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Way back 2018, my very first international travel experience was to one of the most remote places in India, Uttarakhand. Known for its numerous Hindu temples and pilgrimage sites, it is often referred to as the "Land of Gods." Uttarakhand is a state in Northern India that is neighboring Nepal on its east side. From there, I could already see the Himalayas.

I went there not solely for travel but as a personal milestone. In the process, I had the chance to witness the richness of Uttarakhand's culture. It is so well-preserved that it felt like I had traveled back in time.

Tuk-tuk Ride

As it was my first time in India, it was also my first time riding a tuk-tuk. I had always heard about the traffic and crazy roads in India before I came here. Riding a tuk-tuk didn’t feel too scary for me, as we have a similar vehicle in the Philippines called a trike or tricycle, but it is designed with a sidecar for passengers. The level of experience felt the same.

I was more amazed by the traffic: everyone on the roads was constantly honking, making it incredibly noisy, while drivers swerved randomly. What's more amazing is that I never saw a single accident.

Paltan Bazaar

An Indian friend of mine brought me in Paltan Bazaar. It is one of the biggest bazaar in Derahdun if I am not mistaken. I was full of excitement when we arrived the entrance of the bazaar. The place is bustling with people who are there to shop and also sell.

Here I found a whole street of stores selling clothes, both traditional and and formalclike western style Tuxedo and it is very cheap for a good quality.

I bought two kurtas to bring home, one for myself and one as a gift for my friend in the Philippines.

I also got myself a henna tattoo here, finding it interesting that they use natural ink from leaves.

As I roamed around the bazaar, I found it annoying that kids begging for money wouldn't stop following me. As soon as they saw a foreigner, they kept asking for money, and even if you gave them some, they wouldn't stop and would ask for more.

Mussoorie

Mussorie is a hill station famous for scenic beauty of mountain ranges around it. To its northeast, I have had a glimpse of the mountain range of Himalayas infront of me.

Going to the viewpoint of Himalayas, I had to ride an old fashioned ropeway.

It was just a fun 5 minutes ride wher I got to ride with locals and just smile to each other as I don't really understand their language.

Reaching the top station, the viewpoint reveals the Himalayan snow ranges. I know it looks so far in the picture above but it is incredible to see in person. They also told me that, the mountain ranges infront of us is alreadt the foothills of the Himalayas.

Whats more fun? A toilet on top of the mountain with a view of Himalayas!

As I don't know if this will be the last time I will be here, I took the opportunity to haggle some souvenirs to bring home and display in my house.

Temples and Stupas

During my stay in India, I visited countless temples and stupas. Mostly are with different God and style. The picture above and below for example, is a temple of The Snake God (Naag Devtaa)

Here is another stupa that I visited; it is huge and packed with visitors. Even though I can hardly understand the values of these religions for the locals, I adore their faithfulness to their religion and gods.

Political History

During my stay, I was also introduced to some of the political history of India, with Mahatma Gandhi being at the forefront. Gandhi was an Indian independence activist and leader who played a key role in the peaceful resistance movement against British colonial rule.

He was also a prolific writer and thinker, writing extensively on topics such as nonviolence, civil disobedience, and social justice.

Research Institutes

On my last day in India, I visited the Forest Research Institute. Here I've seen a vast number of displays about forestry.

Final Thoughts

There, I experienced some of the deepest aspects of Indian culture. I visited temples, stupas, research institutes, and some of their busiest markets.

The moment I departed India to return to my country, my experience in Dehradun - Uttarakhand made me realize that traveling isn't just about being a 'tourist'—someone who tastes the food, visits tourist spots, and engages in leisure activities.

To me, it was more about engaging with the people, and diving into their culture, history, and traditions.

Why do you travel, and what kind of places and experiences excite you the most when traveling? I've been inspired to create a reel and write a blog by Jordan Peterson's advice in one of his speeches, saying "Go to the unknown..." quoting what is written in the Bible. In this blog, I'm sharing you the reel I made and my experiences traveling in Northern Vietnam.

Northern Vietnam

One of my most recent international travels was to Northern Vietnam, where I visited eight places in two weeks: Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Giang, Meo Vac, Lung Cu, Du Gia, Yen Minh, and Sa Pa.

It took me three months to plan that two-week trip to a country I had never seen before and whose language I didn't understand. All I had were the bits of information I gathered from reading blogs and watching YouTube vlogs from people who had been there, and an eagerness to experience the deepest aspects of culture in Northern Vietnam.

Traveling to the Unknown

My way of traveling is to dive into the deep culture of a place and engage with the locals, without worrying about being uncomfortable. I like to go beyond the superficial layer of the country and the popular opinions about it.

