What is Pixie up to

...home sweet home...

2007-04-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

...back home to work, rain all the best friends in the world :) ... the good news are that the trip was excellent and the bad news are that our Ipod with almost all the pictures disappeared from pour luggage :(...will try to rescues some shots from left over cards ...thank you all again for following our steps...

...monsoon clouds covered India-time to go home...

2007-04-15T19:08:00.001-07:00

...last few days we spent in Bangalore...IT center and nest of all the western companies...very different but only from inside...outside on the streets still cows wander around, rickshaws everywhere, chaos on the road, and dusty breeze in 30 C. We staid with our friend Joseph and had great introduction to the gaming companies here...visited 2 major outsourcing companies with 300 workers each ...impressive...especially since they manage to work with few hours power cut every day...manage to do some horse riding in the evening (my horse was totally crazy) ...had little tour for the poshest hotels and restaurants here...in general little bit different side of India we know :)
...last 2 days we spend in HongKong, very impressive, super clean city, and truly beautiful...very comparable to Vancouver I must say but seems cleaner and transport in the city the best I have ever seen....
...last day today ... :( ...:) will be back in Vancouver on Monday

....thank you all for all the comments, and for following our steps...it was kind of like we all travel together :)miss you all

...wild Andamans...

2007-04-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

..it is third day on beautiful Andamans Island between India and Thailand....it is gorgeous here ...white coral beaches, mangroves treas, little wicker hats all over the Island...truism is still in development, life runs super slow here...seems like damage from Tsunami 2004 is still under constaration or will not be ever taken care of. No shiny resorts and very little tourist...on the first day we took a tuktuk (kind of motorcycle taxi) and went to the beach no 7, apparently one of the most beautiful- indeed it was. We did lots of snorkeling which was fantastic. On the way home we saw bunch of flying fish and bloody red sunset. Second day I did 2 boat dives....AMAZING!!!!. ...mean time Nik sign up for the diving course...today I rent a bicycle and wandered around the Island and that how i found the only ...and the slowest Internet possible :) but that's better than nothing. Tomorrow I am planning either to go for a snorkeling trip or visit elephant training camp in the jungle...still not sure how to get there but heard from locals that something like that exist here. Drinking lots of fresh juices, eating lots of fish ( barracuda taste the best so far) manage to find a coconut and open our selves with a rock, was delicious :) So in general taking easy, swimming a lot in turquoise 30 C water (it feels warmer in the water than outside for some reason)...on Thursday way back to Port Blair by ferry and flight back to land to Chennai.
...hugs and kisses :)

Mom and Dad I hope you got my text on the cell, if not Happy Anniversary again :) Adam thank you for updating parents with all the news :)

...Happy Easter to all...

2007-04-06T04:26:00.000-07:00

...Happy Easter from Kolkata airport...just arrived to another hit waive...getting ready for a flight in 12 hours to the islands...all that time on the arrival terminal may be interesting...
big hug

...last day in Darjeelin...

2007-04-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

...it is around 12 C, pretty cold compare to 45 C in Varanasi...today is our last day in the Indians mountain region. Wandered around tea plantations, watched locals doing craft and getting lots in little street with no names. Tomorrow morning we are taking off to Kolkata and from there to the Andaman Islands ( not sure about the spelling) to do some diving and have some beach lazy days.

...thank you Diana for following our steps and for the news about my parents...I hope you are feeling good...big hugs

...cold with warm hearts Darjeelin...

2007-04-04T01:03:00.000-07:00

...we are close to Nepal...very close in beautiful Darjeelin which feels like a different country, different culture. Today woke up at 4 am to see sunrise above Mt Everest and Lhotse, was quite misty but we manage to see the picks. Little mountain city is incredible...everybody really cares about they land and culture...no plastic bags allowed in the city, the awareness about the clean planet is very high compare to central north India where it doesn't even exist. People super friendly, nobody is charging you crazy prices or attacking to buy their craft...definitely the best place to relax form crazy chaos :) In few hours we are going to visit tee plantations...yes Darjeerin produces most famous tea in the world...and indeed it tastes incredible. Need to buy a bigger backpack since my shopping don't fit anymore to my little 30 L one. :)

...thank you everybody for sweet as usual comments, it is wonderful to read them here and they make me super happy. Rowena!!! it is great, I am super happy for Kiara and her trip...is he visiting your relatives? Tell her I wish her good luck :) Tomoczko and Gregi I am glad that you enjoy our steps on this land, land full of surprises, hey Piotr how was your trip? big hugs to all...miss you all

...have never seen so much death and life at the same time...

