I’m still shaking my head on what I got myself into for my travel plans next month. I was originally planning on going to Manila during the third week of April and spending a couple of days to watch Aliwan Fiesta 2010, a showcase of festivals all over the Philippines on April 22-24 but then I extended it to a little more than one week after finding out about the 6th Philippine Blogging Summit to be held on April 16 – 17. So I booked my round trip flights online but after series of unexpected events, I ended up rebooking both flights and with two more “surprise” trips that I’m so excited about!
The Laoag City Float during the Aliwan Fiesta last year
The first trip will be my second trip abroad. This time, it will be to Thailand and Cambodia. Although I’d be spending a longer-than-usual 10 days for the whole trip, the bulk of my time is reserved to cover an event in Siem Reap (Cambodia), which is the main reason for my travel. I’ll make sure to make the best of my free time though, so I can take a lot of pictures and make helpful guides/blog posts about the places I will visit. I’ve already set my mind on exploring the grand temples of Angkor, Bangkok, and Ayutthaya.
After the Aliwan Fiesta, I’ll be setting off to Northern Philippines for a backpacking trip to Batad in Banaue, Ifugao Province to see the famed “Banaue Rice Terraces.” It’ll be a physically demanding trip, enduring the long hours in the bus, and trekking across the mountain ranges of Luzon.
It’s going to be a month to remember!
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.
Hey Marcos! Enjoy your trip, just watch out at Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). I got a bad experience there (sort of) while in transit. I got profiled before boarding the plane, though I carry a Canadian passport. ALL of the Asian passengers (half of the total passengers), no matter what passport one has, was scrutinized extra-thouroughly BUT Caucasian passengers were NOT! They are telling the world that Asians are criminals and Caucasians are not! I was very disappointed while watching the whole scenario. I filed a complaint against Thai security at TSA office in L.A. as soon as I landed in the US but, it appeared that I was one of the thousand complainants. Anyways, the BKK airport is massive and beautiful. Furthermore, I went to see the rice terraces in the late 70′s (before you were born!) when I was studying at SLU in Baguio. I was taken aback of the breathtaking scenery! The bus trip was gruelling though and the very narrow winding roads that time was very dangerous, lots of landslides on the way. Just be careful, bud… take lots of pics and will wait for them.
When I do get through the immigrations at BKK and I not get scrutinized extra-thoroughly, then I have you and thousands of Asians to thank then :D I’ll arrive at Bangkok at midnight and I’ve decided to stay there a couple of hours until the buses are available again early morning so the delay won’t be much of a bother.
Sige Lee, I’ll be sure to take nice pics to post here.