Some Happy Adventures

just some of my adventures.... more to come... :)

The Taytay Falls of Mount Banahaw

I'm back, it's been a year since I posted something in here. I didn't stop travelling though, I got to see some places in the last few months. I just didn't have enough time to share what I saw. But I am very much willing to share it here, especially those that are not frequently visited by many.

our tour guide

Just yesterday, we came from Majayjay, Laguna. Before we left for Manila, we visited Taytay Falls in Barangay Gagalot. It's my second time going there, but what is amazingly interesting this time is we had a tour guide -- who voluntarily guided us on our way to the falls without really expecting something from us. And he stayed with us while we're there. I just don't know where he went when it's time to leave, maybe he heard us talking about him -- on why he's there with us.... :)

Anyway, I've been to other falls in Aurora province, in other places. But I think the waters in Taytay Falls are much colder that I couldn't stand the icy cold water when I tried to join my colleagues already dipping in it.

Taytay Falls in Barangay Gagalot, Majayjay, Laguna

Another amazing fact is its clear flowing water, which is so cool and refreshing. The falls is part of Mount Banahaw and since some people have been there, it's open for camping, with just a minimal environmental fee of Php 20.

Next time, if I will have a chance to visit the place, I will really try to dip in it. :)

Philippines' Bet for the New 7 Wonders of the World

I got to see this for the first time in 2008, and since then I got struck by its beauty, its wonders.... truly a heavenly-made spot right here on earth, and yes in my very own country, the Philippines.

I first blogged on this in 2008 here, when at that time it's leading the survey of the Wonders of the World.
I featured it in the site "Take Me To Asia" to encourage more people to come and visit that amazing place.

They said, it's been discovered by foreigners who taught the local people on how to protect it and  promote it as a tourist spot. They were never wrong, as today it's our bet for the New 7 Wonders of the World.

More and more people got to see it, as they got curious how it became popular and even reaches to the top 28 of the world's best destinations so far. And if you're like us who got amazed especially when you saw how nature formed the stalagmites and stalactites inside the cave, cast your vote and let's put it as one of the New 7 Wonders of World.

For those who haven't been there, what are you waiting for? It's one best place to go to, I promise you.
For more information, visit http://www.puerto-undergroundriver.com/

Some of where I've been

A Glimpse of Where I've Been Slideshow: Pam’s trip from Quezon City, National Capital Region, Philippines to 23 cities including Virginia, New York City, Washington DC, West Virginia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Macau Peninsula, Boracay, Cebu City, Fukui, Halong Bay, Puerto Princesa, Tagaytay, Dumaguete City (near Dumaguete, Negros), Cagayan de Oro, Siquijor, Olongapo, Province of Bohol (near Tagbilaran City, Bohol), Vigan and Province of Camarines Sur (near Naga, Luzon) was created by TripAdvisor. See another United States slideshow. Create your own stunning slideshow with our free photo slideshow maker.

Turn your summer adventures into extra cash by travel writing - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Turn your summer adventures into extra cash by travel writing - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Once Upon A Time in Vietnam

I got the chance to see Vietnam recently. Because of an official invitation to our office to participate in an international conference, I was sent to go and see what's in store for us there. So that's when I got to see another nature's wonder, another finalist in this year's Wonders of the World -- the Halong Bay of Vietnam.

The Halong Bay, with 1,969 islands and about 100 caves to boast with. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes and about 120 kilometer long coastline and approximately 1,553 square kilometers in size. Most of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves, other support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Another specific feature of Halong Bay is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands. All these island lakes occupy drowned dolines within fengcong karst.

Its legendary stories would even describe it as "when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam." (wikipedia). So Halong means the 'descending dragon'.

It's 165 kilometers away from Hanoi City, about three hours drive, but getting there eased all our backaches... pictures will explain it all... During the tour, I got to meet other tourists who went to Vietnam to see the Halong Bay and what Vietnam still has to offer.

We also passed by some souvenir shops showcasing Vietnam's handicrafts, arts and silk... all a pride of the country...

Location: Halong Bay, Quang Ning Province of Vietnam

Exploring Aurora Province

Another site for an upcoming project... we're happy to note that Aurora Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo is so accommodating and she welcomes us to her province wholeheartedly. She doesn't even forget us even we got to know each other for very limited time.

I heard Aurora as a place that is so far and sort of unreachable community due to limited facilities in there. That's how i understood it, when we were planning to go there. Imagine, it's like seven hours of traveling from Manila and there are so many rough roads, not so many establishments, aside from the fact that it used to be hit by natural calamities.

So when we went there, we experienced traveling to what they say as its main link to the rest of Luzon - the narrow mountain gravel road that twists through the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, just to reach Aurora.

Because of Sen. Angara's initiatives and our office has been tapped to work with the other agencies for his proposed project for Aurora, we were forced to visit the place.
Little did we know, that despite of the difficulties in reaching Baler, Aurora, we enjoyed staying there and yes, now we don't mind going there again and again.

At first due to a very limited time, we were able to visit some facilities for the project that we are working on and a side trip to Ermita and to the Museo de Baler, one of the places I enjoyed visiting because of the stories behind it. And we were able to stay in one of the best accommodations there, well fortunately because other hotels were fully booked then. It's beachfront, so we got to enjoy the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

In our second visit, I was able to bring along my son with us. This time, he enjoyed not only the waters of the Pacific Ocean, but also another pride of the province, the El Pimentel Waterfalls, which despite of the rough roads that we had to pass through, it is all worth it.

For sure, we will get to explore more of Aurora once our project started.

If you're interested, you might want to get to know Aurora more at www.aurora.ph.