My Travels

The followup day turned out a little unexpectedly as cockfighting was infact not on the day that we intended to go, so we grabbed a nightbus that evening up to the north of the philippines. to a place called Banuae, famous for the rice terraces.

Once we arrived we embarked on a keepney ride into the mountains, several hours at a walking pace through hairpin cliffside tracks, untill we got to the top of one of the many mountains in that area... from here it was a few hours hike....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11uZx889F5c

 where we continued down to a waterfall, and spent an hour or so diving off the rocks cooling off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjvuKAqJYzw

 before completing the hike in reverse and making our way back to banuae where we where staying....

that evening we decided we would fire out for a few drinks with the two germans and the english lad that we had met... and before long a centurion had been declared. especially brutal due to the 8% redhorse beer out here!

below is a little video of us firing up one of the little streets in banuae making our way to the bar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bOEkh2mRcY

 finally.... as expected... all the lads where more than a little merry.. and here is a clip of dunnet preparing to lay waste to "the worst purchase of the trip" a 4 quid eukaleli...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viKgim6s3XE

..........

there is plenty more footage to stick up over the next few days it just take a long time on the connections here!

so...the boys arrived... and its been a massively everntful 24 hours....

....8.5...am

ive been in traffic for two hours... ifinally make it to the airport... and blag my way past some more than pissed off guards to let me into the airport ot meet the boys.

..10:30..am

we arrive back at the hostel... the four of them have had maybe 4 hours sleep in the last 36 hours... a place i knew all to well and sympathised heavily with.. so i took them off for a little post power flight relaxation at the "boom boom" complex. despite... the suggestive nature of the name... this ivolved.

a massive buffet of as much as you can eat... traditional chineese food which went down a treat. followed by about an hour in the spa. a steam room sauna hot spring deal, after which we where given silk robes and treated to the most unbeilivable 1 hour long oil massage! followed by yet more spaing!

this was affectoinaly name the jet lag buster!

this was followed bya few hours in one of the citys chineese gardens chatting before monsoon kicked in... it was here that we met paul... 61 years old and jacked up all the time, he acted as a guide around the city for us, and took us deep into manila the next day in an effort to find the cockfighting arena... which was shut! so a brief chat with the owner.. and we have reserved front row seats and a private bookie!...

we are trying a new thing... less pictures and more hd videos... below is a snap of paul and the lads in a jeepney. camera work is poor at best but this is a test!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l74tqTViKfI

11,000km, 4 airports, 6 meals courtesy of Kuwait air, 36 hours , 10 times zones....and three different people in the chair next to me, ranging from wealthy indian lad, to old man from brixton who was hittin thailand for the " uhh... monks n' women...!"

i kicked off solo at about 5am on sat, and about 12 hours later was walking off the plane in
Kuwait city, 6pm local time no sun in the sky and still a mild 32 cntigrade...mild compared to the 39 earlier. a slap up kuwaiti meal that sent at least one bloke to an early shower... and back on the plane... to bangkok, an hour or so there and on to manila!

half 4 local time i arrived and got chatting to filipino from london, one thing lead to another and i had a lift into the center of town... and an invatation to fire over to thieir familys celebration of the birth of their two neices on an adjacent island for a massive bev up!... something i have no idea if i will or wont be able to attend.. as in two days the cavaly arrives.

the aberdeen contigent (dom and john) and two ex merchiston lads!

first off Mr John Dick... exactly what it says on the tin, a flick through his facebook pictures tells you all you want to know... a wise man once compared him to a wizards sleeve... a wise man indeed

Mr Dom Dunnet... his idea to hit this particulr region, hes got a stonner for a plan, favourites include camping in monsoon!. lets hope he has more "good times"!!!

hopefully will have few photos tomrrow!