A few days of vacation time had me spending time outside of Naga City. I took a jeepney to Stone house Resort – which was a lovely private home converted into a resort with 360 views of tropical rain forests and San Miguel Bay. I got to relax and enjoy amazing gardens with bursts of colorful flowers and herbs, fresh papaya and jackfruit, and glasses of cold passion fruit juice, and a lovely retired couple serving as hosts. I spent time in this large outdoor cabana enjoying the views and the cool breezes. On Monday I decided to hike up the trail nearby to get to the entrance to Mt Isarog National Park – an overgrown trail only accessible by foot – I arrive at a small entrance staffed by one guy – the fee is 10 pesos. I then wind my way down a rough almost treacherousness trail to Malabsay Falls. The trail is washed out and rocky in many places but I arrive at a lovely falls area to find dozens of young kids out for a field trip. It was suggested they were learning about natural resources – I kind of think they were mostly having fun.
The interesting part was yet again an exchange with local Filipinos that has been common in my months of experience thus far. Everyone was very friendly, the teacher came up to me and said welcome to Naga - 'the land of smiles' and they offered for me to ‘take my lunch’ with them when it was time to eat. The funny part was how many of these teenagers wanted to come over and talk to me and take a picture with me. One even videotaped me on his cell phone after asking questions of where I am from and what I was doing there. It felt like I was a celebrity.
Nice afternoon of exploring, hiking through tropical rain forests and a chance to interact with a bunch of lovely Filipinos. Nice weekend away relaxing at a lovely resort. Even got to go to Panicuasian Hot Springs for a soak on Monday evening.
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