2007-03-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

...second day in Varanasi, woke up at 5 and took a little boat on the Ganges watching morning local life...have never seen so much life and death at the same time. Hundreds of people washing clothes, themselves, praying, and the same time burning their dead and burning ghats, unbelievable view...felt like on the final gate to the place after death where everybody was getting ready for a final judge...on the way back saw few dead bodies floating around...was told that if somebody died by being poison by snake you are not allowed to be burned...

Life is incredible fast here but on the other hand you can see lots of lay back, sleeping, hanging around looking for a shade to hide. Apparently hot season came way earlier and people are not ready for that yet (hmmm global warming? nobody talks about it here) As I mention before I feel like everything is fast forward and in 5 minutes you will never expect how much can happen....my remarkable 5 minutes in Agra: since we had few hours to kill before the train I decided to get to the roof of the restaurant we used to hang out (seems like lots of activities is happening on the roofs of the buildings)...in 5 minutes managed to have last view at Taj Mahal, admired parrots playing in the air on the red sunset, had to fight against kite strings (all the kids form neighbour roofs start pointing kites my direction), little lizards everywhere, I turned around and saw lots of monkeys playing and fighting with each other...and one particular was so beautiful that I couldn't resist to take a picture of..need to climb some pipes, boxes to have a better view, once got a perfect position and the angle I hit something soft with my right leg and felt needles all over my legs, bees were all over my leg...and were stinging where ever they could... took me a while to get to stable position walking back on boxes and pipes finally manage to rescue my leg...and all that was just a 5 minutes...:)

...besides that stomachs are doing better and we are ready for a next move.
hugs and kisses

...all sort of things...

2007-03-31T03:01:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family thank you so much for all the warm comments...
It took us 17 hours instead of 10 in a overnight train, hundreds of people packed 2 or 3 on one sit. Finally we got to Varanasi...incredibly amazing city on the Ganages river with thousands of people washing themselves in it, praying, doing yoga, improving their karmas by donating money to the poorest or burning their dead families...ye that was quite shocking...
...it is definitely getting hotter...I bet it is close to 50 right now and I need to have my shoulders cover most of the time. Foreign woman is quite an exotic creature and everybody wants to take pictures with me :) which I found super cute :) and woman always are touching my hair (I guess they figured that is not my real colour)
Today I walked 2 km among all the ghats watching locals and they spiritual rituals. Where ever I turned I saw Hindu gurus (I just call them like that) they all looks like Gods. It is the end of tourist season, so it is nice and relaxing...(if you can only relax here, trust me life runs 400 mile per hour here)
Tomorrow at 5:30 I planning to take a boat among the river and watch peoples lives at the start of the day.

Besides that we fulfill our trip by upset stomachs...yes the bug finally got us. Nik is all day in the room with his best friend washroom and I am still holding somehow on peptobismo with some washroom breaks...hopefully tomorrow will be better :)

Thank you for following our adventures...miss you all

...it is getting hot....

2007-03-29T03:01:00.000-07:00

... Jaipur welcomed us with massive pink fort and tons of elephants...big creatures with delicate skin and beautiful eyes...Agra 6 hours away was our next destination, known of magic Taj Mahall (magic indeed)...6 hours on the crazy road next to lazy cows chilling on the road, camels carrying anything you can imagine, speeding overloaded tracks (manage to see 3 in the ditch) and all that is admired by sneaky looking monkey next to the road, the only way to peace my mind was to look towards horizon and watch colorful ladies working in the fields. Finally AGRA...Taj Mahal blow our minds... strong but delicate; rich with taste but modest; peaceful as powerful... spend good 4 hours wondering around...
...On the way to Agra Fort, which is another well known destination in Agra, got to know 2 funny rickshas (not sure about spelling) spent most of the afternoon on their falling apart bikes (Indian Helicopters as they claimed) In the end of the day one of the brother got drunk and manage to fell from the bike and all what I saw was him under his helicopter. He was fine and we all had good laugh. From that on guess who was doing all the biking ? :)
Have few hours to kill before our next trip, this time overnight train to Varanassi...

