Leaving Taipei with my bike to Philippines Sunday March 31, 2013 4:20 a.m. I’m not sure that I have any energy to write. I’m in the Philippines. Well, in the airport in Manila anyway. Though ...

I was very lucky in that a month-long fiesta was just getting started in Legazpi when I arrived. Every day brought new and exciting things to see on the streets - parades and dance contests ...

Mayon Backpacker's Hostel and Legazpi Monday April 1, 2013 6:33 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel – Legazpi, Philippines Good morning, all. As you can see from the time, it is somewhat early in the morning. Maybe ...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 7:17 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel I’m back on the rooftop of the hostel. The hostel has a lot of furniture in the rooms and on the roof, which is nice, but ...

Legazi is a very friendly and attractive town in the Philippines. It is dominated to the north by the Mayon Volcano, which offers lots of photo ops. It's a great area to explore by bicycle ...

Wednesday April 3, 2013 8:00 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel in Legazpi, Philippines I am at my word processor with a cup of coffee by my side a bit later than on other mornings. There are ...

Thursday April 4, 2013 6:30 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel, Legazpi Yesterday, I uploaded a large part of my journal plus some pictures at an Internet café near the hostel, and it worked out fairly well ...

Legazpi is where I landed in the Philippines and I ended up staying there quite a bit longer than I anticipated. I enjoyed cycling around the nearby countryside and getting a feel for the country ...

Meet Paul. He is the oldest resident in the small village of Salvacion on the lower slopes of the Mayon Volcano in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. He has never married and so has ...

Meet Carlo. He is one of the younger residents of the village of Salvacion - a small agricultural village on the slopes of the Mayon Volcano in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. Carlo had ...

Meet the luckiest man on earth - a man with four beautiful daughters. I was riding my bike down some rocky roads on the slopes of the Mayon Volcano when I heard an incessant beeping ...

Rice drying on the road. All the roads I cycled down were covered in these large tarps covered in drying rice. I don't know how the rice-growing seasons work here, but it seems that there ...

These little boys seemed to think I needed help in spotting the Mayon Volcano. "It's over there!" he's saying. I guess the assumption is that a foreigner in this area is either looking for the ...

One of the biggest impressions I've had of the Philippines since I arrived is just how tremendously green and lush it is. I generally wear polarizing sunglasses and with those on, the brilliant greens practically ...

A tricycle is a common form of transportation in the Philippines. It is essentially a motorcycle with a hand-made sidecar attached. They are, along with the jeepneys, the workhorses of the Philippines. A tricycle can ...

This man was one of the mechanics at this garage. He is working on a very typical local motorbike. I have heard them referred to as "underbones". I'm sure there is another name for them ...

This is a completed tricycle with the covering over the sidecar and the motorcycle itself. I don't have anything like accurate figures, but a couple of people told me that to purchase a full tricycle ...

Friday April 5, 2013 7:45 a.m. Mayon Backpackers Hostel, Legazpi, Philippines Dogs, I’ve come to realize, are common in the Philippines, at least in Legazpi. I know that not because I see them but because ...

Meet the local street version of pool in Legazpi, Philippines. It's an ingenious set-up. Instead of balls, this game uses round plastic disks with one larger disk as the "cue ball". The disks are numbered ...

A young man in Legazpi, Philippines, waiting his turn to play the local version of pool. The guys playing the game were all tricycle drivers and they were simply passing the time between customers. If ...

A water pump on a street corner in Legazpi, Philippines. Many homes in Legazpi do not have running water, and it is part of the daily chores to get water from one of the many ...

Meet Jojo. Jojo came down to Legazpi from Manila to compete in the Mayon 360 50-Mile Run ultra-marathon. (That's 80 kilometers!) It's called 360 I believe because the route goes entirely around the base of ...

"Load na dito!" The Philippines is powered by cell phones. They can do just about anything with them here, and you can't turn a corner without seeing a sign saying that you can buy credit ...

Ah, fruit shakes! Pick your fruits and it is all blended up with milk, shaved ice, and some sweetener. P38 ($1) for the extra-large. At the Magayon Festival grounds in Legazpi, Philippines ...

A bubble milk tea stand at a shopping mall in the Philippines. I chatted with the women at this stand and I told them that bubble milk tea was invented in Taiwan. They didn't believe ...

Meet a typical canteen or "eatery" in the Philippines. I've eaten pretty much every meal in the Philippines at a place like this so far. The food is great and it's very economical. The food ...

Job opportunity in the Philippines. I've seen copies of this poster all over Legazpi. It looks like people are paid to surf the Internet - clicking on links - to make it look like advertisers ...

Meet Aljon. Aljon works at the Mayon Backpackers Hostel in Legazpi. He works the front desk and cleans the kitchen and rooms and gets the rooms ready for the next guests. Aljon puts in such ...

Meet my lunch in the Philippines. I ordered rice plus one meat dish and two vegetable dishes. The meat dish is called pork steak. The yellowish vegetable dish at the top is called "ginataang kalabasa." ...

My new room in Legazpi, Philippines. My old home in Legazpi was booked by a large group for today and tomorrow, and I was asked to move out. I was just staying day to day, ...

A local business in Legazpi. This operation is right on Rizal Street, and I pass it several times a day. They can arrange for performers to come to your events or they can rent you ...

Yesterday was something of a busywork day. I went to an Internet café to upload some pictures to Flickr. I wasn’t sure how that would work out, but I wanted to give it a try ...

Monday, April 8, 2013 7:30 a.m. Legazpi, Philippines There were no adventures large or small yesterday, so I don’t have much to say this morning. It was a Sunday, and I noted that Sundays really ...

Tuesday April 9, 2013 7:00 a.m. Legazpi, Philippines It’s funny how the little things affect one’s life. I’m thinking in terms of living and traveling in a relatively poor country. For example, I’m inside this ...