Back from another trip to the Philippines

[lovbyts]

I survived another 2 weeks in the Philippines with the Mrs. She was there for just over a month. She was a little home sick so I sent her back ahead of me, I couldn't get the time off that quickly. She said after 3 days she was ready to come back home. lol

Trip started out BAD. First the ticket agent at the airport tried to tell me I HAD to have a Covid booster shot to go. Not true, dont need any vaccine, only a current PCR test. Got her manager to verify I was correct. Then she still denied me because the PCR test had to be within 48 hrs. Mine was just over 50 hrs because my flight was at 1am Monday and I did the test on Friday since they dont do them on Sunday. Really??? Yup, denied. Called the ticketing agent at Expedia and they rescheduled my flight for 2 days later. I was originally only going for 10 days but revised my return so it was 15 days. Much better. Got a new test and returned. The same agent wasnt there. The other agent who recognized me from before apologized but nothing they could do at the time. I was surprised they remembered me because I didnt make a scene or anything.

Like most of our other trips we spend a couple days going up into the mountains to visit some of the indigenous villages that are forgotten about by the local government in T'Boli. We purchase a couple hundred pounds of rice, soap, laundry detergent and other staples and bag them up into individual gift bags to pass out. Usually there are 30 - 100 people living in these small villages and many have never seen someone in person with white skin. Im pretty pale too. lol

This time we went a little further up into the hills where even 4x4s cant really make it due to no roads or "road" conditions. We hire local motorcycle drivers on Enduro typ bikes to take us and the supplies. Pictures dont do the places or people justice. Usually 80% of the people are not in the pictures.

We also spent almost a week just relaxing for the most part on one of the island near Manila called Puerto Galera. It was just re opened to the public in Jan or Feb due to "Cough" Covid restrictions.

Unfortunately around the main cities they are still Covid paranoid or at least still use it as a control tool.

I figure Ive got 2 more years in the states before we move back there full time and build another house to permanently live in. We have our little 2 bedroom starter house that works for now. We have a couple locations ideas for the other house a little further away from immediate family.

I still dont have full use of the right shoulder after my full shoulder replacement December 30th but its definitely getting better week by week and I should be able to start lifting LIGHTLY again soon. Not pushing it this time so I dont have to do the full replacement 2x like I did on my left shoulder.

Only had 2 earthquakes in the 1 week we were in T'Boli. We are surrounded by volcanos (not active) so its pretty much a weekly activity. Most houses that are concrete or have tile floors/walls have cracked or popped tiles. Luckily so far after almost 3 years no popped tiles or cracked walls. When it was being built I had to add rebar to everything and when they did I told them to double it.

The wife decided to do a little repainting on the inside walls before I got there. I told her to make sure to be done before I got there because I didnt want to do any. lol I had to Not look at thing to closely. There is still a bit to be learned about details especially when it comes to painting trim and using masking tape. lol

Overall had a great time. Didn't do much/any work on the house this time. Last time it was 80% working vacation. This time spent time with the family (got enough of that to last me a while) and the kids. Always have a good time with all the nieces and nephews. They don't ask for much and are appreciative of everything we do for them. Love giving them 1st experiences and memories to last and hopefully encourage them to strive for more.

Almost forgot. Normally I end up getting sick (montezuma's revenge) for 2-3 days. Dont drink the water, ice, anything made with water. lol I actually remembered to bring my cure. I started eating Pepto bismal chew tabs 2x a day starting day 1 and 1 tablet a day. I had a bottle of Peto with me just in case but it was all good and worked. No problems this time.

Wife and I had fever and just felt bad the last few days. She actually got it a few days before me and was feeling worse. I think she had a temp of around 103 at one point but Tylenol brought it down. I always bring a med kit with a little of everything. Kids always come to me to mend their cuts and put band-aids on them. Luckily our fever was gone before the flight back and didn't have much of a cough with the help of some cough drops and cough syrup. No Covid, we tested with the home test kits. Just your typical jungle fever. One of the kids had a fever and was sick the week prior.



Fun roads. Had to cross a few streams as well


Little volcanic activity. Yeah they like bright colors

[< <Samson> >]

Awesome to see you doin it & such a change of scenery!

Like I mentioned in another thread, my travels are mostly over - I think

Let alone to some places

I’d come back with STD’s they haven’t even heard of yet

[Mooseman33]

really cool read man. that is some good stuff.

[Capebuffalo]

That’s awesome.

[SampsonandDelilah]

Seriously incredible

[Remington]

They'd ask me to leave and not come back if I went there.
The gay Filipino twink urge is entirely too strong.

[Test Monsterone]

Incredible photos. What an experience... that road looks treacherous. Mud slides galore. When you see those people living like that it puts things in perspective. Life is beautiful in many ways, though. Sometimes our comforts obscure the magic of life. Those people are rich in connection, community, nature, and far away from the bullshit media and politics. The beach looks stunning. I was supposed to make my way to the black sea but never got around to it this time. Seems like our travel experiences paralleled in some ways, as far as getting sick and the flights getting messed up.

