Back in 2001 we spent 10 days in the Philippines attending a wedding on the eve of a year-long trip overseas (Hana’s bro Ben married a Canadian Filipina, Maribel, who he met in Vancouver). After experiencing a true Catholic/Filipino-style wedding we spent a few days exploring Luzon and the central cordillera (Banaue, Bagio, Sagada) by jeepney. At the time we though it would be fun country to explore by bike – quiet narrow roads, plenty of villages, friendly people, NZ$ goes a long way – but always wondered what biking would be like in 30 degree heat and maximum humidity, let alone in the hills …
So we spent a week riding 535km round Fiji (Viti Levu) in the winter of 2007 (See here on Flickr) and discovered that riding in the heat wasn’t too bad – esp when it’s not too hilly (the air movement keeps you cool). Based on that experience, and wanting a fun adventure for the winter of 2008 we decided to buy some tickets to the Philippines – with 3 weeks marked on the calendar to spend travelling and cycle touring there.
The Philippines was a step up from Fiji – it was much hotter, and we were riding longer days (80-90km) between towns (acommodation is scarce – though usually possible – in the smaller villages). Coping in the heat was hard (especially for me) for the first few days, but you eventually acclimatise.
We stuck pretty much to the coast on this trip and rode about 920km on 4 different islands. Roads were a mix of seal and rough gravel (sometimes just a muddy track) – but always fun. We would go back for sure and do another 6 months!
I’ll let the photos and following captions tell the story …
Massively awesome – where do you find the time??
It took just as long to make the blog as it did to do the trip!
you should enter some pics in the National Geographic competition…
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/photo-contest/photo-contest
Hi! Nice of you to go on such a long biking trip around my country. If you hit El Nido, do take a lot of time out to snorkel, kayak and stuff. If you have more time you may want to try biking around my home town – Los Baños. It’s a quaint little town 60 km. south of Manila. A lot of people bike around there – me included!
I love your blog tremendousely! And i was surprised to see that you guys know Mike and Megan – they’re my friends, too! Next time you guys are planning to do the ride, maybe I can tag along.
Cheers!
Hello guys! I envy your bike trip around the Philippines! I love long distance rides myself both for the experience and the photo opportunities. Great work, I hope I can do a ride like this someday as well!
Awesome!
Thanks for appreciating my country..
Never been in those regions but ur pictures and descriptions almost made me feel that I’m with you is those spots.
God Speed!
Amazing! Bike-Shoot-Bike, these two(bike-sports/Shoot-passion) can never be separated.
BTW, what cam did you used on the whole trip..? 
Thanks… I used a Canon EOS 5D digital. Most of the time I just used one lens – a Canon 24-105mm f4L, but sometimes a Sigma 15mm Fisheye too.
cheers
Mark.
great ride!
mabuhay kayo!
next time you might want to check out the philippine east coast down to davao, endless pacific coastal roads.
cheers!