http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/BrokenJosh/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from BrokenJosh en-us Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:21:18 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:21:18 +0000 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 430 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Donsol/blog-381924.html 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. CebuI 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Negros/Dumaguete/blog-381918.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Palawan/blog-375003.html 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. BanaueFirst Lily and I headed from Manila to Banaue. It is an overnight 10 12 hour bus http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Mountain-Province/blog-371434.html 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 i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Luzon/Metro-Manila/blog-367623.html 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 calamar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Krabi/blog-365381.html 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 w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Railay/blog-359590.html 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 eno http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-359584.html The trip to Ao NangRaileyHaad 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 c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Railay/blog-356284.html 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 NaiNok. SunriseSunset Beach There weren't any beaches that we found right away which was pretty disappointing because of the name but eventually we did fi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-356279.html Ah...the islands. Koh Tao is beautiful. It is warm a little rainy right now but the sun is out a lot too. The mosquitos are kind of bad but it is still very very nice. Everyone here is really nice and we met up with a couchsurfer named Wilfried from France. He is a dive instructor at one of the resorts on the island. We stayed with him a couple of nights at his resort which was really nice http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-351703.html The trip to Bangkok was a good one. The plane ride was about 7 hours long or so. Uneventful except they showed Swing Vote on the plane. I stopped watching after about 10 minutes of Kevin Costner. We got in late at night and got a taxi to Khoasan Road. Where all of the backpacking tourist like Lily and I stay. It was fairly cheap but we had to get a double room the first night because it was so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/blog-349231.html Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It has been a bit hectic here in Japan. We got in at about 5 or so Tokyo time but we were dead tired since neither of us really slept on the plane. It was warmer there than in Wisconsin but not by much. We got to the hotel but not after a slightly long bus ride that was not great for my car sickness. I didn't enjoy it. The hotel was really nice http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-348042.html Tonight is my last night in the good ole town of Madison. Hitting up Bluephies with some friends for a good meal and some drinks. Packing has been hectic but still fun. I enjoy being constantly busy. That might be hard when I go the beach in Thailand for days at a time but I think I will enjoy that too. Packed everything I have left into my car with room to spare except for my grill my bike a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-346048.html ...thanks Keith. I have been selling off all of my stuff recently. It is amazing how much you can actually live without. I am going to be living out of a backpack mostly for the next few months. It is going to be a huge change. I won't have my computer to watch TV shows on I won't have my comfortable bed to relax in. I am not going to have a lot of what I have now but I won't miss any of the s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-339682.html I have made the first big step in my travels. I bought the ticket. Although technically the first big step was telling work that I was quitting I feel like that was a big step in moving away from my job not towards my goal. November 19 is my last day in the country. Lily and I are going to Japan at first for a layover of a couple days. Check out Tokyo and see how cool that is. I have always want http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-329776.html My journey starts in just about 80 days. I have never been more excited for anything in my life. For those of you who don't know and if you don't then how did you find my travel blog I am moving to Thailand in NovemberI have a lot of stuff figured out already but I don't have everything figured out. Some of it I will some of it I don't want to yet. This is my first little adventure steppin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-315075.html