I spend the afternoon sightseeing the city; visit Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Longshan temple and the Xinyi shopping district. I don't go to Taipei 101 since it's raining a little and the view wouldn't be that great. I also buy a train ticket for 7.18am tomorrow morning to the Taroko gorge (3 hours south of Taipei).

Yummy Taiwanese food! And spicy!

Lost in Taipei.

Some kind of monument.

Some temple and people praying.

Quick summary of what I've seen of Philippines:
- Food is ok, nothing spectacular. Mostly rice, eggs and some kind of Chicken stew.
- Very cheap. I paid $3.50-$5.50 for a private room (shared bath), and $1.70 is common for a complete meal (soup+main course).
- People are generally poor but friendly. Most women I see are either pregnant or carry a baby. Tourists are few and far in between.
- English is widely spoken, in fact all official signs seem to be in English. The country also has a strong Spanish heritage. This is evident in many foods (tocino, chicharron, longaniza, etc), words and numbers. (E.g. you'll hear someone ask about the time in Tagalog and the reply is "las once".) This makes traveling here very easy.

Some crazy people in Sagada downtown.

Here, in the mountain village of Sagada, I find the long sought for vaccine against the dreaded HIB.

Sagada church.

Each sack contains two live piglets. This was to go in our bus, but didn't fit. (We did have some chicken in our bus though.)

Baguio downtown.

Baguio market.

Baguio lake.

10 more minutes and we reach a hole. He tells me to take my shoes off, and proceeds to throw them down the hole. Seconds pass before we hear them land. Seconds. He says "don't worry, there's a rope, you know how to rappel?". Yes, I've rappeled, but not with a slippery rope without safety line. 10 more minutes and we reach another hole. Same procedure, except this time he tells me "here, nowhere to put your feet, you must use only arms. can your arms carry your bodyweight?". After we climb down, he tells me how one girl he guided fell there. I ask if she was ok, he says yes, yes. So she could continue with the tour? Oh no, she had to be rescued, but at least she survived. Great.

About 10 more minutes and we reach an underground river. This is what he says: "Oh, river is strong today! Dangerous! Are you strong swimmer?" I ask him what happens when it starts raining. He says then the cave fills up with water by flash flood; you must never enter the cave while it's raining. I ask him, but what about if it starts raining if you're already inside the cave, then you don't know? His expression is blank. As if he never thought of that. The rain has been pouring down every afternoon for the last three days. Our next step is a free climb around a slippery boulder above the river. I tell him there's no f*cking way I'm doing it. After promising him I will still pay him, he agrees to go back. The last memorable quote on our way up is "Shit! (lantern starts to flicker) SHIT! (complete darkness) (1 minute pass) SHIT, I forget the flashlight, can you climb the rest in darkness?"

When we're back outside the cave, he tells me it probably was a wise choice; FIVE tourists have died in that cave. Three fell to their death while climbing and two have died by flash flood. We have some time before darkness, so he takes me to Echo Valley to see the hanging coffins. Of course, on our way he happily points out the spot where an Italian tourist took a wrong step and fell 100m to his death. When we arrive back at my guest house, he says we've had such a great time so he invites me for some shots of local alcohol. I kindly decline, have some dinner, then stagger to bed.

Downtown Banaue. There's a ~300 lbs alive pig loaded in the tricycle...

Guide with lantern, at cave entrance.

On our way out from the cave, just having climbed up the last rope.

Hanging coffins, Echo Valley.

Me and my cave guide. I'm like a giant next to the small Filipinos!

I fell down a rock wall (luckily landed on a rice field).

Yun then takes me another route back. The hard route. It involves some pretty scary moments such as climbing on small and slippery outcrops of rock with 100+ ft drop under us (guaranteed death if fall). Yun helps me through some tricky parts by pulling me up and telling me where it's safe to put my feet (he's climbed these Mountains all his life). I am so relieved when we reach back to the village center.

There, I meet a Filipino called Steve and his German boyfriend Adrian. They have learned about an alternative route back to Banaue which involves a 5 mile hike along a Mountain trail (unfortunately with numerous landslides) until we reach the same road I arrived on the day before. So there are another 5 Miles hike along that road until my driver Freddy meets me with his motorcycle.

Back in Banaue around 2pm. I have a really bad headache probably from lack of food and water, so I just have lunch, some Internet, and then sleep approximately 12 hours.

