Adventure Accounting

Italy is famous for its food, churches, museums and ancient ruins. Cinque Terre is a breather from all that history and art. Cinque Terre (translated as Five Lands) is a coast of the Italian Riviera. It is composed of five villages: Manarola, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore. Everything that surrounds these villages is called the Cinque Terre National Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View going to Cinque Terre When I was doing my research for the Italy leg, I got a suggestion from a forum that I should try the CT tours offered by Walkabout Tours . Reading about the place, it can actually be an overnight destination. Even Rick Steves included CT in his itineraries. However, I found no suitable accommodation within my budget. The accommodations can almost go as high as the price of accomodations in Venice . Also, it didn’t appeal to me that I have to drag my suitcase and all my stuff for an overnight stay. Makes sense to just join a travel group fo...

I woke up to with aching legs. I had a snoozefest with my alarm. It was a freezing morning in Sagada. Can’t blame me for wanting to snuggle under the covers. We paid Php 250 to use the van since we didn’t want to walk. :P We dropped by Lake Danum since we skipped this in Day 1. I was in the Low Bat mood – didn’t feel like getting down and taking pics.

Day 2 of our Sagada Saga required us to wake up at around 4am-ish to witness the sunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint. I did wake up along the lines of 4am, but getting up was another story. It was so darn cold and I was feeling some sore spots from the trek the day before. But the excitement of our itinerary for the day made me finally get up. The trip to Kiltepan Viewpoint took approximately 30 minutes. I was still feeling drowsy during the trip but the cold breeze kept me awake. We arrived at the viewpoint with ample time to take in Sagada’s morning.

After being a solo participant in a group tour, I gathered the courage again to join TF’s Conquer Sagada. I registered on the week of the trip itself (pasaway) . Conquer Sagada Mountain Province, Philippines July 10 – 12, 2010 Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines Travel Factor’s 3 Days and 2 Nights adventure tour to the Mountain Province. PACKAGE RATE P4,800 per person PACKAGE INCLUSIONS * Roundtrip Aircon Bus: Manila – Banaue – Manila * Roundtrip Chartered Jeep : Banaue – Sagada – Banaue * 3D/2N accommodation in Sagada * Day 1 – breakfast, lunch * Day 2 – breakfast, lunch * Private Jeepney during tours around Sagada (see itinerary) * Cave Connection Adventure (Sumaguing and Lumiang Cave) * Environment permits and entrance fees * Service of the Local Guides & Cave Guides with lamps * Service of the tour director * Travel Insurance * Travel Factor ID, Conquer Sagada souvenir t-shirt

How I survived my first hike. Travel Attire A good pair of walking sandals with straps is advisable for the trek. One of our fellow travellers wore hiking shoes and he slipped. Plus hiking shoes are more heavy. But if you already have them and you don’t want to buy new sandals, then go ahead. Just be careful. No Flipflops please. Your shoes will get wet. Wear socks during trekking to avoid blisters. Your socks will get wet but you won’t be slipping.I came up with this: I thought the sandals + socks combination was kinda baduy at first. But it all worked out pretty well. No foot blisters!

Batad Rice Terraces is located in an off-beaten track in Ifugao. TravelFactor (TF) offers trips to Batad. I discovered TravelFactor thru my officemate. Travel Factor offers affordable trips for yuppies. We met solo travellers in our group who has travelled the country. Coolness eh? They made the necessary arrangements for this trip. Conquer Batad Itinerary (April 25-26, 2009)