The Ambitious Day Trip to Shirakawago and Gokayama

I knew I had to see the rustic thatched-roof houses of Central Japan when I first saw them on TV years ago. The scenery was wintertime, the snow blanketed traditional houses, and on nighttime, instead of being surrounded by darkness, the entire village is illuminated with bright lights in an event called the Winter Light-up. Alas, I came a few months early and was not able to witness this glorious scenery. However, since I was already visiting Kanazawa and Takayama that sandwiches this remote area, I decided to visit it anyway. Due to budget limitations however, I had to scrap my intention of staying the night at Shirakawago and eventually decided to just do a day trip. Not just to one, not two, but to all three villages!

The Not-So-Successful Day Trip to Nikko

I am not that fond of big cities, I dislike being in crowded places and so even though I immensely enjoyed my three-day stay in Tokyo, I still craved the rural scenery. I did three day-trips that were accessible from the city, and first of which was in Nikko, a location known for its UNESCO World Heritage status and amazing natural scenery. As to why this post’s title is an epic fail will be further explained in this post, but as a heads up, this letdown is all thanks to me.

The Majestic Banaue Rice Terraces and Bontoc Museum

Whenever I talk to foreign travelers who are interested to travel to the Philippines, I always recommend seeing Banaue Rice Terraces. It will surely be a challenge before you get to reach the destination, but I am sure it will be worth it. However, access to the Internet and new online businesses provides opportunities for more tourists to travel with ease. In this trip to the Cordilleras, I joined a tour group for three days and only managed to spend 3,000 pesos without even worrying about the logistics and other details. It’s not the usual group tours (like what we joined for our HK trip) since it was only with a small group so we weren’t too restricted with the time and I had a nice time getting to know my travel group.

Solo Trekking to Batad Rice Terraces – The Plight of the Frugal Unhealthy Traveler

Holy Week is one of the holidays that most Filipinos look forward to, not just because it's one of the holiest and most important time for Catholics, but we are given days off work so we can rest and get together with the family. I am not a very spiritual or religious person, but I do my best to find some me-time since I live in an overcrowded, polluted and crime-rampant city, it’s a bit difficult to find a place where you can meditate and reflect. I took this opportunity a couple of years back to go somewhere I have never been, a place shielded away from the dirt and noise of Manila, a place where I can get in touch with nature once again, the Cordilleras.

It All Began in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

I used to be an active lurker of Philippine travel forums when I wasn’t still aware of the existence of travel blogs during the early 2010s. It was exciting to meet people who have the same passion as I do and I was amazed by how many Filipinos are traveling to the different parts of the globe. It was thrilling to read about their adventures even though I don’t really know them personally. It was also at a forum wherein I saw an open invitation to join a group on a three-day trip to Ilocos. I was hesitant of course, it would be a first to join strangers on a trip. So I invited a kaladkarin friend who was also up for some new experiences. We decided to take a bus, an exhausting 14-hour ride to the historical city of Vigan.

Exploring One of the Many Gardens in Suzhou, The Humble Administrator's Garden

"If heaven has paradise, China has Hangzhou and Suzhou" - Marco Polo
It was those words that actually drove me to include both of these cities on a trip that was supposed to be only dedicated for Shanghai. It got me curious as to why both cities are highly acclaimed and recommended when visiting the Eastern part of the country, so I allotted two days to see what was in store for us here.

A Solo Journey to The Great Wall of China

「不到長城非好漢」: Who never climbed The Great Wall cannot be deemed a Man - 毛澤東 Mao Zedong -

I guess one way to interpret this quote is “You’ve brought your butt all the way across to China, there’s no reason in hell you’re not going to see and climb The Great Wall?!” Kidding aside, this marvelous architectural treasure is China’s most recognizable landmark. There’s no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to finally be able to see this mighty structure that I have admired for so many years.