Downtown Batad.

Me with Batad rice terraces.

Not a great shot, but this is the landslide that took out the trail in front of us.

Batad school.

Me and my guide Yun.

Steve asks an old lady for directions, but she only speaks some tribe language.

After breakfast, I find a motorcycle driver called Freddy who claims he can ride on top of the landslides to drop me off close to Batad. I hop on, and indeed he rides on top of the landslides, it's pretty cool, I just have to get off and walk one of them. After 6 miles we reach a really massive landslide, and Freddy says he can't take me longer. So I hike from there, around 6 miles on bad roads, climbing numerous landslides, then another 3 miles descending a small mountain trail to reach the village at around noon.

Batad is a truly remote place. The village is set on a mountain side surrounded by rice terraces. The only way to get around is by the steep trails they've created along the mountain. There are no motorized vehicles, I don't even see any electricity! In the Philippines, this area is called the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is so beautiful, that even the locals seem to spend most of their time just gazing at the rice terraces. Unfortunately, I'm so exhausted after the hike and the two nights without proper sleep, so I have some lunch, a shower, then collapse and sleep no less than 15 hours!

Freddy drives over a landslide.

A landslide on the way to Batad.

Another annoying landslide.

Arriving in Batad.

On the foot of the Volcano, some people tell me it's too muddy and steep to climb the Volcano by foot, so the only option is horse. Never having ridden a horse before, I climb terrified and my budget nine-year old guide Cherry jumps on behind me, grabs hold of me and yells something in Tagalog and off we go...

Back in Manila I barely make the night bus to Banaue (I get the last seat). Next to me sits a guy from the Mountain village Batad about 16km outside Banaue. He tells me I definitely should go to Batad.

Manila historic center.

View of Manila.

Manila fortress. Watch out for flying golf balls.

My horse and guide Cherry.

Taal volcano. It is active, with water boiling at places.

Sunset at Taal volcano.

What I learned today:

Nothing, for I am fully learned. Ready for Sahara!

Cat did not eat much on Sat and Sun.

My room at the hotel in Tecate.

1. La Bufadora 2. First night 3. Second night 4. Third night

After 4 more miles I come to an intersection which is NOT on my map. Both roads are about equal size. This has me a bit concerned. I pick the left one since it goes in the direction of the mountains where the oasis is. After 4 more miles I encounter another intersection, precisely 10.2 miles after the river like my map says. I'm exhilarated, I just need to take the side road for 6.5 miles to reach the oasis and coca cola! I sip down half of my remaining water right there. After 4 miles, the side road just comes to an end in a sandy pit. I drive around for about 20 minutes looking for where to go. There is nothing. And the mountain is still far away. Moreover, there are no tire tracks at all here which leads me to believe that I'm either on the wrong road, or that the oasis doesn't exist any more (the guide book is 11 years old).

I go back to the main road and find a tree under which I sit down to think about what to do. It's unclear if I have enough gas to go back, I've only gone 80 miles on the tank (20 highway, 60 desert) but a lot of it has been spinning in the sand in 1st or 2nd gear, and in addition I always leave the engine running when I take a rest (since sometimes the engine doesn't start and I have to roll it to a start which I can't do in the sand). On the other hand, if I am where I think I am, it's only 30 miles north until I reach highway 2. I turn on my cell phone but there's no reception. There's ~0.2 l water left. I decide to keep going north.

A few more miles north I reach a ghost town and the road splits into several minor roads. I turn off the engine and listen, but there is nothing. I drive around and hit the horn, over and over. Nothing. I feel exhausted from the heat and constantly having to balance the bike through the sand so I lie down under a tree to get some rest. I continue after 20 minutes, picking the road that leads mostly to what I think is north. After around 2 miles, the road is joined by another road and becomes much better. It looks promising! After 5 more miles I come to an abandoned ranch that is marked on the map! Yey ! The rest of the drive is easy. With about 6 miles to go I meet a car, the first people I've seen since I entered the desert. I finally reach the highway, after 97 miles and 20h (10h driving). There's a refresqueria at the side of the road where I gulp down 2 liters of water. "Are you thirsty?" the store owner asks. I haven't eaten anything (except a few handfulls of chips) in 24 hours so I celebrate with grilled rabbit at a roadside grill. Two hours later I come to Tecate where I spend the night at a hotel, literally 50 meters from the US border.

