Chiang Mai and the Philippines

So here we are in Manila, Luzon. We've been in the Philippines for nearly two weeks now. Firstly, we hope everyone who reads this got through the earthquake alright. It's hard being overseas at times like this, and when it hit we didn't have easy internet access to get updates. As far as we've heard our friends and family are fine, but our hearts and prayers go out to those who lost people and whose lives have been derailed by the quake. At times like this, things like travel updates seem a bit trifling, but I guess in the end (from a quote I saw yesterday) life is only real when it's shared, so here goes.

Since our last blog we also spent a week in Chiang Mai, so first, Chiang Mai.

Train to Chiang Mai - photo op when it stopped to cool down

Chiang Mai is in the North of Thailand and is a little cooler and less polluted than Bangkok. The city is quite big, but the central part of town (the 'Old Town') is where most people visit. It is surrounded by a moat and the remains of the old city walls. It was a lot more catered towards tourists than where we were staying in Bangkok, so it took a bit for us to adjust. We found a nice guest house next to the river which served as a great wind-down spot after busy days.

Our aim in Chiang Mai was to meet up with Partners - a Christian N.G.O. doing some very inspiring work with the Burmese. They work both with refugees that have fled to camps in Thailand, and also with tribes in the rebel states of Burma. Partners' aim is to 'bring full, free lives to the children of Burma'. Their work includes all sorts of relief and development projects ranging from (in partnership with the Free Burma Rangers) dropping supplies to villagers fleeing the Burmese military, to sustainable development training, e.g. farming, establishing schools and healthcare centres. They also take time to build friendships with the people they support and encourage them through the traumatic experiences they face. We both felt the urgency of their work and it's fair to say it would be fairly tempting to work for them if we had the opportunity.

Hanging with some of the Partners crew

This is a good point to pass on the message that
the Burmese government and the military really do need to be held to account for the crimes they are exacting on the people of the country. They completely neglect the wellbeing of citizens by diverting funds from civil needs to the military. They brutally suppress any sort of anti-government sentiment. Secret police are everywhere to spy on the actions of citizens. They violently force villagers to shift camp and also often force them to work on large scale projects (such as military or gas piping, where most of the production heads out of the country). By all accounts the Burmese government has ambitious plans for its military and there is evidence emerging that they are pursuing nuclear armament. One of the strongest weapons against the government is information and international pressure, so being informed and participating in protest action counts for a lot.

We had a short but rich time with Partners and learned a lot. We felt very welcomed and enjoyed the passionate but down-to-earth attitude they had to life.

On the days we weren't visiting people we explored the city, the markets and the country side. By hiring a motorbike we were able to experience Thailand traffic first hand. It looks chaotic at first but actually driving in it feels reasonably straight forward once you get the flow. Granted it's still dangerous, we saw plenty of fresh accidents, but it's definitely less agro than rush hour Wellington. We zoomed up the local mountain, to the botanic gardens and through a few villages.

Manila and Palawan

Our first night in Manila wasn't quite what we expected, but it's silly to expect anything when you are new to a place. Our room we had pre-booked was about 100m away from the red light district and its roadside location meant we had a steady chorus of motorbikes and jeepneys all night. After finding a quieter place we decided to head to Palawan to fill in our time before visiting Servants in Quezon City.

Jeepney - public transport in Manila. Very awesome.

The island of Palawan is listed in a National Geographic list of top 10 destinations because of its beauty, relative pristine-ness and its high biodiversity. We arrived in Puerto Princessa, the capital, and took a 5 hour minibus ride North to the town of El Nido. The El Nido area is stunning, we'll let the photos do the talking. Sadly however, even though it's a protected area, it's at great risk from poorly managed "ecotourism". The town is cramped and pristine beaches are slowly getting claimed by resort developers. The Palawan ethic of sustainability is great but it's clear that the ethic needs to get turned into action, which is hard when basic corruption is still rife. We stayed with a Nora, a hospitable, warm woman who previously ran a dive shop in the town. We listened to a lot of stories from her and also her boarder Rene, an Austrian developer who was waiting for a permit to build a resort at a local beach.

We had an interesting experience which confirmed that even Josh is afraid of spiders when it really comes down to it. While searching for accommodation we were kindly offered the free use of a bamboo hut on a farm just out of town (we expressed we were looking for cheap lodgings). Rosa took us to the beautiful farm where she shared a large field with several neighbours. Rosa had told us that the animals to look out for were snakes, scorpions and spiders, which included king cobras and tarantulas that could be in the bush. After proudly showing us around she took off back to town and left us to mull it over. We were just about to settle in to try it out when Josh noticed a massive black spider. Debs left the hut at this point. After bravely killing six, Josh discovered that one interior wall of the hut was basically a nest of giant Huntsman spiders. The last straw came when we found the biggest one of all on the roof, right over our bed (sweet dreams). Having experienced our fair share of biodiversity for the day we decided to gracefully high-tail it and head back to town. We later found out that the spiders really are harmless and we could have got rid of them with some 'Bygone' spray, apparently.

We found some more peaceful biodiversity on the coral reefs while snorkelling. We kayaked around majestic, ancient lagoons and swam with schools of irridescent tropical fish. We also went for a couple of decent walks around the coast from El Nido and discovered plenty of hidden-jewel beaches and eye-catching seascapes. All up a very satisfying jaunt on a diverse, tropical island.



Tomorrow we are heading to Quezon City to meet up with Servants (an organisation that assists Asia's urban poor). We will be staying with a family in a slum area for a couple of weeks and then checking out a few of the projects that Servants are running. Really looking forward to it, but a bit nervous as well. The aim of the time is to be like a 'retreat', entering into the lives of the poor and refelecting on how we should respond. We won't be 'doing' anything while we are there apart from making friends with the people we stay with. More later!

Ingat ka,

Josh and Debs