Northern Luzon (Philippines) Ride Report

Great write up & pics.
I have relatives just south of Vigan outside the next city. (mountains area)
I hope to go and do some riding very soon there.

wow! you were practically right next to my mom's village (sabangan) - I'll be in the area for the 'first' time around late march/april - hoping to score a scoot for a day

i don't know where you'll be in february but I plan to be in cambodia or one of the neighbouring countries

Very nice write up! Sounds like you had a bunch of fun...
is it normal that so many people are so friendly and open? I've yet to meet travelers like that... I definitely need to try and travel a bit more though..

Lightcycle said:

Our travel costs are a tiny fraction of what our living costs used to be in Toronto.

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To be fair, though, I think it's all the assets that really tie us down. If you're willing to live simply, I think that Toronto is actually a very well-rounded and reasonably-priced first world city (with the caveats being the ****** transportation and high cost of alcohol).

Ugur Dinch said:

You know those ppl, who forget to enjoy the view/scenery, because they are too busy recording, I believe they are those ppl.

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Ugur Dinch said:

I'd hate to come to a view and think first thing "oh yea this will be a great write-up tomorrow" lol

Whatever pics you're taking is already spectacular.. no need to try make it spectacular-plus, but that's just me =) My choice of camera during my moto-trip to Cali was my cellphone lol as I see yours is too =)

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Thanks, man. I agree with you, but I don't think that there's a right way to travel or enjoy things. The Japanese catch a lot of flack because they always have their cameras out and are taking pictures in their tour groups, but after you get to know a bunch of them, you sort of understand why. For a lot of them, one vacation for the rest of their lifetime isn't odd right before they jump into the corporate world. And I think it'd be great to flip through pictures when I'm older and remember how much stuff I did. Every day is eventful and amazing when I'm on the road and when I look back to a year or so behind, a lot of details are already so foggy.

djez said:

If your back in Luzon island I suggest going south to Bicol and hitting up good roads in Quezon National Forest and Bitukang manok (chicken intestine). Swim with the Whale Sharks in Donsol, ATV to Mayon volcano and riding to Bulusan lake.

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I was actually in Bicol before I went to Palawan. I think that Philippines has very bland cuisine for southeast asia EXCEPT for Bicol. The whale sharks are beautiful - I went out telling myself I would be happy to swim with one...I ended up seeing 12. Mayon is something I want to come back for - I suppose it's the borderline ocd-ness in me, but it bugs me that I can't get to the peak of Mayon; even if I take a guide. Is the bitukang manok any different in Bicol? I had it in Liliw/Lucban and I wasn't a huge fan. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Bicolano somehow found a way to make it my new favourite food

laing pizza and pinangat (shrimp cooked in coconut milk, with ginger, garlic, onions and wrapped in taro leaves)

probably the only time in my life where we all wanted to be the first to jump into the water after seeing a shark fin

vrus said:

wow! you were practically right next to my mom's village (sabangan) - I'll be in the area for the 'first' time around late march/april - hoping to score a scoot for a day

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vrus said:

i don't know where you'll be in february but I plan to be in cambodia or one of the neighbouring countries

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Lucky guy! If you're into hiking, though, that scooter might go untouched. You can do full-day hikes to sabangan from Banaue/Batad/etc. or even Kalinga if you're feeling adventurous.

Don't worry... I don't know, either. Just 2 days ago, I decided I want to go to Malaysia so I got into Kuala Lumpur just last night. Hit me up when the time comes and we'll figure something out if I'm in the area. I try not to plan too far ahead, so I'm afraid I can't give you an answer at the moment.

mdouglas71 said:

Very nice write up! Sounds like you had a bunch of fun...
is it normal that so many people are so friendly and open? I've yet to meet travelers like that... I definitely need to try and travel a bit more though..

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I think so. You just sort of need to get used to randomly starting up a conversation with someone. Traveling is a lot like motorcycling in that there's some sort of culture/community so you can always just say hi and start chatting someone up. Actually, the only reason I made those new Swiss friends is because one of the resort workers was asking me about life in Canada. White people are generally seen as a higher social class in The Philippines, so he actually asked me "how to talk to white people". I told him if he brought me some, I'd show him. So he showed up with Luzia 30 minutes later and now we all have a good laugh about why we actually met.

Although I meet quite a lot of people, I spend a lot of my days alone by choice...so I really do think it's that easy as long as you don't reek of loneliness/desperation when you're approaching other people. Hostels have a common room/lounge area so that makes it easier...but some of the most interesting people that I've met have been in odd circumstances (like, "**** everyone in Cambodia's trying to scam us for a hotel room. Let's split a room and share a bed even though I don't know you")

knowledge said:

Don't worry... I don't know, either. Just 2 days ago, I decided I want to go to Malaysia so I got into Kuala Lumpur just last night. Hit me up when the time comes and we'll figure something out if I'm in the area. I try not to plan too far ahead, so I'm afraid I can't give you an answer at the moment.

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Man, Malaysia is the place if you love food. For me, I'd pick Malaysian over most cuisines any day of the week. I miss those street vendor murtabaks too.

What next Knowledge?

toshison said:

Man, Malaysia is the place if you love food. For me, I'd pick Malaysian over most cuisines any day of the week. I miss those street vendor murtabaks too.

What next Knowledge?

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So true - I went there for the food, actually, but I had to get out because I was spending way too much and wanted to save it for when I could do the country properly. I did treat it like a food vacation, though and had a lot of local dishes. But I was spending 50 bucks a day on street food :S

I'm officially a certified scuba diver as of yesterday(only open water right now,though) and right now I'm working towards my freediving certificate. I got to 2.5 minutes on a single breath today, so I'm hoping to hit 3 minutes at 20 metres tomorrow.

Perfect timing, though man! I went back to Koh Tao just to get my certs, but I'm headed over to Cambodia next as I feel like I have to finish the rest of the country. I'm crossing in through the Trat/Koh Kong border; do you have any recommendations? I figure Sihanoukville, Koh Rong, pempot, etc. are a must...but now that I'm looking at it, it seems like it might not take that long. I did Siam Reap/Angkor Wat last time so I might just skip it on this round. Then I'm over in singapore for a week or so after that to visit a friend before I head over to glorious Australia to work and fund the next part of my trip (hopefully) in Iran, Slovenia, Sweden, Some more of Europe/tomorrowland, Burning man/west coast US.

Sorry the post is a little text-heavy; I'll have the pictures (and wicked videos) sorted out once I have some spare time.

Here's new year's eve in Koh Phi Phi (interesting story to follow eventually):
[video=youtube_share;8b1ju98BMuo]http://youtu.be/8b1ju98BMuo[/video] It's too bad it looks like a cellphone video from 1999, though.

This showed me a side of the Phillipines I never really seen, I think this puts them into consideration for a trip one of these days

Knowledge,I guess I am late to reply RE Cambodia. I actually just got back from Australia. I was there for all of January. In Cambodia I liked Kampot/Kep. Bokor national park with the old abandoned stuff is kind of cool. I did not really like Sihanoukville. It was "ok" but there were a fair amount of kid touts/amputee beggars when we went which got a bit tiring. I got my PADI Open Water in Phuket (Kata area) and it was good. What was dope was that afterwards we did a live aboard for a few days and dived the Similan Islands. I think you can make good use of your Open Water in Aus on the barrier reef. Its pretty awesome. Maybe do a live aboard.