September 27, 2017
Today was a looooong drive from Fes to the Sahara just outside of the city of Merzouga. A friend of a friend runs the Sahara Garden. Brahim coordinated everything for us and welcomed us upon our arrival with open arms. Truly an amazing human being. We were welcomed with dinner and singing and dancing around a bonfire.
September 24, 2017
Our second stop in Morocco was the blue city of Chefchaoen. A small city located up on a hill, wandering thru the medina surrounded by so many shades of blue was quite a different experience from Tangier. We stayed at Casa Perleta, a small bed and breakfast recommended by our friend. It was perfectly located within the upper hill area of the medina. The blue hues of the walls of Chefchaoen are believed to have originated when the Jews came while escaping Hilter in the 1930s. The blue is said to serve as a reminder to lead a spiritual life while symbolizing the sky and heaven.
September 11 - 15, 2017
Enroute to our close friends' wedding in Greece we found a cheap flight to Paris via Reykjavik, Iceland and decided to take advantage and do a little stopover in an effort to (fingers crossed) see the northern lights. We decided to restrict our few days to just the southern highlights along the coast. The first thing we noticed was that even though it was supposedly shoulder/low season in Iceland there were significantly more people than when we came the year before in August.
day one hundred and thirty-four: february 10, 2016: sapa
Our next eight days were spent traveling around Northern Vietnam. The tour company we ended up going with was Mr. Linh's Adventures. Jonathan initially found Mr. Linh on Google after researching multi-day trips that included visiting Sapa, a place we had heard great things about. After further looking thru reviews and their trip options we ended up choosing Mr. Linh's 8 day/7 night "Off the Beaten Path" trip.
day one hundred and thirty-three: february 9, 2016: hanoi
We arrived in Hanoi mid-day giving us a full afternoon and evening in the city. After checking in at our hotel we set out on foot to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater to get tickets for later that evening. Just as Jonathan walked up to the window to ask about tickets, the woman put up a sign stating that all shows for the day were sold out. As we stepped back to decide on what to do, a tour guide and his two guests walked up and were able to purchase tickets. I asked him if there was any way I could purchase the tickets thru him but he said there was no way. To our luck, he mentioned there was another theater across the lake! So we hustled to the other theater only to discover that they would not open for another hour or so.
day one hundred and thirty-one: february 7, 2016: arrival in hoi an
We arrived late in the evening due to a delayed flight causing us to miss the beginning celebrations for Tết, which included some singing and dancing. Nonetheless, we still had plenty of time before the big fireworks show at midnight. Our hotel was situated close to the old ancient part of the city so we took to the streets immediately after checking in to our room. We were in search of food. We ended up stopping for some street food by the river. Not our greatest meal, but it did the trick. The streets of the old part of the city are closed to cars, but motor bikes are still ever present. Anywhere a motor bike can fit, someone will inevitably be riding one there. The old city still had a very old feel to it, with its cobblestone streets and almost all of the buildings being older and no hotels in the area. It was great.
As we got to the river, we noticed many vendors including these three young girls below selling floating lanterns to put afloat in the river. Jonathan snapped some photos of them and they tried to sell us some lanterns. We said no thanks and told them maybe later.
The entire river front area was decorated with lanterns. Every building, across the bridges and walkways and even larger lanterns in the water.
The famous Japanese Covered Bridge was also lit up with changing colors, which made for nice reflections in the water.
After making our way around the river area, we returned, as promised, and bought a lantern from one of the young girls. Unlike our float experience in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong, i.e. Kristina, Carina and I had to basically lay face down on a bamboo dock and drop it into the water, then our floats got stuck in debris and didn't really make it down....this was waay better. The young girl had almost like a large ladle that I put the float in and then slowly lowered it into the water. So much better! She then stayed with me until my float cleared the nearby boats and made its way down the river. :)
As midnight approached, we found a nice spot on the bridge and setup the camera to take some photos. The fireworks were incredible, maybe even better than Disneyland. (Sorry, Disneyland lovers...I know there are a few of you out there, Sharon, Megan, and Miche!)
On our way home there were people along the street outside their homes and shops burning fake money as offerings for the new year.
day one hundred and thirty-two: february 8, 2016:
With a full day ahead of us to explore the ancient city we slept in a little bit knowing we didn't have much area to cover and that some shops might be closed due to the Tết holiday. We chose to walk down some narrow alleys by people's homes rather than the main streets.
