Blogs from Banaue, Philippines, Asia - page 2

Cestou sme mali jednu pispauzu ale bol som taky zmrznuty,ze som sa ledvaj hybal. Do bananue sme dorazili 6/15. Cesta bola v pohode aspon to co si pamatam,jeden pruh niekde furt opravovali,tak cakanie kym nas pustia dalej,neskor nastupilo stupanie a serpentiny. V tomto buse som sa za svoj cely trip najlepsie vyspal,mozno kvoli tej zime. Filipinka vedla mna chcela moju postovu adresu,znicoho nic si ju vypytala,tak som si volaco vymyslel. Mozno to myslela v dobrom ale clovek nikdy nevie. Este ma odradzala kupat sa vo vodopade co je v batade,vraj su tam spodne prudy. Po vystupeni z busu sa na nas vrhli tricyklisti. Isiel som k vytipovanym ubytkam,drahe resp plne,tak som sa rozhodol,ze prespim v batade. I tak banaue neni moc zaujimave,ak nepocitam ryzove terasy,ktore su ale vidiet az z hlavnej cesty. To si kuknem pri ... read more

Rainy season is not the best time to travel in the Philippines. Let alone travelling in Banaue which is prone to landslides. But it was scheduled months ago and I don't know why they chose July, but it was dirt cheap at P2,000 for accomodation and transpo so I signed up because thats less than half the usual cost. There was a low pressure area when we left, which turned into a full blown typhoon by the time we got there. The bus going to Banaue was freezing cold! I've read a lot of blogs about how cold the buses to Banaue were but I understimated it so i had ten hours of torture. I wonder why they have to make it that cold. Is it because the drivers are used to the cool mountain weather ... read more

The story of today is a story of when poor planning and over ambition meets good Karma and plain dumb luck. A day that started off on the wrong foot, and time seemed to be going out of control, turned into somehow working. Our day started lazy, waking up at 8:30, leaving at 9:00, accidentally passing our bus stop on our way to Los Banos. Our plan was to climb mount Makiling, enjoy the hot springs of Laguna, and if there was time left to go rafting. It would turn out that we did not have enough time for item #1 on that list. By the time we got to mount Makiling, it was already 3, but we said, never mind, lets do this! 3 hours of mountain climbing later, with our shirts drenched in sweat, ... read more

After an incredible few weeks in Borneo, we didn't think anything could beat it... but the Philippines have come very close. Not even on our itinerary originally, after hearing some amazing stories, we decided that it couldn't be missed! We flew into the capital, Manila, and were bombarded with the chaos of the over populated city; taxis, buses, tricycles, people, dogs and jeepneys everywhere! Although very hectic, and at times grotty, compared to many other southeast Asian cities, Manila did have a lot of character and we had great fun traveling around it in our new favorite form of transport; the jeepney!  Now the 'jeepney' deserves a blog to itself! They are absolutely brilliant! They are converted army trucks and each one has it's own unique touch and design determined by it's owner, some even have flashing ... read more

After my ferry and bus back to Manila, I arrived at ‘Friendly’s Guesthouse’ to meet Julia, a German student I met on travelbuddies.com, I had arranged to spend a few days travelling with. I met Julia, we decided to go to Banaue, in the north of Luzon (the big island Manila is on) and headed to the bus station. I decided to abandon my large backpack in anticipation of long walks in the mountains and rice terraces ahead, and pack only a skirt, mosquito net, laptop, bikini, first aid kit and two tops for the week in the north. Travel light is what I say! At the bus stop we met Kati, Yvonne and Elle, bound for the same few days trip as we were - a group of fellow travellers at last! Eventually the bus ... read more