A bittersweet journey to the seven wonders of the world
Published Dec 31, 2017 12:05 am
Text, images, and video by Mark Anthony Barquin Togonon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwpOZwU7fhg&feature=youtu.be
There were tears along the way. It’s as though I had a list of misfortunes to overcome before I could finish visiting the Seven Wonders of the World.
Several things triggered me to see them all in a little over a year. One is the trend of more frequent global catastrophes that I feared could obliterate these incredible human feats very soon before I saw any of them. I might have also been inspired by the movie called The Bucket List, which I saw while in a hospital bed fighting for my life against dengue.
The film, which stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, is about two terminally ill men who, despite their doctor’s objection, set out on an adventure to complete a list of things they want to see and do before they “kick the bucket.” As my platelet count continued to plunge, I was submerged in grief over the possibility of dying with unfulfilled life dreams.
But I had a second shot at life that the universe wanted me to live fully, providing me with means to embark on a far-flung journey to see the Seven Wonders of the World: Colosseo in Rome, Taj Mahal in India, The Great Wall in China, Machu Picchu in Peru, Cristo Redentor in Brazil, Chichen Itza in Mexico, and Petra in Jordan.
The Roman Colosseum
As an investor of my good friend’s financing business, I was earning a handsome eight percent monthly interest rate of my capital. Lured by the outsized returns, I decided to invest more money since she proved to be trustworthy and an astute businesswoman over the years that I had known her. It became my chief source of travel funds and soon, in July of 2016, I was splurging on a month-long vacation in Europe: strolling the fancy boulevards in Paris, riding the gondola along the Grand Canal in Venice, soaking in an outdoor Jacuzzi overlooking the gorgeous Aegean vista in Santorini and of course, basking in the grandeur of the Colosseum in Rome.
Chills crept up my spine when I walked into the 80,000-seater Colosseum, built in 80 AD by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian Dynasty as his gift to the Romans. Beyond its magnificent façade is a gruesome history of public execution and bloody games, where criminals and slaves were either forced to fight in gladiatorial combats or fed to bears and lions for public entertainment.
In August, right after I returned from Europe, I was desperately trying to get over a bad breakup. I kept my hands full by helping out with the family business while obsessively planning my solo forays into the other Wonders of the World.
Taj Mahal
Heartache and anger fueled my fire to achieve my travel goal the soonest possible time. By the end of the year I had already planned out all my trips for 2017: Taj Mahal in February, The Great Wall of China in May, and Petra, Machu Picchu, Cristo Redentor, and Chichen Itza all together in July. Constantly rummaging through countless travel websites, I even booked my flights and hotels far in advance, as soon as I found a reasonable deal.
On Valentine’s Day I ticked off Taj Mahal from my Seven Wonders bucket list. It was the perfect day to visit the white marbled-mausoleum, commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 to house the tomb of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, as it is known to the world as the ultimate symbol of love. I remember how teary-eyed I was when I first saw it, wholly consumed by its beauty as it glowed rosy pink in the early morning sun.
The Great Wall of China
Upon returning home, I wanted all the visas for my upcoming travels ironed out right away. February marked five months before my flight to Jordan, which I heard has stringent policies for Filipino solo travelers, so I immediately sent my meticulously prepared documents to the Office of the Honorary Consulate of Jordan in Manila since according to the staff, processing time may take up to four months.
As for my Chinese visa, I easily obtained it through a travel agency. Philippine passport holders do not need visas to enter Brazil and Peru. I didn’t have to get one for Mexico, either, since I could use my valid Japanese visa to enter the country. I was least concerned about getting Canadian transit visa, which I apparently needed for a two-hour layover in Toronto on my flight back to the Philippines from Mexico. Getting one should be a piece of cake, I assumed.
Sometime in March, a bomb blew up in my face. My friend’s financing business crumbled and my investment, which was more than a million pesos, vanished into thin air. I was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of failure, embarrassed by my terrible decisions and well, greed. Everything around me was one blurry haze of tears. How dumb was I to have not foreseen this? It was easy money. Of course it was risky! I was almost certain that I would have to cancel my upcoming travels, which was too painful to think, as the funds I had left were insufficient. Over the next few weeks I was scrambling from lawyer to lawyer to seek legal advice but eventually, I decided not to pursue the lawsuit against my friend, who promised staggered payments down to the last cent.
