Sabbatical homework continues...

Back in 2015. In Saint Petersburg. Russia.

Here I am again. Been close to a month and finally over the past 2 weeks I had more progress in booking my accommodations and planning my itinerary. Hahaha.

Let's see what have I gotten so far after Netherlands and Paris:

Saint Petersburg - S$35 (4 nights)

Petrozavodsk - S$25 (2 nights)

Murmansk - S$31 (3 nights)

Moscow - S$60.15 (2 nights)

My main motivation to Russia. Saint Basil's Catheral in Moscow.

And the reason why Moscow is so expensive was coz the silly me didn't look carefully at the dates before confirming my booking. If not. The price for 2 nights' stay would have been S$39 only. :( Super upset with myself for my carelessness!

Petrozavodsk is just a quick stop as I want to head to Kizhi to see the 1714 Transfiguration Church!

Anyways. I've decided to do a day trip to Luxembourg from Belgium and save on accommodation. Reason? The accommodation for a 2 star hotel is at S$92 per night. Way out of my budget! And the best part? There are 2 Michelin restaurants there that I am debating of trying.. But cost and reservations are a concern. Ah well. I'll see how it goes!

And coz I'm not staying in Luxembourg. I want to make full use of my Eurail pass. So. I think I will splurge a little more in France (since I'm quite certain it's going to be a time visit and a strike off my list). I'm going to stay on a vineyard! :D Yes. It's gonna cost my way more than my usual stays. But I guess it's a once in a lifetime thing. Hahaha!

So this's just a quick update while I continue scourging for cheap domestic flights in Russia and places to stay in the province of Champagne! :D

It's been a while..

My Trans-Siberian book I bought this year.. With the Russia travel guide a friend gave me. 

It's been a long while since I'm here blogging. I think stopped somewhere after closing down that page I had. Hmmmz. 

So what made me come back? Coz as I was researching on my Trans-Siberian trip next year. I realized there's not a lot of information on the trip and the planning. I'm not talking about the typical tour group trips. But rather. The DIY kind trip. I've only found a good webpage (read more here: http://www.railway-train-travel.com.au) by a couple who shared from their planning to during the trip and details. Had a friend who linked me up with her friend who also captured some of her accounts on the Trans-Siberian too (you can read more here: http://burtontravels.blogspot.sg/). 

So I decided to blog about the planning and the happenings during the trip (when that happens) and post-trip (if there is any) as I guess in a way. Besides wanting to share my experiences and how I got about doing it. To serve as a memory to myself that I can do all of this alone. 

And the story begins...

Ever since I went Russia (Saint Petersburg. Novgorod and Moscow) last year with Contiki (no.. I stopped blogging by then. So sorry.. No stories to share. ;P). I started dreaming about doing Trans-Siberian. It felt like a daunting journey.. But little did I know how close to the truth I was. 

I have a sabbatical next year that I am taking. So I decided to do the Trans-Siberian during that period. 

What exactly is Trans-Siberian? In simple terms. It's a train journey across Russia and Siberia. Starting in Moscow and usually ending in Vladivostok. Spanning 7 different time zones. It is also the longest railway in the world (at a length of 9289 km and still expanding). There are a total of 18 stops on the Trans-Siberian journey and it also branches out in the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchurian. If you were to take the train journey straight from one end to the other. It will take you 10 days on the train non-stop. You can read more on the background and history brief here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway. 

Daunted yet? :) 

I have already started researching on where to go. What to do. Where to stay. And studying Cyrillic (or at least trying to recognize the words) since the beginning of this year. Along the way plans changed. And new additions were added. :) 

So why Trans-Siberian? Coz I'm hooked on to the history. The culture. The architecture. And the beauty of the nature of the country. And that it was something that I guess I want to do while I'm still young and in good health. 

What popped up as I was planning? That the thought of visiting Keukenhof Gardens in Netherlands came up. And when I realized how close Netherlands is to Belgium (I have cousins living there). And a friend asked why not do a day trip to Paris from Belgium as I am unlikely to fly and just visit France on its own. Then there is a Eurail pass that covers Netherlands. France. Belgium and Luxembourg for S$400. And thinking of going down to Ho Chi Minh on my way back from Vladivostok before coming home.

Hence. From a simple Trans-Siberian. Suddenly I have an overwhelming list of places to cover together. :P

As of now. I have only bought my tickets to Amsterdam. And from Belgium to Saint Petersburg. My flight ticket from Singapore to Amsterdam is on Garuda Indonesia (direct 13 hours flight) for S$535 and from Belgium (on Brussels Airlines - 4 hours) for S$119. Will need to buy the Benulux-France rail pass by the end of this month so that I can get the 1 free travel day on top of the 4 travel days.

So yeah. It's time to find back my mojo for writing. Regardless who may be reading this blog. :) 

Safe travels to all. Wherever you may be heading! 

