And the adventure begins!

Well we just flew into Manila, and boy are our arms tired!  Manila was a whirlwind of things, from seeing Kyla for the first time in nearly 2 years, to eating pizza for every meal (no tropical fruits or exotic cuisine yet), to visiting the Mall of Asia (the largest mall in Asia- VERY overwhelming, but aircon so we're not complaining), to meeting a thousand Peace Corps volunteers, to starting our month long love affair with San Miguel beer (we're talking 50 cents a bottle!), to finding the only other jew in the country and going to an orthodox temple for Rosh Hashana.  And that's only in the first day and a half.

Moving on, we took an overnight bus to Banaue.  We were warned that the bus would be cold, but we were not expecting to have to wear all the clothing that we packed, at the same time.  Sporting long pants, fleeces, and whatever clothing was left over as hats, we attempted to sleep through the 8 hour bumpy ride up into the mountains.  We knew it was cold when condensation formed on the outside of the windows.

Whether or not we slept, we ended up the next morning in Banaue, a lovely mountain village.  From here we were able to catch a Jeepney to Batad, which is famous for their breathtakingly beautiful rice terraces.  We hiked around, took some photos, and slept very well in real beds that night.