Sunset Garden Inn Angeles

I was looking forward to Mt Pinatubo and the lake was truly stunning but there was no real trek to get there and that seemed to diminish the experience somewhat. We drove until about an hour from the lake and then had a gently stroll to the lake. The scenery was stunning walking up to the lake, walking up a stream with huge volcano ash walls either side of us. We stayed for about an hour or so at the lake and then caught a bus back to Manila.

Arrived at manila to find my mate Karl waiting for me , jumpt into a taxi and headed to a city called Angeles. We got there in about a hour to find my bloody cards did not work, the fraud squad had shut them all down "****ers" so i had to phone england to ...

We woke up the next morning at 5:45 and walked back to the LCCT airport as quick as we could get ready. Our flight to Manila was scheduled to leave at 7:20, but we were hoping to have a McDonald's breakfast before boarding the plane. The lineup for checking in for our flight was a little longer than normal, so it was nearly 6:45 by the time we had our baggage checked and headed to McDonalds. We ate as quickly as we could and that turned out to be ...

In the afternoon I went to Angles City because that's where my flight back to Bangkok was from. Clark Airfield, the former US airbase, has some budget airlines flying to and from it. It is actually cheaper to fly with Cebu Pacific from Clark than from Manila. This time I took the Philippine Rabbit bus company because it didn't make ...

Slept late...ate some breakfast at the restaurant/bar next to the pool....watched old guys bring into breakfast their girls they "got" from their adventures the night before (I call this the Peso Parade)....and hit the pool. (Of note - everythiung I just wrote will likely be the same thing every morning....slept late/breakfast/etc). Went to hit this big mall right around the corner, it's called the Super Mall ...

First full day in PI. Wow...awoke in the Philippines. And unfortunately the day time hours light up the Orchid Inn, and my room :( My door to the hotel room was nothing more then a very thin door that could have been a closet door with a wobbly knob and no idea if the lock worked, TV didn't work, and some guy banging on the street, outside my window. Hmmmmm ...

... atmosphere... but as in all places, there is the bad and the good. All I can say is this....you can trust the people who work at the Ponderosa Hotel. They are very kind. The facilities are older but safe. Because of a scam I encountered....we had to postpone our travel to the Rice Terraces only 6 hours away....the hotel had a poster of the Rice Terraces, so at least I have a photo of them!!!!

After a 4 hour flight with new budget airline Tiger Airways. I finally landed in Clark, Luzon, Philippines. Not doing my research on The Philippines was my first mistake. Because I would have realized Clark is not in Manila, in fact it is 70km north of Manila. I was unusually calm. Because this was the sort of adventure I was after.

I made my way of of the old airbase. To a crowd of ...

... from the PC Director and Embassy Officials about the cooperation and support the search received from all levels of Philippine Officials and the local community in the site of her disappearance. While this story has ended in a sad note today, we all know that Julia would want us to continue on with our service and impact our communities the same way she did. This afternoon many PCV's worked extremely hard to plan a memorial ...

... on for the church here in San Fernando. Last night, I had the opportunity to eat my first Balut. A balut is an 18-day old, fertilized duck egg, with a full baby duck in it. They boil them and eat them whole here. I was very excited to try one of theses, and I actually like them. Another food that we have had here is chopped up pigs brain and intestines. Mmmmmmmmm. This next week, our team will be taking a 3 day break on and Island just south ...