Guest Blog

Today’s guestblog is the final installment from Tyleen Reynders about her recent adventure in the Philippines.

Hi All of you readers
I thought I would send just 1 more article to finish off my trip to PI.
But I could write a lot more. My experience in the Philippines was so profound that it makes my decision as to where I will retire quite easy.

Some of the things that made my trip interesting or memorable ……

1. Finding out that there is NO toilet paper in washrooms or CR’s ….THANK GOD my friend Jocelyn was with me when I discovered this.(she apologized profusely for not remembering to tell me!!!!) BUT …. I had to wait for 10mins for her to come in to the CR to find out why I was taking so long….. I was not amused!!!! I quickly learned to travel everywhere with a full roll of TP in my hand bag!!! Now that I look at it …..it was a good excuse to buy a new large bag!!!
2. I was asked to be godmother at Jocelyn’s daughter’s wedding. To me it was a big deal. It was at a non Catholic church called Iglesia Ni Cristo. It was a new church/religion to me. It was very interesting service even though it was in Tagalog.  I found it curious that they are springing up all over, a beautiful expensive church in the middle of such desperate poverty. Yes …one could argue the Catholic Church has churches in poverty stricken areas. BUT according to the web there has not been a new Catholic church built in the Philippines in 20years. So the poverty grew up around the Catholic Church not the other way around. Like I said I am not criticizing just curious.
3. Getting my Nokia cell phone fixed for $3.00US at a authorized Nokia dealer..when my cell phone company  here in Vancouver  wanted $200.00 to fix it or I could get a new phone for free if I signed up for     another 3 years.
4. Having so many wonderful people start me off learning Tagalog.
5. Not having to drive!!!!! I have been driving since I was 16…..I am used to driving myself anywhere I wanted to go. I have driven back and forth from Vancouver to LA  about 20-25 times so I could visit a favourite auntie living there. But I have to tell you relaxing and reading in the back seat or being able to really enjoy the scenery was the best !!!!
6. Leaving at 4am to beat the traffic (MY GOD!!! And I thought rush hour here in Vancouver was bad!!!!) I went to Manila for the day and did some tours of Manila Bay and spent some of the time at the Asia Pacific Mall. I was on a mission to find something specific for my brother. I loved the mall. I wandered around for awhile just loving the variety of different stores. I especially loved the wonderful customer service. Noticing the time (my friend was picking me up at a certain time) I realized I needed to get serious about finding the Callaway Golf store. I asked a couple of people for directions and wandered around in circles for about 30 mins. Then I remembered the article Bob wrote on Filipino face. ……The people I had asked directions probably had no clue as to where the Callaway Golf store was located but kept pointing in some direction and didn’t want to lose face by telling me they didn’t know. I promptly asked a security guard (I still can’t get used to armed security guards) and he walked me to the right section and I found the store. My brother loves what I bought him very much so I think I am good re: presents for him at least until next year. I owe my brothers happiness to Bob. Without that article on ‘face’ I would not have found the store before it was time to be at the pickup point to go back to Cabanatuan City. My brother and I both thank you Bob !!!!
7. Discovering Buchi Buchi….it is the best treat ever!!!!
8. Now that I am back to the everyday grind I find myself becoming Ate (elder sister) to many of the new Filipino ladies that work at my Dental practice. We talk a lot about food,life,people and their homesickness. They are so envious of me being able to retire in RP in the next 1-2 years. (Little do they know I envy their youth!!!) We laugh and chat like we have known each other forever.  It is a joy to go to work to see them every day. I hooked up one of my new Filipino staff with my Filipina friend Jocelyn and they have become great friends. Rosemarie and her family have only been here 1 year and were very lonely for friends…. Well they have a whole bunch of new friends now. Every time I see Rosemarie she hugs me and says thanks. She doesn’t understand yet… that  I AM THE ONE BLESSED WITH NEW FAMILY
9. Seeing the gas prices skyrocketing in PI the same as back home. I will never complain about the gas prices in Vancouver again. I gasp out loud wondering how the average family survives having to pay those prices.

I am getting regular emails from the people I met while in the Philippines and getting news about their lives and Cabanatuan City. I live for the emails and long to go back.
I have just been informed by Jocelyn my Filipina friend that we hopefully might be going back in Feb or March of 2009. I kind of go when she goes.
Damn I can hardly wait!!!!!
This time it will be for 4 weeks. I will have the extra time to fly down to Davao and see Bob and Feyma and anyone else they can round up for a party!!!!!