Thank you John for a sweet comment, yes no Chicken butter for us in fact we became vegetarians but just while traveling...will catch up with some chicken back home.

...Rajastan...

2007-03-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

...it is hot and dry...love it...crazy traffic, friendly people, amazing food. Delhi didn't surprise us too much...which is a good thing, we didn't know what to expect but everything went really smooth with good energy. From Delhi we left to Rajastan, first destination -Pushkar...amazing little city with a holly lake in the middle. Women bathing in the holly water was quite spectacular. In generall very hippie oriented place..you are not allowed to eat meat within the city and plastic bags are not welcomed...very environmental friendly place. From Pushkar we head to Jaipur...wow the craziness starts, unbelievable traffic, crazy drivers, sticky dust everywhere. Lucking of oxygen and personal space going to walk around the old Jaipur City, apparently best shopping market are located here. :). In general we head to bed around 7pm with a dusk and wake up around 5am, eating great food (well missing chicken little bit) and learning a lot about new culture...next destination-Agra....have a great day everybody..talk to you soon :)

...new trip....India 2007

2007-03-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and family, on 23rd of March I am heading for another trip, this time India. I will be updating my blog as much as possible. Have a great day. Talk to you soon.

...almost home...

2006-02-19T00:29:00.000-08:00

...polish Ciotka????...thank you for wonderful comments...may I know your name? :)

The news about the mud slide reached me from you guys...to my surprise nobody talks about it here...nobody even knew in Boracay what happened...really sad... :(

...TaiPei..giant airport...still 6 hours before the last flight...happy to go home...last night had a wonderful goodbye evening with all PADI instructors and some locals divers...we had some beer..some drunk dancers (not me) ...and boys had cigars...took some pictures ...packed my backpack...wow it is really heavy...this morning at 6 took a boat from Boracay to Caticlan, tricycle to the airport...flight to Manila in a small little shaky plane...Manila Taipei...and here I am waiting for my flight back home :) miss you all..........

...Thank you all...

2006-02-18T02:23:00.000-08:00

..it is the end...had incredible time discovering Philippines and myself...traveling alone was amazing adventure...met people who will stay in my heart for ever...met a girl with a dream - Niña...and I know her dream will come true one day...priceless 3 weeks!!!
It is hard to leave that country of friendly souls and big hearts...I shared laugh and tears with people, most likely I will never see them again...thank you all for being with me all that time...for your sweets comments, poems and support...I didn't feel alone because of you.......................... :)

...welcome to Titanic with crazy dudes....

2006-02-17T23:32:00.000-08:00

...was ready for kite surfing but wind died in the morning ...:( well meant to be I guess...went back to the dive shop to hang out...yes love it here..bought dive master book to study over the year and get ready for final dive master exam...need to study and practise a lot...that's my master plan for this year...anyway got back to the dive shop and my 3 instructors friends were super bored without customers...suddenly they start organizing gear and kidnapped me for a dive. We went to a wreck..30 meters deep...that was my best dive in Philippines so far...amazing little chambers, I visited every corner, engines and what ever there was...loved it!!!! Tonight we are all going for a good buy drink...we miss that country...tonight at 10 will send a last post before my flight home :)

...no more hanging out with locals but exotic canadians are here...

2006-02-17T03:28:00.000-08:00

..last night went for a walk..met 2 exotic Canadians...they are crazy about kite surfing..they moved to Japan to some secret amazing place for riding...talking to them they were pretending to hold the kite and move with the wind ...than met another canadian...diver...left Toronto and moved to Philippines to teach diving...his hand were shaking and he kept saying "I need to dive I need to dive" this is some sort of addition going on that island heheheh

... as for today...got up early ..rent and motorcycle and drove around the island for 2 hours...got to kite surfing beach ...WOW...cool dudes...everything just tooo cool compare to speedo and fake boobies beach :) nono it is not as bad heheheh...arrange for tomorrow playing with kite...at 11 did my dive on Crocodile Island just me and dive master...super cool...back to Boracay....took a tricycle to kite surfing beach ....I couldn't believe the energy there..the speed and adrenaline ...the jumps...it was all crazy I already loved it!!!!! Took tons of shots ...Can't wait to get into it for real!!!!!Now I understand those crazy Canadians I met :)..ok time for sleep...tomorrow will be my last update before going home... :( ... :)