Mutianyu Section - The Great Wall of China

My new found peace at Beijing’s Summer Palace

Spending summer at Beijing was just really exhausting, the humidity and the lack of trees to give you shade from the scorching heat was enough to make me feel beat all day. After going around The Forbidden City, I just found out the best place to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon – The Summer Palace.

My welcoming view at The Summer Palace

Emperor’s Qin Terracotta Army in Xian, China

I have daydreamed of traveling ever since I was a kid. I would usually hang out in our school library during lunch and free time and look at all those books about archaeology, history and exploration. I was ever since fascinated by a set of army sculptures that have been buried in the ground a long time ago. I may have forgotten what it was called and where it was excavated, but I never forgot what it looked like in that book. Years after, I am now working and planning for my travels that I remembered that image. I looked it up with keywords “terracotta sculptures” and found out that the picture I saw is in China and located in the city of Xi’An. On the last piso sale of 2012, I booked for a flight going to this country. Aside from The Great Wall of China, going to the Terracotta Warriors is one of the must-dos I planned out for my 12-day trip.

Terracotta Army of Xian, China

Yangling Mausoleum of Han Dynasty (Tomb of Emperor Jingdi): Mini Terracotta Warriors of Xi’An

My purpose of going to Xi’An was solely to see the widely-known Terracotta Warriors, I was only supposed to stay for two days but when someone told me about another interesting site in this city, I didn’t hesitate to add more day just to be able to visit it. The joy of traveling flexible. :) Even though there’s still one line of subway train as of writing, commuting to the tourist spots in Xi’An is designed to be very efficient with all the bus circling around all the possible tourist routes in the city. The trip to Hanyangling took almost 1.5 hours, but given the location of the site at Xianyang and the cost of only CNY 4 one way, this was certainly a good treat!

a display of sculptures at Yangling Mausoleum of Han Dynasty

Fun things to do in Xi’An for a day

One of my main goals of this trip to China was to visit Xi’an to see the Terracotta Warriors. Aside from that, I really had no idea what else to see aside from those statues, but it give me the enough motivation to stay in this city for 3 days. After the 8-hour hard seater journey from Pingyao to Xi’An, I decided to sleep the entire morning in the hostel as I was already feeling nauseated due to the summer heat, exhaustion and lack of sleep. Before noon, I decided to go to the Terracotta Warriors, and when I was already in the ticket office, I noticed that I only had 70 CNY and the admission fee was 90 for those with student IDs, I remember having enough money before I left but the hostel key deposit fee was 150 CNY that was supposed to be used for the admission to the warriors. Feeling stupid and wasting almost three hours of travel time round trip, I decided to see the city of Xi’An and make use of the time I still have left for the day. Good thing the sun sets by around 8 PM during summer so I was still left with enough sun light to have nice pictures.

One of Xian's majestic towers

Pingyao’s Treasures: Wang Family Compound, Shuanglin Temple and Zhangbi Ancient Castle

My trip to Pingyao has been quite interesting so far, and it’s not about natural landscape that has charmed me, but the preserved ancient man-made buildings and structures that show a lot about China’s traditional way of living. After a day of wandering around the Old City, I decided to join a group from my hostel who planned for another day trip on some attractions around the Shanxi countryside.

Entrance to Wang Family Compound

Attractions to see in Pingyao for a day

There are tons of places that one could see inside the ancient walled city of Pingyao (平遥), which is also why I wanted to stay in this place for 2 days and see everything that I can within this time. I allowed myself to absorb more of ancient Pingyao for a day by getting a map and buying the visitors pass ticket. Just looking at the map, planning to visit all the sights in this town would eat up more than two days as there are too many that one could see and explore. I squeezed all the recommended places in one go enjoy my flexible schedule.

