Ever since I came home from Sri Lanka my lower back has been bothering me. It isn't painful but the muscles kinda stiffen each time I would stand. It also doesn't help doing most of my work sitting in front of my laptop - reason why my back screams of a soothing therapy. I'm not big on the art of massage that I even skipped getting one at Khao San Road in Bangkok a couple of years ago. However, upon prodding from my girlfriend Monnette and an invite to try out Nuat Thai's newest branch located at Banawe Street in Quezon City, the universe conspired for my body to get its well deserved treatment after numerous miles of backpacking abuse on the road.

Here I am sipping a hot cup of Dilmah tea on a gloomy afternoon. I know for sure that it will take a while before I start writing a lengthy narrative about my Sri Lanka trip. I am still simmering the wonderful memories in my mind. It's been quite a year so far; after India, I had no idea I would follow up with a trip to this beautiful, teardrop-shaped nation brimming with cultural and historical wealth, capped off by its friendly people. Other than the five kilos of tea that I brought home, I am most grateful for amassing a new perspective that finally replaced the image of the brutal civil war I used to associate with Sri Lanka.

After my temple run concluded in Yogyakarta, I went back to Jakarta for a couple of days before my Cebu Pacific flight back to Manila. At the hostel, I met two other Filipinas who became my accidental tourist buddies. Since we were all going home the same night, we decided to spend our last day just roaming the city aboard a tuk-tuk, stopping for some sights and shopping along the way. After walking out of the National Monument park (Merdeka Square), we were approached by a thin, middle-aged man wearing blue slacks and a tucked-in polo, introducing himself as an employee of the local tourism office.

One of the many amazing things about traveling was the opportunity to meet new people on the road. During my trip to Hanoi, I met Hoang, a cheerful woman who worked at one of the many Sihn Tourist offices in the city. Recommended by another traveler friend, Jerik, I sought her out after I arrived to avail of a Halong Bay and Sapa tour. We met and conducted business, but by the end of our transaction, she unexpectedly extended an invitation for me to join her and some friends for dinner at her place. Shy and feeling a bit paranoid, brought on by a number of Asian gore movies, a series of images involving hacksaws, chains, and giant hammers flashed before me. "Hello Mark, you want to come, yes?" Hoang tapped me on my arm with a glistening smile, and I was back in the real world. "Sure, what time? I would love to go," I told her.

"... here at Sarnath he turned twelve wheels of Dharma ...

Keep in mind this most beautiful wood,
named by the great rishi,
where ninety-one thousand kotis of Buddhas
formerly turned the Wheel.
This place is matchless, perfectly calm,
contemplating, always frequented by deer.
In this most beautiful of parks,
whose name was given by the rishi,
I will turn the holy Wheel."

— Voice of the Buddha

Despite being considered one of the major pilgrimage sites for Buddhists all over the world, I only heard of Sarnath from Pallavi—the owner of Stops Hostels in Varanasi—when we asked for recommendations of other places to visit. Imagine my fascination rising to an ultimate high when I found out that the Isipatana, or the deer park in Sarnath, was the place where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, a key behavioral concept widely included in the teachings of several faiths, namely Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Tucked deep within the busy streets of Jaipur is an architectural marvel standing pyramidal 50 feet high. Constructed of red and pink sandstone, it is adorned with 953 jharokha windows, designed intricately with complex latticework. Built in 1799 under the direct orders of Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, the Hawa Mahal ("The Palace of the Winds") was beautifully designed by the architect of Jaipur City, Lal Chand Ustad, and stands as a prime example of Rajput architecture highly prevalent in the state of Rajasthan.

In the olden times, peeking quietly behind those windows were the royal ladies practicing the purdah—safely observing the busy happenings on the street without ever getting seen. The specific direction to which the windows of Hawa Mahal open allows a strong, cooling breeze of wind to naturally flow through the hallway, which measures just the width of an arm.

