Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Technically, I live in Palawan, but I’ve been away for more than two decades.  Yes, relatives live here but I didn’t have the chance to stay for more than a month at any of those holidays from work.  And sadly, I haven’t been to El Nido.  Tomorrow perhaps – if weather permits – will be the first, so I’ll be putting up an installment sort of a blow-by-blow account of my trip.

As with most travelers, I also keep a list of places or landmarks I want to see.  El Nido is one of those places I’ve included on my “100 places I want to see before I die”, ironically it’s not far from home.  I know I wouldn’t be able to see all those places on my list, but to date, I’ve passed the mid mark, yey!  From Asia to Europe to the Middle East to North Africa.   Most of those are on my VirtualTourist page.

My travel style:  I usually travel alone, although at times it doesn’t hurt tagging some friends along or other fellow travelers.  The beauty of traveling is you get to meet lots of people along the way, exchange thoughts, culture, share expenses sometimes, ideas, among others.  I prefer traveling alone, it makes life easier for me as I don’t need to worry about a lot of things like waking up early or coming back late, I move on my own pace, choosing places I want to see minus the arguments, I enjoy my sleep on long distance bus travels, I avoid loud chats on-board planes, I could enjoy peace sitting on the bay or on beach sands, I like the serenity on top of a mountain, just no worries at all.  I love those times when I feel like I own the world, not those times I'm hearing continuous blabbering whilst I want peace.  I'm a budget traveler, splurge a bit sometimes, particularly during the start and the last part, to really enjoy a bit of luxury, but not that much.  I take advantage of cheap early-bird ticket fares on budget airlines, I like long distance bus or train travels, I buy transport cards, I stay at budget hotels and guesthouses, and all the usual travelers stuff.





Places I like:  I love those off-the-beaten-path places, small towns, small population, culturally rich community, unspoilt, non-touristic – at least not much - quaint towns (like Safranbolu), but I go to popular places too just to satisfy my “I’ve been there” cravings, like most of us. I like beaches, am not sure why because I'm not a good swimmer, maybe I enjoy the calming effect of blue seas. I like trekking on mountains although again, I easily gasp for air and sweat a lot, I like green parks, places of worship (churches, mosques, synagogues), museum of histories (the Egyptian Museum is amazing).



Travel stuff I Like:  I like anything with long history.  Like most beginners, I used to just take pictures of me and famous landmarks on the background, but the travel intensified, I started to appreciate and dig on stories of those landmarks, monuments, buildings, stones, structures, etc.  The older it gets, the more interesting for me, you know, those stuff dating back BCs.

I’m very much fascinated with Roman architecture, relics and buildings dating back to the Ottoman Empire, the Lycian League, the Hellenistic period, the Achaemenids, the Islamic golden age, Phyrgians, the nine levels of the Troy Anatolian civilization, the Pharaohs and Giza Pyramids – they never cease to amaze me.




Here’s a partial list of cities and towns where I’ve been, including those that truly enchanted me (my travel highlights) and won’t hesitate to come back – in a heartbeat - if budget permit of course:

Agra                       
Amasra                 
Amasya                                
Aswan                  
Ayvalik                  
Bali                         
Bangkok               
Barcelona            
Bergama              
Cairo                      
Chiang Mai          
Dalyan                  
Damascus            
Dogubeyazid      
Ephesus               
Fethiye                 
Goreme               
Hasankeyf           
Istanbul                                
Kalekoy                                
Kas                         
Luxor                     
Maloula                  
Mardin              
Midyat                  
Mumbai              
Munich                 
Olympos              
Palmyra                
Pamukkale          
Paris                      
Prague                  
Qal’at Al Hisn     
Rome                    
Rothenburg        
Safranbolu          
Salzburg               
Sanliurfa              
Schwangau         
Singapore            
Siwa Oasis           
Tours                  
Trabzon 

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