Machu Picchu
In May, a few writing engagements earned me little cash that funded my trip to The Great Wall of China. I settled on a dingy hostel and skipped several meals to make ends meet, the price I willingly paid just to see the architectural magnificence of the Great Wall, meandering 21 kilometers from the east to the west of China like a giant serpent. During the hike, I learned that the Great Wall of China is not a project of a single emperor, as I always thought it was, but a collective effort of many powerful dynasties from 771 BC until 1644 and millions of soldiers, peasants and convicts, many of whom perished from exhaustion during its construction and were buried within the wall itself.
In June, I was hoping for a miracle that would fix my tragic financial affairs, perhaps for my friend to sell her properties so she could pay me back but I found out that she already used them as collateral to the bank. Refusing to give up, I still hadn’t cancelled my flights to Jordan, Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. I had one month to come up with at least R150,000 as pocket money. I didn’t want to ask help from my mother, who always frowned at my “excessive” wanderlust and devil-may-care attitude. Soon, I was juggling several moneymaking ventures, such as selling live pigs and lechon during the fiesta and even marketing beauty products, but they weren’t enough to rake in the cash I needed.
With little time left, I had no other choice but to borrow money from my mother, who, as expected, gave me days of shotgun sermon. Eventually, she agreed to finance my trip on one condition, I would have to dedicate myself entirely to the family business. That means, no more far-flung, extravagant travels until I achieve major business milestones.
Little did I know that more predicaments were coming my way. A week before my flight to Jordan, which was supposedly my first stop, I called the Office of the Honorary Consulate to follow up on my visa and sadly, the staff had no idea what my status was, insisting that they are not authorized to speak with anyone from the Embassy in Jordan and that they could do nothing but wait for an update through email. I was furious since they made it clear that regular processing time won’t exceed four months. Soon, I canceled my non-refundable Jordan flights and bought another painfully expensive plane ticket directly to South America.
Christ the Redeemer at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
As if it weren’t bad enough, I was denied a Canadian transit visa (for my two-hour layover in Toronto before my flight back to the Philippines from Mexico) three times. That meant I had to book another flight that didn’t have a layover in either Canada or the United States, and sadly my choices were limited. The cheapest possible flight I found was priced at R75,000, via Tel-Aviv in Israel. For all the flights I had cancelled, I only received around 20 percent refund, so I might have lost more or less a hundred thousand pesos.
All these troubles were weighing down my excitement, and I was debating with myself whether they were worth it. Racking my brains hard on how I could recover all the money I wasted, I began my South and Central American trek with a heavy heart. I was forced to trim down my itinerary, prioritizing only the sites among the Seven Wonders of the World, to stay within budget.
Getting to Machu Picchu in Peru was quite costly but oh, was it worth it! I remember exactly how I saw it that bone-chilling morning in July: It was shrouded in fog at first. Then, the sun slowly tore through the sea of mist, spreading its soft golden light on the sacred rocks and royal palaces perched on top of the rugged mountain. Goosebumps broke on my arms as I stared at it, speechless. Nobody knows exactly why Machu Picchu was built. One theory says that it was constructed as a royal retreat of the 15th century Inca Emperor Pachachuti. Another insists that it was a religious pilgrimage site where worshippers symbolically relived the difficult lives of their ancestors.
Petra, Jordan
After a few days in Peru, I had quite an adventure in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. I was offered cocaine twice while strolling along Copacabana Beach and was almost shot to death by thugs around the cheap hostel where I stayed. But nothing was as exciting as riding a rickety train to the summit of Corcovado Mountain to see the youngest of the Seven Wonders of the World, the 125-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer. Covered with over six million soapstone tiles, the statue was built after World War I, when the Brazilian Catholics felt they needed a symbol to counteract the “increasing godlessness” in the country. The panorama from above is spectacular as well: peculiar-shaped mountains of granite and quartz rising up from the water’s edge, towering over the gleaming beaches and white skyscrapers of downtown Rio.
