Sagaing: Hundreds of Stupas Seen at Sagaing Hill

Morning of Day 9 finds me a little sad realizing my journey in Myanmar is nearing its end in a couple more days. I moved in from my stuffy hotel to my roomarama-sponsored accommodation at Mandalay View Inn. It also gave me time to do a little backpack-keeping and chores. I also realized that I’m up to my last few kyats and needed to use my emergency funds at this time. I didn’t expect the low exchange rate when I came and I was surprised how low it got just from last week (US$1 = 740 from 780 when I …

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Mandalay: A Barefoot Climb on a Crowded Mandalay Hill

The soles of my feet already felt very thick it would probably take a few foot scrub sessions to take out the dead skin and callouses from too much walking. By this time, after entering many temples and sacred grounds for almost a week, I’m already used to removing my footwear before entering temples. For Mandalay Hill, my next place to visit, I had to remove my slippers before climbing the 760-feet high hill. I really don’t mind the climb since after the two gigantic Bobyoki Nat guardian statues is a shaded stair pathway leading to the summit. What amused me was the footwear storage at the foot of the hill with a sign “Footwear not Allowed. Don’t carry shoes” clearly directed at foreigners where they’ll have to pay to store them. I saw a lot of locals carrying their shoes inside plastics so I just decided to clip my slippers to my bag and started the climb.

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Cagayan: Climbing Claveria’s Bantay Kalbo and Weather Change at Sentinela Beach

Spending the morning at Taggat Lagoon we decided to spend the afternoon on the eastern side of Claveria where the legendary rock of Ubing-ubing can be found at Sentinela Beach. We took the services of Mang Pedro again after lunch and his tricycle zoomed through the hilly road taking around 15 minutes before we left the paved road to head to the beach. We reached Sentinela Beach and was pleased by its rugged beauty.

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Batanes: Fundacion Pacita Abad

One of the places I missed last time I went to Batanes was the Fundacion Pacita Abad in Tukon Hills. So after our half day stay in Sabtang Island, I asked our guide Magn Roger to take us to Pacita Abad’s place in Tukon. Tukon is one of the elevated portions of Batan Island where you can actually have a good view of the surrounding landscapes of Batan Island as well as both the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. So those who are still have enough energy to tour ventured this hill, which became one of my favorite places in Batanes.

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