KatieBrooks

We took a Bemo from Sanur and requested the driver take us to Ubud, around half an hour away. A price of 150,000 was agreed (this is extortionate considering we paid 100,000 each for a luxury overnight bus including dinner from Surabaya to Dempasar) but transport prices are sky high in Bali. We had been told there are so many taxi drivers because from one fare they can earn the equivalent of what they would for a days' work in standard employment. We had considered renting motorbikes to get the most out of Bali as this is what most tourists do. With rental prices starting at £2.50 a day (and cheaper, the longer you rent) it is no surprise they are so popular. However, with neither of us having had any motorbike experience we decided it ... read more

Before starting this entry we just wanted to say DON'T PANIC!! Things look different because TravelBlog has updated it's system which we're like blind mice trying to find our way around, but it appears to allow the reader to be more interactive so you can now 'like' our blogs or 'tweet' using the buttons below the entry. Don't forget that if you are already a TB user you can recommend us if you enjoy our posts! Guys we must also apologise about the delay in posting. A crazy last minute decision brought us to Australia. We have been living in Perth for a month now, and the motivation has been at an all time low to catch up on the blog. Trying to settle back into a normal routine is terrifying enough without reminiscing over better ... read more

We just had one night to kill in Puerto Princesa before our flight back to Manila the following day. After spending the afternoon resting we headed out for dinner at a pizza place which looked like a restaurant from the outside, but ended up churning out the same fastfood stuff as everywhere else seemed to within our budget. The following morning our flight with Zest Airlines was at 9am so had to be up early. We were both feeling exhausted so tried to cheer ourselves up with a pot noodle breakfast at the airport. The flight went really smoothly and before we knew it we were back in Manila with 11 hours to kill before our flight to Indonesia. One passenger had immensely amused us by colour coding her wardrobe to match Zest Airlines (see pics). ... read more

We had been travelling pretty quickly around the north of the Philippines, and were so excited to kick back and relax with some beach life. After all, the beaches of Palawan were our Asian dream. We arrived into Port Barton just 3 hours after leaving the city of Puerto Princesa, and despite the journey Katie had surprisingly managed to get some sleep on Luke's lap. The road onwards from the town of Roxas was more of a rocky dirt track than a driving surface, and it was a miracle that the jeepney made it without losing anything from the roof. Along the way we had collected many villagers and the roof was loaded with both luggage and people. We paid 200 pesos each which we suspected was more than the locals paid, but was less than ... read more

We arrived into Baguio relieved at having escaped the bus journey through hell with our lives, but also exhausted from all the anxiety and having had to death grip the seats to fight gravity and avoid bouncing into the air at every bump or turn. But we were just out of the pan and into the fire. Of course we had tried to book accommodation for the Baguio Flower Festival before arriving, however, everywhere we had contacted had informed us they were fully booked. Adventurous as we are (or stupid, looking back) we had decided to go anyway, in the hope of finding somewhere to lay our heads for a few nights, agreeing we weren't too bothered about where or what it was. We had not however contemplated that we would arrive in a wrecked state ... read more