As soon as we came out onto one of the main streets, these beautiful smiling faces greeted us and smiled as we snapped a quick photo. And yes, we pretty much fell victim to the coconut trick again and Jonathan felt bad and bought some bananas from one of the ladies in exchange for some photos.
As we walked around town we visited some of the family gathering halls where locals were lighting incense in celebration of the new year.
We stopped at a coffee shop and enjoyed our seats overlooking the busy street below.
After our coffee and hot chocolate, we headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap before heading back out in the evening.
I managed to find some raving reviews of the restaurant Morning Glory so we decided to check it out. When we arrived, the group before us was turned away because they said they were fully booked for the night. However, when we asked for a table for two, we were seated at the table right in the front within 5 minutes. Lucky, I guess? The food was awesome and probably the best meal we've had thus far in Vietnam!
After dinner we took our time and strolled around the river area and the surrounding streets.
Near the sculpture garden on one side of the river they had some games, one of which participants would put on a mask and approach a small clay pot and swing a stick to try to break the pot. We must have watched people try 20 times before this young boy won.
On our way home we cruised thru some narrow dark alleys, which were much creepier at night.
Tomorrow morning we wake up early to head to Hanoi, where we'll spend less than 24 hours before heading further north to Sapa and beyond for 8 days.
day one hundred and thirty: february 6, 2016: arrival in ho chi minh city
This morning, we jumped on a quick flight from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City. Extremely hungry, we checked in at our hotel, dropped off our bags and hit the road looking for some food. Thankfully, we were right near the Ben Thanh Street Food Market, which had a ton of food stalls all offering different kinds of Vietnamese food.
day one hundred and twenty-nine: february 5, 2016: a lazy day in phnom penh
We woke up on the later side, had a casual breakfast and then took a tuk tuk to the National Museum. After an hour or so touring the museum and admiring its amazing collection, we walked to Romdeng, a restaurant associated with the well known restaurant Friends. Both restaurants employ and train troubled youths to give them steady jobs and keep them off the streets and out of trouble. The food was probably the best food we had during our time in Cambodia.
day one hundred and twenty-eight: february 4, 2016: an experience in culture
After a somber day at the genocide museum and the killing fields, we decided to go see a cultural dance performance at the National Museum. The show was put on by Cambodian Living Arts, a non-profit created to facilitate the transformation of Cambodia through the arts. With the devastation caused by the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s, many of the Master Artists were killed. Arn Chorn-Pong, the founder of Cambodian Living Arts, a musician and a survivor of that period, set out to find as many Master Artists as he could to help bring the arts back to life. We enjoyed a great show and would encourage anyone visiting Phnom Penh to take some time and catch their performance. Not only was it well done, but we could tell that the performers really enjoyed what they do. And we still can't figure out how they can make their hands bend backwards like that.
day one hundred and twenty-eight: february 4, 2016: a lesson in the cambodian genocide
Today was a sad day learning about what happened in Cambodia not too long ago in the 1970s. It was truly sad to see and hear about what humans are capable of doing to each other. Excuse this post for not having many photos as it didn't seem appropriate to take photos of some of these sites with respect for those who were killed in these heinous acts of genocide.
day one hundred and twenty-six: february 2, 2016: lesser known temples
Today we decided to head out with Vannak again, but this time in an air conditioned car since we were headed a little bit further away. First stop, Beoung Mealea. Built in the early 12th century and much closer to the rock quarry where the sand stone for most of the temples in the area were cut from, the stones of Beoung Mealea are much larger in size. At the entrance way is the most complete Naga carving in the area, although it is only a five headed Naga (remember, always in odd numbers).
The government has chosen to leave this temple the way it was found, so little to no restoration has occurred. This made it our favorite temple to visit. You are also allowed to climb around the ruins freely which made it a lot more fun and you could really see how the power of nature had taken over such an ancient structure. We were also able to avoid the standard path that all the other tourists were following.
Roots had grown into the cracks between stones slowly moving stones apart and in some cases even cracking stones.
Below was our favorite area filled with intersecting roots from the parasite trees that were growing on top of the temple. At the top right you can see there is a viewing platform up above if you followed the standard path, but Vannak took us a separate way and we were down in the ruins instead of above. We had a lot of fun climbing over large stones and thru small windows and openings and even climbing up some of the roots.
