My former co worker in Boston hails from Iligan and her brother Rik contacted me and was nice enough to show me around town and for this weekend he agreed to come with me for a short trip to Misamis and Zamboanga, his kind wife giving a go signal we are off. At the bus terminal we took a deluxe bus to Ozamis, it stopped a lot and in some places wait for passengers, good thing we had a quick breakfast at the terminal. At Makas port there is a long vehicle queue for the ferry across the channel to Ozamis so we got off and decided to take the ferry that's leaving now, paid our fare and got on, we have to wait for vehicles to load. Apparently you can also get to Ozamis by ... read more

Woke up to a drizzly morning but still decided to head out to Bukidnon, from the Parkview Inn I took a jeepney ride to Agora market where at the bus terminal I found a Valencia, Bukidnon bound bus stopping at Malaybalay, the capital of Bukidnon. it was raining on and off on the 2 hour trip passing through lush greenery, pineapple plantations and i think a banana plantation owned by Dole. Arriving at the bus terminal at Malaybalay I hired a reela to take me to Haus Malibu, cost me 20 pesos. I was shocked to find out the cheapest room they have is 600 pesos and its their basic fan room,with toilet but no tv. I asked the receptionist for recommendations of other places to stay, cheap but clean, she told me to walk back ... read more

Spent most of the night listening to the continuous rain and jst had it i need to get out of Prosperidad. Next morning still raining I left the town promising to come back when the weather is fine. Took a Bachelors bus out from a simple bus terminal next to the main road, it goes to Butuan then i connected to Cagayan de Oro. It is still raining but started to ease up as we approach Cagayan and was relieved to finally see bits of sun as i find a taxi in the chaotic bus terminal. I was dropped off at Wilshire Hotel the cheapest room is 450 with tv and a/c. There is a musty smell in the room, turned the a/c right away. I asked for info from the front desk about travels to ... read more

The bus took an hour for Marbel from GenSan and cost me 50 pesos,I fell asleep in the bus then woke up at the bus terminal, I asked the security people where to take the bus to Surallah another small town, he pointed me to the buses out back, I hopped on, this bus is a chicken bus but a bit more comfy than the ones in Latin America, about 30 minutes and 22 pesos later I am at the Surallah bus station, someone pointed me to the jeepneys that will take me to Lake Sebu for 30 pesos a 45 minute ride. At the end of the ride, I took a motorbike to Punta Isla resort near the lake, I can see a lot of fish pen on both side of the road, I take ... read more

flight from Manila to Davao took a good hour and a half and I slept right away. Arriving just before 6pm as we stepped out of the tube gate the 1st thing I notice is the strong smell of durian, welcoming me to Mindanao!! The terminal is nice and clean, after picking up my backpack I came out and waited for Olan outside, not 10 minutes later he showed up, 1st time meeting is always awkward but he right away made me feel at home, he is my 2nd Couch Surfing host. he has his own car and he immediately showed me around the city by night going through neighborhoods, the main drag, the bar area, what i noticed is they have their own version of jeepney, its much smaller and I thought immediately, my backpack ... read more