Visayas road trip 2015 - Philippines

The year 2015 was very busy in terms of traveling, Serbia, Athens, Netherlands, Prague, Budapest, Norway, Stockholm, Riga, Warsaw, festivals, but I did not have enough! Remaining 10 days of vacation in my pocket and visiting  Asia on my wish list! I was not clear which Asian country it will be, but when I found a cheap return flight ticket from Dubai to Manila, the problem was solved :) And that is how it all started! No plans, no idea how, where, with whom, considering money or how to get to Manila from Slovakia hah....nevermind, everything will be okay, I thought :) And it was! After one month and a half waiting for the best offer, I found a good deal from Budapest to Manila (stopover in Dubai ). My Slovak friend, Zuz, who had lived in East Timor that time, decided to join me. Basically, we touched 9 islands in Visayas : Cebu, Bohol (Panglao), Negros, Siquijor, Panay, Guimaras and Boracay, plus Lazon, where the capital, Manila, is located. Quite enough for 12 days, don't you think?  For your curiosity, check the map of our journey below and another blogs where I share other details including photos (will be posted soon).

24.10.-5.11.2015

LIKES: everyday life with young fresh coconut, coconut palms, fresh sweet mangos, fresh bananas, bambus houses, jungle, small beautiful islands, warm local people, seafood, Coconut farm hostel, Nuts huts hostel, nature, beautiful beach in Boracay, not so spoiled by tourism (except Boracay)
DISLIKES: traffic, early sunsets (around 5:30pm), touristic and expensive Boracay, thieves on motorcycles (watch out!), cities (avoid cities!)

EXPENCES:

FLIGHTS

Budapest-Dubai  240e return by Wizzair

Dubai-Manila 120e return by Cebu Pacific air

Manila-Cebu 20e one way by Cebu Pacific air

Boracay (Caticlan)-Manila 30e one way by Cebu Pacific air

Total = 410e

BUDGET (including Dubai stopover,16 days on the road)

train to Budapest

food, beverages

hostels

scooters

gas

ferries

buses

entries

souvenirs

Total = circa 600e

Manila.ph

Manila was just one night stop before getting to Visayas islands and meeting my friend Zuz to start our trip. When arriving in Manila NAIA airport in the afternoon, I just grabbed a taxi and went with a direction of my couchsurfing host's place towards to the city. It was so hot and a crazy traffic. My host had to work, so I took my first ride on jeepney and got some walk. I am still not sure if it was a good idea walking alone..... The people were staring at me, some little girl came to me begging for money and when the sun came down, the city made me feel a bit insecure. On the other hand, people were smiling and nothing happened, but I rather turned back to the appartement. That was the "funny" part, cause I had no clue how the jeepneys "buses" work :D Fortunately I have my mouth and navigation so I made it successfully to my point. Later in the evening, my host took me for a dinner to the outdoor city market and to the cool rooftop bar with live music (Filipinos are very good singers!). The night was young, so we continued to the  reggae bar and dancing till the morning hours. Fun fact, I am not a fan of reggae hah...

After all, there was not much time left for sleeping, neither for sightseeing, I had another flight to be made next day, Cebu! Hence not much pictures to be shared, only nice sunset at the Manila's bay, street view, jeepney and my host, Filipino Nuki :)

jeepney

couchsurfing @NUKI :) food market-getting ready for the night-morning

The bridge

Nie, nemám na mysli ten škandinávsky seriál {môj obľúbený btw}, ale bratislavský most Apollo. Most, po ktorom občas chodím, keď idem na hrádzu, alebo keď mi treba prejsť na druhú stranu Dunaja. Ako tomu bolo aj minule, keď som sa šla po práci prevetrať. Bolo krásne hrejivé počasie, vietor vial vo vlasoch a príjemný vánok sa navážal do tváre. Cestou späť som úplnou náhodou narazila na kamoša, ktorý si vychutnával popracovné pivko v krčmičke. Bolo to veľmi milé stretnutie, nakoľko sme sa už nejaký čas nevideli. Miško je fotograf, tak som ho zlanárila na krátke fotenie, z ktorého vzišlo toto :)

