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My opinion on travel: you should go anywhere, regardless of location, if opportunity presents itself. It doesn’t matter where it is or for how long you can go for — just go.

Although I still believe this, my theory in which I have lived my life by for a long time shifted recently when I had the chance to visit and explore the Philippines to do some travel photography. Although my opinion hasn’t changed, I was harshly reminded that travel times in island nations are slow.

While I still believe you should go anywhere, given the opportunity — when its time to go o the Philippines, try to pick a time when you don’t have to come back soon because the world’s second-largest archipelago is a truly remarkable place with so much to see, you won’t want to return after 10 days.

Especially if you’re hanging out with these guys — the Tarsier. The world’s smallest primate can be found on Bohol, a small island in the Southern part of the country. Its about the size of your hand is the closest thing to a Mogwai.

Recently I made a quick 10 day trip to this Southeast Asian unrefined paradise — and I know now, I will be making another trip back as soon as possible. With over 7000 tropical islands, the Philippines is certainly one of the greatest adventure places on earth. While its Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia swarm with tourists — most of the tourists in the Philippines are segregated into a couple very small areas — leaving the rest of the country “off the beaten path.”

While parts of the Philippines are certainly a bit dodgy, I had no problems and felt completely safe. Although hanging out in Manila is certainly not anything like Kansas. Currently, Lonely Planets travel advisory says:

Travel Alert: Due to the uncertain political situation in Mindinao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu Archipelago, travel to these areas is not advised. Check Safe Travel for current government warnings.

While I avoided these areas I found the general population outside of Manila to be extremely hospitable, friendly and extremely fun. In fact, the Filippino population has so much fun, doing Karaoke at home by yourself, seemed like a national past time.

Geographically the Philippines is very diverse. Above, are the Chocolate Hills which I’ll talk more about later — but are one of the stranger natural phenomenons I’ve ever seen. Almost 2000 uniformly shaped hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres makes this area almost Alien like.

While this travel log won’t be as extensive as the last Tibet and Nepal entries, the next couple weeks will take a quick tour from Manila to Panong, Boracay to Iloilo Iloilo, Bacolod to Dumaguette and a quick trip around Bohol Island. Check back in a couple days for the first post.