Alsguth Travel Blog

Hello from Houston!  We made it home late yesterday and were happy to make it to our house/bed/pillow, etc.!  Now we deal with laundry, dive gear, jetlag, tax returns and pool maintenance.  All the fun stuff!  Also, we get to see our family and friends and HAVE TACOS!  Yay! This was our first time in the Far East, first time to use a Round-the-World tickets, first time to be gone 7 weeks, first time to ... well, you get the point - we really embarked on a unique journey. Here are some things that we learned a long the way: - to go all the way around the earth takes a LONG TIME (i know, that should have been more obvious but when you actually DO it - whew - this is a big blue marble!) - 6 flights in 3 days is TOO MANY! - get local currency as soon as possible when you arrive - layovers do not have to be too long (don't cut it too close but there is a limit to how long you can entertain yourself at an airport) - better to book a flight on an airline that has lots ...

 Hi!  We have not had internet since last Saturday ... so, you have to hear about a whole week of diving in one blog... LOL But first, something I forgot about in Puerto Princessa.  When we went to see the Underground River we had a traditional Filipino lunch. On offer was "wormwood" - something of a slimy delicacy.  Sheri gave it a try: .. slimy, yet satisfying ... very similar to raw oysters - Austin & Jamie would like - Marieke & Alex ... not so much!  Anyway, back to diving. We boarded the Philippines Aggressor on Saturday afternoon and set off overnight to Tubbataha National Marine Park with 23 other divers. We had 5 days of wonderful diving! Here are some of the highlights: A couple of small, colorful clams cute fish .... you don't expect me to know the names of all of them, do you???? turtle another cute fish trumpet fish this is a little blurry but it is a crab in a soft coral.  it is hard to hold still when the current is pushing you. ...

We arrived in the Philippines after two bare-bones flights on Cebu Air. Anything over a paper cup of water cost money ... ugh.  We were pretty hungry by the time we got to Manila.  Some of you know that hungry Alsguths are not the most pleasant people!  We managed to avoid an international incident, but it was a close thing! Anyway, we woke up to a small problem, we had no Philippine Pesos (cash).  We had tried three different ATMs in Manila but had no luck.  Now we were at a hotel with no cash. We talked to the front desk when we checked in and they said they had an ATM.  This is what we found: Unplugged and un-helpful! I sent several panicked text messages to my "small gang" - they were super helpful.  Linda offered to wire us money, Joni said that it had sounded like an internet scam ... "I'm stuck in the Philippines and need you to send me cash!" LOL   We kept bugging the people at the desk, finally this nice lady changed $5 US for 250P....

Hello! We left Thailand yesterday and have arrived in the Philippines. We had a lovely last few days of diving on the MV Bavaria with all our new German friends! LOL The last two days of diving were at Koh Bon and Richelieu Rock.  These were the best diving of the Thailand trip AND Carsten and I did our 200th dive! Here are some favorites: A free-swimming eel (usually they are hiding in a rock) a rare Nudibranch This is a HUGE octopus!  S/He was sitting up on the rock when we swam by. Usually they head for a little rock hole to hide but this one stayed up moving around and changing his color/spots. Fascinating ! Cuttlefish Scorpion Fish - these guys camouflage themselves among the coral reef.  Best policy is to touch nothing underwater but for sure not these guys because they are quite poisonous ! The little white thing in the picture here is a Ghost Pipefish - rare to see! spiny lobster Frogfish - based on how excited our dive guide got, this was a rare find! Banded Seas...