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We were initially relived that we failed to obtain our 59-day visas for the Philippines as we'd heard that it was a tough country to travel through; reducing our trip to just three weeks also allowed us to visit Malaysia and explore Borneo too, which we loved. As it turned out though, we completely fell for the Philippines and it became one of our favourite countries. In fact, we loved it so much, especially the time we spent in Ifugao and Mountain provinces, that we plan to go back in April next year.
23 October, 2013 /
After splurging in Malaysia we were hoping to reduce our travel costs in the Philippines. We only had 21 days to explore but the Philippines turned out to be one of our favourite countries so far; the scenery in the mountain provinces of Luzon were unrivalled in their beauty and what’s more we managed to keep to a much better budget than in Malaysia. So, here’s how much we spent during our three-week Philippines travel experience.
18 October, 2013 /
It's been over seven months now since Andrew and I first packed our backpacks and set off on the road. Before we left we spent hours researching and preparing our round the world packing list based on the recommendations of other travellers. However, during our first six months on the road this list has changed quite a bit; while some things broke or got lost we added new items and got rid of stuff we didn't need as we adjusted to long-term travel. We thought it might be interesting to share  how our packing list has evolved over the first seven months of our trip; perhaps it'll even help new travellers decide what to take with them.
14 October, 2013 /
How do you fancy squeezing through narrow gaps deep underground, wading through waist-high, dark water and slipping on slimy rocks with only a kerosene lamp and a local guide for comfort? Well that’s what we signed up for when we took on a dangerous but exhilarating caving adventure in Sagada, the Philippines.
10 October, 2013 /

After our exhausting trekking adventures in Banaue and Batad we were searching for somewhere to relax for a few days before leaving the Philippines. Luckily, we found the perfect place in the peaceful mountain town of Sagada; in fact, we loved it so much we didn’t want to leave – here’s why.

06 October, 2013 /

Ever heard the saying: Nothing worth doing is ever easy? Well, we’ve certainly learnt the truth of this sentiment since we’ve been travelling. As I noted in our six-month travel update, none of the most memorable experiences I’ve had so far on this trip have been easy; they’ve all been physically, mentally or logistically tough and have pushed me well out of my comfort zone. Our trip to Batad in the Philippines was another travel experience that drove me to my absolute limits but in doing so, I achieved a kind of strength I never knew I possessed.

02 October, 2013 /
We've been challenged by fellow travel blogger Heidi from Wagoners Abroad to take part in this year's Capture the Colour competition. The task is to choose our travel photos which best capture the colours red, blue, green, yellow and white. We've taken over 7,000 pictures during the last six months on the road so Andrew and I ended up arguing quite a bit over which ones to choose - after much deliberation though, here are the shots we went for.
28 September, 2013 /
We’ve seen some spectacular beauty so far on our travels; in New Zealand we encountered towering volcanoes and sparkling emerald pools on the Tongariro Crossing; vast shimmering lakes surrounded by cloud-capped mountains in Queenstown and patchwork fields studded by lush rolling hills in Golden Bay. In Indonesia we were again awed by huge fiery volcanoes when we visited Mount Batur and Bromo and hit paradise when we washed up on the golden beaches of the Gili Islands. None of these sights, however, prepared us for the extreme beauty we discovered when we travelled through the Ifugao and Mountain provinces of the Philippines.
24 September, 2013 /

On arriving in the Philippines we headed straight for the beautiful island of Bohol in search of chocolate hills and tiny primates – here’s how we spent our whirlwind week on Bohol.

20 September, 2013 /

Ever since we left the Philippines it has been haunting us; we just can’t shake the nagging feeling that we have unfinished business there - that we simply left too soon.  We may have only spent three short weeks there but the wildness and the beauty of this incredible country, the challenges it presented us with and the adventures we had there have stuck with us in a big way. Of all the countries we’ve visited so far, I find the urge to return to the Philippines is the strongest – but why?

16 September, 2013 /