Jerome -- Vera Falls seems like its straight out of a movie. It's a fairly small waterfall that falls into a cascading set of clear swimming pools. The water is nice and cool (almost too cold for some of the locals, but it was perfect for me). The falls are small enough that you can dive under them, and surface in a small cave behind them. The locals were super-friendly. The guy who looks after the area invited us to camp there next time we visit.
It's a bit of a challenge to get to - the roads are narrow where they exist (the rest is just a rocky path). We hired a Taxi driver (Dan - 090-535-86095) to take us around for the day for around 4000 Pesos. We visited the beach at Barcacay, Vera Falls, and the rest house 1/3 up Mayon Volcano - but the falls were the highlight for me.
Jerome -- We did more than just eat spicy food in Legazpi (although Laura was a huge fan of the chili ice cream).
We rented ATVs and did a 2 hour ride to the lava flows from 2006 eruption. We rented the bigger 350cc ATVs. They were very comfortable. The peak of the volcano is often obscured by clouds, but we were lucky enough to have a clear view - quite spectacular! It is said that Mayon is one of the most symmetrical volcanos.
When we reached the peak, we had fresh coconut water. Once we were done the water, they split the coconuts for us and fashioned a spoon from the husk in order to eat the meat. Very refreshing after all that time in the sun!
Our guide was really proud of his 'trick shots'. Here's a couple of his best:
We happened to find out that the month-long Megayon festival was going on in town. We decided to check it out. It just so happened that the main event of the night was the sili (chili pepper) eating competition. The goal of the competition is to eat 250 g of extra-spicy Bicol Express and 250 g of laing. No water is allowed. First to finish wins.
They had 10 guys compete, followed by 10 girls. Last, they had a wildcard round, with two local volunteers vs two foreigner volunteers. I was the only one to raise my hand as a foreigner... So I got to compete!
The food was definitely spicy (and also very tasty)... but I think that ghost pepper salsa I've been eating at home prepared me for it. I didn't do too bad. Of the 4 people competing with me, I finished second. And since I came in first for foreigners I even won a 1000 Peso prize! Here's a clip from a local morning show
These guys are the actual winners (the guy ate all his food in 1:04. Not sure what my time was... But at least 2 or 3 minutes)
Laura was curious to try the Bicol express, so we ordered some the next night (this one was fish rather than the tradional pork). I think this one was less spicy than the one I had for the competition.
A fun (and hot) few days here. We'll post more when we can.
