On that day we could not make it up to the actual falls, though, as the river was really high and rough.

In full protective gear .  The people behind us are going under the falls.

Some of the nicer housing along the river...

We also were able to visit an island in a lake on top of a mountain, on a island in a lake, on an island in the ocean.  Yeah, say that 5 times fast! The name of the mountain is Mt. Taal. It's one of the 1,000 Places to see before you die. We took an outrigger canoe to the middle island and then hiked up to the lake. We didn't actually get to go onto the inner most island - during that time of year the inner most lake is closed because of the temperature of the water.

an aerial  view of the mountain, courtesy of Mark

The island in a lake on top of a mountain, on a island in a lake, on an island in the ocean!

Family housing on the island

All geared up for our outrigger ride

The outriggers

I also dragged Mark to a historical city tour of Intramuous, the inner city of Manila built during the Spanish reign. I found the tour to be really interesting and informative, our tour guide really educated us on the Philippines current state of brokeness. If you even make it to Manila and need a good tour guide please look up Carlos at http://celdrantours.blogspot.com/. He was really amazing, plus he gave us chocolate during the tour and a dessert at the end.

Original wall of Intramuros

View from Intramuros

Ruins from WWII

There are many Spanish style churches in Manila - most of these churches have a decorated Filipino flair.

Lastly, I could not leave you without letting you know about the Filipino National dessert, the Halo-halo. I know it sounds a bit complicated, but in a hot muggy country it is the perfect dessert.! At the end of our Intramuros tour our guide gave one to every person, stating that the dessert is very much like the Philippines at the moment: a little of everything all mixed in one, very colorful and good.

I have to say that the Philippines was a heart wrenching place to visit. They are a people who have had their country and their culture ripped away from them time and time again. This has resulted in the country being left broken and poverish. The islands themselves have a lot to offer, they are very beautiful, most of the people are hard working English speakers, but corruption within their own ranks holds them down. I truly hope that this country can find its footing and culture to rise again as a strong nation.