Thank you for reading my Visitors Blog and I will let you know when I am coming to Davao so I can meet as many of you as I can.

Regards to all,
An expat in the making
Tyleen Reynders

Again today, we have a guest post from Tyleen, about her recent trip to the Philippines.  Thank you, Tyleen for sharing your adventure, and you are always welcome to contribute as many additional columns as you like!

Well here I am again hoping to convey my love yet again for this fabulous country called the Philippines.

Jocelyn(my filipina friend)  has friends that are brother and sister lawyers. Their family has a large farm near Dingalan Beach. (2 hours ?? north of Manila) Not far from where we were staying. They invited us to come and enjoy their hospitality. They even came and picked us up!!! I was continually surprised at the genuine kindness of people I had just met.

We went to beautiful Dingalan Beach… the sand was white white and powdery like baby powder. Wow !!! We were the only ones there at the beach on a beautiful sunny day.  I couldn;t believe that such a place was devoid of people for miles and miles.

We all sat in a open air Nipa Hut for shade and talked about life and kids and cultures. A lady came by and asked if we wanted her to cook us some lunch. The conversation swirled about me in Tagalog and in a blink of an eye she was gone to make lunch for us ….  40 minutes later she came back and unfolded some newspapers on the table and dumped about 3 kilos of cooked prawns on the paper with lemon slices and lobster tails on wooden skewers,rice and vegetables and of course a lot of cold ice tea!!!! The best spread I have ever eaten !!!!! It seems they steam the prawns in 7up???? Wow I am going to have to try that at home when I have some friends over for a BBQ.

I am realizing that food is a very big part of the Filipino culture…..everywhere I am invited food is always being offered to me…it doesn;t matter what time of day.

I have lost weight (about 10lbs or 4.5 kilos) since my arrival in Cabanatuan City…..it has to be the heat and the humidity….it definitely is not because I am eating less, trust me on this one !!!!!

So we all were in a great mood after a great lunch and got to talking about the surrounding area and their family history. It seems that the Japanese used their family land as an R&R place for the senior officers.
It was visited often by a General Yamashita. And when it looked like the Japanese were going to lose the war, he supposedly hid some of the gold he had collected (read stolen) on their property. The brother and sister said that as kids they tried to find the gold for years with no luck. They have had many fortune hunters wanting to dig on their land for “General Yamashita’s Gold” (see www.rense.com/general13/treasure.htm )

They both told my friend and I some stories about the Japanese on their land during the war. Their father was part of the US army in the Philippines right from the beginning of the war.Many of the families friend’s fought as guerillas with US forces until the end of the war.

During my visit I talked to many people who had stories about the Philippines during the war. It seems that everyone in the Philippines is related to or friends with someone who had an active role in the war with the US in some way. In fact some of the old soldiers and some families are still waiting for the US to pay them. I gather the situation is before the courts and will be resolved soon. I hope so. I listened to all of the stories and marvelled at the resourcefulness of the people.

We left the beach and went to the family compound and saw the 2 huge ponds of Talapia almost ready for market. There must have been close to 5000 fish in each huge pond. Wow I haven;t seen that much fish in 1 place since I was at the Aquarium in Vancouver.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying their stream fed fresh water pool. It was the only time in the Philippines that I swam in cold,cold water. The water in the pools at the resort is warm and so is the water from our taps, even the ocean is warm. (Don;t get me wrong I love the warm water….just an observation)
It was a very interesting day I can tell you!!!!!!

We finally made it home around 8pm…my behind was dragging and I said hello to everyone and headed for bed. I was bushed. Laying in bed reflecting on the day I realized because there was so much laughter and food,stories and new friends…. it was another great day in Paradise!!!!

I seemed to spend a bit of my days looking at prices so I could decide whether or not I could buy things in the PI’s or ship the stuff over.  I am so glad I did. The availablity of most things was surprising for me. I was happy to know I would not need to refit a ceiling fan to 220v ….I could get a lovely one at a very good price at the Handyman store.

That brings up another point about the people in the PI.  Every where I went from Asia Pacific Mall in Manila to the smallest store in Cabanatuan City, I was greeted warmly by staff and had someone to help me find the things I wanted to buy. They were very helpful and NOT pushy.  I am so used to being in North America where the staff are hard to find(companies cutting back staff) and not very friendly or helpful (staff not giving a wit for you or the customer service they were hired to provide!!!!)  It was wonderful!!!!

