Saturday, June 22, 2013

Planning Indochina

I realized na hindi ko na pala na-blog ang Bangkok ko, at hindi ko pa natapos ang Visayan road trip ko. Tsk tsk... And yet, I'm planning another road trip: Indochina! And, bente kami! As in 20! Grabe, ang dami. Gusto ko ata maging tour guide e. Anyway, it's still in August, but the plans are laid out as follows with a few minor changes nalang :P


Date
Time
Itinerary
Cost
Comments
Aug 20


1830
Meet up at McDo Resort's World
KKB
Group bus or taxi to NAIA 3
1950
Check in at NAIA 3
PhP 450 + 1620
Terminal Fee + International Tax
2250
ETD Manila via Cebupac









Aug 22

0020
ETA Ho Chi Minh via Cebupac
250+25 USD/grp
Pick up by bus (Vietnam Tours)
0530
162000
Free
Breakfast in the area
0900
80000 VND/pax
Average time: 1-2 hours; included tour guide
1300
Check in at Mai Guesthouse
230 USD/grp
5 rooms x 2 double beds

Reunification Palace (sunset) – 30000 VND
War Remnants – 15000 VND
Hotel de Ville (People’s Committee Hall)
KKB

Shopping: Ben Thanh, Saigon Central
KKB
Walking distance; TNF, here we come

Nightlife in Vietnam: Pub, Dancing
KKB



Aug 23
0600
ETD Bus for Phnom Penh (Mac Boi border)
40000 VND/pax
2-3 hours travel; via Sapaco Bus

0800
ETA Mac Boi Border
170 USD/grp
Pick up by Angkor Guide Sarak

1300
50 USD/grp
Transportation around Phnom Penh


Cheong EK Memorial (Killing Fields) – 5USD
5 USD/pax
2 USD/pax
City Tour via coaster

1700
Sunset river cruise at the Mekong River
50 USD/grp
Blue River Cruise; may bring food on board
1900
Dinner? Shop at Russian Market, Central Market (?)
KKB
Tambay lang

2230
ETD Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
230 USD/grp
6 hours via private coaster


0430
75 USD/grp
Transpo around Angkor temples

Alt sunset: Phnom Bakneng, Pre-Rup, Bakheng Hill
20 USD/pax

1900
Check in at Angkor Spirit Palace (1, 2)
Aug 25
0700
Check-out at Angkor Spirit Palace
150 USD/grp
Free breakfast
1000
ETD Poipet – Aranyaprathet Border
400 THB/pax
Cross immigrations
1500
ETA Bangkok. Check-in
THB 4000/van?
Van to (Chatuchak?) to BKK
Chatuchak Weekend – up to 6 pm?
(Outside) temple at night
PM
Patpong Night Life             
KKB


Aug 26
Plan A
Est 3000 THB
2050/bungy + 2000/taxi + 450/Nong Nooch
Plan B
830 THB
Aug 27

AM
Last-Minute Shopping
1900
ETD Bangkok to the airport
 No travel tax
8 pm - check in
2340
ETD Bangkok via Cebupac


Aug 28
0344
ETA Clark via Cebupac

Rent a jeep back to Manila?

Grabe, I can't believe I'm this organized. I was able to do most of the planning in a week's time! Haha Tapos minor tweaks nalang ang iba, grabe.

These are the list of hotels that we would be staying at:
Hotel
Price (est.)
Amenities
Facilities
Comments
Pham Ngu Lao St., District 1
PhP 510 (2 nights)
– 10USD
20 sqm
TV, Desk
Free tea, coffee
Computers
Trip Advisor 5 of 505 B&Bs and Inns
Booking and Agoda
Phneachey Village, Psa Krom Market
PhP 323 (1 night) – 7.50 USD
55 sqm
TV, View, Ref
Free breakfast
Swimming pool
15-min drive to Angkor Wat and 10-min drive to market; Trip Advisor 52 of 195 Hotels
Booking (3
Khao San Road
PhP 480 or 600 (2 nights) – 320 or 400 THB
12 aircon dorm
8 fan dorm

10-min walk to KSR; 5-min to bus stop
Newly renovated; 3-months pa lang
Hostel Bookers: 98.5%

And our working budget is...
Tour and Entrance fee - PhP 1700 (excluding Bangkok tours because we all have different plans)
Transportation - PhP 2800 (excluding Bangkok tours)
Accommodations - PhP 1250 to 1430
Total: PhP 6000 (excluding shopping and souvenirs, and Bangkok Tours)

Tada!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Remembering Biki

Is this really it?

