Ayers Rock & The Olgas

A couple more pictures

The Ghan and Alice Springs

The Ghan is a train that goes north-south between Darwin and Adelaide through Alice Springs. They say that it is the only train in the world that truly covers the full length of a continent from north to south. Running the full length takes 2 days, we were not ready to choo-choo for that long, so we traveled half the distance, from Darwin to Alice Springs. It still took 24 hours. The name comes from the Afghan cameleers who pioneered outback transport over 150 years ago.

A locomotive + 22 carriages, including a motorail, ~600 meters long, and ~1100 tones of weight, it travels at an average speed of 85km/h, we thought we would reach our destination in a heartbeat. But Australia is large, and the train makes stops on the way. We departed Darwin on Wednesday morning, and less than 4 hours later, the train stopped in Katherine, a town in the middle of nowhere, for 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours. This is a scheduled stop and lots of tour operators cater to the Ghan travelers offering 3-4 hours tours for all tastes and levels of activity. We didn't want to go on another tour (besides, this part of the world is pretty expensive), so we chose the most unlikely option: the Katherine Country Club was offering rail passengers to play lawn bowls and enjoy an afternoon tea. We even got a membership card valid for a year (in case we want to go back to Katherine). This was the first time we were playing this game. We had lots of fun, see, I didn't even know that the bowl was not round and had a weight. I think we might have found the ideal sport for when we become really really old. The clubhouse was no more than a sports bar with several TVs, a few betting machines and big guys drinking beer. The tea quality was at that level.

Back on the train, the landscape continued to show exactly the same for hours on end: plains. Red earth, green-yellowish scrubs, little trees, flatness.

The following morning we arrived at Alice Springs, or "The Alice", as locals call it. It felt like an American Midwest city, small low simple houses, square blocks, many Aborigines just sitting around or begging, lots of 4WD, big white tourists walking in tour groups. Being so flat, it is ideal for biking, so that's what we did. We biked by the famous Todd river that cuts through town. The river is famous because it is absolutely dry, except for a handful of times in decades. You'll see a picture of me on the dry riverbed, and also another of a puddle of water, that's the original Alice Springs, but later it was downgraded from "springs" to just Alice Hole, since that's all it turned out to be.

We stopped by the Royal Flying Doctor Service base. This is a health care service provided to the people in the outback. People living in remote areas contact doctors by radio, and if needed, the patient gets evacuated by plane. It is not hard to find an airstrip in outback ranches. Fantastic service. It has been operating since the late 1920s and Australians are very proud of it, as they should be. The same radios were used by the School of the Air, an educational classroom for children in remote outback stations. Students used to get lessons by radio, now they use more advanced technologies. I'm not sure this school is working that well, a waitress that night didn't know what Argentina was. But the meal was quite good. We had dinner at The Overlanders Steakhouse, and not only we enjoyed a good steak, we also sampled crocodile, kangaroo, emu, and camel, while listening to a Rolf Harris tape with his long set of Australian all-time classics.

Now we are on a bus heading to Ayers Rock. The driver has advised that there are only 2 turns on the road to get there from Alice Springs.

Mercedes

Darwin and Kakadu National Park

A 4-hour flight from Melbourne took us to Darwin, where we rented a car and drove 2.5 hours to get to the town of Jabiru in Kakadu National Park. It was already dark when we reached the park, but it was clear enough to realize that calling Jabiru a "town" is an overstatement. There are a few resorts, lots of parking space for caravans, a fire station, a police station, a bakery, a cafe, a gas station, and a school. That's it.

After a rewarding stop at the very well-stocked bakery (must have carried most local favorites because Simon was as excited as a kid in a toy store), we started the following day with a hike. This is the largest national park in Australia, but the longest trail is only 12km long. That was long enough for us, with temperatures over 35 degrees C, we couldn't have walked any longer. The land is pretty flat, and it turns unpassable when it floods in the wet season. So I guess we should be thankful for catching the dry season... although the hot and dry desert-like temperatures that come with it make me wonder. In any case, the trail led us up to an escarpment from where we could appreciate the expanse and flatness of the land below.