Yes things were cheap for me to buy…..but I would have to be careful when I move…not to go crazy in the Malls. Believe me, as dedicated shopper it would be SOOOO easy to do!!!!!  I have a PhD in shopping and I can tell you that I would buy 1 of everything!!!!!  I when to the Mall here at home yesterday….I had to hold my tongue to keep from saying…..”This sure isn’t the Philippines……they actually care about customer service there!!!!”  I drove home from the Mall frustrated that we have allowed our young people to let our customer service standards drop so low as to be almost non existent. Such a shame really!!!!

Oh yeah …driving in the Philippines…WOW!!!!  I came to realize quickly that I should not look at where we were going as I would only scare myself.  Our driver was very skilled but some of the situations we were in scared the heck out of me until I decided NOT to watch and just talk to my friend in the back seat or read. The city of Cabanatuan is fairly small but they had traffic like crazy all day long.  When we had to go to Manila we left at 3AM to get to where we were going for 10AM. My friend had business there and they dropped me off at the Asia Pacific Mall. I hit the sidewalk in front of the Mall at 9:20AM.  That is how bad traffic is in Manila. OH my GOD!!!! I will never complain about our rush hour traffic in Vancouver ever again!!!!

I love the people,place and the wonderful food!!!! I am seriously thinking about retiring in Cabanatuan City !!!!!

If I have the opportunity from Bob I will write about the rest of my trip and the honour at being asked to be a Ninang at my friend’s daughter’s wedding. It was thrilling !!!

Today’s guest blog is from Tyleen Reynders, a regular LiP reader.  Tyleen recently made her first adventure to the Philippines, and from what she writes, I think she enjoyed her vacation!  Tyleen is from Canada, and started reading this site shortly before her trip to visit the area.  Thank you, Tyleen for your willingness to share your trip with the rest of us!

I spent the most wonderful time in the Philippines. I am so thankful I found this site before I went. It helped me prepare for the culture shock and gave me the perspective I needed.

I went with my best friend a Filipina named Jocelyn who had a small resort in Cabanatuan City about 1.5 hours north of Manila.  We arrived late at night at Manila airport and I was subjected to the most pollution filled hour I have ever experienced waiting for our van to be allowed into the arrivals area. I can tell you I was NOT impressed with my first glimpse of the Philippines.

Finally ‘our van’ arrived with kisses and hugs from my Filipina friend’s family and friends. I got kissed alot…  1.5 hour ride to Jocelyn’s small resort and at last we were there. So much family was waiting and the dancing and sing began. Some kind of party I can tell you!!!! I was tired but could not help but enjoy the party.

The next morning I awoke at 6am ready for my first day in the PI’s.  I went outside and there were so many people with friendly faces ready to show me around the property that Jocelyn had bought the previous year and hoped to turn into a western style subdivision.

I swam in 1 of the 2 pools and then was called for breakfast.

I was ready for the day and we left with a driver and a bodyguard for the nearest mall.  I got to see some examples of absolute crushing poverty on the way to the mall. I was so surprised that even though the people did not have much they had smiles on their faces and every one was clean and as well turned out as possible.

There seemed to be so many different uniforms on children…my friend said there are many different kinds of schools here…. public, private, college and university. Beautiful children and young adults all hustling to get to school.

The mall was the biggest culture shock for me……  clothes and shoes and everything so cheap by our western standards. And as you have said in your previous blogs lots of fast food joints. My friend told me to cool it and spend the day just looking as we could come back any time. I wanted to spend, spend, spend
but understood the wisdom of her advice. I did however have the best massage of my life for about $7.00
I wound up going back to Jane the masseuse many times before I left and asked if I could adopt her.

Everywhere there were friendly faces and….no screaming kids…  Where were all the young children I asked myself….  They were there alright but they were the best mannered children I have ever seen in my life.  No overindulged,catered to,spoiled,gimme gimme kids anywhere…..I was stunned.  AND ….Well mannered young people people …my God I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!!!!

I spent alot of pleasureable time in the malls while I was there I can tell you!!

The things that I found a little disconcerting were the presence of weapons everywhere out in the open. Security guards with guns at their side at every mall entrance and out in the parking lot. Great way to deter gangs and disturbances in the malls…..but as a Canadian it was a big surprise. We do NOT allow our security guards to have guns. The only people who have guns in out country are the police forces and people who carry 1 for their work  ie diamond sales people,body guards for high profile people etc etc and unfortunately the bad guys have weapons. They are smuggled in from other countries…our country does not allow most of the weapons confiscated ie M1 assault rifles etc etc

I was surprised at the attitude of the people re dogs as pets…..they mostly do not regard dogs as pets like we do in the west. Which may or maynot be a good idea….I personally coddle my pets!!!!

