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Photos by MJ Klein

Continuing with our series, this is the last installment of my trip to the Philippines.  I had a wonderful time there, and the last few days was spent in an area of considerable beauty, populated with fantastic people.

The author standing in a corn field

Sonny took me on a walk down to the river bank.  This is the road in front of his house.

At the end of the road are the village markers.

We took a right and went down past the corn fields.

The river is dead ahead at the end of this dirt road.

These people are on the way to the ferry (we’ll revisit the ferry in at the end of this article).

This is a great place for kids to play.

Some ruins down by the river on the far side of the river (telephoto shot).

This is where the dirt road leads….

We took a walk down the bank of the river.  There is a lush carpet of grass along the riverside, and I got a very peaceful feeling being there on that afternoon.

If memory serves, these are peanuts.

This flat, grassy area is perfect for playing games and running around.

Sonny demonstrated how tame the Filipino buffalo is.  You can see by the way his rope is lying on the ground that he isn’t trying to run away from Sonny.

A fisherman on the river.

With an abundance of grass, this is where people feed their grazing animals.

The rolling hills in the background were lovely.

I just had to take a few moments to enjoy the scenery.  Notice the kids.  They were curious, but shy.

That’s Greg with the red hat.  As you recall, Greg was our driver in Manila.

There is a small footpath that leads back to Sonny’s home via a different way, and we took that back to the village.

These were some of the finest crops I’ve seen anywhere.  I ate this corn during my stay and I cannot describe how good it was!

Turning around and looking back towards the river….

This is water damage.  Sonny says that during the rainy season the river floods, and the flood waters can reach inland up to a kilometer.

Look closely….

…. and you will see evidence of the flooding.

Another farmer’s footpath through the crops.

Yet another one.

Along the path are some small crops that have been planted.

Walking along with Sonny, I was astonished by his knowledge of all the local plants and their medicinal uses.

Finally we came to the bottom of the hill behind Sonny’s home.

Once you make it to the top of this hill, you’ll find yourself in the back of Sonny’s land.

One last look down towards the river.  Sonny told me that this entire field often floods during the rainy season, and the loss of the crops is devastating to the village.

After spending the evening playing some songs on guitar, I got up early the next morning to catch the Jeepney back to Manila for my flight back home to Taiwan.  By the time I got up, everyone else was already hard at work in the morning light.

Now I’m in the front seat of the Jeepney and we’re heading down to the river for the ferry ride back.

As you recall, this is the locally built ferry boat.

The Jeepney goes aboard….

Then all the passengers embark.

I took this shot so you’d get the feeling of what it was like to walk the plank!

This motorcycle-sidecar showed up….

…. and this is how they loaded it on the ferry.  Scary, if you ask me!

As we near the opposite bank, people start to gather near the dock area.

With a few adjustments, the Jeepney can disembark.  Fancy word for driving it off the ferry across a couple of planks!

This is a shot of the side mirror, showing passengers getting off the Jeepney at one of the many stops out in the middle of nowhere….

On the way back to Tuguegarao City we saw the same arrangement for drying corn on the road as we did on our way to the village of Santo Nino.

This is our last shot for this article, and the last shot for the series.   This shot is typical of the lovely countryside in northern Philippines.

I’d like to thank the wonderful people of the Philippines for their hospitality during my visit.  I can honestly say that I have never encountered such polite and considerate people before, anywhere that I have traveled.  I hope I can visit again someday soon!

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