There was one space that seemed a little bit sketchy. Below you can see a root growing thru what was once a roof and still holding a few stones. Going underneath this giant root you couldn't help but move quickly, hoping that the stones weren't going to suddenly give way.
Our next stop was Banteay Srei. If you were impressed by the carvings at Angkor Wat, the ones here were simply mind blowing. The depth and detail were just insane so excuse the large number of photos. Banteay Srei is a much older temple than Angkor Wat and when it was discovered it had been almost completely fallen due to overgrowth of trees. Since this temple is much smaller in stature, most of the stones were not damaged badly and have since been restored. The stone is also a different type of sandstone giving it a pinkish hue.
In the entryways of the temple complex writings are etched into the doorways.
You can see from the closeups below how detailed and how three dimensional the carvings are.
As we exited Banteay Srei out the back exit, there was a group of land mine victims playing music. We slowed down the pace and sat and listened to them play for a few songs. Again, one of the men was playing a leaf as a musical instrument. Pretty cool.
Our last stop was Prae Roup. Not a ton of photos as the temple wasn't nearly as impressive as Banteay Srei, but still made for a good visit.
day one hundred and twenty-seven: february 3, 2016
We could have used our three day pass and visited more lesser known temples today, but instead we decided to sleep in and do some research for our future travels. After a late morning we headed to the airport for our flight to Phnom Penh.
day one hundred and twenty-four: january 31, 2016: manila > siem reap
We decided to sleep in this morning and meet my cousins for lunch at the nearby mall (we just can't get away from malls!). After a casual lunch, we said our goodbyes to my dad and his girl friend then my cousins dropped us off at the airport.
Next stop, Siem Reap. We booked a nice little AirBNB and our host was at the airport to greet us and bring us to his house. Phalla worked in the tourism industry in Siem Reap for the past 15 years, so he hooked us up with a fellow tour guide and tuk tuk driver for the next few days.
day one hundred and twenty-five: february 1, 2016: angkor wat
We woke up bright and early to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Phalla supplied us with some eggs, bacon and bread, so Jonathan cooked breakfast before our tuk tuk and guide, Vannak, met us at 5 AM. Off we went toward Angkor Wat.
After purchasing our three day passes, we headed toward the temple. There were already lots of people on the road headed in the same direction. Upon our arrival Vannak set us up further away from the temple for a good view letting us know that it would be too dark for photos. After showing him what our camera could do in low light, he quickly moved us to the pool directly in front of Angkor Wat along with everyone else. After watching the sunrise we thought that maybe it would have been a lot more peaceful where he first stopped where no one else was around.
There must have been over one thousand people (not exaggerating) all there to see the sunrise and all trying to capture that perfect photo. Unfortunately, the weather was a little bit cloudy so we didn't quite see the sun come up over the temple, but on the flipside, it made it a lot cooler temperature-wise as we toured the temple afterwards.
Interestingly enough, most of the crowd thinned out before the sun actually came up so we got to enjoy the view with less people than before.
After the sun came up, we strolled along the north side of the complex to the west gate where we had the area mostly to ourselves.
Here, Vannak began to tell us about the significance of different parts of the huge temple. First, he showed us the large Naga carvings surrounding the complex. According to Cambodian legend, the Naga were a reptilian race that fathered the Cambodian people. Apparently, the seven headed Naga, always an odd number, symbolizes energy, infinity, timelessness and immortality.
As we began to tour the temple itself, Vannak told us about the temple was actually constructed. Built in the 12th century completely made of sandstone, this temple is truly amazing. The planning involved to build such a structure is hard to imagine. When one looks at the details of the joins between stones and the angles and straightness of the lines and alignment of stones it's truly mind blowing. Even the design of the moat and pool were all necessary for the stability of the temple. The moat actually keeps just enough water and moisture in the soil to keep the foundation stable without allowing it to become too dry and crack and crumble and also not too wet for it to collapse. The pool in front of the temple was actually used to determine if the structure was standing perfectly straight by using the reflections in the pool as a determining factor.
Below, Vannak is showing Jonathan one of the joins up close.
The joins are almost seamless without any space between the stones. Below you can see interlocking joins which were used to prevent stones from moving.