Can I accept that Biki is gone? A part of me still refuses to believe it. A part of me still think I must have been dreaming (or having a nightmare) that a friend has gone missing for the last couple of weeks. Even after going and climbing Maculot for 4 days, seeing the autopsy, being there during the cremation. I still can't believe it. I find its surreal that I cannot talk to Biki anymore. That I don't see his posts regarding his climbs.The pictures taken from his climbs.

But I have to wake up. It has been 3 weeks. He's gone. There's a body found. Confirmed by dental (which I don't really have much faith on, anyway, but still confirmed.)

I cannot believe that a friend of mine died. Though I must admit that I first met Biki on our Manalmon climb last August 2011 (my first official climb with BU), I have only grown to know him and be friends with him sometime maybe on August or September 2012. I climbed with them at Mt. Daguldol (I remember telling myself I would have to stop climbing because um, my previous reason for climbing was gone and residency training was starting haha). Weirdly, a nice circle of trust formed and I've bonded with these people since then. Well, maybe it was because of the karaoke post-climb too...

After Daguldol, I wasn't planning on going on any more mountains, particularly Kanlaon or Apo because of residency. But I wanted to exercise, so I joined their Diagnostic Runs. It's because of these diagnostic runs (and post-runs), I met more people from the future: my travel companions. I got so into it and so affected... I decided to join them haha (I know that basically one has to be 100% pure heart in entering residency training, or else I will be unhappy and will quit it before the 3 years is over.)

Climbing Kanlaon was hard because one has to go up and down several times (especially on the second day) amidst the rain and the mud. Since I will be gone for a long time from work (I was scheduled to return after the Maskarra Festival, which was more than a week-long vacation actually), I've been on several straight days of duty, so during the first day of our climb, I was really really tired. So much that I just wanted to stop for a moment and just sleep literally while waiting for the other half to come. (Thank you, Cesar for insisting that you stay with me while waiting for the rest of them to climb.) And that's how we became extra members of the Fellowship, consisting of AJ, Troy, Leo, Marlon, and Biki. Since then, we've been climbing with their pace. (That's the first climb that I don't feel pressured climbing actually... It was great!)

After Kanlaon, it was generally only me, Biki, Shee, and Cesar... and Leo sometimes. I think this is really where our friendship solidified: Dumaguete Roadtrip. Planning our itinerary and our activities, and having a successful day was really something. We were all spontaneous, easy-going people and it was a lot of fun. At first, I was shy around Biki (especially when I thought that he had another friend) and I don't know if I would travel with him or with Deo (Deo was going to visit his cousins so, no way as much as possible). I was able to invite Shee so I know that I would be more comfortable traveling with them. Spontaneously, Cesar also extended his stay haha Even JM and Sharlene went with us to sightsee for a day in Dumaguete. Then on our second to the last day in Dumaguete, Shee had to leave, but Mariel and Rey-An came. Their one day stay in Dumaguete was filled with activities (visiting the Twin Lakes, Casaroro Falls and Dauin Beach) in one day. Even if we are all tired, Biki was insistent telling us that we could do it. Finish all these three activities in one day. During the Maskarra, we didn't meet Deo anymore. (Not like he did an effort as well.) We met up with Troy and Julius (whom we also met at the Kanlaon climb), Biki's friends from high school or something. It was one of the best road trips I've done, hands down! :)

Less than a month after, it was our Apo adventure. It was during this time that I really felt Biki's personality. And I'm so thankful for him in this climb. I was literally melting under the sun in the boulder part of the mountain, which was the hardest part for me. (The trail was nothing compared to Kanlaon via Wasay trail.) So much that the guide took my pack, keeps on offering me water and chocolate, saying that I look really pale. The group after us was overtaking us, too. (Well, maybe because we also went the wrong path.) No, the thought of not being able to do it and finish this boulder part did not cross my mind. I know I could do it, no matter how slow I was. I also know that after this boulder part, it's already the lake and the camp site. We're already camping out once we're in the site, and it's still freakin' noon! So I wasn't in a real hurry. I just really wanted to lay in the shade for a really long while, maybe take a nap, then just tackle the boulders at 3 pm. What's the hurry anyway? Well, that was one of my trains of thought which was I was so slow. I just want to be the sweeper so the others could go on before me, no pressure on me, because I just really want to be slow. But Biki was insistent. He didn't leave me behind. If ever, he would walk a few meters ahead of me then take pictures of me. I was thankful for his support and his insistence. It made me feel less alone. (Though I know it was a personal decision to be the sweeper.)

