Banaue (Philippines)

When you've spent days sweating profusely the instant you step outside, and taking a walk longer than 15 minutes brings real concern about heat stroke and dehydration, the concept of wrapping up warm almost just doesn't compute. Yet we had heard dire warnings from multiple sources - practically comical in their repetition - about how cold the overnight bus from Manila to Banaue would be. Well... it ain't no joke. Even with a hat and five layers, I would awaken with a jolt every time an icy draft from the bus's relentless air conditioning penetrated. Honestly, we were convinced it blasted harder every time the driver revved the engine up the mountain inclines. But if you want to see the famed rice terraces of the Cordilleras, short of hiring a private driver, this 8 hour ride in the freezer section is pretty much the only game in town.

Banaue is the place that springs to mind for visiting the rice terraces, although this portion is not part of the official UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town is more of a jumping off point for visiting the surrounding areas in the Cordilleras mountain region in northern Luzon. Our first glimpse of the rice terraces was over breakfast at a local homestay. A Filipino breakfast favorite is silog. This is a portmanteau: your cured protein of choice + "sinangag" (leftover rice fried, usually heavy on the garlic) + "itlog" (a fried or sunny side egg)... So with tapa (thinly sliced beef), it becomes tapsilog; with longganisa (pork sausages), it's longsilog; with tocino (sweetened pork belly), it's tosilog; etc. There's even spamsilog because, yes, Filipinos love Spam! A little harder to find in the States, I went for bangsilog, which is with salted and dried milkfish, or bangus. Yum!

Fuller and greasier, we walked into town to catch transport to our next stop. This was Rich's first ride on a jeepney. When we got offered a chance to ride on top, we climbed aboard. It was a good decision. Sure, the seating options were either a spare tire or a piece of cardboard on the rails (hint: go for the tire every time), but the views are incredible! The road is an endless string of switchbacks overlooking drop offs with lush forests. Brilliant bougainvilleas were in bloom, and we were surprised to see towering tree ferns like those in New Zealand. Scarlet dongla plants (possibly cabbage palm?), sacred to the indigenous Ifugao people, line roads and mark territories. The ride itself is a bit of excitement as well. You have to keep your wits about you for dodging and ducking power lines and palms. The knuckles may get a little white as the jeepney plows down the center of the road and careens around blind corners because the drive takes long enough as it is, right, so why slow down? You'd never be allowed to do this in the States. But as the wind rushes by, one can't help but think, a la Mad Max: Fury Road, "Oh, what a day! What a lovely day!"

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Philippines

Göreme and Kaş (Turkey)

We took our second overnight bus from Göreme to Antalya. Overnight buses in Turkey are great. The coaches are air-conditioned, and each assigned seat has its own built-in screen. It's a shame that all the channels are in Turkish. There's a bus attendant who periodically stops by to offer you goodies - moist towelette, drinks, snacks even - all included in the price. But don't be fooled just because he wears a tie or gives you cake. I looked out of the window at one stop to see our bus attendant in fisticuffs with an irate passenger. Sure, the passenger's surprise punch landed on the attendant's cheek and cut it open with his wedding ring. However, this guy was built like a boxer, and the ensuing fight required two groups to pry them apart with the passenger's kerchief-ed wife pleading loudly between them. The bus attendant resumed his duties imperturbably with only the blood spatter on his otherwise immaculate shirt to indicate differently.

The day bus from Antalya to Kaş was a different story. A long, boring one. The bus driver added an extra hour to the 3-hour trip by stopping for tea several times and picking up random people from the side of the road for extra cash in his pocket. These passengers crammed in on plastic stools down the aisle and included a woman with a crying baby covered in some kind of infectious pox.

Kaş is located on Turkey's famed Turquoise Coast. The town is set steeply into rocky slopes, and the water is very blue here. Boats dock in the small harbor, and you can even take a short ferry to the Greek island of Kastelorizo (Meis in Turkish) about a mile offshore. We came to this relaxing, beach town for adventure.

Sea kayaking is one way to view the sunken city of Kekova. Unfortunately, our trip did not really end up stopping there as planned. However, after fighting foul winds and swells for 3 hours without working rudders, I think everyone was quite happy to forgo the visit and make it to dry land. [At this point, any one who knows about our brutal 10 days of kayaking in Belize must be wondering why we would ever subject ourselves to them again. I guess that all we can say is, "Memories fade?!?"]

Our other adventure gave us a better sense of accomplishment. Canyoning is traveling through a canyon the adrenaline way. We scrambled and slid over boulders, abseiled (rappelled) down waterfalls, jumped from rocky precipices into icy pools, and rode zip-lines through steeper descents... all in an extremely unflattering get-up of helmet, wetsuit, and a canyoning "diaper"/harness combination. Really looking forward to abseiling for the first time, I was sorely disappointed to find my lack of coordination showed again in typically ungraceful style. Many of the straight out jumps involved a specific trajectory so as not to bash your body against the foaming rocks around or below. At times, I admit the fear threatened to overwhelm me, and I had to just suck it up and jump. The most panic-inducing was a jump from a tiny ledge down a 20 ft (6 m) narrow shaft in the rock with the guide shouting, "Aim for the bubbles!" Even getting out of the canyon again was a challenge - an unexpected portion of free-climbing followed by a relentlessly steep, vertical ascent of a 1 km hike... in aforementioned wetsuit. Seven hours after starting, Rich, of course, was still happy and leaping like a mountain goat!