The Blue City, Royal Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Day 3 3-Oct-2017 Jodhpur

We had only one day planned for Jodhpur. In fact our travel plan is never a plan. After spending few days in Gujrat seeing amazing Rani ki vav and other tourist destination close to Mehsana, we destined to Rajasthan.

Which city was not planned yet. We went to bus stand and inquired bus timing and travel time to various cities of Rajasthan then finally decided to board Jodhpur bus. Jodhpur is city in Thar desert, northwest of Rajasthan which is around 7 hours journey in bus from Mehsana, Gujrat. City was built as the capital city of Marwar to replace ancient city Mandore which is now Mandore gardens. The people of Jodhpur and nearby areas are hence called Marwaris.

*Amazing Jodhpur Video. Watch till end for BLUE City top view **



City is also known as blue city as most houses in the old city are shades of Blue particularly on north side of town. This view is visible from Mehrangarh fort.

Umaid Bhavan Palace
We booked autoricksaw(tuktuk),to take a city tour. Headed to Umaid bhavan palace first. Half of the palace is converted to five star hotel and king still lives here. There is small museum on the ground floor with minimal entry fee. You can also see king's Vintage car collection in glass enclosure.

Mandore garden:

Mandore was ancient capital of Marwar before Jodhpur was built. 7 km from city center, this place is combination of park, palace and temple. It also have small museum but not so rich. 

Mandore Garden

Jaswant Thada

While going toward north to Mehrangarh fort, you can visit Jaswant thada on way which is just 1 Km away from Mehrangarh fort. Rao jodha ji statue on horse will welcome you which is visible from far distance. He was the founder of Jodhpur. Jaswant thada is also known as Tajmahal of Marwar. 

Mehrangarh Fort

This is the biggest fort in Rajasthan. Founded in 1458 at Rao Jodha ji site hence the city name is Jodhapur. This fort could never be conquered. When you see the fort you will know why? It was built on top of mountain with clear views all around. 3km of massive ramparts built around the fort to protect.

Blue city view can be seen from top of fort. You need to take ticket to go inside museum which will allow you to go to rooftop. Fort entrance is free but museum entrance is charged. 

This fort is like a complex with Maharaja's Palace, various temples, a nice park in backyard and museum.

Mehrangarh Fort

This includes:

Sheesh Mahal

Moti Mahal: Maharaja used to held his audience here. Decorated with pearl and colorful glasses, it is a feast for eye.

Phool Mahal: This used to be Maharaja's Pleasure chamber with beautiful dancers and revelry.

Zenana Deodi: This is where Maharaja's Wives used to take bath. It was guarded by Eunuchs

Chamundi Mataji Temple: It is at another end of fort and got deep belief of locals.

That was quite a rush to cover all these places in one day. Although we managed to finish and had a feast of dinner with Rajasthani Thali. 

Post that we moved to Bus stand to catch bus to our next destination, Jaisalmer. 

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Want to surf on high tides? Plan Baler, Philippines

Philippines is not only bestowed with amazing natural beauty and endless diversities to cherish, it also got maximum number of holidays in Asia to make sure that you can enjoy these places.

We grabbed the opportunity of long weekend coming up and planned to go to Baler, capital of Aurora province. Baler travel flagship is surfing. People go there to ride the high tide. Van was booked for 14 of us. We got in Van in night and reached around 6AM to the entry point of Baler. Jaw dropping scenic beauty on way forced us to stop.

We decided to take breakfast first and found one nearby restaurant. We were in big group and had mix type of food choices. Few wanted pure veg, few can eat egg, few preferred egg and chicken and few wanted all. While brainstorming on menu, we found something different "fried Frog" and we decided to go for it.

Our next destination was Ditumbao falls also known as mother falls. Way to fall was itself an adventurous journey trekking through greeneries and crystal clear water flowing under your feet. There were few small waterfall on way and we didn't miss any chance getting wet in all these waterfalls.

Water Fall on way to Ditumbao

We took a ride to check in in hotel after Ditumbao falls. Our hotel was next to Sbang sea beach so that we can head to surfing, the reason we came to Baler.
After getting fresh we headed for lunch. Few restaurants serve buffet lunch at mere 200-300P, with descent stretch of dishes including fish and chicken.