The following day, after another stop at the bakery, we joined a boat tour up the Yellow Water and the South Alligator River. The river was named by an explorer that came to the area after spending time in Florida. He was mistaken, there are no alligators here. But crocodiles, there are lots of crocodiles! (not that I could tell the difference, I admit). The tour was very good, we learned about and took pictures of several crocs from a fairly close range, as well as numerous birds of all kinds, sizes, and colors.

We spent the rest of our time in Kakadu visiting aboriginal rock paintings (there's one of a sail boat, so it can't be that old), admiring billabongs (i.e., Australian swamp-type areas), and being scared by natural fires everywhere (we took a picture of one where we could see the open flames, just shows how hot and dry it gets). Welcome to the outback, now we know why there aren't that many people living here. :)

We drove back to Darwin, arriving in the afternoon. This gave us enough time to check out the place that same day. Despite being the largest city in the Northern Territory, it is very very small. It is a lively town, but the most fun was a new outdoors public pool right on the waterfront. I know, public pools are usually nothing to write about, but this one made waves! Tubes and boards are provided. So much fun.

Next outback stop: Alice Springs.

Mercedes

Melbourne - what a great city

It's very hard to decide which one is better: both Melbourne and Sydney are great livable cities. The winter weather in Melbourne was colder and the natural setting is not as pretty, but its architecture is more interesting (both colonial and modern) and its population looks more diverse. Melbourne has lots of character with cool alleyways filled with pubs and a cute tram system, Sydney has an efficient metro and lots of ferries. I can't make up my mind.

In four days we got a good look at Melbourne: walked up and down the city center, biked up the Yarra river and along the bay from Williamstown to St Kilda via the Docklands (it was a long day of biking, but this city is so biker friendly that we couldn't stop), enjoyed the city view from the observation deck at the Rialto Towers, visited a couple of museums, and strolled through the Botanic Gardens. One night we joined the pub crowds in Fitzroy, another night we went to a food exhibition called "Taste of Melbourne" where we sampled food from several acclaimed restaurants. The last night we behaved like the beautiful people we are: went to the theatre at the Victorian Arts Centre and then to South Yarra for dinner.

So, we did a lot, but what we will remember the most about our visit to this city is the "footy" (i.e., Australian rules football) game we saw at the MCG (or "the G", as they call the largest stadium with capacity for roughly 100,000 people). This was Simon's and my first Aussie-rules game. As you can imagine, the people seating next to us were starting to get annoyed by all the many rules-related questions I had to ask. But I think that in the end I had a reasonable handle on things. Some features are quite peculiar, for example, to put an out-of-bounds ball back in play, an umpire with his back to the players tosses the ball over his head like a bride throwing her bouquet: quite amusing. My footy-addicted friend Ashley had recommended the Bombers vs Hawks game. This was a crucial game. It was the last of the regular season, and the winner of this match would earn the last berth in September's playoffs, which determine the season's champion (of course I'm using the wrong terminology: the champions get called premiers and the post-season matches are the finals, or something like that). Both teams are from Melbourne suburbs, have lots of supporters and they exchanged leads a few times throughout this very important match, so the atmosphere at the stadium was super exciting. The game is fast, it doesn't stop very often (we saw the medical team taking care of an injured player on the field, while the play continued around them), and there's a lot of running, so the players are in great shape. In the end, the Bombers were the winners. They had the loudest fan base, including Simon, who wasn't very loud, but was decidedly cheering for them. Now we understand why Aussies love this game. It's so much fun... and those players are so FIT.

Next stop is Darwin and the Northern Territory: on to the outback experience.

Mercedes

Sydney - If winters are this warm, that's my kind of weather!