What I learned today:

Don't attempt to cross a desert with 0.7 l water.

Sun rises over my desert camp site.

0.5 l water left.

Tire track.

Dried out river.

Sandy road.

Annoying intersection. I end up going left.

Road that should have led to the coca cola but didn't.

Tree providing a little bit of shade.

Taking a rest and trying to figure out what to do.

Ghost town.

First water after crossing the desert.

The giant Tecate brewery.

Wall separating USA and Mexico.

I enter the desert at around 5pm. The first 8 miles are on a salt lake and offer great driving. As I come off the lake, I happen to end up on the wrong road but find out after only ~3 miles when a fence covers the road. I go back, find the correct road, and start driving north. The road is OK, but very sandy in parts, and I can keep around 10-15 mph. I drive until dusk and camp behind a little bank at the side of the road. This is the moment where I find out that I only have ~0.7 liters of water left and half a bag of chips. I do a little bedtime reading in my guidebook before I fall asleep and come across the following: "dangerous creatures like rattlesnakes and scorpions thrive in most of Baja's backcountry". Excellent! The night is amazing, so quiet and clear, and not cold at all.

What I learned today:

Don't tell a Mexican security guard that you have a bomb.

Camping at Los Muertos.

Breakfast of a champion.

Road leading to the water.

This is me.

Watch out for Chupacabras (blood sucking beasts).

Not So Easy St in Erendira.

Main street in Erendira.

Breakfast in Erendira.

Highway 3 in central Baja.

Where I fill up with gas before the desert.

Oups, wrong road.

Salt lake.

The drive down to Tijuana is less than 30 minutes. No traffic at all at the border. Immigration guard tells me it will cost 262 pesos to enter Mexico (1 USD = 13 pesos). I reply "huh, it's supposed to be free?". So he gives me another form to fill out and I get to enter for free. Welcome to Mexico!

I drive straight down to Ensenada (1.5 hours), have lunch, then head to La Bufadora, a geyser 45 minutes south of Ensenada. Then I decide it's time to leave the paved roads and I select a 40 mile dirt route that will take me from highway 1, to the coast, pass a camp site, then back to highway 1. This should be a good warmup before I cross the desert. I'm a bit concerned since I've never driven on dirt before, but it turns out to not be complicated at all! It's a little bit like mountainbiking on dirt, except that the motorcycle weighs 250 pounds. At dusk I meet a farmer on the road and ask him if it's far to the beach. "No no, just 30 minutes." I drive for approximately 1.5 hours before I find an old abandoned camp site next to the water where I spend the night. Freezing! I have to wear all the clothes I brought, including the motorcycle gear.

What I learned today:

Don't park your motorcycle in a downhill. It will roll away.

La Bufadora. Super touristy.

Mexican immigration, Tijuana.

Geyser, La Bufadora.

When I see this I proclaim "no mames!!!"

Hmm. Let's go back and try another road.

Bulls and wild dogs roam the backcountry.

Campsite sign.

Campsite office??

- 1" 3/4 length sleeping pad (15 oz)
- Emergency bivvy sack (3.5 oz)
- Hydration unit (3 l)
- AAA Baja California guidebook
- AAA Baja California map
- Some clothes, passport, 140 USD

The bike is a 2005 Suzuki DR200SE dual sport and has 6000 Miles on it.

What I learned today:

Don't take a bus to San Diego. Fly instead.

Big Sur.

The gear.

Summerland beach, east of Santa Barbara. Drizzling.

Food for the cat while I'm gone.

This concludes my vacation. I'll try to summarize briefly. I've been to 11 countries (Norway, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Sweden, USA, Dominican Republic and Haiti). I met one person whose philosophy appealed to me: "I trust people. If you can't trust people, the world is shit. And I don't want to live in a shit world." I've been careful, but chosen to trust many persons, and it's worked out wonderfully. I've met countless of new people, many of which I'm still in contact with. I've paid for accommodation twice now in 65 days (in Diyarbakir and Santo Domingo), and practically never had to eat a meal alone, which I think goes to show that humankind is pretty good after all :)

Cathedral in Higüey.

Higüey.

Banana street, Higüey.

Punta Cana.