** Amazing Baler, captured in this Video **




Tides were not so high in evening hence we decided to go to hanging bridge, light house and Ermita hills. Ermita hills is famous for tsunami happened in 1735 where only handful of people survived who climbed on this hill.
Hanging bridge was on way . Light house and on way to light house is also a must see place in Baler.
A crystal clear river is merging in sea at this point. Atthe bottom of light house is Dicasalarin Cove which can notbe missed.

Hanging Bridge

Light House

Ermita Hill Tsunami story

On way to Light House

Darkness has engulfed the city and we were eager to see baler's night life. Enjoyed bar crawling and walking along the beach. We got some local wine (in video) and spent good relaxing time sitting on side of beach till late.

Next day was surfing day. Our hotel arranged surfing guide for us. Tides were soaring high and we started walking to beach with boards in our hand.
Guide charge was 300P for 2 hours and I guess 2 hours was enough for beginners. After initial 10 minutes training, we paddled inside sea lying on board. Now only wait was of high tide and use the skills we just learnt. As soon as tide pushes, jump and stand on board with both foot in straight line bending a little in front. Tips: wear full cover sun screen shirt while surfing to avoid your body friction on board. We had burning sensation on stomach and chest due to mutliple times falling and climbing on board.

Training and Surfing.

With amazing memories and checking one more bucket list, we got vresh and checked out from hotel. On way back, we stopped at Banyan tree park. With a minimal entry fee, we got inside to break silence with 600 years old huge tree. Govt is putting effort to keep this tree alive.

A nice souvenir shop is close to this where you can buy few gifts for your close friends before you head to Manila back to real life.

Banyan(Balete) tree park

Tips for Baler trip:

1) keep Ditumbao falls first thing in morning to avoid crowd.

2) Food is available easily and not so costly although you can keep snacks one way to cove.

3) Surfing cost 300P for 2 hours.

4) go to surfing in morning around 9AM to get high tide.

5) Carry water proof camera and sun screen swimming costumes.

Villa Escudero plantation and resorts, San Pablo, Philippines

Imagine yourself having traditional delicious food sitting at the foot of waterfall with tiny water droplets sprinkling over your cheeks and your feet submerged in cold refreshing water.

First time, when I saw pic of Villa Escudero in one of the social site, I immediately added it to my must go place list.

Buffet Lunch by waterfall

Villa Escudero is 800 hectares of working coconut plantation. It is located 10 kilometers south of the city of San Pablo, Laguna Province on the border with Quezon Province in the Philippines.

Most of our trips were a last minute plan and this was no exception.
It was just 2.5 hours drive from Manila and no prior booking was required, we planned to go there on 27th-Nov-2016 Sunday. We left around 7AM and reached around 9:30AM including a short break for breakfast. We were it seems first to reach there. Reception area was nicely decorated.

How to go:
Villa Escudero is just 90KM from Manila which will take around 2 hours since it is connected through expressway.
Public transport:
You can take bus from Buendia LRT terminal heading to Lucena and get down San Pablo City. You can see Villa Escudero board on the way and the arc.Once you get down there, It is almost 2km walk to Villa or using trike. Trikes are not so easily available. If you are in a group  of 6 or more, you can always book a car or van which will be more convenient.

No prior booking required for a trip to this place. Try to start early to make sure that you have enough time to do all activities and less friction with the crowd. You can also book over phone first before going there. Rare chance of fully booked which happens only in case of private big event.

Accommodation:

It's one day trip and no accommodation required as such. They have nice rooms, you can book in advance, if you want to stay overnight have good time with nature.

Villa Escudero rooms

What to Carry:

• Swimming Costumes.

Extra pair of cloths as it will get wet during lunch by the waterfall and bamboo rafting.

• Snacks and drinks.  

Although they have very rich restaurant with varieties of drinks including hard drinks, snacks, food and ice-cream, it is better to carry your own snacks for quick bite.

• your own toiletries. (No grocery shop around)

Ticket and Timing:

Open from 8AM to 5PM.
One day ticket pass is 1400P which includes

• Museum Visit.
• Carabao Cart ride.(Carabao: Buffalo in Tagalog )
• Scrumptious lunch by the waterfall. (Vegetarian and varieties of food available)
• Bamboo Rafting.
• Cultural program( starts at 2PM for 1 hour)
• Swimming Pool and Jacuzzi.