After 3 days in Sydney, we still have a lot to see and do. This city is fantastic. First of all, it is winter down here, but it is sunny and not cold. We had rain only one afternoon, exactly the day that we decided to go on a long walk, but well, that's just our luck, it wasn't too heavy.

We covered quite a bit of ground walking around the tourist spots 'de rigueur' in central Sydney through the CBD, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Circular Quay, the Rocks, Darling Harbour, Chinatown, and, best of all, up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We walked all the way up to the top of the arch of the bridge with great views of the harbour and the city (unfortunately, we were not allowed to take cameras up there, but the scenery will stay in our memories forever... :).

We also managed to visit a few beaches, hoping to take a dip and sun bathe a little. One day we took the ferry north to Manly. Unfortunately, it was raining (the picture by the water with an umbrella, doesn't quite show my disappointed face). Another day we went to iconic Bondi beach, but it was late in the day and there was a cool breeze, so only a few surfers with wet suits were able to make their way through the waves. No chance of swimming that day either. So, in summary, the winter is not so hot that you can swim in the beach any day, but it is not cold enough to stop the surfers. I think I can live with that.

We are going to come back to Sydney at the end of our trip in Australia, we still have a lot of things to see and do: a concert at the Opera House, a musical (we haven't been to one since our days in South America earlier this year and I'm feeling withdrawal symptoms), maybe a museum to complete the cultural picture.

Currently we are waiting to board our delayed flight to our next destination: Melbourne.

Mercedes

Sagada

From Banuae we needed to make our way to our next stop, the town of Sagada approx 4 hours journey to the north west. Sagada has achieved is popularity not only because of its impressive underground cave systems and unique "hanging coffin" burial practice, but also because of its pleasantly cool climate - the result of its higher elevation.

We set off for Sagada in a jeepney. Notwithstanding the passenger who brought along her live chickens, the jeepney was surprisingly comfortable. We were lucky that it was far from full and we had more legroom (though not more headroom, as the bumps on our heads attest) than a luxury bus. We soon found that we needed all the room we could get as the jeepney bounced along what proved to be a very precipitous road. There were roadworks at every turn, lots of mud and surface water from frequent rain and sections where it looked like the road could just slide away. It will be better when the roadworks are finished in about two years, a fellow passenger told us - although she couldn't quite explain why the roadworks were being carried out in many, many small sections instead of in one big project. We were constantly shifting from one lane sections of concrete to two lane sections of mud, all the time jockeying for right of way with oncoming traffic. But the reward was some spectacular views as we climbed higher and higher and were able to look down on the river and rice terraces far below us.

WE reached the town of Bontoc, a regional transportation hub, after about 3 hours and changed to another jeepney for the easier final hour to Sagada. And here we found a very tranquil, laid-back mountain town, nestled amongst pine trees (which we have not seen anywhere else in the Philippines) and invitingly cool compared to the humidity of lower areas. Just what we needed.

With no time to waste, we hired a local guide and headed for the big attraction, the Sumaging cave. We didn't really know what to expect but were warned that we might get wet "maybe up to the waist". I don't know who's waist they were talking about, but it must be that of the world's tallest person. We emerged totally drenched from the cave a few hours later. In the meantime, we had slid, crawled, climbed and waded through what turned out to be an enormous cave complex. It had started out looking relatively innocuous as the guide, equipped with nothing more high-tech than a pair of flip-flops and a gas lantern (OK, pants and shirt as well) led us down into the mouth of the cave. But soon we seemed to be very far underground, slithering along the guano coated rocks with the audio accompaniment of chirping bats. Then we reached the underground river and it was time to go barefoot. Down small waterfalls, under rocky overhangs with just our heads above water ... we had a blast. And all pitch black except for the illumination of the single lantern which the guide at times had to carry above his head. Finally we had our footwear back on and came out into daylight ready to dry off - only to find that it was pouring with rain. The hot shower back at out guest house was especially welcome.

