Rough Groove

Philippines, 8th Edition - Lonely Planet

A gift from my amour, this is the third lonely planet book that I have since I started travelling many years ago. Always an invaluable guide book, this is what I usually bring when going to places. Maybe too much Lonely Planet shows on cable TVs before, especially if the wacky Ian Wright is hosting. I first bought my 6th edition when I did a Cebu - Tacloban (Leyte) - Guiuan (Samar) - Homonhon (Samar) - Borongan (Samar) - Bulusan (Sorsogon) - Legazpi (Albay) - Hinunangan (Samar) - Cebu trip, all in one breath. And used it well when I roamed across the country from Luzon down to Mindanao. Had the 7th edition and used it for my first Cordillera trip and succeeding sojourns in Ilocos - Cagayan - Manila. It saw action in Marinduque, Surigao, Camiguin and a host of islands and places before getting this new edition. When I did the Bangkok - KL - Singapore trip, I was armed with another Lonely Planet: Southeast Asia on a Shoestring.

Always a reliable partner in going places. And, oh, I still have my Vietnam that was unused since bird flu struck that country and I was left to do a Batanes instead, which by the way, I haven’t regreted doing it.