Mark Baker - Year 39Useful information for other travelers.
A couple of days ago I caught a very early 7am flight, I had to be at the airport for 4am, from Manila to Boracay to meet me friend Dennis. The plane was a propellor type that did not hold many people, which was pretty cool. Once it landed at Caticlan airport I had to […]
Yesterday I went Scuba diving. What struck me about this sport is that the gear is such a simple concept that opens a whole new world under the Sea. I was considering getting my Open Water PADI license but decided against it because I am not sure how often I will do it again. It […]
Yesterday evening I went to ‘watch’ folk dancing and go for some food with a few of Dennis’ old students who are now working in Boracay. Dennis is in Manila at a meeting. Once we got to the dancing and ate some food I ended up getting pulled up on the stage to have ago. […]
The reason I am here in Boracay is to celebrate my friends 40th Birthday with him. So the night before last, when Dennis returned from Manila, we went to Club Wave on the sea front for couple of drinks, a dance and a Pizza. Yesterday, Dennis’ actual birthday, we went Island Hopping which involved getting […]
A couple of early morning walks along to station 1 and Dimiwidi beach and a sunset swim at station 3 have resulted in some amazing sights. I have been hoping on trikes and having a look around the island. This afternoon I am going to go to the ‘back’ beach for a swim and then […]
Over the last few days I have been hopping on to the trike once again to explore more of the island. The day before yesterday I had my 2nd intense Yoga session, which had an amazing view over the main beach. In the afternoon I went with Dennis’ friends to the back beach where alot […]
Yesterday morning I went to the back beach and saw more kite boarding and promised myself I would be there this morning in time for the sunrise at 5:30am. I am pleased I made it because the sight was amazing and I got to see lots of dogs playing which is a sight I love […]
Yesterday was my last day in Boracay and as I wandered around I noticed how many trikes were buzzing about me, so I filmed them. In the evening Dennis, our friends, and I went out for a goodbye meal before I headed back to pack. This morning I woke at 4:30am to catch a trike […]
I have spent the last few days in Manila and an interesting stay it has been too. With the APEC conference and world leaders with in a few miles of my hotel the main roads were closed off, making for an unusually very quiet city. I have explored the Bay area, The National Shrine of […]
I arrived in Vancouver at 20:50 on the 21st November 2015 which I find amazing because my flight left Manila at 00:50 on the 22nd November 2015! The flight was 12 hours long and Vancouver is 16 hours behind Manila. I think this is pretty darn cool! The weirdest thing happened at the airport, customs […]
Last night I watched an exciting game of NHL Ice Hockey, unfortunately the Vancouver Canucks lost 3-2 to New Jersey Devils. The atmosphere of my first Ice Hockey game was memorable and something I am pleased to have experienced. I now hope to catch a NBA when in Toronto. Today when I woke up at […]
Today I managed to get up for breakfast, which was a bonus. After which I decided I would go and have a look out over the city. I have found on my travels that I really like getting up high to see the overview. Today when I got my ticket the ticket seller informed me […]
Today my aim was to go to the North Island of Vancouver to walk along the suspension bridge however, when I went to the cashpoint my card was blocked. this meant I had to head back to the Hostel to check my back up card and try to call the bank. I couldn’t contact the […]
Today I managed to get to the Capilino Suspension Bridge on the north side of the city. As you can see from the photos the bridge and views were pretty cool. Tomorrow I am going to Granville island and the Kitsilano area of Vancouver before catching my sleeper train to Jasper in the Rockies.
My final day in Vancouver has been spent exploring the south side of the city, in particular Granville Island. It was quite a walk from my hostel, an hour in total, to the island but worth it to see the views and walk over Granville St Bridge. I liked the views I could see on […]
Yesterday I arrived in a very cold Jasper. Apparently it is -17 degrees outside at the moment. The journey from Vancouver to Jasper took 20 hours and as you can see from the photos the views were pretty amazing. The trains in Canada have a Sky Carriage which lets you look out over the top […]
I was hoping to go Ice Walk around frozen water falls today but this trip would not start until the 1st of December, if the ice is thick enough to walk on. Instead I booked my self on a wildlife and Scenic tour of Jasper. When I got picked up by Sundog tours we headed […]
For my last full day in Jasper I tried walking up the trail from the hostel which required me to wear snow shoes. It was difficult and only walked for an hour and fell over a few times. After I had some lunch I strolled the 8km into town and saw some Elk on the […]
This train journey was amazing! It is definitely one of the best experiences I have had on my travels. There was lots of interesting people to talk to and the train and views were great. The food was really nice too, I had a three course meal each night. One passenger was telling me how […]
Having arrived in Toronto and dropping my bags at the hostel, which was only a 10 minute walk from the train station, I headed out to explore the area to get me bearings. I found some good sights including the lake and the main streets. This was all on my way to see if I […]
Over the last few days I have walked around Toronto and explored the area. I have not been up the CN tower yet because it has been too cloudy, as you can see from the pictures. The next few days I am going to be exploring more of the East coast, but when I return […]
This is the third Hostelling International Hostel I have stayed at in Canada and it is OK but by no means the best. The atmosphere is not quite right and the bedroom smells a bit. I did get breakfast and the facilities are OK, although they do charge nearly twice as much for the laundry […]
Yesterday morning I caught the AMTRAK train bound for New York from Toronto to the Niagra falls. The journey took just under 2 hours but was worth every minute of the trip because the views I saw were breathtaking. The interesting part for me was just how close the falls are to the USA. The […]
I had a stop over in Hamilton on my way back to Toronto from Niagra Falls. Hamilton is lovely little city with quirky art galleries and shop and I am really please my friend James suggested I pay it a visit. My first night as I explored the city I decided to get a falafel […]
This morning I caught the train from Toronto to the Captial City of Canada, Ottawa. The journey took 5 hours on the train, plus a 30 minute walk to the hostel because I could not wait for the bus. I am pleased I did walk because it helped me get my bearings. After settling into […]
I arrived at Montreal train station yesterday evening from Ottawa and walked 20 minutes to the hostel. This morning after breakfast I went for a long walk and got lost before regaining my bearings. Then I noticed the old port area, followed by the Old Town and then I spotted the Notre-Dame Basilica, having looked […]
This morning I hopped on the Montreal Subway for a few stops to the Berri-Uqam station where I went to the bus stop to catch a bus to Quebec. The most striking element of the 3 hour journey was hour the environment changed in to a very blizzardy snowy climate and by the time we […]
This morning I arose and went for a walk after I stopped for a quick breakfast in McDonalds. I had a Crepe McMuffin with Maple Syrup, Egg and Cheese. On the walk I saw some very festive looking themes, I could imagine a similar image appearing on a Christmas card. Last night I got chatting […]
My final day in Montreal, before heading back to Toronto, was spent climbing up Mount Royal to get a really nice view over the city, something I really love to do. I am looking forward to doing this up CN tower back in Toronto. It rained all day in Montreal, had it not I most […]
Yesterday I caught the main sites around Toronto including the City Offices, The CN tower, Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery Ontario. In the evening I went to the Royal Alexandra theatre and watched Kinky Boots which was a really heartwarming story based on the true story of Shoe Factory in Northampton, who found […]
This morning I hopped on the bus back to Hamilton to see the other Flying Lancaster in the World. This is situated in the Canadian War Plane Heritage (CWH) Museum near Hamilton airport, the other is in Lincolnshire in the UK. Getting to Hamilton was simple, I just needed to catch the GO bus from […]
I am now back in the UK ready for Christmas and the New Year. I will visit the other countries on my bucket list soon and blog about them on this site then. See you all soon.