On our January adventure, I volunteered to organize their trip to Oslob. Because the team leader wouldn't change their itinerary for the Osmena Peak Climb and he was being unreasonable . It was maybe another thing that bonded us together: irritation for a leader that was being unreasonable. So we made our own itinerary. We went to Siquijor (I really wanted to do this ever since our Dumaguete trip), had a short stay in Dumaguete (our karaoke night was one of the funnest because it was really too funny to fit 11 people in a room for 5, with some sleeping on the laid out sleeping bag and some working with their laptops haha), swam with the whale sharks in Oslob (something that Biki wanted to do), could have done a dayhike in Osmena Peak (but we just went straight to the Kawasan Falls), and just in time for the Sinulog Festival in Cebu. It was a success!!

I miss Biki. I cannot believe he's not here anymore.

How about our trail run in Mt. Pulag? I thought that we were due for a rematch going down the Ambangeg trail. How about our climb in Mt. Mayon? I've been requesting him to organize one. Or even our revenge climb to Mt. Kanlaon? (I agree with him, saying it can just be done Guintobdan backtrail, because we already did Wasay. It's just the clearing of the peak that has to be successful.)

Knowing that most of his climbs were every weekend (as he said, there's no idle weekend for him since the start of January), I constantly reminded him about our pictures in our sidetrips in Dumaguete and in Davao. Ever since October, I told him I would set his picture in Casaroro Fall my profile picture. It has been 6 months already and I have yet to see that picture! It was a good thing, he was able to process and finish the Apo pictures last February. (Maybe since I was consistently reminding him hehe I told him I needed the pictures for the voucher which was due last March.) I'm not even sure if he saw my profile pic, the one that I changed the week after we arrived from Thailand, the week that he went to Romblon, a few days before he was reported missing. I told him I couldn't pick which picture of his I would take, so it took a while and just changed it recently.

I remember the night before he went missing, I asked him how was Mt. Guiting-Guiting. It was a mountain I never would dream to climb, aside that it's a level-9 mountain, I saw that there was a wall-climbing part without any harness and with a full pack. Nope, I'm not suicidal so I'm not going to climb that one. But he told me that I could do it. I could climb G2. It was even more beautiful than our Apo climb, especially when there's a clearing because you will see the ridges, that is similar to Batulao. I was excited to see their pictures. How could it top our Apo climb? But I never saw it, because it was never posted. Never seen by anyone again.

I really cannot believe it.

I will always see Biki as an adventurer. A photographer. An artist. (A lot of people do.) He would go on lengths just to get that certain angle so you can have a nice perfect shot, which you can make your profile picture. He would mentor you on how to pose ... Albeit, sometimes his patience thins out (as Troy would say haha) so you learn to discipline yourself and learn how to pose seriously or haughtily. The Victor School of Modeling, something I know that I wouldn't graduate anymore.

He's a supportive friend, always saying "Kaya yan!" even when the situation doesn't seem to permit it (remembering our last day in Dumaguete and our very busy itinerary in Cebu Roadtrip). He would not leave you even if you insist he goes ahead and volunteers to be the sweeper (remembering Apo).

Always on the go. Always making the most of a place where he is. Giving the place priority over eating and sleeping. Trying to travel as cheap as possible (remembering our 6-hour stay in Dumaguete where we just stayed in a Karaoke Bar instead of sleeping). (Similar to my principles in traveling, but he takes that one to the next level.)

He knows what he wants and he goes after it. (As a lot of people say, he's stubborn.) If it's a group activity, he convinces other people through logic (remembering Cebu) or through bullying (which he denies haha remembering our last lunch in Kanlaon).

I cannot believe he's gone.