When I visited a vet ( the family puppy got hurt and it cost me only 11 bucks to have her put right including xray and shots and take home meds!!!! (Nuts…it would have cost $300-to $600 here in Vancouver..that’s why I have pet insurance!!!!)

Gathering information…. I asked about living here with my little dog and asked about some meds he needed for his scratching. He replied does he have mange or bad fleas. I laughed and said NOT AS CHANCE THEY WOULDN’T DARE Roberto the vet and I laughed. He said he would be thrilled to treat my little dog as he was obviously cared for so well. I liked the guy!!!!!

I spent many hours on my trip taking pictures of people planting rice and children and places etc etc. I even got a picture with me and a Carabao (he was a little reluctant to let me too close to him).  On our way back and forth from the city to the resort I stopped many times to check out the craftsmen making beautiful chairs and beds and tables. We would pay 100’s to 1000’s of dollars for comparable stuff in North America.

I will never complain again about our gas prices here in Vancouver BC…..we pay a little less here than people do in the Philippines. My god !!!!! how do they manage?????

The food was wonderul…I had rice everyday and was in 7th heaven.

I had brought over a gross (144) of toothbrushes ( I am in the dental field) and gave them to a village of indigenous people. They were so thrilled.

I came away with that experience wanting to do more for them so now that I am back I am in the prelim stages of setting up a dental team to go back and help the villagers. I now have a great contact in PI to help me with the politics of the area so no toes are stepped etc etc

I am so awed by the gentleness and the grace of the filipinos I met …..I am now seriously thinking of retiring there as soon as I can get my affairs in order and fufill my obligation to manage the Dental Clinic for the atheletes at our 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Suffice it to say I love the Philippines and I was both thrilled and humbled by my experiences !!!!!

There are soooooo many things I wish to tell you about my time in PI but they will have to wait and see if Bob wants another column about me raving about the Philippines

Salamat Bob and all of you who have commented in any of the blogs with information that helped to form a terrific introduction to the Philippines.

p.s. I bought myself a Tagalog-English-Tagalog dictionary…..I will be prepared for my next visit!!!!

Today’s Guest Blog is from David Walker from the United Kingdom.  David wrote an article regarding the process of meeting his wife and bringing her to live in the UK.  It’s quite an ordeal!  Thank you very much for making the effort of writing the article, David, and all the best of luck to you and your family! -Bob

May I introduce myself, my name is David Walker, 40 years old white British male ex military (French foreign legion).

I only joined because of the French cuisine, frog legs and snails and not forgetting the white ice cream hat which was made famous in an old Laurel & Hardy film back in the 1930’s.

I have spent the past five years either in Iraq and Afghanistan working for security companies and recently return from Kabul where I have many Filipino friends working for a number of foreign companies out there.

I first met Annaliza in Dubai at the airport terminal 2 and within a few minutes on first meeting each other was in argument with Egyptian taxi driver why “he didn’t like Americans”. Don’t get me wrong Dubai a great place with fantastic hotels, restaurants and shopping for all and welcome western culture to a limit. But seem to have too many anti western taxi drivers.

Annaliza had been working in Dubai for 3 years and was paid well for a Filipino in Dubai she still had to rent and live with many Filipinos and her last room she shared was with 4 other girls. My view is that Filipinos are not paid well in Dubai and work long hours but are always smart and friendly and it’s a shame that employers in Dubai and elsewhere don’t give them more credit with better wages.

Even in Kabul Afghanistan many Filipino are working here some for good western companies and other not so good. Many working long hours and travelling in sub standard vehicles on very dangerous roads with little or no security. A Filipino female friend of mine was murdered in May 07, and her body was thrown down a well. She was murdered by the company driver and another both locals because they know she had been recently paid. She was due to return home to the Philippines. One of the main problems when recruiting locals in Kabul is they do not check them for pass history or security checks some companies turn a blind eye on this matter (cheap labour).

Annaliza was at the time working for a freight company in Dubai and she arranged the transportation off the coffin back to the Philippines. It turn out that the woman who was murdered was working for an Indian company and had no written contract with them.

