Category Pages For: Journeys

Information about getting from A to B

Bacolod - Karaoke
  APRIL 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had spent 3 nights in the RIVERSIDE INN in Iloilo City, Western Visayas. I was slowly making my way south from the famous Boracay Island to Siquijor Island. Bacolod was my next stop on the way. I was glad to say ‘goodbye’ to Iloilo City; I didn’t like it. HOTEL TO ILOILO RIVER WHARF: The fast boats to Bacolod leave from Iloilo River Wharf which has recently moved from the south side of Iloilo River (Ortiz) to the north side of the river (Lapuz). The Riverside Inn was on a main road; Tribikes are (apparently) […]

Iloilo – Philippines – To Bacolod

  APRIL 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had spent 3 nights in the WALLABIES HOTEL in Roxas City, Capiz, Western Visayas. I was slowly making my way south from the famous Boracay Island to Guimaras Island. Iloilo City was my next and last stop on the way. HOTEL TO ROXAS BUS TERMINAL: As with almost all Philippines cities, the bus terminal is on the outskirts of town. The Iloilo City Bus Terminal is about 5 kms from city centre. I already knew from my trip from Boracay to Roxas City that the Tribike fare from the Bus Terminal to my […]

Roxas – Philippines – To Iloilo City

  APRIL 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had been on Boracay Island living the ‘beach life’ for 5 weeks. It was time to move on in search of some action. I chose Roxas City as my next stop: Roxas is known as the ‘Seafood Capital of The Philippines’. I wanted to go there and find out what this was all about… I said goodbye to by last Boracay sunset … and set off at 9:30am the following morning. THE TRIBIKE TO THE BORACAY FERRY PORT: My hotel offered to book me a Tribike but I find that these […]

Boracay – Philippines – To Roxas City

  MARCH 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had been making my way through the Romblon Islands. I had spent 8 nights on Tablas Island and another 8 nights on Carabao Island. I, now, needed to head for Boracay Island to renew my Visa. CATCHING THE BOAT: The ‘standard’ way to get from either Lanas Beach (west coast) or Hambil Beach (east coast) on Carabao Island to Boracay Island is to: Catch a 6:00am ‘commuter’ pump boat from the (Hambil or Lanas) ferry port to Caticlan (mainland Panay) for PHP100 Pay a PHP100 Caticlan Port Tax and a PHP75 […]

Carabao – Philippines – To Boracay Island

  MARCH 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had spent 8 nights in the AGLICAY BEACH RESORT, Alcantara on Tablas Island. I had planned to go from Tablas to Romblon Island for a few weeks but had to abandon that idea when I realised that I had to renew my Philippines Visa before the 16th March. The Visa renewal meant that I had to head south to Boracay. There are no Bureau Of Immigration offices on the Romblon islands. I decided to stop off in Carabao for a few days on the way. I hear that this is […]

Tablas – Philippines – To Carabao Island

  FEBRUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had spent 6 nights at JIM’S CASTLE INN in Coron Town and 2 nights on an Apo Reef SCUBA Liveaboard. A total of 8 nights. I had seen what I wanted to see and learnt what I wanted to learn: Coron Town is not a GRANDPAcking Retirement location but GRANDPAckers can come here for a holiday and have lots of fun doing Coron on a GRANDPAcking Budget. It was time to move on to my next destination: Tablas Island. To get to Tablas, I needed to catch a ferry from Coron to […]

Coron – Philippines – To Tablas Island

  FEBRUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I was coming to the end of my 9 night stay in El Nido and it was time to look forward to Coron. I asked a few of the locals which was the best ferry to Coron; they said the ‘Bonso’. On Thursday, I went down to the Art Cafe to book my ticket for the Saturday morning. The ticket was PHP1500; I believe that you can get them for PHP1400 elsewhere. GETTING TO THE FERRY TERMINAL: I was told to be at the Ferry Terminal at 8:00am. The Ferry […]

El Nido – Philippines – To Coron

  FEBRUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had already made my own way from Puerto Princesa to Sabang and from Sabang to Port Barton. The Sabang to Port Barton trip was particularly onerous. The trip is scheduled for 3.5 hours but the door-to-door time depends on how long you have to wait transferring from the first bus (Sabang to the North Road transfer point) to the second bus (North Road to Port Barton), and how many people ‘drop off detours’ they make on the way. My trip took 4.5 hours. The 2nd bus was full and they had to […]

Port Barton – Philippines – To El ...

  JANUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Philippines Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I had high hopes for Puerto Princesa (PP), but I was left a bit disappointed. I had done one of the two ‘recommended’ tours whilst in PP: The Honda Bay Snorkelling Trip. There was one more to do (the Underground River in Sabang) before I headed for Port Barton (and onwards). In Puerto Princesa, I was offered a return day trip to the Underground River (all inclusive of fees, etc) for PHP1200… but, I decided to make my own way to Sabang and discover it myself. I planned to stay there 4 […]

Puerto Princesa – Philippines – To Sabang

  JANUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I spent 8 nights in the Old Quarter, Hanoi and it was, now, time to leave Vietnam and move on to the Philippines. I needed to get to Terminal 2, Hanoi Airport (Noi Bai) for my regional Cebu Pacific flight to The Philippines. The ‘typical’ taxi fare from the Old Quarter to the Airport is about VND350k. It is a 35km journey (and the typical taxi rate is VND10k per km). But, try and negotiate a fixed price in advance so that there are no ‘surprises’ when you get to the airport. Some […]

Hanoi – Vietnam – To Puerto Princesa ...

  JANUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I enjoyed my short stay on Quan Lan Island even though it was the wrong time of year to be there. It was time to move on… I still had 11 days before I had to leave to The Philippines, so I looked at my options. There weren’t many between Quan Lan and Hanoi. I decided to head for Halong City for a few days to see whether or not it had anything more to offer than just a transitpoint for people coming and going from their Halong Bay cruises. HOTEL […]

Quan Lan – Vietnam – To Halong

  JANUARY 2016:   Click here to read our Vietnam Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: I enjoyed my Christmas and New Year in Cat Ba Island even though it was the wrong time of year to be there. It was time to move on… I still had 2 weeks before I had to leave to The Philippines, so I looked at my options. Whilst in Cat Ba, I did not see much of Halong Bay so I decided to go north into the group of islands. The manager at the Full Moon Party Hotel, Cat Ba suggested that I go to Dao Co To; we […]

Cat Ba – Vietnam – To Quan ...