Tacurong

Had a amazing and surreal day today in Tacurong. The drive up there alone was stunning. So much to see! We passed rice paddys, carabou pulling plows, beautiful mountains and we passed through the Dole pineapple plantation which goes on for miles. Of course we had to stop to buy some of the pineapples :) The scenery is lovely, so green and not too unlike Scotland apart from the palm trees. The main difference is seeing all the villages at the side of the road made up of bamboo huts.

Tacurong was having their annual festival to celebrate becoming a city in 2000. The whole city, it seems, was out to see the performances put on by the elementary school children of the area. The performances were really impressive and wouldn't have looked out of place at the Olympic Opening Ceremony! Videos to follow.

After meeting friends of mum & George's in the city's Chief Auditors Office we ventured into the area where the festival was taking place. Apparently we were the first foreigners to visit the festival!!! That's when it started to get surreal. We were taken right into the performance area by the Chief of Police to get pictures of the performers, three ladies came rushing over and took us to our seats behind the mayor et al in the main seating area and another lady appeared with a basket of iced water for us! As we watched the performances people were taking photos of us when they thought we weren't looking!! :-D

The people are soooo friendly and I have never seen a welcome like it. People pay a lot of money in the West to be treated like that!

After an authentic Filipino lunch with 'lechon' (roast pig), we were then taken to meet the mayor, just to top off a bizarre day!

All in all very unexpected but very enjoyable. We met some great people and got a taste of authentic Filipino hospitality. We even got a pressie- a souvenir t-shirt from the festival!