Happy that the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan made it to the list! So far, we have been to 3 out of the new 7 wonders of nature:
We are all set for a trip to Palawan before the year ends and another visit to the now-world famous Underground River is definitely part of our itinerary!
As a UNESCO-declared World Heritage Site, Kathmandu Durbar Square attracts throngs of locals and tourists alike that makes it an ideal place for hawkers to sell their goods. This post gives a glimpse of the fascinating shopping scene in one of the busiest, most crowded attraction I’ve seen in Kathmandu so far.
These sellers set up their mats by the entrance of Durbar Square everyday. Close of business is usually at around 7pm.
You get a whole range of trinket selections. These pendants are supposedly from Tibet. Some had meanings that the hawker was trying to explain but I didn’t quite get.
More souvenir items from Nepal…
I was with a Buddhist Thai friend who had to buy Thangka (Tibetan silk painting with embroidery) for her mom depicting a medicine buddha. This signifies good health for the family. We went to this small shop in the heart of Kathmandu Durbar Square with a sign boasting that they are ‘featured in most travel guide books.’
They also sell these local food like our pan de sal in the Philippines…
…and have a version of our very own ‘dirty ice cream’ 
As soon as I got out of the Tribuvhan International Airport in Kathmandu, the chaos – sight, sound and smell – around me seemed to evoke memories of my first arrival in Uganda a couple of years back. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there really is something about Kathmandu that I find very similar to Kampala (capital city of Uganda).
Maybe it’s the fact that it’s dry and dusty or the crazy honking of cars and motorcycles as pedestrians mindlessly cross roads while vehicles weave in and out of traffic or that the electricity goes off every so often (load-shedding/ brownouts/blackouts of 16 hours in a day at most).
I have been told countless stories of how it is like this side of the world but really experiencing what it has to offer is a whole different thing. This is the first time I ever set foot in a South Asian country. No words can ever describe how my first impressions are. Everything still looks surreal.
Since we have more than 12 hours of transit in Bangkok en route to Kathmandu via Thai Airways, it was important for us to find a place to stay where we can rest and have a good night’s sleep. We found out from the internet that there is a day room hotel just within Suvarnabhumi Airport called Louis Tavern Day Rooms. We’ve never stayed here before (which was probably a good thing) but like they say, there’s always a first time for everything.
We got a double room good for 10 hours which looks like this –
Pretty cozy eh? Especially when you compare the atmosphere to the airport scene just outside our room’s window –
The room also comes with free snacks and buffet breakfast –
as well as a hot shower right inside the airport!
The catch? This little airport luxury sets your travel budget back at USD197 for 10 hours. Minimum allowed stay in the Louis Tavern Day Room will cost you around USD115 but only for stay of 6 hours. Not such a good idea when leisure travelling on a budget but great for stress-free business travels! Hehe. We will definitely stay in another hotel on our way back to Manila :p
We’re leaving for Nepal today. After months of training and travel planning, our Nepal holiday will finally start today. It will take us 2 days – today and tomorrow – to travel to Kathmandu alone (Thai Airways flight has a stopover in Bangkok). We are expected to arrive in Kathmandu mid-day tomorrow.
During the weekend, we once again scoured outdoor shops for additional gears we will be bringing along for our trek. It was important for us to bring thermal clothing that are water-resistant AND lightweight. Majority of the gears we bought were from Columbia. We even got to be certified Columbia Titanium card holder because of our ‘loyalty’ to the brand. We hope Columbia lives up to expectations during our trek in the Himalayas. And we do promise to give a gear review after our trip along with the other gears we bought (e.g., North Face, Aigle, Habagat) from ROX.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we will be safe and sound (and comfortable!) throughout the trek. In the meantime, cheers to pad thai and tom yum soup as we take time to relax in Bangkok first before the next great adventure of our lifetime!
While staying in Raymen Beach Resort in Brgy. Alibuhod of Guimaras, I soon found out that there are more little islands of Guimaras that are waiting to be explored. So we hopped on a boat and set sail to our first destination – Sea Turtle Sanctuary!
There were about 7 sea turtles in captivity when we visited the site. One is the green sea turtle shown in the picture above and which I attempted to carry by myself but failed! That pawikan must have weighed about 15 kilos! The other species was a Hawksbill turtle which the caretaker opted not to show up close because of its rough back. They were saying they had an endangered Olive Ridley just a few months ago but was already released into the ocean. The caretaker tell stories about these released turtles sometimes being sighted near the sanctuary and about olden times where grilling of turtle meat is a common sight around the guimaras area. The visit to the turtle sanctuary is free but they do welcome donations to pay for the turtles’ medicines and food (they log every donation in their book!).
Next stop is Ave Maria Island, an islet with a pristine white sands beach and an ideal place to go snorkeling because of its low water level and abundant fish schools.
