Day 8

We arrived yesterday afternoon in Manila after a one and a half hour flight from Hong Kong. It was really hot after the cold, rainy days we spent in HK. We both shed multiple layers of clothing that we needed there, and were still sweating! I had to put my head band on to catch the sweat.

We immediately proceeded to the bus station and caught a 7 hour ride to Baguio, a small city in the mountains. We met Shant, Maitri's brother, who is a musician and artist there. Here in Baguio, due to the higher elevation, it is quite pleasant. He is working with a group who owns a tall building right in the heart of the city overlooking an amazing view. We stayed in the top floor in a commodious tent in a spare area. However, since we were sleeping on the floor, it was not as comfortable as we would have liked. Today we will get a mattress to make it more comfortable.

We are now just about ready to go visit Shant's friends and have a shower at their place which is nearby.

We have been really fortunate with internet connections on this trip. Hong Kong, which is so high tech and connected, did not surprise us. There we had broadband in the park and on the balcony of all three hotels we stayed at. Here I was not expecting such luck. However, our balcony here overlooks an even more favorable area and our WiFi speed is relatively fast.

We plan to stay here several days before going deeper into the Mountain Province where entire valleys have been terraced with rice paddies, what some have called one of the wonders of the world. Then we will head back to the lowlands and go to the middle of the country to the Visayas to see Maitri's family. Philippines has 7000+ islands so we will be spending a lot of time near the sea and on beaches. With the many mountains, volcanoes, beaches, and warm tropical weather, we hope to have a pleasant and interesting holiday here. The only thing that's a struggle for Maitri is the heavy pollution -- car and cigarettes. As she stepped out of the bus last night, she quickly got a full-blown hay fever. Baguio is having a flower festival and there were festivities on the street with loud music and street vendors.

We will be returning home via San Francisco on April 11 where we have booked a few days in the Green Tortoise hostel downtown. We will be back in Portland on 4/16. I have to be back to work in Portland April 20.