Here is Epril with her sister, Inday.
Nearby Epril's house, in the village of Jassan, is a newly-built resort, called "Bassamangas Resort". It's a nice enough place, with pretty swimming pools, but the prices of rooms are quite a bit high for what you get (1,500 pesos (1,200 baht, $36) for a standard room with air conditioning, but no hot water, and 3,300 pesos (2,600 baht, $80) for what I would call a "regular hotel room") and there is a karaoke machine out near the pool that is cranked up to 11 until well after my bedtime. It is the only hotel for a few miles in any direction.
Here is Epril's house. It's small, but it's really cozy.
A street in Epril's village. The jungle is so lush and green at this time of year, and everyone is amazingly friendly. Little crowds of kids follow me everywhere.
In addition to the pool at the resort, up in the jungle hills there are two more places called "resorts", but they are just these wonderful places with fantastic swimming pools and bamboo cabanas for sitting around and drinking and eating all day for the lowest prices you could hope for. The photo below is of the Kahulugan Springs Resort, where we spent the day relaxing.
I was a hit with the ladies.
Epril with various members of her family.
More family mugging for the camera.
In the evening, we drove into the center of town and bought a big chicken dinner. The town is decorated nicely for Christmas. Below is a photo of city hall decorated with Christmas lights. Christmas in the Philippines is a noisy affair, with lots of firecrackers and... well... anything else that makes noise (including very loud stereos playing hip-hop music at all hours of the night) used to celebrate Christ's birth.
The Catholic church in the center of the village of Jassan.
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