That’s Nemo and Gill! The fishes came from another boat with tourists who said they bought it in one of the islands. I asked where they intend to take it and how far can it be transported. Turns out they were just from Iloilo and they intend to put Nemo and Gill in their aquarium. Poor fishes! I hope they do survive the trip in that bag.
Our next destination from Ave Maria island was Baras Island. Before reaching the island, our boatmen steered us into a cave first –
We did take a dip in the water inside the Baras Cave. The water was deep in some parts of the cave but we stayed close to where the boat was parked in that rocky area of the cave. We would have stayed longer if not for a very close encounter of my travel companion with a 2-feet long banded sea snake who swam past her legs as we were chatting by the rocks which made us scurry to higher ground as fast as we can. I would have loved to get a photo of the harmless creature but we left our camera in the boat and the sea snake went about his business foraging for food out of the cave mindless of the panic it caused in our group
The sea snake sighting was a cue for us to pack up and head on to Baras Island. By this time though, I was really feeling the heat of the sun as we come close to mid-day. So we simply asked our boatman to just sail pass the islands as we contend ourselves with taking photos at sea.
That’s Fairy Castle island (private) and a cottage along Baras Beach. It was the perfect day for an island-hopping activity. The 2-hour boat ride cost us Php 550 (plus tip for the boatmen). Good thing about island-hopping, Guimaras-style, is that they have a boat association with standard rates of Php 300 for 1 hour and an additional Php150 for each succeeding hours. Just make sure to bring your own snacks and water bottles to tide you over during the island-hopping in wonderful Guimaras islands!
Ultimate adventurer and famed mountaineer Romi Garduce gives a thumbs-up sign for the Roaming Ronos as we embark on our great trek over the Gokyo Valley (even if our goal of 5,483-m Gokyo Valley climb may be dwarfed with his 8,848-m feat summiting Mt. Everest in 2006).
According to juice.ph (cover story for March 2010 issue), Romi is the first Filipino to climb an 8000-meter peak, one of the first three Filipinos to summit Mt. Everest and the current Filipino record-holder in the quest to climb the world’s Seven Summits (he’s climbed six out of a total of eight peaks in two different lists).
More conveniently, he is working in the same company as Mr. Rono! So at least, we get first-hand advice and tips for Nepal travel (he gave us contacts of his sherpa during his climb!). We also get heads up on what to expect while doing a high-altitude climb in the Himalayan mountain range (altitude mountain sickness, especially!).
Truth be told, altitude mountain sickness is basically what scares me most with this climb because I know that it’s not the greatest feeling in the world. I had some sort of an experience on it while travelling in Ethiopia a few years back (Addis Ababa is located at an altitude of 8,300 feet and I spent hours on the toilet because I was always felt like I had to throw up – and I did a lot of times!). Romi said AMS really causes serious health problems, even for healthy travelers.
AMS or not, we’re still really psyched for this climb! Thanks Romi for inspiring us to see the real outdoors and may our spirit of adventure live on!
We’ve given it a whole lot of thought and it was finally decided that, despite the odds, we would still want to do the 16-day trekking package for Gokyo Valley Lodge Tour. The package came out way higher than originally quoted because there are only 3 of us left willing to do the tour (minimum of 8 persons required for the original quote). But what the heck! We only live once
In a nutshell, this is what we will mostly do while in Nepal as part of the package tour we got :
Day 1: Arrival in Kathmandu (1,327-m.), meet and greet at airport and transfer to Thamel. Overnight hotel.
Day 2: Free day in Kathmandu to explore on your own while we prepare documents for your trek. Overnight hotel.
Day 3: Drive early morning to airport for short flight (35 min) from Kathmandu to Lukla (2,840-m). After arrangement of local porters, trek Lukla-Phakding (2,610-m) – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 4: Trek Phakding – Namche Bazaar (3,440-m) – 6 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 5: Rest day for acclimatization in Namche/excursion to Syangboche (3,720-m), Everest View Hotel (3,859-m), Khumjung (3,780-m) and Khunde (3,840-m) & return to Namche – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 6: Trek Namche-Dole (4,200-m) - 6½ hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 7: Trek Dole – Machhermo (4,410-m) – 4½ hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 8: Trek Machhermo – Gokyo (4,790-m.) - 4½ hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 9: Rest day/excursion to Gokyo Ri (5,483-m) & return to Gokyo – 5½ hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 10: Trek Gokyo – Thore (4,300-m) – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 11: Trek Thore – Tengboch (3,860-m) – 5 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 12: Trek Tengboche – Monjo (2,835-m.) via Namche – 7 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 13: Trek Monjo – Lukla (2,840-m) – 6 hours. Overnight lodge.
Day 14: Fly (35 min) Lukla – Kathmandu, on arrival transfer to Thamel / Trek ends. Overnight hotel.
