Philippines: Bontoc

Bontoc was another one of my favorite places to visit in the Philippines. The size of the town is small, so it's easy to get around. It's in the mountains, so there are a lot of hiking opportunities nearby. And the people we met were all very nice.

The main stretch running through town has a number of hotels, making it easy to find a reasonable room and negotiate a good price. We ended up paying 400 Pesos for a decent room, which is less than $10. On the other hand, it is pretty easy to pay just as much for a meal at one of the hotel restaurants. There are also quite a few small bars with karaoke machines were you can belt out a tune for 5 Pesos.

Nearby is the even smaller town of Malicong, which has rice terraces. While the rice terraces there are not as famous as the ones at Banaue, they are quite stunning. And there are virtually no other tourists there to crowd you. You can pretty much just walk all around them and just see the local farmers doing their work. The road ends in Malicong, but if you do some exploring you'll find another town on the other side of one of the mountains. Somehow, they bring everything they need in on foot from Malicong. One group of men was hauling a pig down through the rice terraces, and then back up the mountain, and on to their village. Jeepneys go to Malicong from near the central market. From Malicong back to Bontoc, I recommend hiking back. It is an easy 5 or so kilometers downhill.

And note that Bontoc is in the Mountain Province, so there is a curfew. Around 10 pm the bars will stop serving and within 30 minutes or so everybody is sent back home.


Motorized tricycles in Bontoc


The jeepney to Malicong


Rice terraces in Malicong


More rice terraces


Locals taking a pig to their village


The path through the rice terraces


A banana plant with flower

Philippines: Baguio

Baguio was our first stop out of Manila. Located at 1500 meters above sea level, it is known as the "summer capital of the Philippines." In terms of sight seeing, it's nothing special. But it is one of the more livable places I visited in the Philippines. There is a large college population, so it's got a lively feel to it. Session Road has a lot of good of restaurants. There is an SM Mall, with a variety of fast food joints. There's also a large open market in the center of town as well. Outside of town, Camp John Hay has been turned into a high end tourist destination, with golf courses and luxury resorts. And being located in the mountains, there is a large array of hikes one can partake in.

Hong Kong

This was my second time to visit Hong Kong. The first time was in 1997 for the handover to China. It was in the middle of summer, and I hated the place. Hot and humid to the extreme. And the only relief from that was from torrential buckets of rain. The only highlight was that I flew on a FedEx plane and got to ride in the cockpit for the landing at the old downtown airport. Nevertheless, I decided to return for a 24 hour layover on the way to the Philippines.

This time, it was much, much better. The weather was excellent, and I had a plan of attack. After arriving on Saturday night we headed to our guest house at Chungking Mansions. The rooms there are super small, and not always the most tidy of places. But the location is excellent, and the price is cheap. After taking a brief walk about, we decided to rest up for a busy Sunday.

On Sunday we did the quick 1-day tour of Hong Kong. Walking to the ferry terminal; taking the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island; checking out the Mid-levels, and their wonderful escalator; eating at a local Chinese restaurant; riding the tram up to The Peak; doing some sidewalk shopping in the street markets; eating some Chinese street food. And then finally, heading back to the airport for our flight to the Philippines.

After all of that, it makes me wonder what city I actually visited back in 1997. I don't remember the restaurants, the sites, the vibrancy of the city. I'll chalk it up to the bad weather. All in all, Hong Kong definitely moved up on my list of favorite cities. I'd still never go back in the summer though.

Tip: Never, ever exchange money at the airport. The rates are terrible and the guest houses will be able to exchange your major currencies (i.e. don't bring Won).


The goldfish market


Part of the Mid-levels escalator system


The tram to The Peak


The view from Victoria Peak

Winter Scenes

Not a whole lot to take pictures of these days. I figured I should add something for December though. Here are a couple of pictures from a friend's house up in the mountains. Only a few flurries of snow have come my way.



His cows.



I'm headed to the Philippines in a week, so look for some new posts at the end of the month.

Fall Colors

Some scenes of the fall colors here. The first picture is in Gimhae. The rest are from Soho village near Ulsan. The fall viewing season actually peaked a week or two ago, but there are still massive crowds at the most famously scenic spots. Sundays are particularly popular, with traffic jams on the little country crowds that can stretch for kilometers. Fortunately Soho is not one of the more popular places.