...was holding strong to Mec Bottle....welcome to white beaches and white meet ;)

2006-02-16T03:51:00.000-08:00

...good buy ElNido!!! took a tricycle to the airport...airport was on the field of grass next to sandy beach and palms watching over the ocean...plane was super small ...was sitting next to the pilot...everybody had big eyes holding each other hands..I was holding Mountain Coop water bottle :) flying over Islands bet God didn't even seen that before...didn't believe that such a place exist...finally landed in a busy little town ..rush to the boat to get to the famous Boracay...white beaches and tons of white people...restaurants ..resorts...paradise for tourists...found little accommodation far from tourist rush...went for a evening walk..bought lots of necklaces and some clothing...all is super cheap....I wish I had more space in my backpack :( ...ok tomorrow is another diving and island exploring day...miss you all

...G are so up to date with fancy diving equipment but still wearing speedos...

2006-02-15T03:18:00.000-08:00

Dad thank you for a poem in the comments...it is so funny!!!!!
...another two dives today...25 meter channel on about 20 meters deep...crazy scary but fun..dove with a german guy :) as you can read in the title :) sorry for missing letters in posts especially in the last title "een=been" my keybord is skipping letters :)
...so another heaven in El Nido...did some cool underwater pictures...met new people and ate best crapes with mango banana and apple souce :) got some tan, pick up some loundry from a local loundry lady :) and relaxed...relaxed....relaxed....miss you all...feel good and strong!!!!

...God must have een on mashrooms creating Palawan, but didn't think about beter internet connection...

2006-02-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for sweet valentine wishes, kisses and comments...Greg you are soo funny!!!!
...so Palawan, El Nido third day....today did some island hopping...for sure God had so much fun working on this part of the earth...it is stunning here...high rock formation shooting high to the blue sky...it is all black carbonised limestone...looking so powerful!!!did some snorkeling in 30 C water temperature, lie down on white sandy beaches fealt like in heaven. The last island was a secret beach...I had to snorkel under the tunnel to get to lagoon with the most stunning beach ever seen...

Sorry for not writing personal emails, believe me just to update my blogg is a challenge...we have electricity only from 3pm till midnight and one computer with satellite connection (not sure what is that) in the city. And forget about the phone...doesn't exist..but there is an airport ;)...tomorrow 2 more dives and Thursday Boracay :) apparently this is the most developed island in whole Philippines...big kiss

...back to the water...

2006-02-13T00:40:00.000-08:00

...manage to find a Swiss couple and we took a boat for a dive, North of Palawan is exactly like Hallong Bay in Vietnam but not developed tourist wise. The rock formation sticking out and climbing all the way to the sky are perfect for rock climbing...Climbers let set climbing community here!!!!! :) dive was amazing saw barracuda, big ray and tons of fish which need to find in the book little bit more about them...underwater world suffers a lot here. It is sad to hear but 85% of corals are destroyed in Philippines because of 4 factors...1 el Niño, global warming, 2 Typhoons, 3 dynamite hunting 4 poison hunting...will stay till Thursday...tomorrow will do some island hoping and finally relax ...no more rushing need to get some swim and laziness on the beach :) on Thursday flying to Boracay for few days beach party :) and if manage do some kite surfing and more diving...will write more tomorrow if not wishing you all happy valentines day...love you all

....almost on the russian tank....

2006-02-12T03:36:00.001-08:00

...so as you know I left CEBU, got to Palawan Island (far west)...took 3 hours Jeepney ride to Sabang, sweet little village with limestone rocks and jungle. Went to underground river...Spectacular!!!Day after, another Jeepney to Salvation. ..not sure if I described what Jeepney is in my previous posts...so it is form of transportation with unlimited capacity...meaning when the inside is full people start loading to the roof, if that is full people start loading to the sides holding metal bars where window glass used to be...:) ...so again took another Jeepney and drove for 2 hours to Salavtion...and almost on the Russian tank 7 hours to Elnido, (it was a bus no glasses in the windows even for a driver, strong like hell, crossing 1 meter deep rivers and super steap hills) north tip of Palawan Island. It is magic little village so far my favourite after Banaue...My plan was to do some diving bu didn't meet a single tourist so looks like the trip will not happen just with me alone :(...will see what tomorrow will bring...getting late, time for a goodnight sleep...got lots of emails, thank you all I will reply when I get to descent connection and better keyboard...big kiss

....almost on the russian tank....

