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latest picture: February 13, 2008

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Luzon (North)    2/1 - 2/15/2008

01  On our drive to the mountain

resort city of Baguio in the

Cordillera, this lion cut out of a

boulder is a special attraction

 02  In Baguio, a lively university city

in the cooler mountains, the hills are

covered with houses. Despite of the

notorious congested streets, it is a

famous refuge for the distressed

people escaping the heat of Manila

03  Baguio’s Cathedral dominates

the city. It served as a refuge for

5000 locals during the heavy

bombardments in WWII

04  Crabs, still alive, are tightly

knotted together and sold along

the roadside

 05  Farmers of the mountain village

of Abatan in the Cordillera are selling

their fresh produce in abundance

06  People making a brake and

enjoying the warming sun in the

lovely John Hay Park in Baguio

Means of transport in the Philippines are diverse, colorful and sometimes nostalgic

07  A completely overloaded tricycle .....

 08  ..... an attractively painted jeepney .....

09  ..... traditional wooden charts,

pulled by water buffaloes

10   On the narrow and sometimes

steep Halsema Highway from Baguio

to Bontoc and Sagada, we drive

deeper into the mountains through

dense pine tree forests .....

11  ..... villages hidden between

banana bushes .....

12  ..... and isolated hamlets

nestling on hill slopes

13  A farmer is watering his

cabbage field in Sagada

14  Hanging coffins are perched

on the limestone cliffs surrounding

Echo Valley in Sagada. They

remember us to Toraja Land in

Sulawesi in Indonesia

15  In the tranquil mountain village of

Sagada in the Mountain Province of

North Luzon, where children still can

play in the middle of the street, are

lying these beautiful rice terraces

16  Banga-an, about 1½ miles

Northeast of Sagada, offers more

impressive rice terraces

17  A narrow pedestrian suspension

bridge leads to the other side of

the Chico River near Bontoc

18  Bontoc is greeting us with

a beautiful rural panorama

19  From Bontoc to Banaue,

the narrow mountain road winds

its way through a deep valley .....

20  ..... with rice terraces

along the river .....

21  ..... and picturesque hamlets

22  A typical mountain village

in the Cordillera

23  The rice terraces of Banaue are

the Philippines’ most famous sight. They

were created around 2'000 years ago.

Today in need of repair – although pretty

neat – they don’t really impress us

24  An old couple of the Ifugao tribe

is posing in traditional outfit for a

picture at a souvenir shop in Banaue

25   A small store in Banaue

packed with groceries and all

kind of household utensils

26  Chickens waiting to be

sold at the market in Banaue

27  Road sign says: “Strictly no

loading”: Who cares about it?!

(Obviously also the height

doesn’t matter so much)

Rural idylls in the Philippines:

28  Simple straw huts

reminding us to Africa

29  A colony of roaming

ducks at the Northern Coast

30  A lonely goat tied

beside a rice field

31  Another idyll: A mother is

cutting the hair of her son in

the backyard of her house

32  A farmer spreads out his

rice grains with a rake to dry

33  Two adorable girls in Banaue

34  Stormy skies are approaching

the old buildings of the Archdiocese

of Juguegara, Alcala/Cagayan

35  Tricycles dominate the city of

Tuguegarao, the capital of the

Cagayan province. The licensed

ones alone count 14’000

36  In the middle of the chaotic

traffic of Tuguegarao, the impressive

Cathedral is situated on a quiet area

37  A quiet fishing scene

along the North Coast

38  Where the river meets the sea

– also on the North Coast

39  A tropical picture: Palm trees

and banana leaves are bordering

a rice field in Northern Luzon

40  Windmills at Bangui Bay,

West of Pagudpud, surrounded

by haze during an agitated sea

41  A deserted sandy bay

at the mountainous North Coast

42  Fishermen are laying out and

mending their nets at one of the

beaches on the North Coast

Different mystic atmospheres at Luzon’s North Coast

46  St. Paul Cathedral of historic

Vigan in the Ilocos Sur Province, a

Unesco World Heritage site. Miraculously

Vigan wasn’t hurt by WWII

47  The “Quema House” in Vigan,

a typical and beautiful

Spanish-era mansion

48  Horse-drawn carriages in

Vigan’s Old City still transport

locals as well as tourists

49  The cobblestone-street in the

Mestizo District of Vigan’s old town

with its lined buildings in Spanish

architecture is another step back in time

50  Pineapple Fruits grow

amidst other tropical vegetation

51  Free beer promotion in

January for all drivers (!) at

a Restaurant on the Westcoast!

52  The bell-shaped Timmangtan

Rock and a fishing boat at Mayraira

Beach near Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte

53  When the sun is setting at the

busy beach of Dagupan in the

Lingayen Bay (Luzon’s Westcoast)

54  A “Robinson Crusoe Island”

on the Westcoast of Luzon

Tropical flowers and lush vegetation are always a lovely sight

In the garden of the “Botolan Wildlife Farm” near Iba at the Zambales Coast, abounding with tropical flowers and plants, we enjoy among others:

58  the eagle with its specific call that

sits always on the same tree branch .....

59  ..... the lazy caiman,

living in a small pond .....

60  ..... and the beautiful

three years old Siberian

Tiger named “Ramses”, which

we got to like very much

 

More websites from the Philippines:

2nd Visit – Part 1: Luzon (South) – Islands of Mindoro – Panay   with our vehicle from November to December 2010

2nd Visit – Part 2: Islands of Negros – Cebu   with our vehicle from December 2010 to January 2011

2nd Visit – Part 3: Island of Bohol – Luzon (South)   with our vehicle in January 2011