Globe Telecoms' TattAwards has been recognizing social media influencers in the past few years and for three in a row, Nomadic Experiences has had the great fortune of being among the finalists short listed for different categories. In 2012 it was named as one of the five Visualizers, the category that recognizes that year’s best photography websites and last year it crashed the party of five included in the Best Food and Travel Blog category. Being acknowledged again this year is a big surprise considering I'm tapering off from writing travel narratives since I started my freelance writing job last year. If ever, this new recognition shall serve as a kick in the groin for me to continue living up to "Tattoo's fiery passion for greatness, founded on individuality and the courage to inspire 35 million Filipino netizens and the rest of the world." as aptly expressed by the Tatt Award’s concept.

Instinctively or intentionally, the giant creature known as the 'creator of all things' strewed countless poppy and sunflower seeds over a bowl of water. With a puzzled look on their faces, his guests wondered if these were meant for the hot bread served on the table. Before someone could raise a question, dozens of graceful belly dancers entered the room bringing free-flowing wine, and soon the purpose of the poppy and sunflower seeds was forgotten. Over time—like thousands of years later—the scattered seeds evolved into thousands of limestone karsts spread over more than 1,500 square kilometers of Ha Long Bay.

I know it's completely ridiculous to choose just ten as the best places to photograph in the Philippines from the endless list of stunning locations I've set foot in the past. Also, I've yet to visit other equally and even more visually orgasm inducing locations - but I've heard the echoes of oohs and aahs originating from my well traveled friends. I hope someday to add more to this list. Meanwhile, these are the places that gave my wanna-be-photographer pants some wet spots by experiencing the equivalent of a non-sexual wet dream, while shooting the most eye popping landscape and seascape one can imagine.

My fascination with going to India started even before I was fully bitten by the travel bug. Five or six years ago, I deemed going there as almost next to impossible, as there were so many factors to consider: the long-haul flight, the expensive airfare, being heavily tied up with a demanding corporate job, and the fact that for a country as massive as India, a mere five-day trip simply wouldn't cut it—unless you go there just to snap a photo of the Taj Mahal in Agra.

However, life circumstances have a strangely beautiful way of conspiring to bring me directly to the very country I had long sought to see.

Apart from the thousands of limestone karsts and small isles dotting the whole of Halong Bay, there were small islands that also provided additional attractions like the Dau Go Cave (Wooden Stakes Cave). According to a local story, while planning a counterattack against their Mongolian enemies in 1288, the men of General Tran Hung Dao hid an enormous number of wooden stakes inside that cave. The wooden stakes were then streamed into the Bach Dang River to serve as obstacles against the attacking Mongols. It was a risky plan that tricked the enemy, as the men of Kublai Khan got entangled with the wooden stakes while crossing through the treacherous riverbed, drowning a number of Mongolian warriors.

When one mentions 'rappelling', I always remember the classic scene in the first Universal Soldier film where the characters of Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme attempted a daring Australian rappel assault straight down the Hoover Dam. Though our experience at the 155-foot-high Pulangui Bridge at Quezon, Bukidnon ain't nowhere near a UniSol's feat, I definitely felt a massive rat throbbing from inside my chest as our guide prepared my safety gears.

"Are you nervous?" he repeated to me. "Are you nervous?" I gave him a thumbs-up sign, completely betraying what I was truly feeling, just before I kicked my feet off the edge and catapulted my body mid-air. With only a single sturdy rope saving me from a three-second free fall into massive broken bones or worse—death—I quietly recited a short prayer.

Remember the two ladies who made a cameo in my flight-to-Jakarta narrative? Well, they stayed in the capital of Indonesia while I took a train to Yogyakarta. I thought the story ended there, but to my wonderful surprise, I bumped into them again a few days later. After spending four days in Yogyakarta, I went back to Jakarta for the tail-end of my trip and ended up staying at the same hostel as those two lovelies. They answered to the names Tania Gonzales and Carmel So. I was downstairs at the hostel lounge working on my laptop when I saw them come down; I almost fell out of my seat and just froze. I heard them talking about eating in a Korean restaurant before they walked out the door.

Anytime you found your way to the largest Buddhist temple in the world, you felt like toasting your kismet for bringing you there. Just the mere fact of stepping foot on a structure built with stunning craftsmanship and creativity dating back to the ninth century was already a significant moment for myself. Borobudur was the primary reason why I journeyed to the city of Yogyakarta—which at the time was my longest train ride from Jakarta. It was one of those places forever etched in my mind as something I must see.