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!!! [View Full Entry]

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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! They hadnt done anything! Just taken the money! No big deal. We spent one day getting to Bayawan and spent a night there. Really liked this [View Full Entry]

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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, Jeepney to Agora, bus to Balingoan, ferry to Benoni, Jeepney to Mambajao, tricycle to Yumbing, easy! Found great little resort and hired a motorbike from a local guy [View Full Entry]

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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 mayhem! So 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! [View Full Entry]

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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 “road”, crazy!! Very quickly the road ascended right up into the cloud layer and was very cold! But by now I was getting used to this! I spent about 4 hours up in the cloud layer, then suddenly the road actually became a proper concrete road and I descended out of the cloud [View Full Entry]

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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 to Banaue had only just re-opened after a big rock fall and maybe be passable, just! So I planned to go there the next morning. [View Full Entry]

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Bored with sitting by the Swimming Pool in Angeles, I had a great idea for a little adventure: hire a big trail bike and ride up to Baguio, Sagada and Banaue. I was told all I needed to do was go the main road, turn left and keep going for 270km, what could possibly go wrong……. I set off early the next morning and the first thing I learned was the need to drive very defensively here. Buses, Jeepneys, Tricycles, Pedestrians, Dogs and even Chickens have a habit of appearing from nowhere on the roads in the Provinces. After getting used [View Full Entry]

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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 were blowing over the mountain summit across the road in front of me. No option but to go into the clouds, I was very quickly [View Full Entry]

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Last day in Cebu City before flying to Manila, so went out to explore. Found the Chinese Temple and Capitol Building which are in a nice area. Then stumbled across great restaurant called Jovings where you can eat as much as you like for as long as you like, so I did! And great food. [View Full Entry]

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Decided to leave Dumaguete and travel back to Cebu City for New Years Eve. Took Ceres Bus direct to Cebu which involved a ferry crossing at Tampi. Journey took 9 long hours but great to be in Fuente Circle, Cebu to catch the fireworks at midnight! Stayed in Midtown area at Pacific Pensionne which is great place with little garden restuarant down very quiet sidestreet away from the madness of Downtown. Went up to Tops lookout in a taxi which was great, whole of Cebu City below! Few more days here then off to Manila! [View Full Entry]

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