Goodbye Siargao

I just enjoyed my last day of surf here in Siargao. Jesse is out fishing now with his fishing partner Tung-Tung. I went out to Dako around 7:30 with one friend, and surfed clean, consistent, head high waves with only the two of us all morning. It was just beautiful. We came back in around 11:00 just as a boat full of some of our local friends showed up. What a beautiful way to start the day. To top it off, this is the first day in two weeks where it has not rained all morning...it was actually sunny.

About the rain, it has been relentless. Yesterday Jesse and I spent the day using the internet at a cafe in town, there were periods where it would pour down, then would stop then would start pouring again. When we first went in all was normal, when we came out there was water down the street! We were like, "hey, who diverted the river?" I was ankle deep in it and there were actually kids skim boarding in front of there homes.

Discouraged by the rain we decided to leave early to go to northern Luzon. So, today we will say goodbye to the island. We will say goodbye to the friends that we have made and the family that we have adopted. We will say goodbye to the food we have come to love and to eating rice with our fingers. I will miss taking the boats out to the picture perfect islands across clear blue water, and surfing without a wetsuit, where my fingers don't go numb.

Tomorrow Jess and I will fly back up to Luzon. We fly into Clark and then go by bus up to La Union aka San Fernando. We stay only two more weeks. Up there we hope to surf and do some diving. It will be a good way to finish off this trip.

Our good friends here have already decided to go home only to work enough to save to leave again and head back to Bali. They were saying that with 600 Euro you could live quite comfortably for eight months there eating well and living in a little apartment or room. This life doesn't sound so bad.....

Traveling you meet many interesting people living the most exciting kind of lives. Most of the French we have met work in the ski resorts back home for the winter and travel in the summer. This is very common even for many Americans.

Jess and I are ready to head back home now. We have gone through highs and lows of wanting to return or not. But now we miss our family, we miss the mountains in California. Happy Thanksgiving

Day at the Market

Pieces of Siargao

We flew into the Siargao airport, and looked for a van, but instead spotted our good friend Biboy who had come to retrieve and take us to GL. As we made the drive everything felt so familiar, like returning home. I half watched out of the van window the passing hillsides of palm, bamboo, and banana trees, and half listened as our friend began to tell us that there had been some changes while we were gone. His sister Ging-Ging was no longer working at Renaldo's, and soon he would be leaving as well. Unfortunately there had been some troubles between them and NyNy Alda. But, life was still going here. Biboy filled us in on some of the things that had happened since we left, and we told him how we liked Indo. We passed more palms, and rice fields, mud caked water buffalo, and proudly displayed roosters. Finally we pulled into Renaldo's, and we were home. There was a happy reunion then Jess and I settled in. We were excited to return and I was anticipating my brothers arrival . This would be Dan's first time out side of the US aside from Western Europe. He would be seeing all of this tropical goodness for the first time.

This trip to Siargao we have been so blessed to have many old friends and new friends. We flew in with a Finish couple, who we are extremely cool and have spent a lot of time with them. We are also hanging out with a French and Slovenian couple who are also awesome as well as our old friends Steve and Char.

From here it is hard to know where to go. We have been on Siargao for 22 days now. This has already surpassed the length of time we were here before. As it is said..."time flies." Jess and I enjoyed walking everywhere our first week as we waited to rent a motorbike. There were always familiar faces as we passed to smile and wave to. We dug up the $800 in pesos that we buried in the cemetery. Thankfully it was still there. We surfed the reef in front of the cemetery, and also surfed my favorite spot at Dako Island. This first week was the beginning of the Billabong Professional surfing competition. Consequently it was one of the most festive times of the year. Many tourists were in town to either participate or to observe the contest. San Miguel Brewing Company strung up triangle fliers back and forth across miles of road. Women swept the streets and Renaldo's packed there freezer with extra meat in preparation for this busy time.

The Contest was successful. It was postponed one month this year in hopes that there would be better waves than there had been in the past. The first two days of the contest were not disappointing. There were hours of barreling waves. The opening ceremony was a special event. There was a traditional dance performance and several speeches made by the local governor. The sun was shining and the day was beautiful. Aside from that every evening through the contest there was some sort of event. There was a battle of the bands which was surprisingly impressive. A miss earth contest was held, and that was also well done. Everything led up to the final days of the contest and the awarding ceremonies where we all enjoyed a live reggae band and good company.