As we peered down the long galleries with a wall on one side and columns on the other, you could see that all the columns were perfectly aligned. Incredible. The Khmer builders also used male and female joins on different pieces like the columns to prevent movement of the stone pieces.
Walking thru some of the enclosed areas, looking up you could see the design of the stones to create a sort of arched ceiling. Also very impressive.
Fairly quickly we began to see detailed carvings on the walls and columns. Vannak told us these were done after the building of the temple. The wall carvings each told stories while those on the columns and trims were more for decoration. We could consistently see lotus included in much of the decor.
Many of the columns were carved with depictions of hermits, one on each side of the column to serve as supports. At the bottoms of many of the columns there was clear deterioration of the stone. We asked what had caused this and Vannak responded that when UNESCO declared Angkor Wat a Heritage Site, Indians came to help clean some of the moss and lichen that had grown on the temple. To do this, they used acid to remove it, but this acid also ate away the stone causing the wearing that you see all around the temple. Such a bummer!
Throughout the complex, there are pillars in both open and closed windows. All the pillars look as if they were made by machine, but that's definitely not the case.
In the center of the complex is the central part of the temple with steep stairs leading upward. 37 steps in total, matching the number of years it took to build the temple. They are steep and difficult to climb because the journey to heaven is not meant to be easy.
We waiting in a decent line to take our turn to climb up to the top of the temple. Once up there we took our time walking around exploring the top and taking in the view.
As we continued to tour Angkor Wat, Vannak showed us some carvings that were much closer to being finished. He told us you could tell by the depth of the carvings. In fact, the ones that we had seen earlier were not even close to finished. Below, you can see how much deeper and detailed the carvings are compared to those previously.
As we departed Angkor Wat, we waved goodbye to the Naga and headed to our next stop, Bayon Temple. Bayon was named for the Banyan trees that were covering it when it was re-discovered. Bayon Temple is well known for the large faces on the towers of the temple. One face in each direction, north, south, east and west.
As we walked up to Bayon Temple, a couple was getting a tour on an elephant and their guide was playing music using only a leaf. What tune was he playing? Jingle Bells...
On the first walls that you see as you enter Bayon Temple, there are depictions of the Khmer at war with the Cham people. Underneath the main carving, you can see a much smaller strip that depicts the daily lives of the Khmer people at the time. Everything from hunting, to pig and cock fighting, to sumo wrestling, to trading fish with the Chinese.
Jonathan magically managed to get most of his photos without a single person in them. A miracle based on how many people were actually there.
After our first Khmer meal of amok fish and chicken curry we headed to Ta Prohm, more commonly known now as the Tomb Raider Temple for its role in the movie.
Due to its popularity, many of the areas are roped off and platforms have been added to enable people to take photos in the key spots. Unfortunately, you also end up with platforms and ropes in your photos as well.
With the heat of Siem Reap, we decided to head back to our AirBNB since we had been up since the early morning. We relaxed the rest of the afternoon before heading out to Pub Street for some dinner at Khmer Kitchen. We ended up sharing a table with two med students from Rhode Island and had some great conversation. They were both doing a rotation in the local Children's Hospital. Always fun to meet new people in a new city!
day one hundred and twenty-two: january 29, 2016: intramuros
Originally we had wanted to do this bike tour at the beginning of our trip, but since we arrived during the holiday between Christmas and New Years BamBike was justifiably closed. Thankfully, we had a free day at the tail end of our time in the Philippines so we called up the cousins and had them skip work to come join us.
day one hundred and twenty: january 27, 2016: vigan
The Spanish influenced city of Vigan is one of the New 7 Wonders Cities, voted in by people around the world. One main street, Calle Crisologo, is the center of this old city beginning at a large square headed north. Old cobble stones make a narrow road not open to motorized vehicles, only calesas or horse drawn carriages in Filipino. The street is lined by old buildings with European architecture. Lucky for us, my dad's friend was from Vigan. She showed us around and even gave us a tour of her cousin's home, which was on this main street. The layout inside was very open with high ceilings and windows and balconies overlooking the street - you can only imagine what it was like to live here many years ago.
