After a three day photo Assignment in Batanes, my companions left me on my lonesome in Basco. Learning I would be going to Batanes again, I asked if I can extend my stay there to explore. So I have around another 4 days to spare there. Oh I was originally planning to go back to Itbayat and explore that northernmost region of the Philippines but I chickened out when there was a heavy downpour that Friday morning that I have to postpone going there by boat and since the air strip there is being lengthened no planes could fly there. Not a good decision actually since the next few days became bright and sunny. More than to chill out, I decided to go around by biking Batan Island. Never knew that I would be biking at least 40km of Batan Island’s cliff side and coastal roads for at least 10 hours.
Category: Travel
Laos: Vientiane’s Wat Si Saket and Haw Pha Kaeo Temples
After visiting Xieng Khuan, I had lunch nearby and not to let the tuk-tuk blunder ruin my travel, I went on my afternoon exploring the city of Vientiane, which would be on spotlight in Asia later this year as Laos hosts the upcoming SEA Games on November 2009. For participants and audiences, there a number of attractions to keep them busy around Vientiane in between games. The city is dotted with numerous temples, it may not be as many say as Luang Prabang, but there are special ones worth a visit. If I were only to visit a couple, I would start first with Wat Si Saket and Haw Pha Kaeo.
Dapitan: St James Church and a sweep of the town
From Zamboanga City our next stop was up north of Mindanao to the twin cities of Dipolog and Dapitan. It was a long 8 hour ride from an ordinary air cooled bus. Departing mid-day and arriving a little past at 8 in the evening. It was tiring since we were expecting it to be shorter. Spending a night in Dipolog, moving the next day to neighboring Dapitan. It was rainy in these parts already when we got there and was only able to take photos of the beautiful church of Dapitan.
Laos: Bizarre Xieng Khuan and some tuk-tuk woes
On my first day in Vientiane, I decided to visit the Xieng Khuan, also known as the Buddha Park, just 25km off the outskirts of the city. But before that I had to visit the Northern Bus Station to reserve a ticket to Luang Prabang. This is also my first foray to a Tourist Tuk-tuk just waiting at the side street a block away from where I was staying.
Zamboanga: Yakan people and their weaving
When I last visited Zamboanga en route to Tawi-Tawi, I had a chance again to visit the Yakan Village in Upper Calarian, Zamboanga. The village is located just across the popular La Vista del Mar resort which can be reached by a jeep or a tricycle around 30-45 minutes from the city center of Zamboanga. Nothing much has changed since my last visit in 2007. The place still holds various yakan weaving souvenirs which is a famous draw both for local and foreign tourist.
Laos: Tuk-tuk tips and getting around Vientiane
After getting cozy and comfortable at Lao Heritage Hotel, I set excitedly off to the streets of Vientiane to start visiting the sights. Unlike Pakse, Vientiane is many times larger, sprawling and streets are a lot busy. Tuk-tuks rules the streets here and my first foray with them was a hard (and expensive) at first but I learned to adapt as always and learned to travel the way the locals do and somehow minimize how the drivers here charge on a tourist basis.
Rizal: The Angono Petroglyphs
I think it was way way back in college when I first heard about the Angono Petroglyhs. I even did a short paper on it before that required me to visit the site. It wasn’t as popular before and not many people knew about it. In Angono, we had to hire a tryke to take us to the foot of the mountain in Binangonan, from then climb up and find the site on foot. It was an exhausting and exhilarating experience and once we found the site, it was like a great discovery for us. 10 years after, I had the chance to go back here on assignment. So what have changed from then?