Day 15: Free day (buffer day in case the flight from Lukla cancels on schedule) in Kathmandu. Overnight hotel.
Day 16: Departure day/transfer to airport for onward flight.
We are arriving in Nepal early on for better acclimatization to the place before we fly to Lukla, the trailhead for the trekking trip. We were told that unlike others, say Canadian or European trekkers, Filipinos need more time to do a high-altitude climb because the sherpas (guides) always have to bring them back down to a certain level to avoid altitude mountain sickness (AMS). Here are some of the pictures from the travel agent :
Landing at Lukla Airfield (Short Take Off and Landing)
Mt. Everest (8,848-m.) from Gokyo Ri (5,483-m.)
Yak, Himalayan Oxen, used for transporting goods
We’re a bit apprehensive that we don’t get to complete the trek all the way to Gokyo Valley but we will damn well make sure we try our hardest
We’ve seen how earthquakes have rocked the planet the past few months starting from Haiti, Chile, Taiwan, Turkey (very recently!) and our very own Cagayan, Philippines. Some geologists have even predicted that earthquakes may hit Nepal next! Check out this news article about Nepal ‘bracing for a big quake’ after Haiti.
Of course, these kinds of news makes us a bit concerned about our safety and got us thinking about revising our travel plans. We originally planned on doing the Gokyo Valley Trek tour which was described by the tour agency as –
“The Gokyo and Khumbu Valleys are arguably the most dramatic and interesting of the Everest region. This trek explores friendly Sherpa villages, visits monasteries, seeks wildlife and unveils dramatic mountain scenery. We have two days in Kathmandu to experience one of Asia’s most fascinating cities before flying to Lukla, the starting point of our trek. We follow the Dudh Kosi Valley to Namche Bazaar and then trek into Gokyo Valley. The trail ascends gradually and we enjoy a series of short trekking days to ensure proper acclimatization, walking beside the moraines of Ngozumpa Glacier and turquoise lakes to reach our lodge in Gokyo. From here we can climb Gokyo Ri (5,48-m.) to a view of all of the region’s 8000-metre peaks including Mt. Everest (8,848), Lhotse (8,414-m.), Mt. Makalu (8,485-m.) and Cho Oyu (8,153-m.) – a breathtaking panorama. From Gokyo we trek back to Lukla via Thore, Phortse, the beautiful Tengboche Monastery, Namche and Monjo.”
The package we originally considered was a 16-day moderately strenous trekking involving a domestic flight from Kathmandu to Lukla via a tiny twin otter plane. Here is a picture of Gokyo Valley sent by a friend –
Pretty eh? I fell in love with the place with this picture alone. Unfortunately, we have to revise our travel plans to a package where we would not have to be so far from the capital city of Kathmandu. So, instead of a full trek, we decided to do a bit of everything Nepal has to offer – trekking, rafting, bird-watching, cycling, etc. And we’re doing it just within the outskirts of Kathmandu, around 5-hour drive from the city.
This is how the travel agency describes our ‘revised’ Nepal package:
“This trip is designed to get most out of a short trip in Nepal with adventure and culture activities. It does not involve high altitude trekking but snowcapped mountain peaks are visible from Bandipur and Pokhara provided the weather is clear enough. Visiting Nepal during January to April and October to December for culture and trekking tour is mostly ideal with good moderate temperature. You will experience the country side, culture and see wildlife in their natural habitat.”
We’re still staying in Nepal for 21 days but this package will give us a more intimate experience of Kathmandu and its surrounding villages. I’d have to say, though, it was the cycling part of the tour that convinced Mr. Rono to go for a more subtle package compared to the Gokyo Valley trek. A website describes the experience as “dirt roads and trails in the hills of Nepal are excellent mountain biking tracks and are a biker’s dream come true. It can provide the adrenalin rush as well fantastic view of the Nepali countryside and the Himalaya. You however need to be physically fit if you wish to tour the countryside on a mountain bike as some of the up hills can be grueling challenges.”
There’s always next time for Gokyo Valley *cross fingers*
Masskara Festival in Bacolod City is one of the most colorful merry-making events held during the month of October. The festival is supposed to run for 20 days but the event climax is on the weekend nearest to October 19 (which is my birthdate).
I missed the festivities when I came to Bacolod City but there sure were a lot of reminders of the weekend that was – the colorful banderitas on the streets and lots and lots of maskara in the hotel where I was staying. Even the locals can’t help but proudly describe to me their delight in the just-concluded festival!
And because there were no more parades to watch, this is how it’s like to have a taste of the Masskara Festival…
But the highlight of my Bacolod trip was far from the sounds and sights of the Masskara Festival but somewhere tucked within the quaint town of Talisay, located near the airport – The Ruins of Negros!