P.S. Pozdravujem svojich skvelých kamošov, ktorí mi na môj sviatok darovali tento ruksak a tenisky:) 

Hip Belgrade

 *** turn the music on before starting to read :)***

Serbia has never been a country I would plan to visit, however, when my the most favorite Portuguese friend Filipe suggested to meet there during his conference stay, I was immediately in! Me, Kristina, Zuzu and Katka, we took a car and went wild on the roads! Chatting, listening to Serbian radio, playing games, 7 hours ran out fast.The traffic in city of Belgrade was even worse than the whole journey, ha ha. We lived in a flat in the center, booked through the airbnb, the website, that is getting more and more popular. The accommodation is not expensive and central location is very handy, cause you do not have to use public transport at all. Good for everyone, after all drinking and eating junk food! You should be aware of Serbian cuisine, it is not healthy. A least service and the quality of food is nice almost everywhere, when you are in the city center. When to decide where to eat, I would visit again Smokvica in a bistro style or a traditional Serbian restaurant, KAFANA TRI ŠEŠIRA. This restaurant is situated on well know Skadarlija street, that is a must visit in Beograd. If you want to please your eye, go to check Moustache bar, originally called Blaznavac kafe - bar located in Kneginje Ljubice street, which is full of similar bistros like SS-bar, for example. If you have a party mood and you are a fan of hip places, you cannot skip culture centrum  KC Grad. Otherwise choose any other club in this area of  Braće Krsmanović street. Peron might be an option, if you wanna hear some indie rock or indie pop (but you cannot avoid Serbian music ha ha).

Did you know that Belgrade is a home of Museum of Nikola Tesla? Now you do, so no excuse not to visit! I suggest to buy ticket in advance cause it is usually  crowded :S Meantime you can go for a drink&food to ancient restaurant with old good classy service, called  Na-cosku (At the corner), which is only 50m distant from Tesla Museum.

around the castle

city center - bombed building - castle - by Danube

around Tesla Museum

KC Grad - Blaznavac - SS bar - Tri Sesira - bakery - Smokvica - random bar

zebra - KC Grad - dinars - by Danube - random bar - street

streetart

***

Novi Sad

When visiting whatever country, it is always worth to see more than the capital. So we did in Serbia and decided to visit Novi Sad and National park, Fruška gora.  We stayed only for a one night without having any specific plans, so we took a walk and stopped by for a food&drink, basically what we found on the way. I think we were lucky with our findings that I would definitely recommend to visit.

Did you know that in Novi Sad, a lot of Slovak people are living there?

Heeey, what is going on in this city?

When we arrived to the city, we were of course hungry, so our first stop was the food. After a short research, we entered this "fancy" restaurant named #Project72WineDeli. We did not know what to expect, but it turned into a big surprise. We got our own waiter, Dario, who was fully dedicated to our table. He went with us through the menu, explaining each detail and took a warm care of us all the time. And the last but not least, the interior was very well designed.

  . 

If you wanna go back in time, you must visit #CafeDublin. The "dirrty" Irish pub decorated by rock stars from the 60s with authentic bartender, hidden in the basement, in Štrosmajerova street, right under the Petrovaradin Fortress. I know these pictures do not look appetizing, but the Irish coffee, with a secret ingredient on the right, was really nice! Cheers!

Another "back in time" bar is called  #Graffitins. A tiny,  little and cozy place with vintage furniture and family atmosphere. Actually, I wonder about the reason of such a name, cause I do not see any connection here... 

My friends are beer lovers, so we had to check out one brewery at least. First impression was not good though, however the food and the beer were so delicious, that it deserves to be included.  Ah, almost forgotten, the place is called #Brauhaus. Unfortunately, I do not have a proper pic from there, but here you are, some shots from the city center and appealing Petrovaradin Fortress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and finally, let me introduce you, my favorite wall :)

Bye Bye Novi Sad...