http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Surfboy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Surfboy en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:38:48 +0000 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:38:48 +0000 Third day was long ride north from Mae Sarieng to Mae Hong Son. Really liked Mae Hong Son and spent extra day there. Found amazing little restuarant and ordered Larb as never tried it before. Wow best thing Ive tasted here yet Spent day on the bike going to see Huai Sua Tao village and its settlement of Padaung Longneck women. Really wierd experience as you try not to stare at thier necks but ca http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Mae-Hong-Son/blog-451865.html Second day was ride due West towards Burmese border to town of Mae Sarieng. Day didnt start well as raining up in the mountains and very cold. Sun soon came out and all was well Roads were fantastic and no other traffic apart from 4X4s loaded with cabbages Started to really get to grips with the Kawasaki and was throwing it through bends and roaring up the hills with ease Liked liitle town of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Mae-Hong-Son/blog-451692.html Decided to rent a bike and do the legendary Mae Hong Son loop. 6 days 906Km and 1648 bends Bought the loop map and on the front it said North Thailands Rugged northwest frontier Wasnt sure what bike to choose but Kawasaki 250 D Tracker looked good so off I set. First leg was from Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon National Park. The park was great full of waterfalls and the summit of Doi Inthanon http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Mae-Hong-Son/blog-451588.html 5 hours by bus north of Sukothai to Chiang Mai. Very laid back city famous for its food. Went out to nearest little restuarant and had amazing curry fror 25 Baht City is full of temples dont have to walk too far and find one. Nightlife pretty good too Loy Krathong in full swing so fireworks everywhere got very drunk and persuaded two Thai girls to send up beacon for me for 20 Baht http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-449635.html Long day getting to Sukhothai from Ayuthaya walked across Ayuthaya river ferry to train station 4 hour train to Phitsanulok walk across town to get a bus 1 hour bus ride to Sukhothai then local bus to guesthouse But great guesthouse TR and really like Sukhothai Historical Park so big and so many Wats Spent very hot day cycling around a few and not Watted out yet http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-448921.html Off to Ayuthaya by train never been on a train in Thailand but how tricky can that be Found Hualampong Station in Bangkok easy checked on my ticket and with the Station Kiosk defintely platform 7 they both said. So there I am sitting on platform 7 and no sign of any train. Waited 15 minutes still no train. I showed my ticket to some Thai guys and they called a Platform Attendant he looked a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ayuthaya/blog-448765.html Arrived in Bangkok from London and so good to be warm again Got totally soaked in the rain trying to find a guesthouse amongst the never ending alleyways of Chinatown but it was worth the effort 7th floor restuarant overlooking the Chao Praya River was awesome Went to see Royal Palace which was way too big but very colourful Wat Pho was great and Chinatown noisy but enjoyed it all http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-448571.html Made it back to Boracay for the Easter Week but now it was so busy Holy Week is the main holiday in the Philippines and the Island was packed with local visitors from Manila Cebu Illoilo in fact from everywhere Had real problem finding anywhere to stay as everything was fully booked but a nice local lady let us have her room in her guesthouse and she moved in to her basement Stayed in Angol http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Boracay/blog-391213.html Decided to travel from Manila back to Boracay for Easter Week not a very clever idea as this is the busiest week of the year for Boracay managed to get a flight to Kalibo and stayed a few days. Famed for its Ati Atihan festival the town was very quiet. Went to visit the Mangrove Sanctuary just outside of the town which was nice but unbelievably hot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Panay/Kalibo/blog-390417.html Was in Manila meeting my friend Pelle and needed an escape Nearest beach resort is Puerto Galera in Mindoro so hopped on a bus to Batangas and Banca over to Sabang. Sabang has a reputation for two main activities diving and nightlife but it cant seem to decide which one has priority So here you can have both Had been before and dived here and the diving is very good but this time just neede http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Mindoro/Puerto-Galera/blog-386330.html I had heard so much about Boracay I just had to visit Some people had said it was awful some that it is paradise So I was intrigued to say the least. Boracay is I guess the number one tourist destination in the Philippines famed for its white sand beach. So I flew from Cebu to Caticlan in Panay tricycle to the ferry port ferry across to Boracay then tricycle to the beach Easy All the bad t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Boracay/blog-383297.html Spent a few days on Mactan Island not my favourite place so far in the Philippines Very expensive beach resorts which are isolated from any contact with local people. At least the weather was good about the only thing which was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Cebu/Mactan-Island/blog-382516.html The weather in Cebu was getting so much better I decided it was time to go diving. Travelled over to Ormoc in Leyte then south to Padre Burgos. The diving was fantastic especially at Panoan amazing soft corals and fish everywhere Limasawa Island was also excellent. So good to be out of the City and wake up to the sound of lapping waves outside the window Really liked Southern Leyte and so goo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Leyte/blog-380714.html Had a few spare days so decided to go and see Twin Lakes and Casaroro Falls. Trip up to Twin Lakes was longer than I expected and a bit of a rough road but worth the effort. Only me there Casaroro Falls was easy to Valencia then follow the road up to Falls again only me there Very relaxing escape from Dumaguete http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Negros/Dumaguete/blog-377656.html Went on an amazing road trip with two friends from Dumaguete Pelle and his girlfriend Rose. Hired a moped and off we went south from Dumaguete. Soon realised that my moped was totally knackered and might not make the next 20 kilometers let alone the 200 to Sipalay. So we stopped off in Siaton and found a local motorbike shop to fix it. 5 kilometers down the road I realised it was exactly the same http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Negros/blog-377271.html Wanted to go somewhere I had never been to in the Philippines and decided on Mindanao. Flew down to Cagayan de Oro and the first thing I noticed was how green Mindanao is and how happy the people are Even after recent heavy flooding here people were still full of smiles. Bahala Na is alive and well in Mindanao. I liked CDO not too big nice hotels nice people. Then travelled to Camiguin Jeepne http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Camiguin/blog-371221.html Had a day spare in Manila so thought I would explore and see if I could find any quiet relaxing places to escape the traffic polution noise and general mayhemSo it can be done there are nice relaxing places in downtown Manila Spend a nice relaxing day like this then your ready to hit the bars No pics from there though http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Manila/blog-366845.html I set off towards Banaue from Bontoc early in the morning and as with most roads in the Mountain Province it simply descended into rock and mud and water after a few kilometres. The road was awful Rocks everywhere deep mud huge deep puddles stretching right across the ldquoroadrdquo crazy Very quickly the road ascended right up into the cloud layer and was very cold But by now I was get http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Mountain-Province/Banaue/blog-365607.html The journey down to Bontoc from Sagada was easy and the first thing I noticed was how much warmer it was compared with Sagada. Found a great little hotel then visited the Bontoc Museum which was cool then rode the bike up the track behind the village to see the Maligcong Rice Terraces. Amazing views over the area and the steepest road I have ever been up The locals in Bontoc told me the road http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Cordillera/Bontoc/blog-365598.html Finding my way out of Baguio was a bit tricky but once on the main road towards Sagada it was stunning. The scenery just kept getting better and I had to keep stopping to take photos every few minutes. I reached the Philippine Pali the highest point of the Philippine road system with no problem. Just after that things started to go a bit wrong. I noticed up ahead that I was so high the clouds w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Cordillera/Sagada/blog-365587.html