Island born of Fire.. I juz love how that sounds! =D

Camiguin. Also known as 'Island born of Fire'. 'Barely 240 square kilometers in land area. Camiguin is the second smallest island of the Philippines in both area and population. ... ... Within this small area lie seven volcanoes.' (extracted from http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/camiguin/)

And so this is the Island that after much reading and flipping from cover to cover of the Lonely Planet Philippines guidebook. I decided to embark on my 16 days and first solo trip of 2014 back home. The main reason that I decided to come here was to pick up the Open Water Diver certification (like finally! =D) and that I wanted to do white water rafting in Cagayan de Oro and surfing in Siargao. So now you know my plans. =)

From Singapore it is no surprise that I took Cebu Pacific - it being a more affordable and budget airline to travel to the Philippines (not to Kalibo though. Tiger Airways does it cheaper. =P) Transiting in Mactan-Cebu International Airport. I changed plane to a propeller one to get into Camiguin.

Love how the plane is silhouetted by the sunrise.

Even though from Cebu it's only a 40 mins flight or so. I was able to fall asleep and I must say Camiguin Airport has one of the shortest airstrip I've ever landed on. The plane landed and had to brake hard and make a turn into this 'roundabout' area before coming to a complete stop. And it was all in like 5 mins or less! 

The 'roundabout' where the plane is.. And the red tentage area? That's our baggage collection area.

After much research and weighing out my budget. I'm currently staying at Camiguin Action Geckos Dive and Adventure Resort. A lovely place that reminds me much of Villa Mamarine in Squijor. I had a wonderful stay of 4 days in Villa Mamarine last year. And the vibe of this place is telling me I'm gonna fall in love with it too. =)

I had the Hibok-Hibok breakfast. Not sure why it's named after one of the volcanoes but ah well! =D Those triangle pieces in the center? Those are seasoned cheese. 2 pieces in pepper and 2 pieces in paprika powder. IF my tastebuds doesn't fail me. =) 

The black volcanic sand right in from of my room. On the beach. It's like freaking hot if you walk on it barefooted. Trust me. I tried. Coz I had to swim in the sea for my assessment to get my diving cert. Ouch!

That's my room right there. It's P2000 a night with attached bathroom. Juz that there isn't any aircon but juz a fan. I can survive it. Good deal and no worries. =)

And when I heard that one of the girls were going to the market. I told her I wanna follow over too. But too bad! I didn't meet her there. But I had a good time juz wandering the streets and popping here and there into the shops that interest me.

Fruits section.

And the seafood. There wasn't much to choose from though. Think the catch was bad today. =/

And I saw this in the supermarket! So I bought one of each. It's P39.50. I'm so gonna try it out when I get home! Or else. When I'm staying in Siargao coz that's a hostel and there's a kitchen. =)

I took a bike (pillion of course! But without helmet as usual..) to the market and that cost me P40 while the habul-habul (I think I got it right) only costs me P10 back.

I had/have to continue my mugging for my license. So here's a sunset to say good night for the time being! =)

Of trains and sights..

It's been almost a month since I skipped town for a good week and headed over to a country I wouldn't have considered going alone. But thanks to 2 friends and a random sentence. We headed over to Sri Lanka: Wonder of Asia.

We covered Kandy (Madulkelle). Kitugala. Nuwara Eliya. Yala. Galle and Colombo. But of course to get to Kandy. We had to take the train from Colombo and it was one of the most scenic route thus far.

'Colombo Fort Railway Station: This is the main railway station situated in the heart of Colombo. The building was built and put into operation in 1908. At present, the station consists of 10 platforms and caters 0.2 million passengers daily. It consists of passenger waiting room, changing room (utility rooms) and cafeterias. Station has special arrangements for disabled persons. The main seat reservation counter of the Sri Lanka Railways too is at the Colombo Fort Railway Station.' (Extracted from: http://www.railway.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=151%3Aslide-4&catid=48%3Aslideshow&lang=en)

It was a busy station no doubt. And coming from a country where trains were a transport of the yesteryears. It was amazing to see the hustle and bustle of the station and the clockwork precision in which people boarded and alighted the trains. Everyone seemed to know which platform to head to while I was juz soaking up the atmosphere and wishing that I had more chances to take a train.

Something caught my eye along the way..

And this was our train! I guessed us being us we decided to take the best class of the carriage (with air con) since it was gonna be almost 3 hours of train ride and we didn't know what to expect had we taken the other classes. 

Well maintained and clean and comfortable. With power sockets by the side of some seats.. It was really like any other ride. 

So I met a super nice stranger who was seated by the window seat and he got up one point and took long to come back. So I shifted over to his seat and this was what I caught on camera. *heartz*

As the train continued into the countryside and by the edge of the forest. The stranger came back but seeing that I was happily snapping away. He offered to change seats with me for the rest of trip 'It doesn't matter to me where I sit.' Awesome! So I did and captured the rest on my camera. 

I still enjoy travelling by trains compared to planes though the time taken would be longer. And still buses over trains. But these sights were something that would stay with me for a long time to come.