It gives me a sense of being educated about things outside my comfort zone and cultures that are completely different from what I grew up with.

Public Markets

Going to public markets, you can see how people from different families, religions, and tribes in a community interact with each other and observe the variety of products they produce and consume, including foods and raw materials.

In Meo Vac, I had the chance to visit their public market. It felt like being in a place where people from different cultures gather to exchange products and make a living.

I saw different kinds of products that I had never seen before, and I also experienced eating the food that everyone there was eating.

Family Orientation

I've learnt that family if a very important Vietnamese culture. Vietnamese families typically have strong bonds and place a lot of emphasis on respect for elders, filial piety, and the well-being of the family unit.

They work hard and diligently to provide for their families and contribute to their well-being.

Tribes

In Sa Pa, I engaged with the Black Hmong tribe. Tribes in any country are deeply rooted in their ancient cultures and strive to protect and preserve them. In this era of technological advancement, it's a challenge for the tribes in Vietnam to preserve their culture while preparing their children for the modern world.

Religion

Religions in Vietnam are closely tied to its history. While Buddhism is widely practiced in Vietnam, it's important to note that Buddhism was an influence acquired from China.

Landscapes

Vietnam boasts a diverse and stunning landscape. I particularly explored a part of Vietnam that is surrounded by mountains simply because I love such environments, and to witness their beautiful rice terraces.

During the early months of 2024, I was in search of a travel destination in the Philippines where I could learn more about some of the country's deepest cultures and experience them in person.

A friend of mine who had recently visited the Philippines showed me his new tattoo, a three-dot tattoo. It's a famous symbol in the Philippines that almost everybody knows, recognizing whose signature tattoo it is.

That gave me the motivation to embark on a long journey to Buscalan where I could find the tattoo artist, Apo Whang-Od.

Buscalan Tattoo Village

Buscalan Tattoo Village is an isolated village located in Kalinga, Mountain Province, in the northern part of the Philippines.

Reaching this village requires a 10 to 12-hour drive from Manila, crossing multiple cities and provinces nestled in the mountainous region of the Philippines.

This small village is nestled on top of a mountain and can only be reached by foot.

While being isolated from the major cities, this village is self-sustaining by cultivating its own food. They built their village surrounded by multiple rice and crop terraces and keep livestock animals in their backyards as one of their main sources of food.

If you've reached this part of the blog, you might be wondering how this place became famous for tattoos.

Batok, The Traditional Tattoo

First, let me tell you some information about the traditional tattooing in Buscalan Tatto Village.

Indigenous tattoos in the Philippines, known by various names like Batok, batek, patik, batik, or buri, were widespread among ethnic groups before colonial times.

Practiced on both genders, tattooing utilized traditional tools like hafted mallets. These tattoos symbolized tribal identity, kinship, bravery, beauty, and social status, varying from partial to full-body coverage.

Maria Oggay A.K.A. Apo Whang-Od

Source: Vogue Magazine

Traditional tattooing in the Philippines has existed since before the Spanish colonial era. However, it was the discovery of Apo Whang-Od that started to bring popularity to this village among the masses.

In 2007, Dr. Lars Krutak spent two weeks in Buscalan filming the Philippine segment of his Discovery Channel series Tattoo Hunter. During his time there, he met Whang-Od, who was almost 90 years old at the time and still actively working in the rice fields every day.

After that, Whang-Od was dubbed the 'Oldest Mambabatok' (Oldest Traditional Tattoo Artist) of the Philippines. And that's how the popularity of this village started to grow.

Tourism Development

Contrary to the drone photos I showed you earlier, exploring the village on foot reveals an even more surprising perspective. As I wandered through the village, I experienced a mix of feelings—being in an isolated village nestled atop a mountain, yet witnessing an environment that felt like an informal settlement.

Without a doubt, this is mainly due to the popularity of Whang-Od. People from other cities and provinces of the Philippines, and even foreigners, flock to this place just to get traditional tattoos. As a result, locals have built houses as hotels to accommodate visitors.

Unfortunately, this influx has led to the transformation of the once-traditional village, originally constructed with stones, wood, and dried leaves, into a more cemented environment.

It is undeniable that the locals of the Tattoo Village can earn more from traditional tattoos and tourism than from farming and selling fresh produce in the market.

And this business will lead to more structural developments in their village in the future.

I created this community to share my Short-form travel films, reels, shorts or whatever you call it. I also love to watch and learn from the others not only about their editting techniques, their gears, etc. but also about the place, the food in the place, what can I do if I visit that place. You name it.

So if it resonates to you you and love to create the same content, post it here! Jusy make sure to stay relevant with the topic of this community, and I encourage everybody to produce informative and inspirational content.

