The joys of the night buses

The thing about travelling is that you have more time than money so, if at home I would not consider taking a long distance bus when I can fly/get a reasonably priced train - on the road you do exactly the opposite, embarking on 12/16hrs bus rides every week or so.

That is why we found ourselves again on an over night bus from Bangkok to the northern city of Chiang Rai. We were offered a VIP bus for little more money than the standard one. We decided it was worth the extra expense Asia being Asia, where I have seen "luxury" written on Indian 1970s buses that are still running...

I have to admit we were pleasently surprised... This has probably been the best night bus so far: with our blankets and pillow, a TV (with 2 movies in English!), free water and sweets, one carton of maize-flavoured green tea (don't ask) and a chair that has got a massage function!

The gentle giants: whale sharks

The village of Tan-awan, in the south of Cebu island, Philippines is home to the biggest fish in the ocean: the whale shark.

Since late 2011, the locals have been attracting the whale sharks feeding them in the morning - lucky enough they only eat plankton! and many tourists have been visiting this village putting it on the travelling map.

You only get 30mins in the water, you are not allowed to touch the sharks or swim closer than 4mts... Which is pretty hard when they are as big as 12mts themselves and swimming around! 

Here are the pictures the local guy took of me at the command "ma'am, go down!" ... Hence the weird poses. 

The pattern on the skin of the whale shark is different for every animal: it's their finger print

 

Rain on the island of fire

We have now left Siquijor, another island is the Central Visayas. The Spanish colonizers called it the “Isla de Fuego” (“Island of Fire”) due to the glow of the multitude of fireflies that would gather nightly... I find this hilarious as we have had quite a bit of rain since we have been here and only one firefly!

Not sure if the rain and wind (so loud that keeps you up at night!) were due to the typhoon Koppu that was hitting the north island of Luzon a few days ago, or just our own luck.

Regardless of the weather, we decided to go on an island tour... Siquijor is supposed to be home to black and white sorcery, as well as enchanted tree and potions.

Our first stop was a 400year old tree called Century Old Balete tree. The tree is quite impressive and am glad we stopped by - minus the rain. 

We then stopped at a church, a convent that doubles as a school with some impressive Catholic art (aka a Sacred Heart of Jesus rug just out of Father Ted) and went through a forest.

All of this in a tricycle: a small scooter that has a iron seat mounted on and takes you around. This did not help our getting wet but we had a pretty good view of the road/island the whole time and we could wave at all the locals while we were passing by. Filipinos have proven to be extremely friendly and the kids always shout "hello" to us!

We also stopped at Cambugahay Falls. You can swim, jump the ropes and the water was the right temperature. But the stairs were so slippery I am surprised I made it there and back.

The last stop was a mangrove forest. They had set up bridges all the way to the sea and you can have a better look at the tress as you are pretty much walking on water. I really liked it!

Electric clams!

We are currently in Moalboal, a small village on the west side of Cebu Island. The beach is a hot spot for diving and we decided to dedicate a few days to this.

Went for two dives yesterday and two dives today, which means we are very hungry and very tired when we are done!

We have seen some pretty cool stuff so far: some turtles (one swimming right above us!), some colourful corals - blue and red, some pretty purple fish and one ugly grey frogfish that looked particularly grumpy.

On our last dive today we went about 19mt deep and our divemaster stopped in front of a cave. The cave was very dark and only small enough for 2divers so we took turn going in - while the other one was hanging around on the reef boulder looking at pretty fish!

The divemaster pointed at some red clams: when the flashlight shone on the clams you can see some kind of "electric current" going through the clam itself! It was weird and wonderful!

We have another dive tomorrow so looking forward to seeing some more underwater life!

Dive sites in Moalboal

Our gear ready

Pescador Island in the background

Island hopping and dolphins ahoy!

Amazing day in Panglao island, Philippines.

Early start at 6am to get out on the water on time to see the dolphins: I have seen dolphins before, but this was incredible! There were big families swimming all around, big spinner dolphins jumping out of the water and swimming very fast! (they like it around here as there's a lot of tuna in the water - clever!)

The second stop was Balicasan Island... An amazing spot of beach where we could relax, have a mango juice (or a coffee since it was only 9am!) and a bit of snorkelling.

