Triking it to Mayantoc

Friday, 2nd September 2011

The kids had Cornflakes for breakfast.

We were ready and waiting for Bro Rudi at 8:30am, but where is he, according to Felcris he is usually early. So we waited for 20mins, only to be told that he was waiting at the top of the track for us with a couple trikes.

Silas, Noah and myself were inside one trike, with Rudi on the back and Sarah, mum and Eden were inside the other, with Felcris on the back. Now it is cramped inside the trike, but okay for a short journey, however to be stuck inside one for an hour and forty mins is bordering on agony. There is not enough room to sit up straight, we had a couple bags and some food that could not be squashed and three people to distribute across two and a half seats. I was sure that I had more room inside my trike than what the others had inside theirs. Noah slept in the trike until the driver stopped to put on the wet weather covers. We had to wake up Noah to get the plastic sheets out, he had a little cry at this, so I held him on my lap for the rest of the journey. I was very pleased to arrive in Mayantoc and get out of the trike, there was only one small complication – Noah had a pooey nappy, and it had leaked out the back of his nappy – onto my clothes.

Aside for the above unhappy mishap, and Sarah almost flying out of the trike when it went over a bump in the road, there was lush, green scenery and lovely cool breeze. Sarah, Eden and Mum saw a brand new calf, being licked clean by its mother, lots of chicks following closely behind their mothers, a couple of rice mills, mansions alongside woven leaf huts, a great way to see off the beaten track of where tourists usually go. The sun was out for most of the day which is a nice change.

The girls trike

The boys trike

Some sights on our journey

More sights

Passing scenery

Busy streets

Lots of rice for sale

The girls are in the green trike

More scenery blurring past

Amazing structures

Sarah and I have been to Mayantoc before, but it was not until we arrived that I remembered what it looked like. One of the biggest changes from our previous visit was that everything was green (being the rainy season), whereas in the past it was all brown. Mayantoc is a very dry place outside the wet season, and there is no alternative means of irrigation. They only get one rice crop per year, whereas other regions can get two or three crops per year.

I can't say that I recognised or remembered any of the Bre & Sis there, but I do remember the house where we ate our lunch.

We cleaned up Noah by the water pump, he just stood with his back to the pump while one of the young girls operated the pump and I washed him clean. Obviously a fairly common occurrence.

Cute little ducklings huddling by the side of a house

Bananas growing out the back of the hall

We took a short rest while our lunch was prepared (we stopped on the way to buy supplies), and then were invited in to a selection of food. This meal is the closest to what I remember eating on previous visits (rice, omelets, tinned corned beef, small fish, two min noodles served in glasses). I think the children first thought that the glasses were juice – what surprise to find that it was hot and  had noodles hiding in the bottom. Noah ate some rice and practised his Tagalog with one of the locals, kamusta (how are you) and mahbuti (fine thanks).

After our lunch it was decided that we would hold a memorial meeting instead of just a Bible study. The good news is that I had notes that I was going to use on Sunday, the bad news is that now I need to come up with something else for Sunday.


The meeting went well, and there were over thirty people present. All the talks need to be translated into Ilocano as English is hardly spoken and some are not conversant in Tagalog either. During the exhort I was talking for only 15mins, and Rudi spoke for about 35mins.

Before lunch the children were very shy, however during the exhort they decided to become rather noisy. Our children shared stickers from their sticker books with the local children, who were very pleased with them.

It's amazing how children can play so well together even though they can't understand a word each other is saying. Silas made plans with a boy called Jonathan to go fishing in the pond behind the hall, equipped with an empty plastic egg carton, when asked if he knew how deep the water was, he shrugged and said I don't know, so fortunately he was noticed before he went for a dip in the murky waters!

Enjoying the company after the meeting

Noah and Bro Felcris

Silas and his fishing friend

Mum enjoying holding the baby

Bro Pablo

After enjoying mireanda, and saying our goodbyes, we piled into the trikes once more, ready for the amazingly comfortable ride home. About 2 minutes down the road, our trike had to stop and a “minor repair” was done, and we rattled on our way again. The children were great on the way home – they all slept, so that made it a very quiet and peaceful journey, albeit slightly uncomfortable.

Stopping for repairs and to put away the wet weather gear

We were able to walk down the track to the hall without getting too muddy this time, the ground dries up very quickly, considering the amount of rain and slushy, muddy, slippery ground – very slippery (just ask Silas) recently.

Delicious bbq for dinner tonight, and an early night as Matt has to leave at 7.30am to visit Telavera with Bro Ryan, God Willing.

Felcris cooking the bbq

The bbq - cooking potatoes