Next day we explored the other features of Sagada in the morning sun. First, a great view of the surrounding countryside, including rice terraces, from high up on Mt Kiltepan. The perspective was very worthwhile. We could see rice terraces way down low on the river floor and also way up high in small nooks around the highest reaches of the mountains. They are everywhere, sometimes in the most unlikely of places. Then, after a refreshing dip under some nearby waterfalls, we visited Echo Valley, named for its acoustics but significant as the site of numerous hanging coffins. We could see wooden coffins (made of pine) high up in the limestone cliffs. This is how the local people committed the bodies of their dead - and a practice that can still be elected by older people. No mummification involved. The coffin is first installed in the cliff and the body is then placed inside. Of course the body slowly rots and smells bad, so the authorities insist that this ritual practice is done in places as far as possible from human habitation. Many of the coffins are more than 100 years old, but the most recent has been there just a few months. Our guide gave us all the details on the rituals associated with the whole process. Bottom line - families need to keep lots of pigs and chickens ready. But they help each other out with a sort of repo market.

Later in the day, it rained again - heavily. We relaxed in preparation for our trip back to Manila. We will remember Sagada for its cool climate, schizophrenic weather, exciting cave experience and those hanging coffins.

Next day was a travel day. First a jeepney from Sagada to Bontoc where we had time to check out the local museum - full of photographs of the local headhunting days (which were not really so long ago). Then an overnight bus all the way to Manila. Back over the same treacherous Banaue-Bontoc road as we had previously travelled by jeepney in the other direction, but this time in a large bus. And the road was by now extremely waterlogged. It was an incredible (and slightly nerve-wracking) feat of driving. The only mishap was a puncture and the crew managed to remedy that with a wheel change which took less than 20 minutes. I guess they've done this before! We arrived in Manila a little after 4 a.m. and, since it wasn't the right hour to be wandering around the city, we just stayed on the bus with the crew and a few passengers and slept until dawn. Very cosy!

Simon

Banaue & Batad - hiking through rice terraces

In the north of Luzon island there are mountains called "Cordillera". From more than 2000 years ago, the indigenous people have been growing rice on their slopes. It is a perfect example of how nature and human intervention can be combined to produce beautiful scenery.

From afar you can see the "steps" going up the mountains. Farmers take advantage of every little corner to grow their crops. They sow and harvest all year round, but at this time of the year, most fields are getting ready for harvest, most plants are turning less green and more golden (don't say yellow, please, golden sounds more poetic).

After a 10-hour bus ride from Manila, we arrived in the town of Banaue. A small village with a population of a few thousands perched on the slopes of a mountain and surrounded by rice terraces. The view from Greenview lodge where we were staying was fantastic: a river running far down below, simple houses hanging from the side of the mountain in front of us, and rice terraces everywhere else. We could also see a foot bridge crossing to the other side; we tried it, not for the faint of heart.

The rice terraces are like a maize: you can see where you are going, "that little hut up there", but once you start walking through the terraces you end up going up and down, and never seem to find the right path to your destination. We decided to get a guide. Mikel guided us through rice paddies around Banaue and Batad during 3 days.

Batad is an even smaller village of less than a 1000 inhabitants reachable only on foot. Regardless of its low accessibility, it has guesthouses and a fair amount of tourists (some of them day-trippers from Banaue). We stayed overnight at the Batad pension: simple, but with an amazing view of the village and the amphitheater shaped rice terraces. We visited the very refreshing Tappia waterfalls nearby. It's easy to get there, but climbing back up to the pension was strenuous. Undoubtedly, we earned that fried chicken with rice that we had for dinner that night.

The last day we hiked a good portion of the way through the jungle literally. It wasn't long after I announced my fear of snakes that I had a long one a couple of feet away from my head. Fluo-green, thin, long, bright. The guide said it wasn't dangerous and insisted on a photo. No matter what he thinks, no photos of snakes will be uploaded on this blog.

