The annual Sinulog Festival in Cebu City is one of the biggest events in Philippines. But how would it be to celebrate it in Maasin City?

The Hanginan Trail is a popular hike in the green hills behind Maasin City. Emily has done this hike several times before, while this was the first time for me.

Malapascua, a tiny island north of Cebu, is said to be the next Boracay (whitest sand beach in Philippines), so we decided to check it out.

Canigao Island is the hidden paradise of Leyte, and it has quite surely the best white sand beach in the entire Eastern Visayas. By hidden I mean it's spared from western tourism and development, but beware, the local "tourists" can be of much nuisance as well.

I missed my flight to Tacloban and my camera was stolen. Shit happened twice on this unlucky day of October 4.

Finally there, standing on top of a small hill and watching the sun rise from the horizon, I was overwhelmed with feelings. Machu Picchu, its sheer beauty and spectacular setting, is really something out of this world.

Aguas Calientes is the entry-town of Machu Picchu, and that means a lot of tourists going by. Souvenir stalls, expensive restaurants and upscale hotels are booming in this little town. I simply had to get away from this madness.

Leaving La Paz (Bolivia) and heading back to Lima (Peru) overland, I decided to spend one night at Lake Titicaca, the highest big lake in the world, 3811 meters above sea level.

Just in case I'll never return to Peru, I decided that I at least had to see the Laguna Llanganuco, a stunning turquoise lake between the Huascaran and Huandoy mountains in the Cordillera Blanca.

This is not a zoo, this is the real thing! We encountered rhinos, crocodiles, wild boars and a plenty of other wildlife.

I have not visited Pokhara in Nepal since the autumn of 2000, so it was about time to return to this tranquil lakeside town, before we go trekking in the Annapurna mountains.

Ronnie, Hasan and myself visited Comilla today, mainly to see the Mainamati Ruins, one of the most important Buddhist archaeological sites in Bangladesh.

A short train journey from Solo brought us to Yogyakarta, the number one tourist destination on Java. World class sights, excellent food and a cultural interesting city.

Who have heard about Cappadocia in Turkey? I admit, quite embarrassed, that this wonderful place has never caught my attention before. In my search for the ultimate destination, I usually end up travelling far away from Europe to a completely different land and culture. But now I realize there are some hidden gems and interesting cultures within or close to Europe too, and Turkey contains many of them.

My last week in the Philippines was spent roaming around Negros, the third largest island in the country and prime producer of sugar. From Dumaguete and Sipalay in south to Bacolod and Silay City in the north.

Siquijor is a tiny island in the Philippines, and holds a reputation for being a place of sorcery, black magic, and generally strange people and rituals. But instead of hunting witches, we spent the entire time on Solangon beach.

Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines, but still large enough to offer a lot. We enjoyed the famous Chocolate Hills, a river cruise, spotting tarsiers (commonly dubbed the world's smallest "monkey") and finally a couple of days rest on Alona Beach.

The island of Palawan, also dubbed "The last frontier in Philippines", is where Alex Garland found inspiration to write his book "The Beach". We spent 10 days exploring white beaches, hidden lagoons, razor-sharp limestone cliffs, spooky underground rivers....and horrible roads.

Just few hours by bus north of Manila, the Cordillera rises to almost 3000 meters above sea level. The deeper we penetrated the mountains and valleys of Northern Luzon, the more it reminded me of Nepal.

The fruit market in Baguio

► See a slideshow of the Baguio album

After having traveled two months in Philippines in the end of 2008, I promised myself to return as soon as possible to this lovely country in the far east. Early April I was back in Maasin City (Leyte), where the first leg of our backpacking started 8 days ago.