day one hundred and eighteen: january 25, 2016: sagada
With only one day planned in Sagada, we decided to try to really pack it all in. We had read about the sunrise at Kiltepan Peak overlooking the rice terraces below and decided to wake up before dawn to check it out. About 50-60 other people also had the same idea. Lucky for us, there's a road that goes all the way to the peak and we were able to take the van, instead of hiking in the dark and cold! We arrived about 30 minutes before first light, which is about an hour before sunrise. We were definitely in a cloud. You couldn't see a thing thru the thick mist. Due to our first flight from Manila to Coron having 10 kg checked baggage limits, we had left all our cold weather gear in Manila thinking we were spending most of our time on the islands and beaches. Instead, we armed ourselves with the blankets from the hotel and drank hot chocolate from one of the vendors at the peak.
day one hundred and sixteen: january 24, 2016: cebu > manila > banaue
Surprise, surprise...another long travel day.
After a casual breakfast, we headed to the airport to catch a flight to Manila then jump in a car to head north to Baguio. Sadly, our flight was delayed a little over an hour. Typical to many SE Asia countries, no announcements were given letting us know what was going on with our flight. Once we arrived, our drivers were ready and waiting for us. Lucky for us, we had a group of five, which warranted paying a driver with a private van to drive us to Banaue, Batad, Sagada and Vigan. The typical route is to take an overnight bus from Manila to Bagiuo and then an early morning jeepney to Banaue, which is quite a long trek, sometimes spanning close to 14 hours. Since we had our own drivers we were able to get there in about 9 hours including stopping for dinner and gas.
day one hundred and fifteen: january 22, 2015: canyoning at kawasan falls
Our friends, Gerard and Kieu at GQTrippin, visited the Philippines a couple months ago and posted about their canyoning adventure at Kawasan Falls. After seeing their photos, Jonathan was ready to sign up immediately but I still needed a little more convincing. Jumping off a cliff, multiple times (!) just sounds so scary!
Since we decided not to snorkel with the whale sharks in Oslob, we had a free day in Cebu and decided to go for it. Also, I didn't really have a choice, since Jonathan and Jamie wanted to do it and I couldn't be left out!
We decided to book with Cyan Adventures, since Gerard and Kieu had an awesome experience with them. It was super easy to make a reservation and they were even able to arrange transportation for us from Cebu City to Moalboal, which is about a 3 hour drive one way.
We met up with the group - 2 guides: John and JoMare, 2 other guests: Mark and Monica, from the Bay Area - at about 10am, got decked out in our gear -- wetsuit, life-vest, booties, and helmet and off we went! At first, it seemed a little silly to be wearing all this stuff, but I think we were all thankful at the end of the day.
My nerves were already starting to go but after a quick 5 minute walk, it was already time for the first jump. I thought I would have had longer to mentally prepare! A bunch of people were crowded at a ledge and as you peered over, you looked over what seemed like a pretty narrow slot into the canyon below. Eeek!
At every jump, John explained where to exactly put your feet on the rock and where to jump below then he would count, "1, 2, 3, JUMP!". I think he had to count 3 times for me before I actually did it...but the first jump which was about 20 feet was awesome!
I immediately was super happy to be with Cyan Adventures because we saw other groups that were about 15+ people and all they were given were life-vests and a helmet. We were a small group and seemed to be more equipped for the day ahead of us. And, it didn't seem like the other guides weren't doing much explaining or prep, unlike John, with their guests -- they just brought them to the ledge and then told them to jump.
Over the course of the day, John and JoMare, carefully led us through the canyon, where we floated down the river, swam, hiked around some boulders, and jumped in the canyon a handful of other times down to Kawasan Falls. The smallest jump was around 10 feet, with optional jumps ranging from 33 ft - 40 ft. All the jumps always had ways to walk down, if you didn't want to jump. Yes, I took advantage of this. :)
As we made our way down the river, the scenery would vary from hanging vines, cave formations, and stalactites -- then there is the amazing color from the river adding to the view!
Jonathan and Jamie did all the higher jumps, one even requiring them to jump from a tree!
Before we knew it, we had reached the beautiful Kawasan Falls where we stopped for a photo then made our way to lunch.
Overall, we were all really happy with the experience and highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Moalboal area.
Before heading back to Cebu City, we stopped at Panagsama Beach to snorkel with the resident sardines who showed up there about 2 years ago and never left. We rented equipment from Cyan Adventures and swam about 100 feet from the beach and saw thousands, if not millions, of sardines just hanging out. Of course, your natural instinct is to chase after them and they all just swim away in a big bunch together. So beautiful!