Afterwards, I went on a 24-hour excursion to Yucatan in Mexico just to see the ruins of Chichen Itza, once the most important political, economic, and religious center of the Maya people, who were way too advanced of their time in terms of knowledge in astronomy, science, mathematics and engineering. The place, which dates back to 250 AD, is said to be haunted by the spirits of those who perished to human sacrifice, widely practiced by the Mayans to venerate the deities, to consecrate new buildings and to ensure good harvest.
Pyramid Temple of Kukilcan
When I returned home, I was somehow at peace with the fact that I may never finish my travel goal soon, since I hadn’t received feedback from the Office of the Honorary Consulate of Jordan. As I was peacefully moving on with my life one day in October, eight months after I submitted my application, they sent me an email to ask for my papers again. Before I had the chance to blowup at them over the phone, I saw Backpacker Travel and Tour’s Facebook post about their Holy Land Tour package, which includes a hassle-free visit to Petra in Jordan. Apparently, visa is much easier when you join an organized group tour as the agency will take care it. I casually inquired, without the intention of actually joining the trip because I knew how expensive the package usually is. To my surprise, it wasn’t. And the travel agency’s owner offered me a deal I couldn’t resist. I assured my mother that this would be my final hurrah before I give my undivided attention to the family business.
On Nov. 25th, I finally made it to Petra, the now-abandoned city that thrived between 300 BC and 100 AD as a trading center and the capital of the Nabataean Empire. The Nabataeans rose to prominence because of their expertise in building advanced aqueduct and irrigation systems in the middle of the desert, where rainfall and water supply were scarce. Tears welled in my eyes when I saw the city’s signature monument, the Treasury, intricately hand-carved into the massive rose-red sandstone cliff by the Nabataean artisans. It was not the façade’s magnificence that rendered me speechless and emotional, but the significance of the moment. That day, I had finally completed my journey to all Seven Wonders of the World, with Petra being the hardest and most elusive.
Would I have felt the same way had everything gone smoothly? Probably not! The difficulties along the way certainly added color to my pilgrimage.
These architectural marvels took decades and even centuries to build so perhaps they’re not meant to be seen very easily.
GETTING THERE:
1.) Colosseo, Rome
a.) Philippine passport holders need to obtain a Schengen Visa at the Embassy of Italy at least three months before departure. Visit www.via.ph/italy/ for details.
b.) Expect to spend at least R20,000 per way for flights to Rome in Italy. Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights.
c.) Prepare 12 Euros for the entrance fee and 6 Euros for the audio guide (optional).
2.) Taj Mahal, India
a.) Philippine passport holders need to apply for an e-visa at least three weeks before departure through this website: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html
b.) There are no direct flights from the Philippines to Delhi in India. You may take a flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, then take another flight to Delhi. Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights.
c.) Taj Mahal is located in Agra, quite far from Delhi. The fastest train going to Agra is the 12050 Gatimaan Express, which departs from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station daily except Friday when Taj Mahal is closed. Fare is 1,500 Indian Rupees (around R1,171).
d.) Entrance fee to Taj Mahal costs 1,000 Indian Rupees (around R781).
3.) The Great Wall of China, China
a.) Philippine passport holders need to apply for a tourist visa at least a month before the flight. Visit ph.china-embassy.org for details.
b.) Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights, which can go as low as R7,000 round trip.
c.) Beijing Downtown Backpackers offers comfortable budget accommodations and affordable day trips, starting at R2,500, to the Jinshaling section of the Great Wall of China. You may email them at [email protected]. Their official website is www.backpackingchina.com.
