Have backpack, will travel.
Something to remember all the good times.
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Friday, 15 March 2024
Makati and the shopping malls. Philippines Spring Festival 2024
Tagaytay part 2: Philippines Spring Festival 2024.
Once we had seen the volcano there really wasn't much else to do in Tagaytay. We spent a long time in restaurants and bars with amazing views, and beer of course. Sadly the town is not pedestrian friendly so wandering about has a treacherous feel when you're on the side of main roads with cars and lorries speeding past at a few centimeters distance.
We found ourselves in a serious of long queues that were all very confusing. Basically entrance is very cheap, less than 2 pound per person, but then you pay for each ride separately. Each one costing about 2 pound so it has potential to mount up. It didn't, we weren't too fussed about most of them but did go on a pirate ship, naturally, and the ferris wheel. Again, naturally. I think we might have been the only people in the park without kids. Most rides were designed for small children so we were a little too old. Theme parks really aren't my thing but the wheel gave us the most beautiful views of the lake and the volcano so I was happy.
Other than the park, we couldn't really find much to do in the tiny town of Tagaytay. We had some amazing food, tasty beers and met some very friendly people. All in all a very chilled trip.
Next stop Makati, Manila. We got the bus, which turned out to be a fairly horrific experience. I don't do well traveling anyway so being in a hot, cramped, uncomfortable bus for four hours was my idea of hell. We were finally thrown off the bus on the side of a highway thing near Manila airport. We stopped in a KFC so I could calm down before getting a grab to our hotel in town.
Tagaytay and Taal volcano. Philippines Spring Festival 2024
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Ruins of houses that were once 50+ meters from the water's edge |
El Nido and the beaches of joy. Philippines Spring Festival 2024
I landed into El Nido very grateful to be back on the ground after a hideously nerve-racking flight but it was all fine.
My hotel was only a 20 minute tuktuk from the airport as I was staying in the closest area and probably the biggest, not sure, didn't make it too far away from the beach. I really didn't have enough time to actually do much in this trip. It was more of a taster for a future return journey (Spring Festival 2025, already decided) so I wasn't in too much of a panic to see things, especially as I am still in the first part of my long epic trip.
My hotel had the most amazing view but was a slightly disappointing place in every other respect. It's always a little sad to see nice hotels that use aren't being looked after so well, whole place just felt tired and a little run down. But like I say, look that this view!
I spent three days thoroughly chilled and relaxed before getting back on the tiny tiny plane to meet Dan in Manilla. Our planes were landing within an hour of each other so in theory meeting up should have been quite simple and easy. Let's see how the universe messes that one up for us.
Oslob and the sharks! Philippines Spring festival 2024
Now time for one of my all time bucket list items!!! Diving with whale sharks.
Oslob on Cebu Island is one of only two places in the world where you can reliably swim with sharks. The other is in Mexico I think.
From where I was staying it was about a 20 minute tuktuk ride to the beach area where the sharks come for their breakfast. I was lucky that I wanted to dive and not snorkel so I skipped the ling lines of people being taken out in the boats. We got suited up and after a very fast safety refresher we walked pasted everyone waiting for their boats ( a very gratifying experience) and my 40 minute dive began. We had to swim out about 40 meters and stayed in quite shallow water, less than 20 minutes at deepest.
My dive buddy Ming took control of the camera and that left me on my own to just enjoy and float about with these 'gentle giants'.
I was underneath a lot of people snorkeling so it was quite difficult to resist the urge to grab their feet, but I did. Just.
Just amazing!!!
I smiled for about 3 days after that one. There is little more to say, just amazing! The whole reason I came to Cebu and to the Philippines actually. Once in a lifetime and truly unbelievable.
Thursday, 14 March 2024
Oslob, Philippines Spring Festival 2024
Spring Festival has arrived and finally international travel is not only possible but quite reasonable again. So time to get back on the bucket list and start enjoying a world outside China again.
To the Philippines!!!
This trip became a long and shattering one with bouncing between multiple countries and people. In just over three weeks I did 3 countries, 2 reunions, 8 flights and a whole lot of chatting and eating.
The first part I was on my own for a week. In the second week I met Dan (Taiwan, friend from Kunming) but given our long trips to get to the Philippines, he wasn't so keen on traveling about during the trip. I knew that part of my trip was going to be more of a chilled city break so I decided to hit the islands and beaches on my own. Even though I live by the sea nowadays, I still love going to the coast.
My first stop was Oslob which is about a 3-4 hour drive from Cebu. I landed late night and so just got a driver to my hotel. I wasn't aware of it at the time but he managed that drive in just under 2 hours. Rollercoaster and scary would be an understatement. I crashed out and woke up to a hell of a view!
