Puerta Galera

After a full day of work, we ran back to Raffles, collected Isahi and off we went on our excursion to Puerta Galera....and it was an excursion. We traveled by taxi to the bus station, by bus to the port, by boat to the island, and by trike to the hotel. On our way back from the island we learned an extremely valuable piece of information: travel by boat in the morning. The waters are more smooth. To you, my reader, that detail may not mean much, but to me, the traveler who gets motion sick (along with half the boat) this information is KEY. Lucky for me, I only got nauseous and not actually sick, but I cannot say the same for the rest of the boat. Don't worry though!!! They have barf bags on hand. How considerate. 

Once we arrived at Badladz Beach Resort, we went to check out our rooms. I do believe I got the better end of this deal. The views below are all taken from my doorway. After dinner and a walk on the beach with the guys (Bryant and I collected rocks and shells =) I slept with my shutters wide open so I could listen to the waves crashing on the shore all night. Those two nights were the best nights sleep I've had since I arrived in the Philippines and I've decided that owning a home on the beach is a must for me. Any volunteers to buy it for me? No one? Really? What if I said pretty please with a cherry on top? Still no one, eh? Darn. 

The next morning we woke up to rain, but what else do you expect when Typoon Luis is rolling by? Lucky for us, Luis has a conscience. The rain let up to a sprinkle around noon. So after a lovely morning of breakfast and great conversation with the resort owners and their daughter, the guys and I rented some scooters and set off on an adventure. I have to say, I love traveling with Bryant. He is always so willing to go explore and he and I have seen some amazing things together in the Philippines. This trip was no exception to that rule. First stop, Tamaraw Falls. While they were beautiful, the sweet young man that took the photo below for us recommend something far more excited. Now, as I've already mentioned, Bryant and I are alllllways up for an adventure. Without much debate, the guys and I hopped back on the bikes and set off in search of Tukuran Falls Hidden Paradise. 

To recap: taxi, bus, boat, trike, scooter....and now a water buffalo. See that cart behind the bull-looking-animal? We rode in that...across a river...that we crossed 6 times. Yeah. It was entertaining and downright scary at times. I swear, Isahi and I almost fell out of the cart twice and into each other's laps several more times. While on our little trek we found indigenous people in Mindoro called Mangyan. That is the generic name for the 8 groups, each of which have their own name, language and customs. Oh, and they were naked. I bought a couple of small woven baskets they made. We had an entourage Filipino women too. They followed us so they could sell us souvenirs. How sweet of them, but I'll get into that later.

Once off the water buffalo, we trekked across the river by foot with the assistance of our lovely souvenir-selling tour guides. The falls were breath taking. The only disappointed being it wasn't warmer or sunnier because I really wanted to jump into the water. They say when the sun shines, the water turns a beautiful bluish-green. I also didn't think to bring my camera to the island. I'm still mad at myself for that one. At least I had my phone. 

So these little women. There were about about 6 of them and they followed us on foot to the fall (apparently they knew something we didn't know...stupid Americans). During that trek they found us all sorts of wild things. Cacau, guava, wild mushrooms (yes, the kind you're thinking. no, we did not get high. This is work people. Come on!)

Below: baskets are hand woven by the Mangyans (left contains two smaller baskets and right contains coasters), wooden carved water buffalo, middle left is my collection of rocks and shells, bottom are two necklaces (one is made of small stones and the other magnetic), and everything is on top of a scarf. These little ladies just kept putting stuff in my bag! I swear I wasn't going to buy half of it but they have to make a living some how. They made a fortune off us. Then again, how could you not when you cram yourself in a tiny room with three Americans and keep putting stuff in their face and asking if they want it. If the American shows even slight interest you put it in their bag. It's a fantastically brilliant plan. Stupid Americans. (I think I'm going to re-title my blog to Sutpid Americans)

We tried the cacao. When you break it open you find seeds that you can suck on but not eat. The pulp on the outside is sweet, but the seed is bitter. Can you guess what cacao is used to make? Cocoa!

Sunday morning I heard a knock at my door and then got a text from Bryant telling me I had to open my door because the clouds had finally lifted and I was missing a beautiful sunrise. He was right! That was the perfect end to my perfect weekend get-a-way.