4.) Machu Picchu, Peru
a.) Philippine passport holders don’t need a visa to visit Peru.
b.) Book a flight to Cusco City in the southern part of Peru. Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights. Flights are expensive if you are flying from Manila, around R60,000 per way, so it is better to visit Peru coming from a neighboring South American country such as Brazil.
c.) Book a round trip train ticket from Cusco City to the town of Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes) at www.perurail.com. The cheapest round trip ticket costs at least $150.
d.) Entrance tickets to Machu Picchu are not sold on the site. It is strongly advised to purchase ahead especially during the high season (June-August), as tickets can sell out. You may purchase directly through Peru’s Ministry of Culture website (www.machupicchu.gob.pe) for $47 each. It can get a little inconvenient because the website doesn’t have an option to change the language from Spanish to English, and they only accept Visa credit cards. For hassle-free reservations, you may purchase tickets from an authorized agency (www.ticket-machupicchu.com) for $70 each. The agency accepts both Visa and Mastercard.
e.) From Aguas Calientes, you make walk to the gate of Machu Picchu for a little over an hour or you may ride a bus for 20 minutes. Round trip bus fare costs $24.
5.) Cristo Redentor, Brazil
a.) Philippine passport holders do not need a visa to enter Brazil.
b.) There are no direct flights from Manila to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Find the cheapest flights at www.skyscanner.com.ph. Round trip flights from Manila can go as low as P40,000.
c.) Ride a train at the Cosme Velho Station to get to the top of the Corcovado Mountain, where Cristo Redentor is. The round trip train ticket, including the entrance fee, costs $22.
6.) Chichen Itza, Mexico
a.) Philippine passport holders need to get a visa to visit Mexico, unless they have a valid Schengen, US, or multiple-entry Japanese visa. Call 02 812 2211 or email [email protected] for inquiries. Visa processing takes up to 15 days.
b.) Book a flight to Cancun City, the jump-off point to Chichen Itza. Find the cheapest flights at www.skyscanner.com.ph. Expect to spend around R40,000 per way. Most flights in and out of Mexico have a layover in Canada or the US, which require a transit visa.
c.) Most hotels in Cancun offer day trips, starting at $60, to the world-famous Mayan ruins. If you want to visit them on your own, go to the ADO central terminal in Cancun and ride a bus bound for Chichen Itza. Travel time is three hours and fare is around $25.
d.) Entrance fee to the site is $20.
7.) Petra, Jordan
a.) My experience in getting a tourist visa through the Office of the Honorary Consulate of Jordan in Manila is quite traumatic. Obtaining one, however, is much easier when you join an organized group tour.
Contact Christopher Catungal of BackPacker Travel and Tours for details.
Phone: 63 918 947 0058; 63 917 317 4536
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: BackPacker Travel and Tours
The Roman Colosseum
As an investor of my good friend’s financing business, I was earning a handsome eight percent monthly interest rate of my capital. Lured by the outsized returns, I decided to invest more money since she proved to be trustworthy and an astute businesswoman over the years that I had known her. It became my chief source of travel funds and soon, in July of 2016, I was splurging on a month-long vacation in Europe: strolling the fancy boulevards in Paris, riding the gondola along the Grand Canal in Venice, soaking in an outdoor Jacuzzi overlooking the gorgeous Aegean vista in Santorini and of course, basking in the grandeur of the Colosseum in Rome.
Chills crept up my spine when I walked into the 80,000-seater Colosseum, built in 80 AD by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian Dynasty as his gift to the Romans. Beyond its magnificent façade is a gruesome history of public execution and bloody games, where criminals and slaves were either forced to fight in gladiatorial combats or fed to bears and lions for public entertainment.
In August, right after I returned from Europe, I was desperately trying to get over a bad breakup. I kept my hands full by helping out with the family business while obsessively planning my solo forays into the other Wonders of the World.
Taj Mahal
Heartache and anger fueled my fire to achieve my travel goal the soonest possible time. By the end of the year I had already planned out all my trips for 2017: Taj Mahal in February, The Great Wall of China in May, and Petra, Machu Picchu, Cristo Redentor, and Chichen Itza all together in July. Constantly rummaging through countless travel websites, I even booked my flights and hotels far in advance, as soon as I found a reasonable deal.