They have appreciable enrich museum with nice collection of artifacts.  We were in mood of fun and thought museum would be boring but we enjoyed our time there.


After grabbing ticket and enjoying welcome drink at reception, we decided to start our fun with Museum as it was the nearest. Walkway toward museum was also interesting. It is maintained by villa privately and all items are a personal collection.They had unexpectedly enriching collection in terms of Philippines history and also few artefacts from different countries. This museum was I felt much better than few museums I visited in Manila.

On way to museum

"No Photography" in museum.

Bags are not allowed inside museum as well. They have bag counter at entrance. You should carry bag with proper zip and lock if possible as you have to leave bag at many places.

Our next fun was to take Carabao ride to Waterfall lunch area.

Waterfall lunch starts from 11;30AM but people start coming early to grab the table closest to waterfall. This restaurant also listed in top 10 nicest restaurant.
We reached around 11:30AM but decided to take some drink and relax before we go for lunch. Luckily we got one empty table close to waterfall.

Food was simply amazing. You can choose for pure vegetarian food as well which was even better than non veg with full of delicious fruits,veggies and corns.
Post lunch and bath in waterfall, we went for bamboo rafting. Better to go for rafting in pair. You can carry your camera as it is quite stable boat or can ask someone to take photos. Rafting is done on Labasin lake and waterfall is formed on dam of same river.

Cultural program was next attraction here. Hall was beside lake and food is also served here which is not covered in ticket. You can get varieties of drinks including hard drinks and also varieties of food.
Watching cultural program in this hall  a moment to relax and turn lazy.

We got refreshed in hot water jacuzzi and swimming pool before heading back to Manila with lot of memories and snaps.

Mount Purro Nature Reserve

Mount Purro Nature reserve

10-Sep-2016

We were excited for this trip, especially me, because I kept all my trip plans on hold for long time. Still we were not able to finalize our destination for two day getaway.
After consulting few of local friends and research on internet, finally we, a group of 5 friends, decided to make a trip to "Mount Purro" just 50KM away from Makati, 2 hour ride in public transport.

Mount Purro Nature reserve is a resort very close to nature. It is being maintained by a family and I must say that they were very friendly and accommodating.
The resort got an sports area, swimming pool, mountain hiking and lot of peaceful play in the lap of nature.

Walk out of resort and you can enjoy village cool relax air and kids playing around, sari sari stores for your small taste of local foods and culture.
We also found a local unlimited supply of liquor there. On small request we got calamansi and lemon drink supply which made our evening even great to awesome.

How to Go there:

Trip to Mount Purro

• We started early from Makati around 6AM and took a bus to Farmer's Market, CUBAO. 
• After quick shopping of fruits, we headed looking for UV express to COGEO.
• From Cogeo, we took Jeepney and got down KANTO VETERANS.
• From Kanto Vetrans, 2 trikes required to reach Mount Purro.

Travel expenses:
Since we took all public transport, it cost us around 150 Per head to reach there.
Costliest was two tricycle rides at the end.

What to carry:
Other than your general stuffs, swimming costume(for water fall), sports camera, mosquito repellent, sun screen(mountain hiking), hiking shoes, Jacket(night is colder).

Best part: 
No mobile network, you can have complete peaceful time.
Very friendly and accomodating hosts. you will no find any reason to complain.
Delicious and balanced food included in package.

We reached around 8:30AM which was still early while check-in time was 12 noon.
It would be better if you can book room in advance. Our plan was decided at the last moment(as usual) so we just took the adventure risk.

We sat in a nicely decorated dining hall of reserve early morning, couldn't resist taking photos of interior.

A light chit chat started with the owner, I guess he wanted to make us comfortable there.
We found that all rooms are full.
He requested us to settle down in a hall, big enough to accommodate 50 people, which was like a personal room for 5 of us.
Package he offered was 950 Per head which included Lunch, dinner and next day breakfast which we readily agreed.

Rooms were supposed to be ready by 12 noon, so we decided to go on mountain hike. Mount Purro provided guide for hiking but we were too confident and denied to get one.
Climbing up was full of fun and entertainment. All fun disappeared while returning, when we found that we lost our way. all plants and rocks looked familiar as if we crossed the path while going up.
After little of panic and much of re calculation we managed to get back to reserve. There was no network signal so couldn't ask for help.

