That day was our one year anniversary! After talking with a few other backpackers the day before, we found out the only jeep heading back to Banaue was at 9am, so after eating an early breakfast, front row overlooking the gorgeous sweeping view, we hit the trail to make it back up to the saddle before the jeep left. The hike up to the saddle took an hour and half. Lori's ankle was still pretty sore so we had to take it slow. I ended up taking her backpack along with mine and carried them both up the mountain. Of course Lori snapped off some morning shots before heading out.
We reached the long stone staircase and it reminded me of climbing the stairs which led to a Shao-Lin temple in a 70's Kung Fu movie. After reaching the top, we were out of breath and relived that there was a stand selling drinks and snacks at the top.
There they were selling coconut juice which Filipinos call Buko Juice. I ordered two and some guy took the green coconuts and expertly opened both with a machete, took a couple straws and served them up. It was so refreshing drinking the juice straight from the nut. After we drank all the juice, I handed back the coconuts and he split both of them in half and gave us spoons to eat out the flesh!
We definitely felt like we had been to a little hidden part of the world and experienced something few have. Feelings of accomplishment and awe were abound. With all that we had already done and seen we were soaking it up but also getting anxious to hop down to the southern island of Palawan and experience the beach life and something different but just as amazing. Alas... we still had a lot of hurry up and wait travel and business to accomplish in Manila.
We climbed in the jeep and began the 45 minute ride back to Banaue. There was a bus heading back to Manila at 6:30pm, so we had to get back to Banaue asap so I could buy bus tickets before they all sold out.
After arriving back in Banaue, I headed to the bus station while Lori stayed back at People's Lodge icing her ankle. I was lucky enough to get the last two tickets back to Manila! The rest of the day we spent back at the People's Lodge writing more postcards, and talking with fellow backpackers about their travels and where they came from. We ran into Joe from Philly, the couple from Holland, and a couple from France and we spent the day overlooking the rice terraces of Banaue sipping on San Miguel, eating, and talking as we waited for the bus which we were all taking. As afternoon turned into night, we headed to the bus and we were all excited to get back to Manila to start the next legs of our journeys. We climbed into the bus and sat back for the 8 hour trip.
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