hat island are you from?" he said. We were spending the day walking through terraced rice fields high in the mountains of Luzon Island. We had passed through one tribal village on our way and picked up three young boys who seemed to sometimes shadow, sometimes lead us as we searched for the best path along this maze of terraces. We had seen few people and no other tourists since we left town in the morning, when we stumbled upon this old guy. He was out with his water buffalo, churning up his terraces for planting. In his toothless gums he gripped a tobacco butt to one side and smiled as he spoke.
hat island are you from?" We'd already told him we were from America. It didn't even register what he actually said until after we gave our reply, "Washington". Only in retrospect did we smile about this man. Here in the middle of nowhere, he spoke our language and attributed the geographical features of his country to ours just for the sake of making small talk.
his was the Philippines in many ways - a warm gentle country, ready to smile and make conversation. Home to 7000 plus islands, the Philippines seems to offer something for just about everyone. Mountains and hill tribes, jungles and animals, white sand beaches and coral reefs all are found here. After being in places where the only English spoken was, "Mister, Misses, Just looking. I give you cheap price. Very cheap," it was fun and refreshing to find that we could carry on an English conversation with most Filipinos. English being a carryover from U.S. occupation, there are also other historical influences from the Spanish and the Chinese making the Philippines an interesting medley of culture. Now, more than ever, it seems this country is trying to establish its own national identity. We came with visions of Subic Bay military bases and the infamous shoe collection of Imelda Marcos, and left with a true appreciation of this island nation.
ur one month tour took us to four different islands. We wanted to get a taste of everything, which meant subjecting ourselves to some serious stretches of travel across a country which covers an area a fair bit larger than the state of Texas.
hat island are you from?" he said. We were spending the day walking through terraced rice fields high in the mountains of Luzon Island. We had passed through one tribal village on our way and picked up three young boys who seemed to sometimes shadow, sometimes lead us as we searched for the best path along this maze of terraces. We had seen few people and no other tourists since we left town in the morning, when we stumbled upon this old guy. He was out with his water buffalo, churning up his terraces for planting. In his toothless gums he gripped a tobacco butt to one side and smiled as he spoke.
his was the Philippines in many ways - a warm gentle country, ready to smile and make conversation. Home to 7000 plus islands, the Philippines seems to offer something for just about everyone. Mountains and hill tribes, jungles and animals, white sand beaches and coral reefs all are found here. After being in places where the only English spoken was, "Mister, Misses, Just looking. I give you cheap price. Very cheap," it was fun and refreshing to find that we could carry on an English conversation with most Filipinos. English being a carryover from U.S. occupation, there are also other historical influences from the Spanish and the Chinese making the Philippines an interesting medley of culture. Now, more than ever, it seems this country is trying to establish its own national identity. We came with visions of Subic Bay military bases and the infamous shoe collection of Imelda Marcos, and left with a true appreciation of this island nation.
ur one month tour took us to four different islands. We wanted to get a taste of everything, which meant subjecting ourselves to some serious stretches of travel across a country which covers an area a fair bit larger than the state of Texas.
