Enjoying the hospitality of many Filipino families? Check.
Knees deep in mud planting rice in the fields? Check.
Getting thrown off a carabao onto the riverbed? Check.
Hiking hours across rice terraces and rocky rivers to swim to a waterfall? Check.
All in two weeks with $250, a backpack and an open heart!
I have to say, it has been a very, very unique backpacking trip this time round. Throughout the trip, i have been deeply immersed into local culture and hospitality, perhaps more than any other trip so far. I feel less like a passing visitor, and more like a guest family member. Recounting the trip, there has been a fair share of adventure and excitement, relaxation and fun. Enough memories to last me till the next time i visit Aunt Biki's side of the family in Davao, Mindanao!
After a couple of years traipsing through mostly developed terrain - Europe and U.S., and the rising economic powerhouse China, I had almost forgotten the chaos, the confusion of the developing world. Enter Manila, and it floods your senses with nostalgic turmoil. Your eyes, muddled from the dizzying crowds of people and traffic. Your ears, incessantly disturbed by noise, pure noise. Your nose, choked up from wisps of pollution and street food. Your skin, steadily irritated by the sun, the dirt, the anarchy.
Welcome back, I thought to myself with a smile.
But first, I pray I will not be kidnapped. Because now I wait at the airport exit, hour upon hour, for a man I have not met before in my life, nor barely know from the meager testimonials he has on CS. A man with whom I have planned to travel two weeks in the Philippines, and will be staying with tonight. No address, no contact number, not even a face! All I know is that he'll be wearing a white shirt and blue berms, and carrying a blue 60litre haversack.
Why, dear God, why must I do this to myself, as my head ached from my recent fever. Eleven pm in Manila and without a definite place to stay. 'Thrilla in Manila' indeed! Nothing but a risky plan and a hope, as always. Always the same hope, the same faith... in the magic of serendipitous encounters, the wondrous chaos of Life.
It paid off. I met Karl, his cousin Naknak picked us up to her house, where her whole family showed us great hospitality... and the rest, as they say, is history.
Our days in Manila, mired by the rain, still found us touring around the walled old ruins of Intramuros, shuffling between a dizzying array of public transport from jeepneys to MRT, and learning its rich history and culture through museums like Ayala and Rizal memorial.
My favourite part, our family excursions to Taal Volcano (a lake within a volcano within a lake - quite a mouthful I know) and Laguna's famous hot springs! Definitely must-visits for the entire family.
If there is one way to truly experience what's unique in an Asian culture, I now know it to be a live-in with a family, and engage fully in day-to-day activities and the occasional weekend excursion. I love the karaoke culture, the lovely spreads of picnic food, the thick extended family relations, the love for reality tv, etc etc...
And I suddenly remember my parents saying, 'Why don't you go with a tour group? You'll see all there is to see". They never get it haha. I don't travel to see. I don't travel to do. I only travel to feel, to learn... to live.
And finally i feel so much alive again.
After a couple of years traipsing through mostly developed terrain - Europe and U.S., and the rising economic powerhouse China, I had almost forgotten the chaos, the confusion of the developing world. Enter Manila, and it floods your senses with nostalgic turmoil. Your eyes, muddled from the dizzying crowds of people and traffic. Your ears, incessantly disturbed by noise, pure noise. Your nose, choked up from wisps of pollution and street food. Your skin, steadily irritated by the sun, the dirt, the anarchy.
Welcome back, I thought to myself with a smile.
Why, dear God, why must I do this to myself, as my head ached from my recent fever. Eleven pm in Manila and without a definite place to stay. 'Thrilla in Manila' indeed! Nothing but a risky plan and a hope, as always. Always the same hope, the same faith... in the magic of serendipitous encounters, the wondrous chaos of Life.
It paid off. I met Karl, his cousin Naknak picked us up to her house, where her whole family showed us great hospitality... and the rest, as they say, is history.
Our days in Manila, mired by the rain, still found us touring around the walled old ruins of Intramuros, shuffling between a dizzying array of public transport from jeepneys to MRT, and learning its rich history and culture through museums like Ayala and Rizal memorial.
My favourite part, our family excursions to Taal Volcano (a lake within a volcano within a lake - quite a mouthful I know) and Laguna's famous hot springs! Definitely must-visits for the entire family.
If there is one way to truly experience what's unique in an Asian culture, I now know it to be a live-in with a family, and engage fully in day-to-day activities and the occasional weekend excursion. I love the karaoke culture, the lovely spreads of picnic food, the thick extended family relations, the love for reality tv, etc etc...
And I suddenly remember my parents saying, 'Why don't you go with a tour group? You'll see all there is to see". They never get it haha. I don't travel to see. I don't travel to do. I only travel to feel, to learn... to live.
And finally i feel so much alive again.
No comments:
Post a Comment