DAY 2: Selcuk via TROY I was attacked………by giant mosquitos!!! I survived my first morning of camping. Groggily I woke up after a somewhat restless nights sleep for absolutely crazy 5am start. The first thing I noticed as I rubbed my face was all the lumpy bits around my eyes and forehead. I nearly died - There were 6 in total and they were all the size of 10 cent pieces covering my face. I was attacked by a troop of mosquitoes in my sleep, making me look like a giant toad covered in warts. (Not a pretty description I know [View Full Entry]

---

---

A 35 day overland camping tour of the Middle East...Am I crazy? Our drive to from Istanbul to Gallipoli was approx 6 hours - so it was going to be a very early drive for the group on Sunday morning. As this was still Day 1 of the tour - everyone was still pretty subdued and still in that "getting to know you" frame of mind. This was a good thing - as we still had a long day ahead of us yet to go. I was fully aware that I had booked myself on an overland camping tour - [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Excess Baggage Queen… I am not what one would call a ‘light’ traveller - I never have been!!! Each and every time I travel I always tell myself that next time I will be better. Next time I wont bring that extra pair (or two) of shoes that I didn’t get a chance to wear, but were there ‘just in case’. I wont bring those extra shirts or bottoms - because I know that I will end up buying something else where ever I am, something that I just HAVE to wear while I am there. Needless to say that [View Full Entry]

---

---

Cebu City: August 23rd - September 7th 2008 Street Life..... There is just something so comforting and homely about watching the world go by in Cebu. It always brings it back to me how much I miss this place when I see the daily life unfolding around me. In saying that - there are some sights that I had never seen before. Sights that are just so typical of a third world country. Sights that you shouldn’t have to see but are part of reality in the part of the world. Life in Cebu seems so busy. Even at 10pm at [View Full Entry]

---

---

No! They are not made out of Chocolate.....But they do look like Hershey's Kisses!! According to the internet Bohol is located Southeast of Cebu and is the 10th largest island in the Philippines (This is a big deal considering that there are over 7000 islands in the Philippines). The island is famous for its fabulous white sandy beaches and resorts, scuba diving, numerous historic places, river cruising, Sandugo Festival, Philippine Tarsier (considered to be the worlds smallest primate) and indigenous to the island and lastly, the Chocolate Hills. Given my limited time [View Full Entry]

---

---

What to do, where to go & what to eat! Boracay night life I was reading the Cebu Pacific in-flight magazine the other day. In it, it described a much favoured Filipino past time - singing!! Throughout the shopping malls of Cebu, you will see groups of people in Sony centres (even in the Watson’s Chemist) singing to some song on some sort of Karaoke machine (Mind you they were mostly very feminine ‘boys’ with painted fingernails & handkerchiefs in their hands, giggling with their ‘girlfriends‘.) So it came as no surprise to see the same t [View Full Entry]

---

---

Planes, Tricycles & Automobiles…..& boats Why restrict yourself to just one medium of transport? For a bit of variety - Why not try everything….And so I did! Planes Cebu now has a low cost airline called ‘Cebu Pacific’ which makes it perfect for cheap & easy travel both domestically & internationally. (perhaps this company promo gives me a discount off my next fare?) My only complaint is this…..Why do you weigh all of your passengers (domestic only) before allowing them to board the plane? I almost died of hum [View Full Entry]

---

---

I arrived in Cebu yesterday and spent the rest of the day with my family. It was good to be back after years of being away and gave me the chance to see how much the city had changed in the time that I had been gone. The following day we took a road trip today to the town of Carcar, approximately 40kms south of Cebu City (or roughly a 1 hour trip on along Cebu's one and only freeway), which is for it's Spanish heritage homes built during the late 1800's to early 1900's in an effort to get some [View Full Entry]

---

---

I left Sydney to start my journey on Saturday afternoon. I had been counting down the days till my departure and I couldn't believe it was finally here. I had thought that I would have everything finished before last day - but as always things slip through the cracks and I saw myself still lugging boxes to a storage centre on the same day that I was due to leave for my trip. After a manic morning I was glad to be finally sitting on that plane, champagne glass in hand, watching the world go by and planning for my year [View Full Entry]

---

---