Wow! What an amazing thing to experience. Swimming with something the size of a small bus. Being hte not amazing writer that I am, I am not sure if the words that I use can describe it, but I will try. The trip from Manila to Donsol takes a long time by bus. I left at about 4:30 in the afternoon and got there at about 6 or 7 in the morning (I was too tired to remember). Not sleeping much on the bus, I needed a nap, so that meant swimming with the whale sharks had to wait a day. [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Palawan, we headed for the beautiful Visayas. The many islands were too numerous to conquer in one trip, so maybe I will have to go back at some point to get to the others, but the four islands I made it to were wonderful. Cebu I only spent one night in Cebu city. I used it (as I assume most people do) as a hub to get around the rest of Visayas. Cebu City was a pretty large city from what I saw. They had a lot of good shopping and a bunch of good food. (I had some [View Full Entry]

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Palawan is a beautiful island full of waterfalls, "archipelagic" islands, caves and one enormous underground river. It was hot the entire time we were there, but the sun was shining too, so we got to enjoy the beaches. (Except for the ones with jellyfish.) We started in Puerto Princesa which is the main city on the island. We tried to explore the old cathedral there, but it was closed. We tried to explore the museum there, but we were unable to find it. We did, however, find something better, Shakey's Pizza and Mr. Donut. I ate more donuts in the last [View Full Entry]

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Northern Luzon is not as famous for its beaches as the rest of the country, but it has a ton of offerings for those that want to look. There are the rice terraces of Banaue, Batad and the surrounding barangays and countryside. The caves, hanging coffins and festivals of Sagada. And the bustling city of Baguio. Banaue First, Lily and I headed from Manila to Banaue. It is an overnight 10 1/2 hour bus ride. It is also freezing cold on the bus when they have the air on full blast all 10 hours, you are wearing shorts and your vent [View Full Entry]

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Hello all. I am in the Philippines now and it is beautiful here as well. Although the weather hasn't been the greatest since we got here. Cloudy and a little bit cold. (I know 65 isn't cold to most of you in the states, but it seems kind of chilly to me now.) The countryside is still pretty amazing. I am in Luzon, which is the "main" island of the Philippines. Manila is there and I believe that it is second only to Mindinao in size. We shacked up in Malate for a night and then walked around Manila a little [View Full Entry]

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Today is the last day that I will have my feet on Thailand's soil....or sand. I have been there for 60 days, as long as my visa would allow. It was a great time and I look forward to coming back at some point in the future to climb and explore the North of the country...Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. I already miss climbing with Nung and Thong and the Brits. Hanging out by the beach and eating calamari that is cheaper than chicken. Drinking Singhas and Changs (won't miss the hangovers though). Next is Malaysia. I will only be there [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh...home. Or so it feels right now. It's the closest thing I have on this side of the world. I really liked it here the first time I was here, so I thought I would come back for the holidays. There is so much to do here, it is friendly, it is cheap, it is beautiful and we have friends here too. We met Bruce and Smithy the first time we were in Haad Ton Sai. I saw them playing cards with board with matchsticks in it and knew immediately that we would get along. How could we not if they [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh...beautiful Koh Phi Phi. That's what we have been told at least. Some of it was really nice but the actualy city wasn't that amazing. It was one of the hardest hit places after the tsunami about 4 years ago, but it is bigger now than it was back then. It was supposed to be regulated so that it wouldn't get to be overcrowded, unnatural and cement, but that didn't seem to happen. It was nice enough though for a quick visit. I was there for 2 nights with Lily. (The only reason we stayed two nights was to go snorkeling [View Full Entry]

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The trip to Ao Nang/Railey/Haad Ton Sai was a long one (and without food for nearly 16 hours). But it was worth it. We decided to go to Haad Ton Sai first because it was the cheapest. It also turned out to be the best. We stayed at Andaman Nature Resort and had a small bungalow and a mosquito net. It was nice though, and the community was awesome! The whole beach is essentially dedicated to rock climbers, so there were a lot of crazy routes on the cliffs. (The beach is surrounded by 100 meter cliffs). We stayed here for [View Full Entry]

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Travelling to Koh Phangan was a lot better than travelling to Koh Tao. The boat ride was smoother, and we were able to stay up top the entire time without being soaked (although we did get a little wet). We got there and headed to Haad Rin Nai/Nok. (Sunrise/Sunset Beach) There weren't any beaches that we found right away, which was pretty disappointing because of the name, but eventually we did find the sunrise side. It was pretty big, but only when the tide was out. This is where they have the famous Full Moon Party with thousands of people showing [View Full Entry]

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