Rooms were ready. After a tedious "treasure hunt" hiking, we took bath and headed straight for lunch. Lunch was basic but still a full contained meal.
They took care of food preferences of each members.

Evening time was more in sports room trying various games and sitting around campfire.
After a full awesome day, we decided to drink a little.

There was not much option available inside resort. It was 8PM. Darkness engulfed the village completely, unlike city where darkness is a rare thing.
We walked down to few small shops twinkling with small light analyzing the options there. Finally ended up trying local rice and coconut wine.
It was pretty nice drink. We sat on the benches in front of small store. Requested for lemon drink, calamansi and salt which was made available.
One of our friend turned bartender was up with his mixing skills. Chit chat and fun started warming. Dark night turned more and more beautiful with each gulp. That was one of the best drinking session.
every now and then village kids will appear holding 1 or 2 Peso coins in their small hands and leaving satisfied. That reminded us of those days when small money was enough to keep us happy all day.

It was 10PM when resort sent someone looking for us. :) we walked down to our room, took bath again and went in deep sleep hoping more fun next day.

All guests were ready to go for waterfall. We took our breakfast quickly. This time we decided to follow the guide.

It was quite  waterfall and view was amazing. We spent couple of hours till they started chasing us to go back.
We took lunch and spent few more hours in resort before heading back to Makati.
A perfect place for family getaway or for a group of friends.

Thanks to Mount Purro owner and their team for keeping the place very cozy, friendly and clean.

pamitinan mountain, Philippines

Two mountains, Mt. Binacayan and Mt. Pamitinan, kissing sky side by side is collectively known as Montalban Gorge or Wawa Gorge.  It is the best and the quickest one day getaway from the chaotic life of Manila, if you love mountain hiking.

We planned to go for Mt. Pamitinan hike.

How to go:

Getting at the foothills was a smooth trip. Take a bus or taxi going to Farmer's Market, Cubao. From Cubao, there are many van's(UV Express) running to Montalban which would be approx 1.5- 2 hours ride. 

UV Express service to Montalban

From here you can take tricycle which will take you to Brgy Wawa, almost foothills of mountain.

What to carry:

We relaxed for a while at Brgy Wawa, registered at the tourism counter for just 2 PHP, made sure that we have enough food and water. 

There are few small shops around this area where you can get basic required supplies like water, snacks, bananas, coffee and even fresh cooked burger as well.

Hanging Bridge

It is better to wear flexible and relaxed attire for mountain hiking. You should also carry a set of extra clothings to change once you are back from hiking. There is arrangement to take bath with 25P charge.

You will get lot of sharp rocks on the way to summit so if you like you can carry gloves. Gloves are also available there in shops. 

On the way, sharp rocks

Altogether, my recommendation is to travel light. I carried lot of food but brought most of the food back. There are 2 junctions to stop at and rehydrate yourself, although you may need to shed some extra bucks to get water here.

It is better to start early. We reached there by 7:30AM and returned almost by 3PM. We stopped for longer period on the way. you can also reach at summit and return within 4-5 hours if you want to finish it quickly. 

It would be challenging if you start late and sun is right up on your head. We were lucky because it was a cloudy day.

It was a fun climbing up till summit. you can see few village houses once you start trekking up but after gaining little height, you will be only with nature, greeneries all around and small path to walk on. Initial impression would be that this hiking is going to be easy and fun. 

We stopped at first junction grabbed some quick drinks, coconut water etc from the shop, and a short break and then started climbing again.

We can call it phase 2 which was tough, steep height and sharp rocks and mountains all the way. 

Make sure that you are wearing nice hiking shoes or good quality shoes which can survive these rocks.

Crawling, creeping and making sure that each step is firmly placed before we move our next step because one slip would cause a definite injury. from this point finding a flat place to sit was also challenging. Palm, foot and especially bum got proper acupressure and upto an extent of acupuncture that day. 

View from Top

We were already sweating and exhausted after stage 1 when stage 2 was giving us more challenges and difficult moments but we all were enjoying this.

After a good hike we found one flat surface for our bottom. Relaxed, rehydrated we moved again. Summit was close and now everyone was eager to meet the summit, share the beauty of nature together.

