07/01/2013

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Coming back home after a gap-year around (half) the world

It’s been nearly 2 months since I came back from my 1 year round (half) the world trip. The first month I was pretty much just busy meeting up with friends to tell them about my experiences and hearing from them what has changed in a year time. You’d think that 1 year is long, [...]

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Statues at Ngong Ping

31/12/2012

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Outlying islands in Hong Kong: Lantau Island and Lamma Island

Next up on the list was Lantau Island, the largest of the Outlying Islands, twice the size of Hong Kong Island and famous for its high peaks, wild landscapes, great beaches and the airport. Over the years the area has been heavy development in the shape of Disneyland and a cable car to Ngong Ping [...]

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Interior of The Venetian

31/12/2012

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Checking out the historical Macau and trying my luck at the casino

Macau was the first and last European colony in Asia, it has more visible colonial history than Hong Kong. Walking through the old city you could convince yourself you were in Europe rather than in Asia. One of the world’s most densely populated spots, Macau is best known as Asia’s largest destination for gambling taking [...]

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Hong Kong Island skyline

30/12/2012

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Bright lights and neons in Hong Kong, cliff jumping and visit to cat cafe

Hong Kong is my last stop on my 1 year travel around the world. It’s not a stop that I intended to visit because my parents are from Hong Kong and I’ve been here several times before. It was a required stop on my way back to Belgium. In the previous visits I haven’t ever [...]

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View from our lunch spot

30/12/2012

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Island hopping in El Nido, wreck-diving in Coron & visit to Taal Lake

The center of El Nido wasn’t that big at all and was mainly occupied by tourist vendors and travel agencies offering island hopping tours and also dive shops. Main reason for me was the diving since there was some really diving to be done in the area. But more on that later. First up was [...]

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30/12/2012

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Skimboarding in Mati and a ride in underground river in Puerto Princesa

Dahican beach in Mati

Mati was only famous for 1 thing: skimboarding and partly surfing. Other than that, there wasn’t much else worth visiting for the average tourist. That was also the reason why I decided to take a 5 hour slow bus ride from Davao to arrive in Mati in the middle of the night in a rundown [...]

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28/12/2012

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A trip down south to Davao in Mindanao

Some of the CS Davao hardcore members

The Philippines consists of more than 7000 islands, they said it takes about 3 decades to visit and experience every Island. As I don’t have that much time, I at least wanted to visit each major region and part of that is Mindanao, the world’s 19th largest island. It’s known for dazzling scenery, primitive hill [...]

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28/12/2012

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Dumaguete and diving around Apo Island and 1 day visit in Cebu

Basilica of Santo NiƱo

Dumaguete as a city was quite energetic for a “small” city. It’s actually known as a university town as a huge college campus engulfs much of its centre. Upon arriving, I didn’t really notice that many tourists around, good thing I blend in seamlessly now. The main reason why tourists come to Dumaguete is to [...]

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27/12/2012

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It’s more fun in Philippines! Manila-Bohol-Panglao Island in 5 days

Virgin Island near Panglao Island

As my trip is slowly coming to an end, I wanted to savour every moment of the next country as it will be the last “new” country I visit. As usual, I haven’t done much research on it prior to arriving there. I did make some plans with Sarah, a friend I met back in [...]

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