Disclaimer: We received a discounted rate with Cyan Adventures. As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own. Thank you Cyan Adventures for an awesome day at Kawasan Falls!
Photos and videos courtesy of Cyan Adventures.
day one hundred and ten: january 17, 2015: surigao city to bohol
Today we flew from Surigao to Cebu City and quickly found out it was the Sinulog Festival, one of the biggest festivals in the Philippines celebrating the Santo Niño, the infant child Jesus, who many Filipino Catholics believe to be miraculous. Unfortunately, we planned poorly and didn't have anywhere to store our luggage -- so we headed to our next destination, Bohol, via ferry.
day one hundred and eleven: january 18, 2015: bohol
We booked a tour through the hotel to explore Bohol for the day. In eight hours, we visited 6 different highlights. First was the Tarsier Conservation Center. These little guys are the world's smallest primate. Sadly, they're endangered now, due to their habitats being destroyed by humans. Upon our arrival we learned a few things about the tarsiers. For one, tarsiers have extremely large eyes. Each eye is heavier than the brain. They have the largest eyes relative to their body of all mammals. Another crazy thing they can do is rotate their head 180 degrees without moving the rest of their body. Unfortunately, they are also nocturnal and they sleep during the day. That means that humans visiting and watching them during the day is actually disrupting their sleep. Some of the ones we saw were sleeping, but when people were noisy they would slowly open their eyes. It reminded me of my college days trying to stay awake in a lecture. It was kind of disheartening to see actually. There are signs to keep quiet and not to use flash photography. Apparently when tarsiers are exposed to flashes of light while trying to sleep they sometimes commit suicide by banging their head against a tree. They're also known to attempt suicide when put in captivity. Although seeing them "in the wild" was cool, I don't think I would encourage other people to visit as it doesn't seem to be healthy of the tarsiers ("in the wild" is in quotations because this conservation center/area seemed more concerned with keeping tourism alive than actually saving the tarsiers).
Our next stop was the Bohol Butterfly Conservation Center. Included in the admission price is a tour guide. Ours was actually pretty entertaining and funny and we learned a lot thru the displays (some of which had live caterpillars and to-be butterflies and moths in cocoons). Sadly, I don't think we were there in the right season, so there weren't many butterflies in the gardens.
On display were quite a few preserved specimens of butterflies and some that were actually both male and female. Above you can see a male butterfly (not sure on the species) and below you can see one that is both male and female. No that doesn't mean they can reproduce with themselves. Its more like a genetic disorder that rarely occurs.
As I mentioned earlier, we did get to see some live cocoons and there was even one that had just recently broken free from its cocoon.
Next up, the Chocolate Hills. This is an area we were really looking forward to. Unfortunately, I would have to say we were a little bit disappointed. Most of the pictures that you see posted are like those we've posted below. What you don't see are the crowds of people and the fact that the hills aren't actually that interesting to look at.
Next stop, the bamboo hanging bridge. It's really just that...a bridge made of bamboo supported by metal cables.
The first time we passed the man-made forest, we actually didn't know we had passed it. So we ended up turning around and going back and then realizing that it was a series of planted trees along a section of the road.
The last stop of the tour was supposed to be a buffet lunch that costs 400 PHP per person on a boat that travels down the river while you eat. After seeing what it was, we decided to push on and head back toward the hotel and find somewhere better to enjoy lunch. Our guide brought us to the Bohol Bee Farm, which set the stage for many more meals during our time in Bohol. Our first night in Bohol, we stumbled upon the Bohol Bee Farm location on Alona Beach and had some amazing ice cream. We were pleasantly surprised that their actual location is much larger and also has a hotel/resort portion too. After arriving and walking the grounds, we actually wished we had stayed there for a few nights. It was a beautiful spot. And to top it off, the food was organic, fresh and really tasty too.
cabcab with pesto
and green tomatoes
garden salad
with edible flowers
spicy honey pizza
grilled marlin with rice
and fresh lumpia
fish taco in a cassava cone
cassava lasagna
day one hundred and twelve: january 19, 2015: island hopping in bohol
Today we opted for an island hopping tour with the hopes of also seeing dolphins on the way. We headed out super early in the morning, which is supposedly the best time to see the dolphins. Sadly, we weren't lucky enough to see them. After our search for the dolphins ended, we arrived at Balicasag Island. Included in the price of the tour was a small paddle boat transfer to the snorkeling area just off the shore. If you decided to take this tour, make sure you get good snorkeling gear. The masks and snorkels that were provided to us were pretty gnarly and definitely not clean. We decided to only use the masks and ditch the snorkels since there appeared to be some sort of mold possibly growing inside. Eek!