Summit1

It was a breathtaking view from the summit. Cameras and mobiles flunged into action. In between my decision of wearing jeans while climbing proved to be wrong when I found good tear right at the bottom. "Pant fat gaya mountain hiking me. lol.."

Somehow I managed to escape in bush and change my pant quickly to one relaxed sports pant. 

There was one more summit at another side, even higher, was waiting to welcome us. There was only one way to climb and not much space on summit 2 so we decided to take a break again.

summit2

After sometime we climbed on summit 2 to get spectacular view from the point. It was an awesome experience. Climbing down from mountain was quick but scary since it was tough to balance and station your feet while gravity was pulling you down.

Sharp rocks were adding fun while bamboo trees on both side was quite helpful to balance.

We managed to reach back at the starting point successfully unscratched.

It took us one hour to relax take bath and have quick snacks and coffee. Tricycle, UV express and bus brought us back to home. Every muscles and bones were happily enjoying the pain of mountain hiking while mind was fresh with the close encounter with nature. 

Puerto Galera, Philippines

11-Sep-2015

There was no further scope of discussion left once we proposed to visit this island. Puerto Galera was just 2 hours bus ride and 1 hour boat ride away from chaotic life in Manila.

With one more friend couple joining us from Singapore, we decided to visit this place for its less hectic journey and pleasant and good reviews on internet.
This place is also called poor's man Boracay since it can be reached by land and hotels are also not costly.

Going there:
We started early morning around 6AM to avoid traffic. DLTB bus from Gil Puyat bus stop started around 6:30AM and we reached Batangas Pier around 8AM. It was just 1:30 hour ride in Bus. make sure that you take bus with sign Calabarzon, probably means "express" which will take you through highways. Buses are available round the clock.

Bus to Batangas Pier

Batangas Pier is the boat station to get boat to Puerto Galera island. There are few boat companies running this service. You will be mobbed by people persuading you to take their boat service. We took Father and Son line and with 1 hour ride on tide on not so big boat, we reached Puerto Galera.

Boat to Puerto Galera

Bus Fare: 170Peso
Boat fare: return ticket 500Peso. Available from 7AM to 3:30PM

The journey to Puerto Galera was quite pleasant. Mesmerizing scene and private resorts on the way crossing few beaches, we landed and got mini van drop to white beach.

View of beach from Boat

Compared to Boracay with white smooth sand, Puerto Galera white beach is not so white and also not smooth. Still it is very nice quick getaway from your chaotic life without any air journey.

White Beach

We didn't book hotel because it was not peak season and was confident to get hotel with good deal. Also we wanted to check hotel ourselves before finalizing. Ultimately with little haggle we got one sea facing hotel very close to prime activities area. Our plan was more to relax then doing lot of adventure water sports.

Hotel

We took a nice look around on white beach and after settling in hotel, headed for nice brunch.
There are few restaurants which serve nice sea foods and other fresh foods in reasonable price.

PanCake Volcano

After Lunch and relax we decided to take few adventure water sports.
Wild Cat ride (1500 Peso) was awesome experience with drizzling rain. You can also try banana boat, Fly fish, parasailing etc there.

WildCat

We sat by beach waiting to see sunset but cloud didn't support us. With ice cream, close friends near by and natural music of tides, we fully enjoyed the nature.

Sunset was not the end of day. Bar along beach started getting ready like a new bride, speakers and stage were being setup taking our curiosity to next level. Without much delay we grabbed a nice place close to sea beach and stage easily visible. We ordered few local cuisine and drinks.
Don't miss Mindoro Sling cocktail here. This drink is specific to this place and real good. Sooner stage was colorful. followed by fireshow, awesome singing and dance presentation started. It was so entertaining that we didn't know how 4 hours passed. We called it a day and headed to bed with a plan to start early.

We decided to go for island hopping in morning and also do snorkelling and see corals. After heavy breakfast, nice volcano pancake, we headed to our boat. Starting early gave us opportunity to feel few beaches as our personal beaches when tourist were yet to reach these deserted islands.

Snorkelling

2:30Pm was the last boat from Puerto Galera on Sat while 3:30PM is for Sun. We bid a good bye to nice island, carrying loads of memory we took the same route to return to Batangas Pier. Buses were queued up and found no difficulty in getting bus back to manila.

Puerto Galera is right place to enjoy a quick getaway and have a very relaxing weekend away from fast life.