A little sad to leave this beautiful island behind, we climbed aboard the banca that would take us back to Cebu island at around 9-ish. On the other side tha bus that would take us back to Cebu city in four hours was already waiting. The trip didn't feel that long luckily, and a quick taxi ride to the port told us the fast ferry to Taglibaran was leaving at 5 o'clock. That gave us enough time to find an airline ticket office nearby to buy a ticket back to Manila. Again it was a bargain to fly, for the two of us we paid just 3850 Pesos to fly from Taglibaran Bohol airport to Manila! The ferry ride was very comfortable, although slightly cold due to an airconditioning gone wild. For anyone doing this trip, ... read more

After our noon flight from Puerto Princesa to Cebu city, we headed to the north of Cebu island by bus, a three hour trip that brought us to the little port of Hagnaya where the ferry to Bantayan Island leaves. A lunch consisting of barbequed chicken and San Miguel gave us the energy needed for the one and a half hour boat trip to Santa Fe on Bantanyan Island. Immediately after arrival brochures off all kinds were stuffed in our faces, displaying accomodation ranging from 4 star resorts for unaffordable prices to beach bungalows that were more in line with our budget. Some Norwegian I talked to on the boat had already given me the thumbs up about Budyong beach, so when the the guy charged with dragging tourists to this place, we hopped on the ... read more

A total of 9 flights should've taken us to the last frontier of the Philippines; Palawan island. With the rainy season finishing around December, we were hoping for a bit of good luck and so lots of gorgeous sunshine. First stop on our route was Beijing for a night, and then Shanghai for a day. On Sunday the 23rd of November we flew into Beijing Nanyuan airport on a short hop from Hohhot. Here we said goodbye to Kerstin, our dear friend who's been with me in Hohhot for nearly a year. (snif) I wish her all the best on her travels down under and for anyone interested in her blogs; You'll find her on TB under the name ShariNa. The next morning we flew into Pudong airport after where we met up with an E-friend ... read more

SAYNSHAND - DAY 3 After a pretty good nights' sleep and an easy morning devouring another chapter or two of my book, we walked over to the museum at around 10-ish, as we were going to meet Sara at 11. First stop of course was 'The Castle', where we bought some food and the much needed fluids for our desert trip. Sitting outside the museum catching the first rays of October, we met a fellow traveler, quite a character acually, who was also planning to head over to Khamarin Khiid. His plan was slightly different from ours though, since we were planning to come back... Apparently he wanted to stay at the monastry for 2 whole weeks! So with the three of us and what I would say, a very handsome driver, we set off across ... read more

As usually, our little trip to Qinhuangdao didn't go very smoothly... Firstly, Kerstin had to wake me up in the middle of the night telling me she left her passport at school. Great! So after having exhausted our concierge's cell phone and the school's phone without getting a response, she decided to head over there herself. Fortunately, he did wake up and she managed to get her passport after all. Next morning, our flight to Beijing was leaving at 07:00. When we were standing at the check-in desk of Hainan airlines at 06:25 we were told to go over to the Air China desk. With sleep still rubbing out of our eyes, we did as we were told.. Ofcourse she told us in turn that we were flying on Hainan, so send us back... Here she ... read more