Ryan
I live in the Bay Area in California and love the outdoors. My travels will Almost always entail some sort of outdoor activity.california nut
Travel Blog Posts
October 25th 2009
Luang Prabang is a very spiritual town. If you like peace, buddist temples and quant little shops near the Mekong River this is a great town for you. The bars are great too, you can find 2 for 1 drinks for $2. The local whisky tastes a bit strange but I still got plenty buzzed when I finished my 2 drinks. Beer Lao is quite good. Bars, however, shut down at 11PM. Many guesthouses shut down at 11:30 - When I returned back at my guesthouse at midnight I had to ring the bell and the owner came out in his underwear- he was clearly was sound asleep and not happy to be awake. Other than that my guesthouse, called Cold River, was pretty decent, 80,000 Kip for a view of the river, hot shower, clean ... read more
October 25th 2009
Vientiane is a like a small bangkok with some French influence. Only spent the night there before doing a a one day jungle tour between Vientiane and Vang Viene - Nice thing is after the tour I went directly to Vang Viene on the last bus.... read more
October 25th 2009
Vang Vienne is considered a stop over on the way to Luang Provang. Personally, I think it is a destination - especially for the budget minded traveler. Nowhere can you rent motorcycles, stay in a decent hotel, eat great food, get a massage and go on an all day tour all for less than $50 US / day. There is the popular inner tube scene which entails floating down a river in an inter tube and going bar hopping at the same time. Personally I missed that because I was too busy exploring other areas via motorcycles and kayaks. ... read more
October 24th 2009
El Nido is an 8 hour bus ride from Puerto Princesa or 6 boat ride from Sabang which is how I got there. This is a must see if you are in Palawan. While in El Nido you must do the following 1. Go on an island tour - Tour A, Tour C 2. Rent a kayak from Art Cafe: Start at 8AM for 1/2 day. You will have too much fun and end up paying for a full day but you'll get your money's worth. 3. Rent motorcycles and explore the island. While on motorcycles, hike to the waterfall trail it is about 2 km of fairly easy hiking with 6 stream crossings. Stay on the main dirt roads. There was a guy who crashed and busted his foot off the main road which are ... read more
October 24th 2009
Sabang is an easy destination from Puerto Princesa. One could take a bus from San Jose station near Puerto Princesa or can book an underground river tour from Puerto Princesa, do the tour which takes about 2 hours, and then check into the hotel (this is what I did). The undergroung river tour is interesting, the most exciting part for me was getting there by boat which can be pretty exciting. Staying 3 days is about minimum. I met a guy who was going to stay 3 days and he's been there for 3 weeks. The big draw of Sabang is the underground river but there is so much more to see. The waterfall is a leasurly hike which entails about 1 km along a rocky beach which is great for finding cool shells and corals. ... read more
October 24th 2009
The following are some tips that I learned when traveling to the Philippines: 1. Bring dollars and exchange into pesos at the airport. The best rate to get pesos was 42 peso/dollar in the US. When I arrived in Manila the airport had plenty of foreign exchange offices that were offering 47 pesos / dollar. 2. BEWARE of Taxi cab drivers - many are trying to overcharge. In Manila, to get from the international airport to the domestic airport you need to take a cab. It should cost no more than $3 for a white metered cab and maybe $5 for a yellow metered cab. However, I ended up paying $20 even in a "metered" cab. The cab driver hides the rate with some piece of paper or something. Halfway through they show a sign saying ... read more
Things to Do in Puerto Princesa
Published: October 24th 2009Asia » Philippines » Palawan » Puerto Princesa
October 22nd 2009
Puerto Princesa is the capital of Palawan and is where you can take most flights from Manila and Cebu. I stayed at D'Lucky Garden which is close to the airport, offers Wi-fi, accepts credit cards, and has a decent restaurant. Tours can be booked directly from the hotel. Honda Bay was the first tour where you visit 3 islands in one day. I went on a day that started off cloudy with showers and ended up stormy with wind and waves. Lucky for me I remembered my rain jacket which was useful especially with the waves crashing over the bow of the boat on the return to the mainland. As soon as the boat returned to the dock, everyone was wet and a bit chilled. The hotsprings, only about 1 or 2 km nearby, offered a ... read more
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