2006-02-12T03:36:00.000-08:00

...so as you know I left CEBU, got to Palawan Island (far west)...took 3 hours Jeepney ride to Sabang, sweet little village with limestone rocks and jungle. Went to underground river...Spectacular!!!Day after, another Jeepney to Salvation. ..not sure if I descriped what Jeepney is in my previous posts...so it is form of transportation with unlimited capacity...meaning when the inside is full people start loading to the roof, if that is full people start loading to the sides holding metal bars where window glass used to be...:) ...so again took another Jeepney and drove for 2 hours to Salavtion...and tha almost on the russian tank 7 hours to Elnido, (it was a bus no glasses in the windows even for a driver, strong like hell, crossing 1 meter deep rivers and super stip hills) north tip of Palawan Island. It is magic little villiage so far my favourite after Banue...My plan was to do some diving bu didn't meet a signle turist so looks like the trip will not happen just with me alone :(...will see what tomorrow will bring...getting late, time for a godnight sleep...got lots of emails, thank you all I will reaply when I get to discent connection and better keyborad...big kiss

...spoild myself today...

2006-02-10T04:51:00.000-08:00

...9 pm, Cebu city...need to explain few things ;) since got few comments about my singing... no I didn't sing I was the dancing queen :) but all my friends were singing Karaoke while I was dancing with who ever was avaliable :)...hey Tomoczko and Gregi send me a picture of the baby dog to my hotmail please :) but compressed. :)
...ok so I arived to Cebu this afternoon, left some tears while saing goodbuy to Niña..she is such an Angel..her parents told me to call them mom and dad heheh and all the kids were calling me auntie Beata, and were giving me respect guesture (I did the same to Niña's parents) you hold their hand and touch your forehead...very nice...it is showing a respect...
...Cebu is just a big city with rush and dusty air...decided to take advantage of few free hours and spoil myself. Firts went to a hairdresser...wash my hair and style nicely for just 1 $, than went for 1 hour full body massage, Mimi! you would love it!!!, this pleasure costs me 5$, than decided to do manicure and pedicure for each 50 cents, what a life ha? :) Girls here really take care of their apperance so all the buty saloons are full with big lineups but manage to do all :) and now I am ready to start my last week of adventure fresh and pretty ;)... not sure where I am flying tomorrow, looks like all the flights are fully booked, will go early to the airport and try to get stand by to either Boracay or Palawan...will talk to you in few days...

...heading north of Cebu...leaving storm and heavy rain...

2006-02-09T04:26:00.000-08:00

...thanks again for comments...and yes Wendy!!! we should have gone together you would love it:) Piotr!!! they are fluent in english, at school they only speak english all the subjects.
...tomorrow I am heading north of CEBU, I am not sure if I will be able to find internet connection so pleae forgive me if I am not in touch for a while. Today the storm hit us with the heaviest rain I ever seen, Beeing on the bike I felt like diving on the street ;) but still having lots of fun...ok I am off with Niña to her house...keep warm and dry...I am worm but wet....:)....kisses

...Niña...bunch of locals..Philippines beer..Karaoke...

2006-02-08T06:33:00.000-08:00

...10:30 pretty late for my early morning schedule...today was a blast...great rescuing..bringing uncousness diver from 20 meters all the way to the water with rescue breathing and CPR...learn ecrazy a lot :)just love it...tomorrow is my exam and at 2 pm I am taking off to Tagbilaran..will stay with Niña's familly for a night and will take off to CEBU and from CEBU to Maya...after the course we all went to karaoke "pub" about 6 of us...locals, one douch ofcourse Niña and myself..Philippines beer make us breave and everybody start to sing...it was a blast...don't remeber having such a spontanious party in a little wooden shop with few chairs and small table...quality!!!!we were all dancing singing and had amzing time with no speciall effects just us. It is incredible that I feel like I know all of them for ages...we just met 3 days ago and it is heart breaking living them all. Got so much care, love and friendhip form everybody..their open hearts and warm souls speak for themselves...I love that country and their people..hey all Philippino friends in Canada! big kudos to you guys!!!!!

