Tag Archives: aeroplane

Philippines, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

The Brinze Kylene Expedition

May 2016

An amazing end to life on some Philippine islands, our Brinze Kylene expedition took us from San Miguel, Linapacan and ended at Sibaltan on the Palawan mainland.  Read about how we came to meet them here.

The Hosts

Our hosts Benji and Maileen were entertaining and hospitable, looking after us throughout our stay in Linapacan, as well as on the island hopping tour.  Their service was phenomenal and so much fun. Their crew, Midel and Guerrero, seemed to have limitless energy and kept the boat running smoothly through the whole trip.  They cooked for us, put up and took down our tent, found us the most exquisite coral reefs along the way and entertained us each night around an impressively large bonfire.

The Boat

13233135_10154430961021992_3579010132289694508_n

Since we spent most of our time on the boat, it serves that it was rather comfortable and well-equipped for such a simple carrier.  Described as a catamaran-style with balancing beams on each side, it had benches, a small cabin, a tarpaulin covering, a ladder to get out of the ocean and a small boxed-in toilet and wash area.  Downright luxurious in terms of the local fishing boats!

The Food

Every day in the Philippines is another chance for fish and rice.  Different fish, mind you, but fish all the same and rice to fill in the gaps.  We loved the fresh seafood and feasted on lapulapu, barracuda, squid, white fish and tuna – all barbecued over a fire and served with a decent portion of sticky white rice.  Every now and again we ate the precious commodities called vegetables (cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers) and this was a real treat for the locals and for us as availability is scarce.

13230172_10154430943261992_8846434460380865170_n
The three kilogram barracuda we bought from another fisherman.
Fish
Lapu Lapu fresh from the ocean.
13239469_10154430943306992_2662602046951273251_n
A peacock mantis shrimp that we caught and ate!

And Most Importantly, The Islands

The archipelego of 54 islands is hard to describe because each one is slightly different to the next, sparkly, beautiful, rugged and unspoiled by industrialisation or development.  We lost count of exactly how many islands we visited in the end, but managed to go at least 15 islands on during the 4-day trip.

Linapacan is said to have some of “the clearest water in the world” – we believe it! Check it out.

Here was the itinerary:

  • Day 1: Leaving from San Miguel, to Dimancal (check out Karel’s tent resort here),  Bolina, Manligad, Asis and Cagdanao (first island camp spot)
    • The island across the bay, Balenben, had island huts available for rent at 300 Pesos in a fantastic reef area.
  • Day 2: Manlihan, Cala-cala (spelt Lacalaca) and Takling (second island camp spot)
  • Day 3: Calibangbangan and Magransing (third island camp spot – the most beautiful place we have ever seen!)
  • Day 4: Pical, Mausunon and ending at Sibaltan (mainland Palawan)

Each had coral reefs right off its shores and were almost guaranteed to be completely deserted.  Besides, don’t these pictures (from a humble camera phone) make you want to go there right now?  Call Maileen and Benji for an adventure on the Brinze Kylene!

13256446_10154430964386992_864560569200618743_n 13233134_10154430963356992_5743393770436027982_n 13226857_10154430942941992_6455827766503536829_n 13226657_10154430942141992_3771460138809989361_n 13263772_10154430935351992_2028392100685053319_n 13254277_10154430933981992_5199705393310428547_n 13256455_10154430934231992_8859874114631069839_n 13254162_10154430963466992_2960169019087778134_n

Philippine Shell

Linapacan is well worth your time – wow!  What do you think about Palawan?

 

Travelinds, Vietnam

Hue, Vietnam

13 August 2014

Hue, Vietnam

Imperial Fortress
The Imperial Fortress is full of dragons, depicting power.

Hue, the epicenter of ancient Vietnam and previous capital city. Home to the Imperial Fortress, Royal residences, pagodas, tombs, the Perfume River and so much history of war and destruction.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go and see the ‘garden houses’ and I’m sure this would have been a great place to see Hue’s historical beauty preserved by patriotic, caring citizens.

Hue was definitely one of the most interesting places that we visited in Vietnam.  The local cuisine is truly unique and delicious too; I would definitely consider the food as one of the main attractions in this city!

Bicycle Culture

Hue was well worth a trip, especially if you like historical and cultural aspects of travelling.

It is small enough to cycle around (we hired bicycles from our hotel for $2 per day) and there are so many little places to explore, including some local entrepreneurs at street stalls, quaint shops and interesting restaurants.

We stayed at The Canary Hotel ($18, big clean rooms, air-con, nice view higher up, lovely breakfast on the 7th floor overlooking the city).

The staff were really helpful here with planning activities and the rest of our trip to Hoi An.

There is a bus that comes right past the Canary hotel for $5 pp to take you to Hoi An (we made a day trip out of it rather for $12 pp and went on a private van through Lang Co, Hai Van pass, Marble Mountain Danang, to Hoi An).

Hue Night Market
The night market was fascinating. These handpainted pictures were one of the things we bought (for about $1)!The night market was fascinating. These handpainted pictures were one of the things we bought (for about $1)!

 

TIP #1: Ask your hotel about the night market (between the bridges) as this was a highlight for us (it was a Friday night, local market not aimed at tourists, great buys and interesting things to see and do).

 

TIP #2: The traffic is still a little crazy in parts but you get in to the swing of things and people seemed generally patient with tourists on bicycles and motorbikes. The Thien Mu Pagoda was 3 km out along the Perfume River road and it turned out to be an awesome cycle from the Imperial City to the Pagoda and back to our hotel (about 10 kilometers total).  Plus, Hue is relatively flat so cycling on creaking bicycles without gears is not too difficult.

 

TIP #3: When we visited the Imperial Fortress, we didn’t realise that we couldn’t cycle around inside the paid area (about 105,000 VND per person to enter the purple “forbidden” city), so be prepared for a lot of walking, in the hot sun! Take water, sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes here to make the most of the experience. The Purple city ticket also provides access to the museum just around the corner from the exit. There are places to park your bicycles close by, which the hotel can indicate on the map (only a small fee for a whole day’s parking).

Check out more information on Vietnamese Food, Vietnamese Trains and Hoi An.