I sit next to Alexis, a 25 year old Haitian whose job is to move steering wheels of imported cars from the right side to the left. During the 11 hour trip we become friends and he invites me to stay at his place for the night. He lives with a friend, another Haitian, on around 12 square meters in a suburb 30 minutes outside Santo Domingo. The living conditions are VERY basic. He prays to God every day to show him an exit, a path to a better life. It's a very moving experience.

Haitian.

Sugar cane salesman in Haiti.

Head for sale in Haiti.

The kids in the village are very curious about us blancos (Jason and me). They stand at a short distance just staring at us. One little girl is terrified and starts crying every time she looks at us. The people here are mostly dark dark black. For example, on our way home after dark we see at a stop sign on the street, only it's not, it's just a very black man with a stop sign on his t-shirt. For dinner we once again have an amazing home cooked meal at the orphanage. Then we head out to party at Jet Set in Petionville.

I really like this country... people are so warm, friendly, curious, inviting. Similar to Iran in a way, yet with many differences. One being that girls here are much more free, so it's easier to talk to them. In the Middle East I mostly just spoke to guys. Another being that Haiti is not particularly safe. There's plenty of crime and kidnappings here, and Jason and I attract a lot of attention. Except for the UN staff in their heavily armed trucks, we haven't seen a single white person. Moreover, police officers are virtually nonexistent, and the ones out there seem to be up to no good anyway. (The one we saw today was making out with a girl on the street.) For these reasons, we always go accompanied by at least one local, and usually in a car with the doors locked.

Having a snack in the village.

On the way to the beach.

The beach.

Local boys at the beach.

Man at the beach.

Fishermen and the catch of the day.

In the village. This is the girl who's afraid of us.

Kid being cleaned.

Reading stories in the village.

Party.

In the evening, Jason and I go on a quest for pork. After having had so much chicken lately we're craving something else. We find it on the street not far from Natasha's home. The food here is really tasty, with a lot of spices.

In the slum.

In the slum.

With Natasha.

Kids at the orphanage. Natasha on the right.

View from Natasha's brother's girlfriend's house.

Kid eating sugar cane.

Pork.

Tonight we're having a new year's party at Natasha's place. Jason and I spend most of the evening cooking and grilling. There's also beer and dancing. Suddenly it's 2009 and everyone is hugging and kissing. After midnight I leave with two Haitian girls to a club called Jet Set in Petionville, a rich suburb. There are plenty of westerners here, something you don't see in other places in PAP, they turn out to be from the UN peace keeping Mission in Haiti. It's a good day. A great end to 2008 and start for 2009!

Kids in the orphanage.

Kids in the orphanage.

Making coffee.

Street.

Barbecuing.

Jason, Natasha, me and some of Natasha's friends.

Dancing.

This photo shows our delicious salad and Haitian rum.

Life is good.

The border is set next to a lake. Somewhere before the border, the black packages disappear without me noticing. As we've passed, we see a huge black guy without much clothes rowing like a mad man over the lake. He rows towards us, and I see that the black packages are stuffed in the boat. They're quickly loaded on the bus, and we continue towards Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. When I arrive, I call my Haitian friends and they come and pick me up. I'm staying with a Haitian girl called Natasha. There are always a lot of people in her house; friends, family and also another blanco: Jason who happens to be a computer engineer from San Francisco.

At the Haitian border, and the bus and some people I travel with.

Outside Natasha's house.

View from Natasha's place.

At Natasha's.

At Natasha's.

At Natasha's.

I arrive in the Dominican Republic at around 2pm. Unfortunately, I land in Punta Cana, about as far away from Haiti as possible on this island. I am supposed to be in Haiti tomorrow, but have no idea how to get there. (I deliberately didn't prepare in order to make things more interesting.) I exit the airport and find a guagua (local bus) which takes me to a bus station where I find a bus for Santo Domingo, the capital. The bus takes 3-4 hours during which I make friends with the bus driver. In the capital, he takes me to the hotel where he's staying, then we meet with his friend the taxi driver and the three of us go out to eat, they give me a short tour of the city and tell me how to go to Haiti. Great! They're very hospitable, although one difference between them and all the Iranian people I've met recently is that they're happy to see me pay for things :)

Philadelphia.

I have breakfast here.

Airport in Punta Cana.

Street in Dominican Republic.