...hanging on the tail...still rescuing...and the best fiesta ever

2006-02-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for the sweet comments...dad no need to be jelaous non of them can be even compared to you ? ;) , Vanda what do you mean by "chikens" ;);) thank you for all the emails, poems and pictures...!!!!!

...still on the island this time the environment changed drasticly...we riched tail of the
thaiphoon or rather it riched us ;) strong wind and heavy rain...welcome home I guess ;) my rescue instructor is not giving up still rescuing my little Phillipino friend. It is real rescue scenario (I guess in such a weather). Today is my third day of training. Wondering what kind of surprises they have for me today? let you know later on. So due to heavy rain few boats of shore turned upside down, waves were spectacular and sky syper angry. And the biggest surprise of the day was warm visit..Ninia!!!. her mother in low and her brother came for a visit. They live 40 minutes by bike from the island (there is a bridge) it was super nice surprise ...decided to do a big fiesta..we went to beach restaurant and order tons of food, beer, shakes. we eate like pigs and had lots of fun. I paid all 12 $ for the big fiesta ;) Ninia will come tonight and stay over in my room, in the morning we will take a bike and do a tour around the island :)
Tomorrow I have my finall exam, still need to do lots of reading...

ok time for me to attend another day of torture ;) missing you all!!!!!

...safe few divers and almost kill one with the boat anchor ;)

2006-02-06T02:01:00.000-08:00

...hallo hallo.....just finished my first day of rescue diving course....will be here till thursday evening...so pretty much everyday online huhuhu back to speed :) ..as for the course ...I am super tired...spent few hours in the water trying to rescue panicking divers, trust me it is not easy!!!! the course is just 'one on one' meaning just me, instructor and few philippino divers whos task is to act different scenarios ....and yes they do lots of jokes on me...in the end of the day we went for a 20 minutes dive..I thought course is over and I can relax suddenly one of the divers start panicking on 20 meters and I realize that he is out of air...I didn't know if it is real or not...well I start to act -shared air with dude and took him to the surface..sudenly on the surface he fliped again and start panicking again...I was out of energy and had to grab his hand turn around while he was kicking like mad and make sure he can't move anymore...thanks god filippino guys are small...anyway towed the guy to the boat and took his wieght belt out and all the gear...crawl mysef first to the boat that took him out of the water...that was my unexpected rescue scenario...I am really happy that my instructor play tricks on me...well I do the same on my climbing students and thats the way to learn the most...but this is not the end...when we drove back to the shore one dude fell to the water on purpose again and pretend drawning, I had nothing floating to throw his direction so I took extra BCD (diving west with air)we had on board I used all my energy and while throwing I cought the anchor on the way which made her fly to the air and almost hit the guy...everybody was exploading from laughing...what a quality day it was!!!!!

....NINIA.....

2006-02-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

...So as you know I left my backpack at Ninia's little wicker house. I took off for whole day to explore chokolate hills...beautifull little hils ...hmmm why chocolate not sure....I got back to ninia. Her babies saw me from the distance and run and jump to my chest...I decided to stay that night with whole 19 member of her family in the house probably having 300square feet. At around 7 we all took off to praying ceremony of somebody's death. There was about 40 peopl gathered together. I become the main atraction, everybody wanted to talk to me and they were really interested about everything. It was very powerfull night interacting with the poorest from the poorest. Later on together with Ninia we took her father motocycle and took off to the night market. I bought lots of fish for whole familly..... And guess what, that was the night I laugh the most, we al had so much fun at Ninia's house playing with her kids taking pictures and talking about everything and nothing. I learned a lot that night. We went o bed at 10. Everybody was sleeping on the floor covered with thin blankets. Woke up at 4 took a motocykle with a driver and got to the island. I will stay here till tomorrow night. Planning to do some diving....

...I am glad I am not a plancton....