Getting Annaliza to the UK was no easy matter first she’d applied for tourist visa and was refused on the grounds she wasn’t earning enough money in Dubai. I had to contact the UK Embassy in Dubai and informed that she is my Girlfriend. I would sponsor her whilst she was in the UK for the grand total of six days. I had to provide letter from my employer, six months bank statements and pay slips. I find it very strange that Annaliza was employed with employers letter to travel and had savings with return ticket on Emirates and was only visiting for six days but still refused her tourist visa, anyway the visa cost 142 USD.

Then we planned to get married in the UK that’s where the paperwork starts for both of us. You need to apply for fiancée visa which cost 1000 USD you cannot marry without this visa in the UK. The fiancée visa allows you to stay for six months in which time you must marry or leave the country. You cannot work or claim any public funds the sponsor must provide them with accommodation and funds whilst they are in the UK. Both of us need to provide proof of address in UK, bank details for six months, employer letter and Annaliza even needed letter from employer in Dubai allow her to leave the UAE.

Once we were both in UK, we had to contact our local register office and book interview for marriage. At the interview Annaliza had to provide proof of visa, proof we are both living together and date and place of marriage. And I had to provide proof that I was divorce it’s called final decree absolute in the UK. Then you are separately interview asking question about each other.

You need to pay a small fee about 30 pounds for the service and your details are displayed for 16 days the reason for this any person wishing to voice concern over the marriage may do so within the 16 days that’s the law in England and Wales.

Then the register office will post you the paperwork off marriage which is valid for one year from date posted.  And on the day of the wedding you will receive your marriage license signed by marriage officials, Bride and Groom and 2 witnesses.

Then you have to contact the home office immigration visa department and book interview for marriage visa and get them to send you the visa form. You can send the form back with the marriage license and both passports it will take up to 8 weeks and will cost about 390 pounds for the marriage visa. Or you can book interview and go to your nearest visa office and get your passport stamped the same day cost of marriage visa 595 pounds for the express service. Please note you both need to attend the interview providing proof off marriage, and again all the details you had to provide when we both applied for fiancée visa.

Annaliza was given limited resident permit until 2010 and after two years she will be granted permanent resident visa after passing the exam.

At the moment her visa will allow her to work but cannot claim any public funds and even if she wishes to travel to any European country Annaliza would need to apply for visa.

And if you wish to apply for British citizenship normally you will have to wait up to 8 years and now you must do a citizenship test. And the question are not easy most Brits wouldn’t pass today, like how many members are there in the welsh assembly and when was the dog license abolish.

And having gone through all of this, I still have Filipino friends still talking rubbish one claiming her (hubby) can get her UK passport even without her living in the UK and taking the citizenship test. Another claiming she can work on tourist visa and now she’s back in the Philippines.

We both now live in a small market town called Ramsey about 88 miles north of London in the part of the UK called the Fenlands. Ramsey dates back to the 6th century and the fenlands were drained in the 16th century by Dutch engineers reclaiming good farming land back from the marsh lands.

Annaliza now works for BUPA in a nursing home in Ramsey with other Filipinos and was told the other day by the Grand Aunty (big boss) filipino here in Ramsey. There’s 70 filipinos  living in Ramsey most work either in the nursing home or at the local turbine engineering company. It won’t be long before I see a Red Ribbon cake shop and Jollibee on the high street and a Jeepney. Annaliza likes the UK from experiencing blowing smoke from her mouth when it’s cold here and a recent trip to Morocco Atlas Mountings and see snow for the first time and not forgetting her favourite shop in the UK Marks & Spencers.

I have been to Philippines twice and back in May 2008 had our honeymoon in Boracay.  It’s a very nice place and I love blue marlin fish. I have tried most of the supermarket in UK and do not sell it.  Then the penny dropped, it’s like asking a cod and chips in Boracay.  I remember my first trip to the Philippines and we stayed in Subic.  We planned to go to Baguio thru Victory Liner, Big mistake.  Never in my life that I have take the bus that stop for every cow and chicken on route.  We got as far as Tarlac before I got off.  We spend the night in a lovely hotel.  Even though I love seafood, I’m not too keen on eating “tuyo” in English too yuck to eat.

I hope that this will be an eye opener to anyone who wish to come to UK and thinking that it’s easy because they have a UK boyfriend but it’s not the case.  Late this year the government will change the rule again and making it much harder with all applicants outside the European Union will need a finger print and photo visa to enter the UK.

Today’s Guest Blog is from Rick Bowden.  Rick is a resident of Davao, and has been living here for about 6 months now.  I have had the opportunity to visit Rick’s house and enjoy an evening with Rick, his wife and family, and had a wonderful time (don’t worry, Rick, we owe you a dinner at our house!).  Rick recently climbed Mt. Apo, the tallest mountain in the Philippines.  Rick wrote about his experiences in doing that.  Enjoy the article! Thank you, Rick for taking the time to share this with us.

