TravelBio

On the 18th of February Mike, Sam, and I flew first from Puerto Princessa to Manila, then on to Hong Kong.  We arrived at Ninoy Aquino airport in Manila at noon and didn't leave for a solid seven hours.  The terminals at the airport aren't actually connected by walkway so you have to brave Manila traffic in a taxi when transferring, and who knows how long that takes.  That was the reason why we didn't want to cut our transfer time short; we also booked the flights separately so we had to pick up our bags and check in again. We flew with Cebu Pacific, a budget airline just a few steps down from  Cathay  Pacific first class!  We didn't have  an actual  gate connected to  the plane and had to take a bus across the tarmac. From the info online we assumed we would have to grab a taxi for the terminal change, but as it turns out the airport now offers a shuttle service.  We had plenty of time on our hands to sit around, gr...

Sam was due to fly from the US to Puerto Princessa, the main city on the island of Palawan.  Palawan is a long, thin island that stretches from the main archipelago in the north to Borneo in the south.  The main reason why we'd chosen this hard to reach island was because of El Nido, a small town known for amazing scenery. And hard to get to it definitely was.  First of all there are only chartered flights to El Nido; most travelers have to go through Puerto Princessa and hop on a bus for the 6+ hour drive to El Nido.  Mike and I tried to find a flight from Kalibo, near Boracay, but all the ones we found routed through Manila.  Most involved an overnight layover in the capital. Instead of messing around with a flight we decided to take a less conventional route.  Our first leg consisted of the short ferry from Boracay to Panay island, followed by a seven hour bus ride across Panay to the city of Iloilo (one of my favorite place names, pronounced "ee...

Mike was due to arrive on Saturday evening local time, having flown from the US via Hong Kong.  Being the miles guru he is, Mike managed to book a first class ticket on Cathay Pacific, ranked one of the top first class flight experiences in the world.  According to this site, it's the 4th best airline for first class.  Unsurprisingly no US carriers made the list! Cathay Pacific first class bed...beats my airplane experience! With Mike (left) in Laos.  He's been growing out  his  hair since then.  Sporting a decent beard too. Mike and I had picked a hostel near Pasig as our meeting point.  Initially I'd though we would stay there, but Dennis had offered us his place.  It was too late to tell Mike about the change of plans before he departed so I kept the old meeting place.  As it turns out the hostel wasn't well known and Mike's cab driver just dropped him off in the general area.  It took him an extra 45 minutes...

After visiting Leslie and David and dropping by San Diego to say hello to Henry I was on my way to the Philippines!  I've mentioned this before, but the Philippines is one of my favorite spots in Asia.  It won't appeal to everyone; it's fairly poor, dirty, hot, and the food isn't great.  Sounds awesome, huh? Slums in Manila...not exactly paradise. Well I prefer places that are a little rough around the edges.  While traveling around SE Asia back in 2013 I quickly tired of throngs of tourists on the beaches of Thailand and Bali.  Don't get me wrong, that scene can be fun too, but if I'm traveling for a long time it gets old fast.  I'd gladly trade a little comfort for a more authentic experience.  Get away from the crowds and the locals tend to be more friendly, prices cheaper, and the other tourists you do run into more interesting. Beach scene in Thailand.  Fun for awhile, but it gets old. Due to it's history as an American colo...

I just took a look at my last blog post, which was written back in January as I was heading off to Asia for another trip.  I had intentions of keeping up the blog this time.  No, seriously, I was planning on updating it occasionally during my trip, instead of months (or even years) later, as I am prone to do.  Alas, laziness - and to my defense, poor Internet connection and a busy schedule - got the better of me. Well wait no longer.  I'm finally back home in Ohio after over six months on the road with time to kill.  That means more blogging!  Honestly I don't know how many people are reading this (thanks mom!) but it's as much of a blog as it is a record to help me remember.  I've already forgotten a lot from the trip and don't want to forget it all before I write the details down.  Every place starts to blend together at some point; I guess that's a good sign that I'm well traveled! Sometimes my dad mentions a hotel we stayed at or a lan...