On Valentine’s Day I ticked off Taj Mahal from my Seven Wonders bucket list. It was the perfect day to visit the white marbled-mausoleum, commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1632 to house the tomb of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, as it is known to the world as the ultimate symbol of love. I remember how teary-eyed I was when I first saw it, wholly consumed by its beauty as it glowed rosy pink in the early morning sun.
The Great Wall of China
Upon returning home, I wanted all the visas for my upcoming travels ironed out right away. February marked five months before my flight to Jordan, which I heard has stringent policies for Filipino solo travelers, so I immediately sent my meticulously prepared documents to the Office of the Honorary Consulate of Jordan in Manila since according to the staff, processing time may take up to four months.
As for my Chinese visa, I easily obtained it through a travel agency. Philippine passport holders do not need visas to enter Brazil and Peru. I didn’t have to get one for Mexico, either, since I could use my valid Japanese visa to enter the country. I was least concerned about getting Canadian transit visa, which I apparently needed for a two-hour layover in Toronto on my flight back to the Philippines from Mexico. Getting one should be a piece of cake, I assumed.
Sometime in March, a bomb blew up in my face. My friend’s financing business crumbled and my investment, which was more than a million pesos, vanished into thin air. I was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of failure, embarrassed by my terrible decisions and well, greed. Everything around me was one blurry haze of tears. How dumb was I to have not foreseen this? It was easy money. Of course it was risky! I was almost certain that I would have to cancel my upcoming travels, which was too painful to think, as the funds I had left were insufficient. Over the next few weeks I was scrambling from lawyer to lawyer to seek legal advice but eventually, I decided not to pursue the lawsuit against my friend, who promised staggered payments down to the last cent.
Machu Picchu
In May, a few writing engagements earned me little cash that funded my trip to The Great Wall of China. I settled on a dingy hostel and skipped several meals to make ends meet, the price I willingly paid just to see the architectural magnificence of the Great Wall, meandering 21 kilometers from the east to the west of China like a giant serpent. During the hike, I learned that the Great Wall of China is not a project of a single emperor, as I always thought it was, but a collective effort of many powerful dynasties from 771 BC until 1644 and millions of soldiers, peasants and convicts, many of whom perished from exhaustion during its construction and were buried within the wall itself.
In June, I was hoping for a miracle that would fix my tragic financial affairs, perhaps for my friend to sell her properties so she could pay me back but I found out that she already used them as collateral to the bank. Refusing to give up, I still hadn’t cancelled my flights to Jordan, Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. I had one month to come up with at least R150,000 as pocket money. I didn’t want to ask help from my mother, who always frowned at my “excessive” wanderlust and devil-may-care attitude. Soon, I was juggling several moneymaking ventures, such as selling live pigs and lechon during the fiesta and even marketing beauty products, but they weren’t enough to rake in the cash I needed.
With little time left, I had no other choice but to borrow money from my mother, who, as expected, gave me days of shotgun sermon. Eventually, she agreed to finance my trip on one condition, I would have to dedicate myself entirely to the family business. That means, no more far-flung, extravagant travels until I achieve major business milestones.
Little did I know that more predicaments were coming my way. A week before my flight to Jordan, which was supposedly my first stop, I called the Office of the Honorary Consulate to follow up on my visa and sadly, the staff had no idea what my status was, insisting that they are not authorized to speak with anyone from the Embassy in Jordan and that they could do nothing but wait for an update through email. I was furious since they made it clear that regular processing time won’t exceed four months. Soon, I canceled my non-refundable Jordan flights and bought another painfully expensive plane ticket directly to South America.
Christ the Redeemer at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
As if it weren’t bad enough, I was denied a Canadian transit visa (for my two-hour layover in Toronto before my flight back to the Philippines from Mexico) three times. That meant I had to book another flight that didn’t have a layover in either Canada or the United States, and sadly my choices were limited. The cheapest possible flight I found was priced at R75,000, via Tel-Aviv in Israel. For all the flights I had cancelled, I only received around 20 percent refund, so I might have lost more or less a hundred thousand pesos.
All these troubles were weighing down my excitement, and I was debating with myself whether they were worth it. Racking my brains hard on how I could recover all the money I wasted, I began my South and Central American trek with a heavy heart. I was forced to trim down my itinerary, prioritizing only the sites among the Seven Wonders of the World, to stay within budget.