We only got to choose one spot to go to and opted for the area where we could hope to see sea turles, which was much deeper than the area where most of the other groups were going to. We ended up spotting four sea turtles and swimming with them for a bit. That definitely made up for the lack of dolphins on our way out to the island. We also got to see quite a few jellyfish, almost all of who stung us while we were swimming with the turtles. We ended our snorkel in the shallows of the reef where most of the other visitors were standing on the reef as their guides picked up starfish and showed them around. Definitely not good coral reef etiquette. It's always disappointing to see this.
Next on the tour, Isola di Francesco also known as Virgin Island Sandbar. This quiet little stop is actually a privately owned island, known as a place for meditation and reflection. The owner is fairly religious and there are plenty of indicators on the island including signage that states "Enjoy HIS beach" and religious statues scattered on the island.
Over the next day or so we enjoyed several meals at the Bohol Bee Farm location on Alona Beach and took full advantage of their Scrabble board. Little did we know, my dad is a near expert Scrabble player, always taking advantage of adding S's and other single letters to the ends of existing words while also adding a new word. He sure can score in Scrabble!
day one hundred and thirteen: january 20, 2015: alona beach
Without any activities planned for our last day in Bohol, we encouraged Jamie to do a discovery dive to see if she would enjoy scuba diving. Verdict: she did! So hopefully that means she will be able to get certified back in the states and join us underwater somewhere around the world.
day one hundred and fourteen: january 21, 2015: cebu city
After a casual breakfast, we headed back to Cebu City on the ferry. After checking in at our hotel, we headed out for some lechon, which Cebu is known for, at Zubuchon, made famous by Anthony Bordain. It did not disappoint. Sorry, we didn't take any photos so I guess you'll just have to go try it for yourselves.
day one hundred and eight: january 15, 2016: lake mainit and mabua pebble beach
Surigao City is not the most interesting city by far. As we approached our arrival in Surigao City, we began to do some research on what there was to see there. To our disappointment, everything interesting to see was on another island at least a several hour boat ride away, making it a little bit difficult to visit in one day. Since we didn't have enough days to stay the night on one of those islands, we had to explore by car within driving distance of the city. Thankfully, we had a private driver, Noel, who graciously took us around the area to explore.
day one hundred and six: january 13, 2016: davao to surigao
Based on my dad's friend's recommendation, we headed to our next stop: The Britannia Islands. It was about a 6-7 hour drive from Davao but we got to enjoy passing through little towns, palm tree forests, and the countryside. After sitting in the car for 6 hours, we were all excited to have finally reached our destination....but our original accommodations didn't live up to the photos that were online. We drove down a little more to another "resort" to check it out. As soon as we stepped out of the car, Jamie and I knew this was going to be another "no".
day one hundred and three: january 10, 2016: puerto princesa to davao/samal island
We said goodbye to Erwin in Manila and made our way south to Davao. We didn't know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at a private resort on Samal Island, called Samal Shores, owned by my dad's friend. To make things even better, we were the only guests for the next three days...AMAZING! Samal Island is just a short 3 minute boat ride from Davao but still a nice getaway from the mini bustling city.
day one hundred: january 7, 2016: underground river and puerto princessa
If you can't tell already, we love big travel days... This morning we had an 3am pick up to make our way back to Puerto Princessa via the Underground River. We were told to get to there early because it gets super busy and people have been known to wait for up to 2 hours to get on a boat. We were lucky and had to wait less than 30 minutes for a boat from the wharf then another 10 minutes to jump on a smaller boat to enter the cave. The Underground River is the world's largest navigable river within a cave, 42 km long. Tourists are limited to a tour of the only the first 2km of the cave complex in an effort to preserve the cave and its ecosystem. The Underground River was actually voted as one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World. I must say, we were pretty impressed at how the government is actually trying to preserve this natural wonder. It wasn't just a gimmick to increase tourism in the area.
