Backpacking Landscapes

Friday, November 10, 2023

Aeta Boarding House - Sitio Sagpat, San Felipe, Zambales

This all started after visiting a nearby waterfall and hearing that kids sleep on the sand. These students are from Sitio Banawen, a neighborhood in the mountains that entails trekking and river crossing and is not a feasible daily trip. There is an elementary school up in the community, but to get to high school, students will have to move to the field; Lucky for those who has relatives there,...

Fundraising for Yaman Pawikan - PAWICARE San Narciso, Zambales

PAWIKAN LAYING EGG season is about to start and we need to build the hatchery very soon (target date is Sunday 17 Sep 2023). This would have been the 5th year that I try to get involved to the capacity that I can with Pawicare rangers in their effort to sustain the turtle population in our seas. I've always aspired to getting them an uninterrupted funding for their needs annually, though...

Covid-19 Quick Relief for Brgy Sto Nino, San Felipe Zambales

For a community whose economy rely hugely on tourism, the surprise implementation of community lockdowns amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, left everyone sitting over how to sustain living moving forward? The government said that it will be providing subsidy, supposedly from the barangay level, from the municipality, and then from the national government. However, not all barangays may have...

#SULOngSULU: Seats for Malassa Elementary School in Bongao, Tawi Tawi

Earlier this opening of the school year, we have excess school supplies from donations for the schools in Sulu; Some of the excess were sent to Tawi Tawi and received by Malassa Elementary School. It was brought to our attention that the students don't have seats, and attend classes sitting on their slippers or sacks of rice (although really this is not uncommon in the Sulu...

Entrance Fees: How much does it cost to see Bali, Indonesia?

It's but common to see tourist destinations with all those infinity pools and luxury hotels, etc, but gladly, Bali is not one like Maldives where you will surely break a pocket to visit. Bali could be as cheap as spending $7 a day (as I do). Depending on how you spend and how oriented you are about where to get them cheap, you can stay in a hostel for $4 a day, and eat for $1 a meal. Meantime,...

The Mishaps of July 19, 2016

After staying more than 3 weeks in Sumenep, Madura, I decided to move on and take the previously planned Sulawesi route. This is the best time to do it, no matter if the time is not enough to see a big portion of Sulawesi. I left Sumenep at 1pm, tuesday, last day of the ferry schedule before it goes on a 3-day break. It was supposed to take about 4 hours to the junction after the Saramadu...

Schedule of Ferries from Kalianget, Sumenep

Travelling in an area such as Sumenep makes it tricky for Information. At one point when I was in Banyuwangi, I've read about once a week, not sure of the day of the week, trip from Jangkar, Situbondo to Kalianget, but apparently, upon reaching Kalianget, there's more.Anyway, below are the trips an tariffs for boats in Kalianget.There are schedules for Kangean, Jangkar, Raas, etc Travelling...

Pulau Gili Ganteng in Sumenep, Madura

We're awaiting the weekend for a trip to Gili Labak as it is the only chance we wont have to charter a boat through sharing with hopefully other travellers. For this day, we thought of checking out Pantai Simbilan in Gili Ganteng. Gili Ganteng is 1 hour by boat from Tanjung port in Sumenep, Madura. There is no transport in Gili Ganteng, hence, it is advised to drive by a motorbike, which...