[lovbyts]

Incredible photos. What an experience... that road looks treacherous. Mud slides galore. When you see those people living like that it puts things in perspective. Life is beautiful in many ways, though. Sometimes our comforts obscure the magic of life. Those people are rich in connection, community, nature, and far away from the bullshit media and politics. The beach looks stunning. I was supposed to make my way to the black sea but never got around to it this time. Seems like our travel experiences paralleled in some ways, as far as getting sick and the flights getting messed up.

Thanks and yeah, that what I though when I read your trip story also, several parallel experiences.

Yeah I learned long time ago when I first started to travel to venture out of my comfort zone and visit areas I was told not to go because it was dirty, smelly, poor or to hard to get to and always meet people having the best experiences. I think I mentioned on one of my trips a few years ago the taxi driver I hired for the day took me to his home to have dinner with his family. Of course he wanted me to meet his daughters as well. lol

We usually dont spend much time at the beach areas, just a little to touristy for us mostly unless its one of the local beaches/resorts and we bring quite a few of the nieces and nephews. Typically I end up being the only white person and there is never a dull moment with 1/2 a dozen kids pulling you this direction or that to go look at something or play in the ocean. Of course playing in the ocean means Im the pedestal to cling to and for them to climb in the water that is normally above their heads. lol

Its also fun to go swimming up in the mountains in the deeper streams/rivers because before you know it most all the village kids are joining you for some fun. Im always mindful that most likely upstream somewhere the river is or has been used for sanitation type purposes most likely so no drinking the mountain fresh water. lol

Yeah the roads can be a little dicey at best. The road I had shown we are walking up had an area about 1/2 has wide where it had a recent slide down a good 50 ft into a gully.
Picture doesnt do it justice.



We had to rent a van to take the family to the beach. Luckily there were a couple of the brothers who couldn't make it this time and there is 1 more who is uninvited next time. I have a no drinking policy for our family outings since I am paying for Transportation, food, lodging etc. One of the brothers who came decided since he used his own money to buy the bottle of local cheap whiskey it would be OK to get drunk and pass out. At least there were no fights or yelling matches this time... Still, He is uninvited from the next trip until he learns no means no especially when there are a lot of kids there.



Its interesting swimming in the ocean at night and the water is still 70 deg. You dont find that in the PNW.

[< <Samson> >]

Rock on man!

What a different view of the world

[paulzane]

Sounds like you had a great time! Lovely happy faces on the photos!

[wango]

Great photos Lovbyts. The beach at night was very cool, that moon is bright!

[lovbyts]

Great photos Lovbyts. The beach at night was very cool, that moon is bright!

Yeah but the brightest moon and stars I ever saw where when I hiked up this volcano about 3 years ago there and camped over night next to the lake inside. No lights anywhere for miles and the walls of the volcano block any ambient light from anywhere so it was like looking up through a huge tube and you could see the stars as the world spins. Pretty cool.

We went night swimming each night we stayed at the ocean and it was surprising how warm the water was. I had to go because the kids would have gone without any adult supervision if I didnt go also and they really didnt give me much of a choice. lol

Lots of people just hang out all night sleeping in tents or finding a tree to hang a hammock from. We ruffed it also, our room only had a cold water shower. lol

[Frank777]

Rock on man!

What a different view of the world

This is exactly what I think! I haven't been to the Philippines, but I'd like to.
Thanks for the post, OP!

[lovbyts]

Why wait? Buy a ticket now so you cant back out or make excuses not to go.

[Honkey_Kong]

So you're going to move there fulltime? Good luck with that. I always thought it'd be great to leave this shithole, but I just end up going back and forth between living in LA and Vegas. Turns out I like things like air conditioning and dry climates.

[Test Monsterone]

I would definitely move somewhere else for a change, but not without AC. I need a cold room to get decent sleep.

[< <Samson> >]

Who knows where I’d be geographically if I didn’t have my son

[XnavyHMCS]

I have a good Navy buddy who retired and is living in Cebu.

This guy opened up a farm where he breeds, raises and fights game fowl (chickens)...

He appears to be doing quite well for himself' he's got three young sons, a farm outside of the city...

Some people are just meant to drift around the globe, I guess.

[< <Samson> >]

I have a good Navy buddy who retired and is living in Cebu.

This guy opened up a farm where he breeds, raises and fights game fowl (chickens)...

He appears to be doing quite well for himself' he's got three young sons, a farm outside of the city...

Some people are just meant to drift around the globe, I guess.

We're city slickers - at least me & my son. . . The wife was raised straight on a farm


Love that post count "777"


I just stay put to give him the opposite of what I went through when I was kid - which is one place to live stability. . . By his age I have covered over a 1/2 dozen countries, lived on the street with my parents - before crashing into the ass hole of NY(Brooklyn)

[XnavyHMCS]

We're city slickers - at least me & my son. . . The wife was raised straight on a farm


Love that post count "777"


I just stay put to give him the opposite of what I went through when I was kid - which is one place to live stability. . . By his age I have covered over a 1/2 dozen countries, lived on the street with my parents - before crashing into the ass hole of NY(Brooklyn)

It sounds like its going to be one helluva story for your son and the grandkids to pass down to generations...

Perhaps nowadays priorities are different (Do ya think?), but I would have loved to have a lot more details concerning my family origins, etc.
One of your descendants may value the knowledge of your journey and humble beginning in the country. (Just my personal opinion, brother.)