Thursday, September 23, 2010

Juveniles in Sagada


After starting the season off with a tough luck loss the OutKasts have started to find their groove after winning 3-0 Saturday in a game that was not nearly as close as the score line would indicate. In addition, fifteen of us would engage in a game of "pub golf" that evening where we went to nine different pubs and narrowly avoided being arrested and deported. This weekend's game is against the Kurkadurkastanis of KG Top, and we are looking for our third straight win. Enough about OutKasts though, it's time to magically transport back to the Philippines, where our heroes [sic] have just left Baguio en route to Sagada.

The drive to Sagada would take about six hours of winding up and down perilous mountain roads, some of which would seemed undrivable, if not for the skill and experience of Joe and the tenacity and durability of the Toyota Camry. Having spent so much time driving under similar conditions in Brazil Joe knew exactly how to attack these roads which would be challenging to an SUV, let alone a sedan. The car bottomed out too many times to count, each time inducing cringes from the passengers and a genuine fear (at least for me) that the car wouldn't make it. I had pictured a Blues Brothers scenario where we would arrive in Sagada and the car would completely fall apart as soon as we got out of it. Amazingly, it held together for the entire week.

What does a group of four guys do for six hours in a car? When we ran out of things to talk about after the first twenty minutes it turned into a series of twenty questions games. While that might seem to be enough to drive anyone insane, the incredibly scenery of mountains, jungle, waterfalls, and valleys made the trip not just bearable but quite enjoyable. We made a few stops along the way to different scenic spots, of which I got no pictures of course. Joe was kind enough to send me some, including this pic of Leo and I in a rice terrace. We look like a couple of guys that have been in a car for four hours playing twenty questions with a bunch of dudes. Seriously though, we were all getting along beautifully.

After taking a break at the rice terrace we continued forth toward Sagada and a little event took place that would set a theme for the next couple days. In the Philippines there are chickens all over the place, particularly in Sagada. The male chickens wander around the streets and are everywhere. As we were driving away from the rice terrace on a rocky and somewhat treacherous road we saw one of these chickens and one of us (gee, guess which one?) dryly commented: "Nice cock!", which drew the kind of laughter a fourteen year old watching Beavis and Butthead would appreciate. Heading to a small farming community where we would be surrounded by male chickens and would constantly hear them crowing... well, you can probably see where this is going.
We would arrive in Sagada just before dark and got cheap rooms at the Alfredo Inn, which was clean and charming despite the unsophisticated plumbing. The above picture was taken at night in the pitch dark with no flash necessary due to a certain someone's belly being whiter than snow and brighter than the sun. (Bottom to top: My white self, Joseph, Leo, Zach). Actually this was taken the next day but it's the only picture I have of the four of us. We had chosen Sagada because of it's ample hiking opportunities and its hanging coffins, caves, rivers, waterfalls, etc. Also the small community has a well-earned reputation for being laid back and low key with many coffee shops that make it comparable to say... Amsterdam (hint, hint, that's all I'll say). Our hangout of choice was the Kimchi Grill, which seemed the logical choice given the irony that Zach and I were trying to get away from Korea. The nice folks at the Kimchi arranged a guided hike for the four of us the following afternoon, which is when the picture was really taken.
The next morning we were up and out bright and early to check out the nearby cave and hanging coffins and begin the onslaught of entendres that inevitably happen when four fourteen year old male brains are "surrounded by cocks." I should say at this point that despite going during the raining season the weather couldn't have been more ideal for our hike.
After our morning hike we had lunch and then went to the Kimchi to meet our guide. The guide took us through the mountains to many scenic and awe-inspiring views that made my beat myself up for continually for having lost my camera. I appreciate that Joe was nice enough to send some of his pictures. Our very pleasant hike led us to this waterfall where we could climb to the top and jump into a deep and very cold pool, which felt amazing after the hike. This is the scene of the group picture and also of this action shot of me jumping off the top. After hanging out for a bit we headed back towards town as there were a slew of "big cock, white cock, fat cock, black cock, small cock, skinny cock, proud cock... any other variety you can imagine" observations about the ubiquitous chickens. It just never got old. The funny thing is that this is not lost at all on the locals. I actually heard them making the same kind of jokes as if they never get sick of it either. Juvenile, a little dirty, yet simple and very funny--we found this a constant source of amusement.

After our hike we had dinner and had planned to take an early evening hike, but the monsoon season showed it's true colors. That evening, through the pouring rain, we would hang out at the warm, dry, and cozy Kimchi House having San Miguels and the local coffee with our fine local friends. It was Tueday night and Leo had to leave on Thursday, so the next morning we would make the long drive back to Manila to get him to the airport and head to an island. Before we left I had wanted to get a picture of one of these fine local creatures but also knew that they belonged to people and it's always a good idea to ask people in foreign countries if you can take a picture of them or their possessions. For some reason the guy at the Inn declined when we politely asked: "Sir, may we take a picture of your cock?". Geez, that guy was pretty sensitive about his chicken!

2 comments:

  1. You do know that your Mother is always the first to read your blogs, don't you? All that talk about the chickens left her very disturbed. Your old Dad however got a chuckle out of the "cock" references.

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  2. Some choose high brow, others aim a little lower. :)

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