The local guide took us to "turtle point" and before you know it we spotted 6/7 turtles - or it might have been the same one getting around ahah. There was just 4 of us swimming in the water, the visibility was so clear and it was so amazing to see the turtles coming up to get some air, diving back down again and having their own cleaner fish. Wish I had an underwater camera cause the view was unforgettable!

Happy on the boat!

Balicasag Island

The beach on Balicasag

The last and third stop was at Virgin island, now known as "la isola di Francesco" in honour of St Padre Pio di Pietralcina. The Philippines is mainly a Catholic country so the whole island was dotted with statues and signs of devotion. The most spectacular sight however was the beach... I don't think I have even seen a place with water this beautiful!

Virgin Island

The other beach on Virgin Island

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Bohol island and its small primate

Island number 2 in the Philippines: after spending a couple of days in Cebu, we are currently on Bohol, another island of the Visayas.

We are staying in a nice little place by the river and we have been busy on the island today.

The riverview

We got a crazy local bus (there is no such thing as a bus too full in Asia... People will get on and make space where you did not think there was any!) to a place called the Chocolate Hills. It has some got some nice views and, even if we got completely drenched on the way to the top - still monsooning around here, the hills do look like chocolate!

The second stop of today was at the Tarsier Conservation Centre.

These little guys are carnivorous primates, weighing up to 160gr for the males. They only measure up to 160 mm (6.30 in) in height and they cannot move their eyes. Their skull however can rotate 180°. They are nocturnal animals and this species only lives in the Philippines.
They are considered endangered so we were lucky to see them in their natural habitat, the conservation area.

Moving onto the smaller but close island of Panglao tomorrow, looking forward to exploring more of the Philippines...

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Cooking in Bangkok

We decided to kill a morning in Bangkok with a cooking course: over 3 and half months away and I must admit I miss cooking.

Hidden in a back road near Khao Sarn Road, we found this cookery class online and we spent the morning cooking up a storm.

First stop: the local market. We walked (in the Asian pouring rainy season rain) to the market and followed our teacher while she was showing up spices, noodles, fruits and weird herbs&veggies.

Chilli galore

Curry paste

I think these are veggies



Fish

I carried the basket

Ben carried the eggs

Then we went onto cooking.

We pounded chillis, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, coriander roots, shallots, garlic, pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and shrimp paste to make Phrik Kaeng Phed - red curry paste... And we added coconut milk and sweet basil leaves to make a creamy curry.

All ready

Pestle and mortar

Another dish was Larb Kai, a dish originated from the north of Thailand - a "salad" of minced meat and lots of herbs, lime, mint leaves, spring onions and fish sauce.

Larb Kai

Golden bags

We cooked a couple of more dishes, one was broad rice noodles and pork with soy sauce... It takes 5mins to cook and 6mins to burn!! The started we cooked was "golden bags", crispy pastry stuffed with minced pork and mixed vegetables.

Now, let's eat!

At the end of it all, we finally got it all... And, can I say, it was fab!

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Koh Phi Phi Don

It's been a few busy days in Koh Phi Phi - a small group of islands in the Andaman sea.

Weather was a bit hit and miss but when the sun came out, the islands just look so beautiful!

First stop was the View point: you walk up a steep hill to see both the bays of the island. It was a bit hard (especially in 30+ degrees heat) but well worth it.


Viewpoint

Another day was occupied by diving: we went to 2 different sites (near the small uninhabited island of Koh Phi Phi Leh)... The visibility was not the best because of the weather but we still saw some catfish, clowfish, cuttlefish and very pretty seastars (one called the crown of thorns!).

We also stopped for lunch in a beautiful stop: in front of Maya bay, where "The Beach" was partly filmed.


Maya Bay - The Beach

All dived out!

Yesterday was out last full on day on the island and the sunniest. We set out for a walk to another beach called "Long Beach". It is a 30mins trek, well signposted but it can get sometimes a bit wild!






We stopped in a small cove for a dip while we were walking around. I love the limestone cliffs coming right out of the sea and the colours!


While walking...

Long beach

I have been really enjoying Phi Phi, the Andaman sea is really beautiful even on the Thai side :-)

Last night was rounded off with a Thai massage (the lady walked all over my legs but it feels so good afterwards), a manicure, a pedicure, seafood dinners and beers and we're on a boat+bus to Bangkok tonight. Cannot wait to get to one of the craziest cities on earth!



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