Finally I had completed my eight days of exploring Taiwan and was onto the next leg of my journey which was five days in The Philippines. Part of me thought it was a mistake as I was too tired now to do another trip but I had to carry on as everything was booked.I went back to my hotel to pick up my bag which I had left in their storage room for the day. Surprisingly they asked to take my polaroid to add to their worldwide visitor wallOften "western looking" fore...

For my overnight flight to the Philippines from Taiwan I had two flights. The first from Taipei to Manilla left at 1.40am. The second from Manilla to Cotabato on the south island of Mindanao left at 6.45 arriving 8.30. They may seem like crazy timings but actually they work out as I can save a days travelling and a nights accommodationOriginally I was going to book another connecting flight on CebuPacific that left Manilla at 10am which meant a longer wait at Man...

The final trip I would have time to do before my evenings flight leaving Taiwan was a visit to Kaohsiung's Lotus Lake. I'd been debating when to go over the last two days and decided to leave it to my final afternoon as a pleasant final memory of Taiwan.Lotus Lake is close to Zouying Station which is the high speed train station in Kaohsiung several stops north of Kaohsiung Station where I had been staying. The subway ride cost $40 TWD ($1.25).It didnt seem that ...

For my final day in Taiwan I had one last excursion planned before my two late night flights to The Philippines. Since I had ended up with two spare days finishing up in Tainan and Kaohsiung early, yesterday I had done a trip to the Sandimen Aboriginal Park, and today I was going to visit another MonasteryThe description and photos seemed quite interesting and I wasnt sure how it would compare to Chung Tai Chan Monastery which I had visited near Sun Moon Lake a f...

My trip to the Philippines will take me to the turbulent south island of Mindanao. This island has had a four decade long insurrection for independence and is still plagued by kidnappings and bombings carried out by rival criminal gangs and political rivals.There is a whole BBC site dedicated to explaining the conflicthttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20 797418Also this week another armed group has stormed the island of Sulu off Mindanao claiming it was part o...