Adventure Accounting

Not a fan of hiking here. But I give it a shot from time to time. I had ambitious plans of hiking in the challenging trail of Adam's Peak. I ditched the plan when I had a chat with some backpackers who have been there. Too much effort to do it plus I had to figure out how to get there from Nuwara Eliya. Nope. So I chose an easier hike: Horton Plains. My guesthouse offered to arrange a tuktuk to take me to Horton Plains for LKR 2,500. Cheaper that what I expected - which is usually LKR 3,000 to 3,500. I had my breakfast packed to go. We left at 5AM. It was around one hour going to Horton Plains via tuktuk - faster if you use a car. Entrance fees were still absurdly high. I had to pay a  total of LKR 3,560 that covered my entrance fee, parking fee and whatever charges. The ticket reflected a breakdown of all those charges. They charge too much, IMO.

I love salt. I drizzle salt in fries, egg, peanuts and what-nots. It affects my cooking. Sometimes my “dash” of salt results to a teaspoon. ^____^ My hot chocolate becomes a salted hot chocolate. Throwback photo. Merrily sprinkling the salt. Salt is the reason I wanted a stop in Ollantaytambo. Eduardo, my guide from the previous day offered this tour of the three spots for 150 soles. I know I could have haggled for something less but we already had a rapport. I read that you can haggle for as low as 120 soles. Booking via the hostel costs an arm and leg and I did not have the time (nor patience) to navigate using public transportation – the combi (waaaaay cheaper). The combi and their version of tricycle I just told Eduardo that I have to be back at Ollantaytambo before my train going to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) left at 3:37PM that day and I had to be at the train station 30 minutes before departure time.   Eduardo overtaking the...

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost” The usual route from Yogyakarta to Mount Bromo is via Probolinggo, a bus terminal filled with touts. I read lots of horror stories about the drama in Probolinggo (I have one as well but that’s for a separate blog post). The other option is to get a package tour from your hostel or any travel agency and then endure a 15-16 hour minivan ride with other tourists. Two lousy options. Both not fun. After some careful research, I stumbled across the Bromo backdoor route via the town of Ngadas. I read about the Malang-Ngadas-Cemoro Lawang route from these amazing bloggers. A good acquaintance, who also did this route, helped me out with the details. Kurtzy WalkFlyPinoy Ambot Ah So there are some adventurers who did this route. The thing is, they are all male. That made me a bit apprehensive about doing this route. Since you are reading my blog post...

Sabtang is one of the islands of Batanes.It is truly a piece of paradise. Maybe this will be the nth blog post you've read about Sabtang, so you've read that it is a "heaven on earthy", "jaw-dropping" and etc idiomatic expressions. I ran out of idiomatic expressions while writing this post. I peppered it with a lot of my solo shots instead. It was very time-consuming to choose which photos to include here. Brace yourselves. I repeat my poses. :P The day started early. I joined forces with a travelling mother in daughter also staying in Palangud House. ‘Twas 5am when I hopped on a tricycle on the Sabtang Island. I sat the the back and it was cold. So this is Batanes winter. Port of Ivana San Jose de Obrero Church We arrived the Port of Ivana after 45 minutes. I left most of my stuff back in Palangud house and just packed the essentials for an overnight stay. To my surprise and display, I LEFT MY MEMORY CARD IN MY LAPTOP. HOW S...

Mamma Mia. Sisterhood of Travelling Pants. Both movies bragged beautiful filming sets. Greece is in my list for this Europe II adventure because of Santorini. I got roundtrip tickets from Athens to Santorini for € 130 – that’s just € 65/way. Alternatively, you can also take a ferry but that takes at least 8 hours. The flight to Santorini took 30 minutes. Take-off. Short flight. Landing. View from the plane. I was so excited when I saw all these white houses!   Upon arrival, we took a cab going to our hostel in Santorini – “Caveland”. The cab cost €15. You can also take the bus for a cheapo price but that takes time.   Santorini Airport Late lunch. Rest. Sunblock. Water. Maps. I changed into a nicer picturesque-worth outfit   (I know my priorities) . Grandpa in Caveland (I’m terribly sorry but I can’t recall his name) advised us to do the walk in reverse. Most tourists start out in Fira then trek all the way to Oia. He said that reve...

I could’ve just included this in my previous entry , but I feel that Fushimi Inari Shrine deserves a separate blog posts. If you have a day in Kyoto, please don’t miss visiting Fushimi Inari. You can go and skip all the other temples and pavilion (well, maybe not all of them) but DO NOT MISS VISITING FUSHIMI INARI! Memorize that name now. Fushimi Inari is one station away from JR Kyoto Station, along the JR Nara line. I used my Japan Railpass to board the train. The train ride is less than 5 minutes; waiting for the train is longer. You won’t miss the shrine, it is just outside the train station. There’s a bright red-orange temple gate. Everyone wants their photo here. There is no entrance fee! This is completely free! XD Red? Orange? Red Orange? Nope, It is VERMILLION. There are thousands of these vermillion torii gates dedicated to Inari - the Shinto god of rice. Even locals go here regularly, I believe. You can write your wish (again) ...