Here are few guidlines that you should follow:

Written Content

Please say something about your video.

Where, what, when, how?

Inspire us to go to that place and know more about it!

If you don't then it is like you create something you only can understand. But anyway, this is an appreciation community so I will not downvote or mute it. At least for now?

Crossposting

Crossposting is okay as long as your content is relevant in this community. Follow the rules and everything else are fine.

Video Source

Videos can be uploaded from other video hosting platforms like YouTube but I encourage everybody to use 3Speak to support our platform.

Tags

Aleo, please use the recommended tags or use the same format as "(something about travel)-reels) e.g. travel-reels, outdoor-reels. This tags may be useful for future development.

I will update the rules if I find out someting must be regulated in the future.

CHEERS!

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Hey Worldmappin community! This is my first post here, and I'm excited to share my travel stories and experiences with all of you.

Today, during my regular weekend cycling trip, I decided to challenge myself by heading to a nearby mountain. I chose to go to Bishan (碧山), where the Bishanyan Kaizhang Shengwang Temple (碧山巖開漳聖王廟) is nestled.

Bishanyan Kaizhang Shengwang Temple (碧山巖開漳聖王廟) is located in the northeastern part of Taipei, exactly at Neihu District.

This place is not a touristy spot, as it is not convenient to reach by bus or train. One would need to use their own or rented vehicle, or ride a bicycle like I did, to get here.Yet, this place offers a mindful vibe and a panoramic view of Taipei City from a hill.

Upon arriving, the temple welcomes you with the smell of incense and a silence that invites mindfulness. The temple's terrace will surprise you with a panoramic view of the city, with the Taipei 101 building at its center.

I am not a Buddhist, but I enjoy the peaceful vibe of this place. In fact, this is not my first time visiting. It is my go-to spot when I want to challenge myself with a medium-difficulty mountain climb on my bicycle.

Visitors, especially children, can also enjoy viewing distant places using the coin-operated telescope. While sightseeing, you'll also enjoy watching airplanes take off and land at the nearby airport.

I personally enjoy taking pictures here when airplanes fly directly over the top of the Taipei 101 building. I shared one of these pictures with a friend of mine, and he replied with a dark joke: 'This one missed the tower.' 💀💀💀💀

The rain suddenly poured while I was there, so I enjoyed my time resting and appreciating the view in front of me, listening to the instrumental music played by the temple, which perfectly matched the sound of the raindrops.

I really like how Taipei is surrounded by mountains, offering plenty of options for adventurous seekers like me to explore. However, the downside is that clouds are often trapped in this area, making it cloudy and rainy.

By the time the rain stopped, I finally decided to leave, but not before trying some grilled pork sausages called Xiang Chang (香腸). Right at the parking lot of the temple, there were vendors selling freshly grilled Xiang Chang and another type, a grilled sticky rice dish that I'm not sure of the name.

Mt. Pinatubo, an active stratovolcano located on the island of Luzon, has always been a natural wonder that fascinates me. Known for its catastrophic eruption in 1991, which drastically altered the landscape and affected global weather patterns, Mt. Pinatubo has since transformed into a stunning trekking destination. Its caldera, spanning up to 2.5 km wide after its most recent eruption, now offers perfectly calm and beautiful scenery.

Buscalan Tattoo Village

This is the place where the famous indigenous tatto artist named Apo Whang-Od live. Buscalan Tattoo Village is located in Kalinga, Mountain Province at the north of the Philippines. It is an 11 hours drive from Manila and to get into the village, you have to go for a 30 minutes hike. The village is on top of a hill surrounded by taller mountains. There I have got the chance to meet her and have a tattoo from her.

Port Barton, Palawan

Port Barton is a hiddend gem located in Palawan at the south of the Philippines. Port Barton is a coastal paradise with beautiful beaches and islands that seemingly untouched. I went there to go for an Island hopping tour, and I was amazed to experience being the lone tourist in the island as Port Barton is yet to be discovered by many tourits.

Mt. Pulag

Mt. Pulag is the third highest mountain in the Philippines. It is regarded as the Playground of Gods for its stunning mountain landscapes and famous Sea of Clouds. I conquered Mt. Pulag last February this year , and it was my first time hiking in the Philippines, my home country. I was surprised to witness such beauty.

Mt.Hehuan

Mt. Hehuan is located in Taiwan, it is one of the beautiful mountains that I've been in Taiwan and by far the easiest major climb.

This is a montage of my drone shots from my recent trip to the Philippines, my country, last December 2023.

I have upcoming blogs about it, but for now, I am going to tease you with this beatiful montage.

Hope you enjoy!