Weather has been great so far. That means no rain, but high humidity. We enjoyed lots of hiking (not so much the sweating). Now we are moving on to Sagada, another village about 4 hours by jeepney from Banaue.

Mercedes

Camiguin Island - outdoors paradise

We started taking a 1-hour flight from Manila to Cagayan de Oro, then a bus for over 1.5 hours to Balingoan, after that a 1-hour ferry to Benoni, later a 30-minute ride in a jeepney to Mambajao, to finish with a 700 meters uphill walk, the last portion on a rough road that my roller suitcase refused to climb, but we pushed it up there anyway. At the end of all that, we arrived at Enigmata, our hotel in Camiguin Island. I should clarify that it was a different type of hotel: our room was a tree house about 30 feet off the ground. But after the logistical nightmare of the day, it felt like a 5-star resort. Actually, it was truly cool. The hotel promotes local artists, so it has sculptures, painting and other forms of artistic expression everywhere. And anyway, when was the last time I slept on a tree house? (The answer is ...never).

The following morning, as soon as the sun was up, we were woken up by all sorts of singing birds, including roosters, and all sort of insects crawling on our bed, despite the mosquito net. Needless to say, I got more insect bites than I care to count.

Camiguin is a fairly small island off the northern coast of Mindanao. It has a ~60-km road going around its perimeter. Inside, we were told that it has more volcanos per square mile than any other island in the world. We knew all of this and, still, decided that renting a bike would be the best way to go around. It didn't seem to be such a wise decision when we were pedaling uphill for miles and miles to get to the sights. Going downhill, of course, was a different story.

The island has a few resorts, and tourism seems to be an important part of its economy, however it hasn't received enough foreign tourists yet to spoil the locals. We experienced the same feeling that we had in very few other places, where tourists are scarce: people try to be genuinely helpful without looking for every way that they can get money from you. We were biking by and everybody was greeting us with a "hello!", just for a smile, or asking "where are you going?", only trying to make sure that we were on the right track. I love that. To make things easier, most people can communicate in English.

We spent 2 days and a half exploring the island. Some of the places are shown in the pictures. We visited a couple of falls, the ones in Tuwasan were particularly beautiful (and hard to get to). We swam in a soda pool (not sure what that means, to me it was a cold-water pool a little out of the way, uphill, of course). We climbed the stations of the cross on the hillside of an old volcano with a wonderful view of the coast and of an enormous cross in the water marking the site of a cemetery that was sunken by an earthquake long time ago. We dipped in the Ardent Hot Springs: another bike trip up a hill, under such a strong sun on a humid day that even the hot springs felt cool when we got there. On the last day we moved to a resort on the northern shore of the island. The sand is black due to volcanic activity, so it looked less inviting, but we hired a boat that took us to White Island. This is a tiny white-sand island with nothing on it, 10 minutes away from the resort. Picture perfect: turquoise waters all around it, in contrast with the dark blue closer to Camiguin, white sand under your feet, and at the back, a view of the imposing volcanos covered in lush green. There's not much to do in White Island, so after the photos shots, a dip in the sea and a short sunbathing session, we headed back to the resort, where we found out that my bike's back tire was absolutely flat, and the bike shop was 5km away. Arghhh. Well, Simon took care of fixing this "minor setback". :)

Now it is Thursday evening, and we started our way to the next stop: the rice terraces in North Luzon. We should be there in some 36 hours time, weather permitting. This itinerary was picked from a long list of recommendations that Jerry gave me (explanation: my prior boss is from the Philippines, and Jerry is her brother). In fact, I never met Jerry in person, but his recommendations are spot on. I owe him many many thanks.

As I look back on Camiguin Island from the ferry, I miss outdoors paradise already. Although, thinking twice, my legs and butt could take a break from biking now. Simon, ditto.

Mercedes