I achieved one of my aims in April this year by climbing Mt Apo.

Since I came to Davao first time in the year 2000 and seeing Mt Apo appear from the clouds at random places from all over the city and then finding out first that Mt Apo was the highest peak in the Philippines and secondly that a climb was physically possible, I wanted to do it. Various times I have read about the Apo climb on Bob’s blog, for example Ichi’s story about getting lost and having to turn his shirt inside out and from Macky’s comments, he has climbed (from memory) several times, so, when I came to Davao in January this year I decided I had to do it.

I have a young and fit brother in law Arnel, who was keen to accompany me, it was his first time too, to climb Apo and we were both willing but we needed some assistance, we needed help. We consulted with “Edge” outdoor pursuit, climbing shop in Matina and met Dom, who we hired as our guide. Dom is a young and fit athlete who I am pleased to know now as a friend but at the time, we were looking for guidance and a mentor in our quest, Ann (my wife) said he looked like a boy, I saw a competent young man, sorry Ann, I was right, he was perfect for us, a friend and guide and someone to rely on.

We talked about equipment and when to climb, which route to take and decided on Kidapawan trail in April. There are many routes up Mt. Apo, Arnel and I decided as first time climbers that the easiest would be best for us (it wasn’t easy) and so a weekend for the end of April was set. Being advised by Dom, we decided to take a local porter from Kidapawan, to help carry food and for extra security in case of sprained ankles or other more serious accident. Setting off at 4:00 am Thursday April 24th 2008, we made our way through Kidapawan to Lake Agko hot spring resort where we registered for the climb and hired “Lito” (Joselito) our porter, and off we set at approx 7:30 am.

I had talked to some experienced people before attempting Apo, like Henny, owner of De-Bonte Ko, who has climbed Apo many times and received some great advice and tips, but my first idea was to get fit and I had spent three months in the gym at Matina getting fit and I felt prepared. Dom, our guide is 22 years old with legs like pistons I was about to find out, Arnel is a naturally athletic 26 years old and Lito our porter in his early 30’s, but the porters are legendary and Lito walked up in either bare feet or flip flops and hardly needed a rest. That left me at 51 years of age, the old man of the party and by the end I needed every one of the 3 months sessions I had been through in the gym, it was tough.

The initial climb was pretty much straight up, through forests, ravines, through and inside river beds, with short rests on the way it took us 5 hours to reach Lake Binado and our first camp site. It was great to relax chill out and enjoy the cool air, Apo peak was a 2hr walk away. Arnel brought a Frisbee, he had seen pictures on the TV from Lake Binado and he was right there was a great Frisbee area; we played for hours in the afternoon, others joining in from time to time for the fun, a great way to unwind after the tough climb.

Dom was our chef, we had an early night and at first light we were up, breakfasted, packed up and on our way to the peak. During the first days climb there were not fantastic views because of climbing up gullies, through trees, the views were restricted. But from then on-climbing from lake Binado and upwards views were unrestricted and fabulous, but nothing compared with what was to come at the top.

We were there at the top for 10AM and in the clouds, it was cold, the wind was biting and jackets and gloves were required. At the top, there are a series of peaks, 9 I think, all of which are Mt. Apo and we spent the rest of the day climbing the various peaks for different views. The highlight was the view back down to Davao, where, Samal, Talikud and the city of Davao were clear and spectacular to see. People were looking up at us and this time, we were looking down on them and beautiful it was to see. We could view our part of the city, Bangkal and imagine where about our house was, quite a site.

We had a spectacular sunset but then next day, cloudy for the sunrise and so, no more views. You need some luck in the mountains to get the views, I have heard of some people climbing and then not seeing anything at the top at all as it is in clouds for the whole time.

I had managed the climb ok, keeping up with everyone, but on the climb down, the others all seemed in a hurry, for the first time we had heavy rain and it made the downward slope very slippery and my energy levels dipped sharply. Anyway we arrived soggy, damp but elated after a 5 hour “bolt” down the mountain. My first beer didn’t touch the sides.

It was a fantastic trip and I would recommend anyone to do it, but a few tips, first take a guide, second a local porter, for local knowledge, then talk to people who have done it (thanks again Henny for some valuable advice) to make sure you have the right equipment and lastly to enjoy it more I would recommend some training, it is fairly strenuous and that should not be ignored.