Daniel showed up a week after us. From that point on we were busy. We took Dan out snorkeling a total of around 9 times in 9 days. We had nonstop fun. Every day we would either be snorkeling or exploring or out Island hopping.

Dan and I took a trip by motorbike around the island. It only took around seven hours, but by that time our bums were sore. There are a few attractions, the first being the rock pools of Pilar, then the beaches of Burgos, the Takanaka waterfall (water trickle), and lastly the beautiful mangroves on the northern side of the island. We stopped and got lunch of lentils in coconut milk, and a pumpkin curry soup served with rice for less than a dollar.

Dan's second day we went out for a BBQ on Dako with some of our local friends and an Australian friend. Here we grilled and ate fresh tuna, sliced fresh pineapple and mango, rice and a very special vineger soy sauce with lime and chili that you can really only find here. The whole meal was absolutely amazing and satisfying. All was laid out and eaten on banana leaves minimizing the clean up. We snorkeled here and enjoyed the absolutely pristine landscape.

On October 31st our good friends Steve and Charlyn were wed. I was honored to be their official photographer. It was such a blessing to take part in this special day with our friends. I was able to observe many different cultural customs and felt like part of the family. Our French friends came to the wedding also. Oh, one thing that was a a total blessing, was that a couple of weeks before the wedding the flash on my camera broke. I would not have been able to take the photos if it weren't for a spectacular friend Tom from Australia (who is a commercial photographer in Hong Kong), taught me how to use the manual settings on my camera!!! After almost five years of procrastination and laziness on my part, I learned this invaluable skill (in it's basic form) in only around 45 minutes! For the next few days I took some wonderful photos, inspired by my new gift.

Our time here has been fun....Jess and I decided to take a trip to Leyte to dive and snorkel.

Siargao Photos

Bali

Driving through Bali we passed countless terraced rice paddies, traveled through small towns, and passed rivers with locals bathing and swimming. Eventually we made it to the outskirts of the city where the home furnishing stores began. The craftsmanship and artistry of the Balinese is world renown. The style is irresistible. I love the dark wood, balanced colors, the carvings and the intricate fabric patterns. I admired the creativity in the designs such as the tables made out of tree roots, the giant inviting pillows, and the hanging lounge chairs.

Bali is a beautiful place. There is something for everyone on this small island. Couples can enjoy a private honeymoon, singles can retreat for creative inspiration. Friends can join for reunions and fun. The adventurer can dive, and hike, and surf their hearts out. It is a place for old and young. Any type of food you could imagine will be found in Bali, and at very good prices. This is just what Jess and I had been craving after traveling through the islands, eating only slight a variation of the same things over and over and over again. Including these ingredients rice, veggies, fish, oil and top ramen.

Jess and I stayed in Legion our first time in Bali. Our return trip we stayed in Kuta. Legion is known to be a quiet version of Kuta. While Kuta is the lively crazy tourist central. We enjoyed both with the small amount of time we had. I loved the variety of restaurants and the inexpensive menus. Jess and I drank fruit smoothies (avocado shakes) every day for less than a dollar each. By this time I had learned enough Indonesian to do a decent job bargaining at the shops. The Balinese really appreciated the effort I put into my bargaining. We had a San Diego friend who really helped me fine tune my offers. If you can imagine bargaining in Tijuana on Revolution St. You can imagine the bargaining here in Bali. They mark everything up by at least four times what could be paid. "Rule number 3, Divide by four" as our San Diego friend put it. Always keeping a big smile and amiable attitude really gave me an advantage. I only know around twenty words in Bahasa Indonesia ( Indo language) but by arranging and rearranging these words I put together a good bargaining language. So many shop keepers commented"wow you speak Indonesian so well!" ( I guess so when compared to many of the one week tourists ) There were a couple of women shopkeepers who I sat talking with for a long time and left feeling like I had made a life long friend with each of them.

We spent some time with new Swedish friends. At our goodbye breakfast we were a couple of Americans eating breakfast in Indonesia at a Mexican restaurant with four Swedes. I laughed at this blend of cultures.

The island is mostly Hindu. Every shop that I saw in Bali placed an offering outside of it's entrance each morning. Usually this was a small square basket made of palm leaf, containing rice a cracker or two some leaves and flowers. There is a prayer said with and sprinkle of water, then they set it down. From that point on they get stepped on and trampled, but once the prayer is said the job has been completed. There should always be one sale at the shop for the day, just for good luck.

I look forward to traveling back to Bali someday.