Finding Me Wherever I May Be

There is so much we don’t know and so much we take for granted. There is no way to sum up the Philippines cause each city, province, island, etc is so diverse from food, dialect, culture, etc. Some of the things I’ve learned is that no matter what you got you must make the most of it. Love the ones you have around you and cherish your time here. I find when I complain now about the insignificant things I feel like a brat. I have been spoiled even when times were rough. The thing is, we all have rough times but how we choose to deal with though times is what really matters. Here poverty is real and it’s not just being pushed in the shadows like it’s done in many first world countries. It’s there front and center but you don’t here anyone really complaining. They take care of everything they have and I mean everything. From their homes no matter what that may be, it is kept tidy, swept and a sense of coziness. Belongings are well taken care of and appreciated. My eyes swell with tears

Early morning of June 7th Irene and I hoped on a plane from Cebu City to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, PH. We arrived by 10/11am not entirely sure what our plan was. Before boarding the plane we had met and chatted with 2 other travelers about what they had plan. Originally El Nido was ruled out due to the 10 hr roundtrip drive and us having a flight on the 9th at 11am. But after talking to some others and doing research our best bet for a good time was El Nido.  We hopped in a van but ended up switching to one with the new friends we had made before the flight. It was a smooth sailing with one lunch stop at a spot that had insanely ridiculous prices for food so I settled on a cup of noodles that was still overpriced. Upon arrival we weren't sure where we were staying due to losing service on the drive and then no service upon arrival. We hopped in trike to the central area where we could find wifi which ended up being a place called the Tea Spot. Here we also bought our ticket

Alto Peak is the tallest peak in the Visayas standing at 1332 MASL and though that might not sound very tall getting to the summit is extremely challenging. To summit this difficult peak you must find a tour guide in the quiet town of Barangay Cabintan, Ormoc City on the island of Leyte in the Philippines which you can take a 6 hour overnight ferry from Cebu City to get to. I made the journey from Cebu with my friend Ryan where we met up with his brother-in-law Chris, nephew-in-law Cy, and their friend Budoy. We packed our things that morning, ate a big breakfast and set off to meet with our tour guide(1 of their friends). When we got to the guides house in the small town of Barangay Cabintan we had to wait several hours while he finished some stuff up at his farm. Once we were all ready we set off on our journey, first stop Lake Jangadan. Right outside the city we made a stop at some coconut trees where our guide climbed to the top to get a couple of coconuts for us that were