The first day I'm in a place I like to just pick a direction and walk. I walked all along the coast into the 'town' which was more of a few houses, a 711 and a market. Most people come here on a day trip from Cebu city for the sharks, so someone actually staying in the area is a bit unusual.
I sampled my first Filipino food, Sesig (picture) and calamari. The lady handed me a menu but it didn't really clarify anything so I asked three school aged kids wat they thought I should try and I trusted them. Didn't disappoint.
The water here is just so blue, it's like nothing I have ever seen before and just stunning.
Tomorrow morning is an early one for the sharks, which is basically my whole reasons for being here.
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai: Christmas 2023
Now that international travel is back on the cards, it's really hard not to get out the country every chance I get. As we get a Xmas holiday in my school, this was no exception.
Anyway, the last time I was in Chiang Mai (with Dan in the summer) we stayed in a fantastic hotel, which was sadly booked. So I booked the one next door. Also very nice and well located in the center of the old town.
I have been to Chiang Mai many times so touristy sight seeing is not a priority. 5 days is therefore too long. So I planned a trip to nearby Chiang Rai famed for its temples. I booked into a beautiful looking garden inn thing and set off on the three hour drive.
The hotel was indeed beautiful but so quiet. It turned out to be way out of town, next to the university, which was handy but closed as it was the holidays.
Chiang Rai is all about the temples. So many temples. Just so many temples! I saw three, White, Blue and Black. Some helpful soul color coded them so that the tourists can keep track of where they have been. My hotel was a long way north of the city so I started at the furthest away and name my way back.
The white temple is more of an art installation than an actual temple. It is stunning but there is no information on site. What I know, I found out after the fact on google. Turns out in the 1970's the temple was a bit of a mess and no-one could really afford to repair it. So a local artist paid for it himself with the intention of making the local area a bit of a meditation retreat. I think that plan has gone slightly sideways as it was packed with people taking pictures and making videos. It's a very cool place but like I say, packed. I got there about mid morning so I dread to think how busy it gets later.
Once you arrive and go through the very complicated ticket gates, you get the only full view of the temple. Like I say, it is very pretty.
From there you walk over the bridge with creepy hands trying to drag you to hell (I assume, not sure) and basically follow a trail through a series of rooms that get progressively stranger. By the end, it's hard to take it all in. It sounds silly but it really is too white and shiny. At one point there were mirrors too.
From the white temple I got in a shuttle bus to the Blue temple. This one is free and actually seems to be a functioning and in use temple. There were still loads of people here but less pictures and video makers which made things a little less intense.
From the blue, I went to my last of the day, the Black Temple. Again this is not so much a temple as an art gallery. There was a small market street outside selling cool T-shirts and leather goods. Overall just much more chilled and relaxed.
I found a seat and watched the world go by for a bit before walking back to my hotel and another very quiet night in the world's most romantic hotel.
I got to listen to monkeys fighting outside this this though so some entertainment was on hand.
Thursday, 12 October 2023
South Korea; The DMZ: National Day 2023
And now for the main event!
No trip to Korea is complete without a day at the DMZ, or Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. This area has long been on my bucket list as it is just suck a strange concept to me. How has a military border become such a contested and politically important area? And now that I have been there, I can safely say that I still do not understand but I found it fascinating.
The only way to visit this area is as part of an organised tour from Seoul. I don't love taking these kind of trips but it actually wasn't that bad. The guide was very knowledgable and full of weird and wonderful stories and we really didn't have to wait about too long for anyone.
The journey from the city was a little over an hour but quite comfortable and smooth. When we got to within 20km of the border, we stopped for our first passport check. Several military guys came on the bus with a list of all of our names and checked us off their long list. From there we drove into "the DMZ" which it turns out is a 20km wide stripe of land and not just a border as I was imagining. Our passports
were checked twice more before we got to a car park reception area to wait for our allowed time in the 'museum' zone.
Within the 'museum zone' is a large area depicting the changes of the DMZ over the years, a few discovered tunnels into which you can walk and several commemorative gardens. The tunnels itself is small to the point that I was walking hunched over and it descends as a seriously alarming rate. It is slippery, dark, cramped and very tough to climb back out. Thoughtfully there is a seating area at the entrance to the tunnel so you can sit and relax after the ordeal.
Around the back of the museums are several small gardens and sculpture areas. In one I found a point
from the political map of the area in which you can stand with one foot in South Korea and one foot in North Korea, so I had fun jumping from one to the other and sending the shark to the North. Easily entertained.
From the museums, we went to the observation deck. which is literally a building facing the North with binoculars and viewing windows. According to our guide, the town on the other side of the border is completely fake and uninhabited. Completely for show and to try to confuse the South. He told us of a 'loud speaker war' in which the North played propaganda to the South and the South played kPop in return. If I didn't know it was between politically delicate countries that have fought wars against each other, I would have thought it was a childish neighbour spat. A truly weird but fascinating place.