Ancient City of Pingyao

A step back in time into the ancient city of Pingyao

My initial plan on my 12-day trip was to go to Beijing, Xian and Chengdu’s Jiuzhaigou, but I figured Jiuzhaigou would be too crowded during summer and so I remade my itinerary and went to Datong and Pingyao instead. After browsing some travel blogs, I was really looking forward to seeing the place. Too excited maybe that I even decided to endure traveling by 8-hours on a standing train from Datong to Pingyao. I have arrived at my destination same day afternoon and was really exhausted and just wanted to reach my hostel and rest for a while. Without no itinerary for the day, I wandered off by dusk around the city walls of this old town.

Ancient city of Pingyao

Hanging Monastery of Datong, China: Not for the weak hearted!

The sights of Datong did not disappoint so far. Yungang Grottoes was nothing short of amazing, making my expectations set high on our next destination, the Hanging Monastery. After lunch, our group took a 3-hour ride going there, though it was a long and tedious one, provided us with brilliant views of the mountain ranges in the area.

Hanging Monastery of Datong, China

The Remarkable Yungang Grottoes of Datong

We were blessed with great weather and clear blue skies on my second day in Datong. Perfect for seeing tourist spots that we have planned for the day. I was off with a group and we rented a van provided by our hostel and I can say that the 75¥ fee per person was not bad given how far those tourists spots were located from each other. After an hour, we have arrived at our first stop, Yungang Grottoes.

Yungang Grottoes, Datong

Exploring George Town, Penang - Day 7 in Malaysia

We literally had no itinerary for Penang aside from visiting George Town and sampling different cuisines in Malaysia's food capital. We took a 6-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Sungai Nibong, Penang and for our first day there, we saw Kek Lok Si which was majestic and the Botanical Garden that had perfect landscaping and nature setting for runners but nothing much of interest for tourists like me and my friend (except for the pesky monkeys in the area). For the next day, we solely planned to explore Georgetown and discover why the place is famous with tourists local and foreigner alike.

taken from a unique store in George Town

A Massive Post on our Day Trip to Malacca - Day 4 in Malaysia

We really didn't have anything planned for our fourth day. We turned to our host and she said "Why not go to Malacca?" I have heard of the place from a friend but didn't really look it up on the internet, not until the day before we were supposed to go. We didn't have an itinerary for Malacca, but just some notes on the must-eat food and must-see museums. Nevertheless, we were excited and took the 2-hour bus ride from B'spadu Selatan Station Terminal in KL to Malacca.

relaxing view of the Melaka River

Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Village: Strolling around Seoul like royalty – Day 14 in South Korea

We were supposed to meet up with our host for lunch, but due to some miscommunication, it never happened on that day so we had lunch by ourselves on a restaurant near the dormitory. It was a sumptuous meal of Samgyupsal, which by now you should know that I absolutely love! The plan for the day was to visit the palaces around Seoul and we were fully energized thanks to our most loved Korean meat.

killing some time to wait this be cooked. yummmm!

Manjanggul Cave and Gimnyeong Maze Park, Jeju - Day 12 in South Korea

As we bid our taxi driver goodbye, we headed to Jeju's intercity bus terminal to take a ride to Manjanggul. The place where we were staying at, Woljeongni, is quite near from the famous tourist attraction, so  why not make this our last stop before we retire for the day. Just ask around the terminal which bus number takes you to Manjanggul, it's the same bus to Woljeongni so we didn't have problems on that. The bus ride to our destination took about 40-50 minutes. From there you can either take a taxi, walk or ride a bus (that we didn't even have a glimpse of!) We reached the bus stop by around 4:30 PM and the walk from there took us 30 minutes or so.

Located some 30 km east of Jeju City, Manjanggul Cave (만장굴) is one of Earth's finest and largest lava tubes. This geological jewel stretches for about 13 kilometers and was formed underwater more than 200,000 years ago. It has not only been designated as a National Treasure, but a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. While only 1km of the total length is open to visitors, you'll still be amazed by the interesting structures such as lava stalagmites and stone pillars.

Cool lights at Manjanggul Cave