Seeing the famous tarsiers and chocolate hills of Bohol are definitely among the most popular items of most Filipinos’ travel wishlist, myself included (growing up with the mindset that it’s a requirement of Philippine Travel 101). Bohol is also famous for its many old Spanish-colonial Churches. I wanted to have a do-it-yourself tour of Bohol and Panglao Island. It took some effort and googling skills to fish out DIY commuting tips of Bohol but it’s definitely doable.
To kick off my wanderlust, I journeyed to a number of places in the central parts of the Philippines particularly in Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao. It’s the longest time I’ve traveled to bisaya speaking provinces and I was aiming to get the hang of this widely spoken Philippine dialect during my trip not only for convenience but also because I was hoping to get closer to my Cebuano roots. This trip was dominated by visits to some of the most popular and scenic old churches and heritage structures in the Philippines. I also went to a few island/beach destinations and city/urban sights.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve been AFK (away from keyboard) for a while now. It’s still a busy month of traveling for me. Since I started blogging, it has always been my goal to live the lifestyle of other travel bloggers. To be able to travel extensively and frequently for longer periods of time. If feel really lucky that I’m already starting to live that kind of life and thankful to everyone who continues to visit my blogs and leave comments, which fuels my passion to continue blogging. Here’s a quick rundown of places I’ve traveled to since my last post.
Taken at Kuala Lumpur International Airport just before the return flight from our Singapore – Malaysia trip at the end of September. It took multiple shots … but I still couldn’t keep my eyes open for the shot since I was already so tired.
Postings at Ambot-ah have been slooow, if not stagnant, for the past couple of weeks. I’ve been away from home since the second week of September doing a series of week long trips. Between doing the actual travel schedule of the day and planning for the next day’s itinerary plan, it has been a challenge to even just check for email and facebook updates. I’ve already posted some of my travel plans, but where have I exactly gone to so far?
Seeing the ancient temples of Angkor was the highlight of my trip to Cambodia last summer. People from half the world away go to this place to marvel at the accomplishments of early human civilization and I was very excited to also have the chance to see it myself. Angkor was a bustling metropolis built by the Khmer Empire in the 9th to the 15th centuries, it is known as the biggest pre-industrial city in history. Its immensity is comparable to settlements and grand structures built by other civilizations of the ancient world. Although most of the structures are now left in ruins, what remains is still very captivating and leaves any visitor a good grasp of Khmer history and culture.
Art Deli is one really cool place to hangout in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It is an art cafe located along Alley West (the walkway behind Pub Street). Art Deli is filled with a lot of interesting and quirky pieces at every corner creating a light and perfect mood for a relaxing recharge over a cup of coffee or a bottle of beer, especially after a day of touring the temples. I like that Art Deli specializes in selling affordable art. You can already own some of the pieces even with just a few dollars in your pocket.
With a name like “Pub Street”, there wouldn’t be much effort involved in convincing me to check such a place out. Pub Street can be found at the old market (downtown) area of Siem Reap in Cambodia, you won’t miss it if you’re planning on visiting Angkor Wat and spending some time in the city. It was late afternoon during our arrival in Siem Reap when we first passed by Pub Street, I was instantly drawn to the French colonial buildings still extant lining the whole stretch (actually much of the downtown area). Most of the buildings are now occupied by restaurants, cafes, and bars, thus the name “Pub Street.”
A few months ago Cebu Pacific announced a very enticing “Wandering Juan” contest for travel bloggers. The goal was to highlight the best posts by travel bloggers under a number of different categories. I wrote a few posts about by recent travels myself and sent them as entries for the “Cebu Pacific “Wandering Juan” contest.
During the August 13, 2010 episode of “Trip na Trip”, a travel show in ABS-CBN, the winners were announced as follows:
As much as I would love to post daily in Ambot-ah, I’ve oftentimes found it difficult to come up with a full post in a frequent and consistent manner. Creative writing just doesn’t ooze out of my system effortlessly and I end up with a lot of days (even weeks) when I don’t have anything new posted in this blog. So, I decided to do a “daily photo blog” section for Ambot-ah! Travel Blog. It’s going to have higher quality photos I’ve taken during my travels minus the long write-ups and the watermarks :) It’s located at the home page but you can also find an archive of previous daily photos here. I’m hoping I can religiously keep posting everyday for at least one year.
Here’s a little something I wanted to do during my trip to Palawan. I felt during the previous months that I haven’t growing as much as I’d like as a photographer, probably because I’ve shifted my focus on so many distractions. I need to inspire myself again and not succumb to the vacuous feeling I’ve been having lately whenever I get in front of the mirror, click the camera’s shutter, or take that first step out the door before a trip. For my Palawan Photo Series, I’ve stripped down my photos to black and white, back to basics … raw and natural:
Getting there is part of the adventure
In the Philippine Ilonggo dialect, ambot ah literally means "I don't know." After graduating in college, I decided to hold off pursuing my profession and embarked on a free spirited journey of adventure and self-discovery. My travels have led me to many places across the Philippine Islands and South East Asia. I don't know where this path will take me but I'm certain I'll get a lifetime of stories out of it.
