Adventure Accounting

I woke up early. I was able to sleep but I was not able to rest. After a quick breakfast and toilet time, we hauled our now salty bags back to the vehicle. Here comes Day 2 ( here's Day 1 ).  We were miles and miles away from the Uyuni (Funny how I use miles and miles as an expression but I have a better idea of what a kilometer is vs. a mile. It is not nice to say kilometers and kilometers away). Good morning Uyuni view. We drove so early in the morning and stopped in these tracks. Our driver told us to get down from the vehicle because he had to get over this train track and we were heavy (He said that in Spanish) It was a beautiful sunny and cold morning in Uyuni. Here's my lying-down-in-the-tracks pose. I should've ditched the bag. We drove for almost an hour to our next time. The landscape in Uyuni reminded me of the Savannah in Indonesia , but it is emptier. And definitely colder. 

Machu Picchu town or Aguas Calientes is the gateway town to Machu Picchu. As expected, this is a very touristy place. The town thrives on tourists. I just selected whatever accommodation fit my budget. Booked a night in Ecopackers.  The hostel's location is pretty nice. Easy to find and the bus station to MP is 5 minutes away. Reception spoke pretty good English.  I stayed for 18 hours at a 4-bed girl dorm ensuite. Room costs $19. They were a bit choosy with the dollars they accept. The bills had to be new with almost no crease. The beds were comfy, there was heater (a must a night!) and hot water was really hot. There were 4 beds but only 2 were occupied for the night. Lucky me.

I can't get creative with the title. I just put it in ALL CAPS.That should do justice. There are no words for all the descriptions and emotions that ran through me when I was in Machu Picchu. Giving a title to this entry was a difficult task. Choosing the photos, another story. So much decision-making involved.  My day started early. The alarm went off at 3:50AM. I didn't play snoozefest with my alarm clock. Excited for the day head, I got up and prepared for the day ahead. The water was sooo cold, it felt like brushing my teeth in melted ice. It woke me up. The hostel's breakfast started at 4:00AM. They knew that the travelers were keen to start their day early. I was. Check out was at 11AM and I didn't want to rush back to the city without getting my fill of MP. So I checked out and left my luggage at the hostel. It was a very short walk from the hostel to the bus station. I planned to be at the bus station at 5:00AM the latest. Apparently, that was every...

The train ticket s of Machu Picchu is the most expensive set of train tickets that I bought. So this train ride deserves its own entry. And I have a load of photos to share .   I got the tickets by booking them in the Peru Rail website, pretty much the same as booking a plane ticket. Got them four months before the trip. Cost: Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu, $64. Machu Picchu to Cuzco, $117 , in the Vistadome section. I bought the ticket based on the train schedule. That, is a pricey ticket . It is equivalent to a roundtrip flight to a country in Southeast Asia from Manila. And I'm just travelling from one t own to another town in Peru. Screenshot of my ticket. Over the course of my adventures, I've realized that I am not a climber. Mountain climbing is not really my forte. I've done Batad and Mount Pulag and I am fine if I don't climb any other mountain forever (though that is unlikely, I know). Blame it on the lack of proper toilet fa...

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...

Cemoro Lawang is the closest town that you can use as a base to Mount Bromo. It is a quaint and quiet town which thrives on the flock of tourists. The tours start as early as 3:30am, and then you’ll be back in your homestay by 9:00am. The tours are arranged in such a way that you can catch an afternoon flight out of Surabaya, which is around 4 hours away.   By 11:00am, there’s almost no tourist in sight. My homestay offered tours for IDR 125,000. I didn’t haggle down the price, I thought it was already fair. He offers the usual tour: Sunrise at Penanjakan view point then hike to the Bromo Crater. I inquired if there’s a tour to include the Savanah and Telletubby land. I wanted to go back   - after showering and eating. He said he doesn’t offer those tours but he could get an ojek driver for me so I could tour it that afternoon.   There's not a lot to do in town. So I hired the ojek for IDR 75,000 to take me to Savannah and Telletubby land. BUT the v...

“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...

Indonesia: Planning, Preparation, Budget and Itinerary At the close of 2013, I had four definite trips for 2014: South Korea (winter edition) , Batanes , Romblon and China. My major target for 2014 is Egypt. However, I realized I wasn't too brave to conquer Egypt given the unstable political situation there. Plus, I'm a female solo traveler. I can be brave but I have limits. So there's no Egypt 2014. :( To compensate for this, I booked a Manila-Jakarta flight during the January Piso-fare sale of Cebupacific. I booked the return flight from Jakarta to Manila on another Piso-fare sale which was also in January. Jakarta is not my main destination: It is Borobudur in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I was led to Borobudur by the Discovery documentary Ancient Aliens - I borrowed a copy from my wushu classmate and I was intrigued by these theories about Aliens. I cannot explore the Pyramids of Egypt yet, so it is gonna be Borobudur. I added Mount Bromo to my itinerary alt...

Batanes greeted me with a wonderful weather.  'Twas sunny with just the right wind chill to start off a 5-day adventure. The beauty of Batanes cannot be captured in photos alone. Kahit super DSLR and super photographer pa yan.  You will have a very difficult time choosing which photos to upload. My standard number of photos in a Facebook Album is around 50-70. I choose not to upload everything. Your Batanes Album will test that patience. I got Dale as my trike driver/tour guide. He is the same guide recommended by Chyng Reyes. North Batan Tour costs Php 1,000. Contact #: 0929-341-0941 All the pics in one blog post. North Batan Tour After brunch and a restful nap (it was a really early flight going to Batanes), we started the tour.  Tukon Church. Mass here is held once a month. Fundacion Pacita was impressive. Secluded. I liked this s tone church accented with a motorcycle. Nagpapaka-Santorini. I look really good with Mount...

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...