An Afro-Honduran superwoman in the guise of the hotel’s lone staff (receptionist/snack bar attendant/bellman/security/guide book/whew!) hustled us to the door like a mom would to her child who’s late for school. While the hubby hailed a taxi in the middle of a still-sleepy street market next door, she stood beside me, trying to call cabbies…
guides
Hulhumalé, Maldives: A Newborn Artificial Island
Our low-cost airline flight provided an on-board entertainment that surpassed all others we’ve experienced… The spectacle of Maldives’ islands, strung together like a jewel necklace, sitting oh so pretty in the middle-ish of Indian Ocean nowhere. It was one of those travel moments filled with imaginative swear words, muttered under the breath. Hulhumalé’s public beach….
Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe Inc. And The Dance Born From A Dream
They wore the shyest of smiles. Their welcome, so warm and affable that it felt like coming home to long lost relatives. But they’re total strangers to us. The residents of Baranggay Badtasan in Kiamba, Sarangani Province had been waiting all early morning for our entourage — composed of SOCCSKSARGEN and Luzon-based bloggers. The air…
2Go Travel: Batangas-Boracay (Via Caticlan) Route
Late afternoon on a Sunday, mid-March, Batangas Port Terminal 2 looked glum and abandoned from the outside. Our van circled the lonely two-story structure until we got to its main entrance. Summer was just about to start in the Philippines, and the crew of GMA News TV’s Pop Talk were off to an early sun…
Withlocals.com: Going Local With Locals
Backpacking Maldives (Or, What Have We Gotten Ourselves Into?!)
Kalinga, Philippines: How To Get To Buscalan
I was still reeling from the effects of the eighteen-hour bus+jeep rides and the one hour hike. But with one look at the tinay’talu (rice bundles) pattern in Lane Wilcken’s book Filipino Tattoos: Ancient To Modern — which we borrowed from mambabatok Whang-Od/Fang-od — I knew I unintentionally found a mark that will finally represent…
Border Crossing: Overland By Bus/Marshrutka From Tbilisi, Georgia To Yerevan, Armenia
The driver slammed his cab’s boot shut, as if to seal our two-week Georgia affair tight. He drove without a word. We were at the finish line of one Caucasus journey, and were about to begin afresh in a neighboring country. Yet another border cross my passport with a detached cover had to survive. I…
Mt Melibingoy (Mt Parker) and Lake Holon (Lake Maughan), T’boli, South Cotabato: All Hail This Hike!
Backpacking Timor Leste (East Timor)
Unspoilt natural resources. Nonexistent skyscrapers. Grieving aged walls. Palm-fringed sandy shores. Beachside bars minus Bob Marley clichés. Unadulterated fresh seafood on the grill. Pink sunsets. Mikrolets. Dusk-colored leathery skin. Genuine smiles. Malaria. U.S. dollars. UN workers. The Democratic Republic of Timor Leste is Southeast Asia’s youngest. Like my home country the Philippines, it is further…