North Luzon

We arrived yesterday in Manila after our flight from Auckland to Hong Kong had been canceled. Apparently Cathay no longer flies from Auckland Wednesday mornings and we were not the only disappointed customers. Luckily, we caught the next one as well as the next connection to Bangkok and after a little running, made it in time to catch our flight here. We landed early in the am, and headed straight up to North Luzon, and are now in Baguio. Didn't want to stay in Manila too long cause big cities aren't our thing...they're stressful, noisy, super polluted, and there's lots of poverty.
So far the Philippino people are nice...if it wasn't for a man on the jeepney with us in Manila, we would of never found our way to the bus that took us to the North. Manila doesn't seem to be so tourist friendly as far as signs and infrastructure. But at least almost everyone speaks some English.
We will do hikes and check out the rice terraces and hill tribes for the next few days and before long head back south to the lower lands and beach areas.
It is weird to be back in vehicles that drive on the right side of the road and I have been confused a little. It would be much more difficult to drive here, so we will stick to taxis and jeepneys (sort of like decorated pick up trucks) when we need it, and buses for the long hauls.
There will not be many opportunities to write any blogs, so we will when we can. The weather is hot here which is nice. We will boil down by the beach in a week or so. Longer term plans have us taking a ferry to Palawan (Coron and Puerto Princessa) and then off to Cebu...
The food here is very cheap, but I think Rachel may have a hard time finding a lot of vegetarian places... oh well. There is one restaurant here which we will make the most of at least!

Cheers all!