2006-02-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

first of all thank you all for great comments, I love hearing from you :)
...Bohol island..how did I get here? hmm let move back to Banaue...so I left the place with tears and crying sky..rain like never seen...got to Manila after 7 hours around 3 in the morning...got tryko to the airport and took off to Lagaspi at 7 am. The same morning met amazing couple (70 years old with the youngest soul ever seen). Phillipno leaving in US, they do missionary work..spent with them amazing two days listening to a heartbreaking stories. They invited me to their familly and I stayed that night with them ...in the end I felt like having a new familly and they trully adopted me :) what a hospitality!!!! mean time I saw Mayon the perfect cone still active voulcano...crazy and powerfull. After Lagaspi I head to Donsol to meet some local whale sharks...it was hot experience..just to let you know I end up snorkling next to 12 m long beast and the shark got either upset or playfull and flip on me and kicked my ass...:) the same night i took a ferry to Masbate and from Masbate over night 12 hours ferry to Cebu...felt like in the prison camp, ferry with two platwforms full (140 each platform) of bankbegs one tide to each other..well I survive the night and met a philippino girl which invited me to her "house" made of wicker. I left my backpack there and I am off to chocolate hills...next few days i am planning to do some diving , rest on the beach and get discent shower ;) miss you all

..hana from Banaue Ifugao...

2006-02-01T23:09:00.000-08:00

...woke up witch chikens at 5 am, took a tryko (motocycle with additionall cabine for 2 people) up to rice terracess ...view was astonning..decided to go for a hike...grab a local kid... talk to him for a while and asked him if he wanted to be my guide in the mountains...we took off for 4 hours in the mad and steep terain...kid was super funny...we had great time...back to Banaue at 10 am ...hmmm pancake with pineaple time..delicious. I got little bit crazy about local crafts bought tons of stuff and decided to send it all back home..running around finding box, tape, local lady helped me a lot..we had fun packing and chatting. Trust me people are awfully friendly here, never been to such a place before. After just 2 days I feel like at home, tonight I am taking off back to Manila...with tears saying goodbuy too all the people I met..I know that south will be different..but who knows. Just to let you know my expenses. Breakfast this morning 1 $, big pancake with pinaple....dinner chicken ..yes whole chicken and fries with banana souse 2$, last night accomodation 3$...what a life..plus bought 7 kg of local craft for 20 $ :) sending it cost me 3 times more :)....ok time for me...talk to you in few days from Lagaspi (south of Luzon)...hope to see whale sharks there :) kisses

...the end or beginning of the world...

2006-02-01T01:01:00.000-08:00

Vancouver, Tai Pei 12 hours, Tai Pei Manila 3 hours, Manila Baguio 7 hours in the most falling apart bus ever, Baguio Benaue 7 hours in the same condition bus...finally arived to the most magic place ever seen BANAUE....high in the mountains sorounded by rice terraces...super friendly locals...great weather...havn't seen non Philippinos for last two days...not sure what happened to all the turists... feel great..missing you all...sorry for a short update but I am on Dial up :) in two days heading south to another paradise...sandy beaches...kisses :)

....thanks to "eva" best airlines ever......

2006-01-30T15:07:00.000-08:00

hi all :) just landed in tai pei airport....my keyborad has only chinesse letters so the post will be super compact ...it is humid and warm...six 　iｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ．．．ｓｏ　ｆａｒ　ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ　ｇｒｅａｔ．．．ｒｅａｄｙ　ｆｏｒ　ａｄｖｅｎｔｕｒｅｓ．．．ｍｉｓｓ　ｙｏｕ　ａｌｌ．．．ｎｅｅｄ　ｔｏ catch next flight to manila....talk to you soon...:)

two hours to go...:)

2006-01-29T21:11:00.000-08:00

.....just two hours to go....super excited....backpack weights only 7kg....camera ready for some action...skin for sun....and my eyes for everything else.....talk to you all from Manila in 20 hours:).....hugs

One week to go

2006-01-22T01:06:00.000-08:00

Hi all

Welcome to my blog.

As some of you may know I'm off on to another adventure on 30 January 06. This time around, the Philippines. If you want to follow my steps, come visit regularly as I'll be updating the blog as often as I can.

You are more than welcome to leave coments. I'd love to hear what everybody is up to.

Keep warm