Articles by Doug Nienhuis
I am a Canadian, and I am currently traveling through Asia with a touring bicycle. These are stories and pictures from my trip.
Moon Festival Trip 001 – Pingling
I’m currently in a mountain tea-growing town called Pinglin. I’ve been here many, many times, but I always like it. It’s the very first place I went to on my first trip out of Taipei many years ago. The town itself is nothing that special, but a beautiful river runs through it, and they built trails all along the river and then up into the mountains.
Keelung Boat Trip
Saturday June 18, 2011
I went for a quick 2-day, 1-night scooter jaunt to Keelung. I took County Road 106 to get to Keelung. This is a beautiful mountain road that passes through the old mining towns of Jingtong, Pingxi, and Shifenliao on the way to Ruifang and the coast. It takes about 2 hours to get from Taipei to Keelung on 106. It would probably …
011 – Ferry from Camiguin then Trip to Airport
I tried to buy a ticket on a ferry yesterday, but they only sell them on the day of departure. I assume they do this to prevent scalping, but I can’t be sure of that. I was worried about the timing of all this – my tricycle to Mambajao, jeepney to Benoni, ferry to Balingoan, bus to Cagayan de Oro, taxi to the airport, and …
010 – Sunken Cemetery, St. Nino Cold Springs, & Cockfighting
Sunday April 10, 2011 7:45 a.m.
Jasmin by the Sea, Camiguin, Philippines
I have some music playing on my X-Mini Capsule speaker and some water boiling in my Yong Heng Electronic Heating Cup. I am mostly packed. Everything is arrayed in neat piles ready to be stacked inside my backpack and knapsack. There are a few challenges facing me today, but nothing that will be too draining …
009 – Bura Soda Springs & Binangawan Falls
Saturday April 9, 2011 7:12 a.m.
Jasmin by the Sea, Camiguin, Philippines
Time for another cup of coffee at the beginning of another day. It rained throughout the early morning hours, but now the sun is shining, so it looks like another perfect day.
I set off on my motorbike once again yesterday. Over breakfast, I had gone over some notes I had made about Camiguin Island, and …
008 – Mantigue Island & the Giant Clams Santuary
Thursday April 7, 2011 7:05 a.m.
Jasmin by the Sea, Camiguin, Philippines
I have Mozart playing on my little speaker, water slowly coming to a boil in the pot, and a motorcycle sitting outside waiting to take me to some new small adventures. Hard to know how things could be any better.
There is one way I would improve on the situation – and that would be not …
007 – Hibok-Hibok Volcano
April 6, 2011 – Camiguin
Jess and I made plans to climb Hibok-Hibok volcano the next day. I wasn’t positive I wanted to do that. It seemed like a lot of hard work for very little reason. And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure that given my poor physical condition I could even do it. Volcanoes, I know from experience, are very difficult to climb. They …
006 – Motorcycling Around Camiguin – Tuasan Falls
Thursday April 5, 2011, 9:00 a.m.
Jasmin by the Sea, Camiguin, Philippines
Jasmin by the Sea rents motorcycles for 350 pesos a day. They are identical to the bikes that were for rent on Palawan. I’ve heard them called underbones, and they are somewhere in between a motorcycle and a scooter. They look like a motorbike and you have to change gears. However, there is no clutch. …