January 23rd, 2011 by Tina
Bohol, Visayas, Philippines – As we were planning this trip, Stuart and I discussed some of the things we wanted to do differently this time. One of them was to spend more time in less places – not to be on the move every two or three days like our last time out. But when we awoke on our third day in Siquijor and it was overcast and looking like rain again, we make a quick decision to leave and take the ferry back to Dumaguete and then on to Bohol, another island in the Visayas. So much for staying still.
Too upclose and personal with a tarsier.
Bohol is home to the Chocolate Hills, one of the most advertised tourist destinations in the Philippines. The 1,268 rolling hills are the result of uplifting ancient coral reef deposits followed by erosion and weather. In summer, the hills turn from green to chocolate brown – hence the name.
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January 19th, 2011 by Stuart
Siquijor, Visayas, Philippines – The island of Siquijor turned out to be the mellow island paradise we’d been looking for: little villages and the occasional place to stay on a beach. The island also had a sealed coastal road providing stunning views and almost zero traffic. So after disembarking in Siquijor Town after the ferry from Dumaguete, we rented a motorbike and headed around the western edge of the island in search of someplace to stay.
Hammocks at the Royal Cliff Resort; Lugnason Falls.
We ended up at Royal Cliff Resort, which sits above the beach on terraced cliffs with rooms tucked away within its lushly landscaped grounds. Now, it should be noted that most places to stay on the islands are called “resorts”, but they are hardly the modern immaculate palaces we have back home. Most of them – at least in our price range – are beautifully landscaped but have poky cement-walled rooms with a fan, a cold shower and mosquitos. But for around $20 a night, you can’t complaining.
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January 17th, 2011 by Stuart
The Visayas, Philippines – After spending five days on the beach in Boracay, it was time for a change of scenery: more beaches! We decided to head south to the Visayas, a group of islands forming the geographical heart of the Philippines. The only question remaining was how to get there.
Kids fishing along the promenade.
One of the major differences with this trip is the amount of flying we’ll do fulfill our itinerary. On the last adventure, except for Stuart taking a flight in China saving two days of backtracking by train, we didn’t fly until our ninth month of travel. This time, however, with geography and border politics working against us, we’ll have to fly to almost every country (toss in the insanely low prices of discount airlines and you’d be crazy not to).
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January 15th, 2011 by Tina
Boracay, Philippines - After returning from Florida and New York for the holidays we had three hectic days to make the final preparations for our trip. By the time we boarded our plane late on Saturday night we were exhausted and actually somewhat looking forward to the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong so that we could get some much needed down time. We had planned to start our trip in the Philippines and discovered that our friends, Vic & Courtney, and their family were planning a trip to Boracay at the same time for a family wedding, so we decided to make Boracay our first stop.
Sent from my iPod.
We all boarded the same flight at SFO, but we didn’t see our friends for another 48 hours. The flight had to make a stop in Taiwan to refuel – something about strong headwinds. When the plane landed in Hong Kong we had to race to catch our connection to Manila. We made it by the skin of our teeth – but our bags didn’t. We had to make a fast decision at the gate to either wait for our bags and take a later flight out of Hong Kong, therefore missing our flight to Boracay from Manila, or to get on the flight and hope our bags would follow shortly. We were told that the bags would be put on the next flight out and that it would be best to go to Manila to work out our travel plans. We got on the flight thinking that when we were in Manila we could wait for our bags there and rebook a later flight to Boracay.
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July 26th, 2009 by Tina
Jakarta, Indonesia – The final stop on our nine month journey was Jakarta. From there I would fly home just in time for my Neurotech appointments and Stuart would travel solo for three more weeks in Borneo. We decided to travel the seven hours to Jakarta via train. It seemed fitting to end our trip the same way it began – riding the rails. We felt like old pros until we almost got off at the wrong station in Jakarta. What a rookie blunder!
There was a big convention in town, so our picks for lodging were slim. We ended up at a decent, but shabby hotel located in the tourist ghettos of Jalan Jaska. Not the prettiest part of town, but I don’t think there is a pretty part of Jakarta. It’s pretty much your typical big, ugly city and was just a point of departure for us anyway. But we got in a few more great meals and a lot of last minute shopping for gifts.
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