Getting to Machu Picchu in Peru was quite costly but oh, was it worth it! I remember exactly how I saw it that bone-chilling morning in July: It was shrouded in fog at first. Then, the sun slowly tore through the sea of mist, spreading its soft golden light on the sacred rocks and royal palaces perched on top of the rugged mountain. Goosebumps broke on my arms as I stared at it, speechless. Nobody knows exactly why Machu Picchu was built. One theory says that it was constructed as a royal retreat of the 15th century Inca Emperor Pachachuti. Another insists that it was a religious pilgrimage site where worshippers symbolically relived the difficult lives of their ancestors.
Petra, Jordan
After a few days in Peru, I had quite an adventure in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. I was offered cocaine twice while strolling along Copacabana Beach and was almost shot to death by thugs around the cheap hostel where I stayed. But nothing was as exciting as riding a rickety train to the summit of Corcovado Mountain to see the youngest of the Seven Wonders of the World, the 125-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer. Covered with over six million soapstone tiles, the statue was built after World War I, when the Brazilian Catholics felt they needed a symbol to counteract the “increasing godlessness” in the country. The panorama from above is spectacular as well: peculiar-shaped mountains of granite and quartz rising up from the water’s edge, towering over the gleaming beaches and white skyscrapers of downtown Rio.
Afterwards, I went on a 24-hour excursion to Yucatan in Mexico just to see the ruins of Chichen Itza, once the most important political, economic, and religious center of the Maya people, who were way too advanced of their time in terms of knowledge in astronomy, science, mathematics and engineering. The place, which dates back to 250 AD, is said to be haunted by the spirits of those who perished to human sacrifice, widely practiced by the Mayans to venerate the deities, to consecrate new buildings and to ensure good harvest.
Pyramid Temple of Kukilcan
When I returned home, I was somehow at peace with the fact that I may never finish my travel goal soon, since I hadn’t received feedback from the Office of the Honorary Consulate of Jordan. As I was peacefully moving on with my life one day in October, eight months after I submitted my application, they sent me an email to ask for my papers again. Before I had the chance to blowup at them over the phone, I saw Backpacker Travel and Tour’s Facebook post about their Holy Land Tour package, which includes a hassle-free visit to Petra in Jordan. Apparently, visa is much easier when you join an organized group tour as the agency will take care it. I casually inquired, without the intention of actually joining the trip because I knew how expensive the package usually is. To my surprise, it wasn’t. And the travel agency’s owner offered me a deal I couldn’t resist. I assured my mother that this would be my final hurrah before I give my undivided attention to the family business.
On Nov. 25th, I finally made it to Petra, the now-abandoned city that thrived between 300 BC and 100 AD as a trading center and the capital of the Nabataean Empire. The Nabataeans rose to prominence because of their expertise in building advanced aqueduct and irrigation systems in the middle of the desert, where rainfall and water supply were scarce. Tears welled in my eyes when I saw the city’s signature monument, the Treasury, intricately hand-carved into the massive rose-red sandstone cliff by the Nabataean artisans. It was not the façade’s magnificence that rendered me speechless and emotional, but the significance of the moment. That day, I had finally completed my journey to all Seven Wonders of the World, with Petra being the hardest and most elusive.
Would I have felt the same way had everything gone smoothly? Probably not! The difficulties along the way certainly added color to my pilgrimage.
These architectural marvels took decades and even centuries to build so perhaps they’re not meant to be seen very easily.
GETTING THERE:
1.) Colosseo, Rome
a.) Philippine passport holders need to obtain a Schengen Visa at the Embassy of Italy at least three months before departure. Visit www.via.ph/italy/ for details.
b.) Expect to spend at least R20,000 per way for flights to Rome in Italy. Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights.
c.) Prepare 12 Euros for the entrance fee and 6 Euros for the audio guide (optional).
2.) Taj Mahal, India
a.) Philippine passport holders need to apply for an e-visa at least three weeks before departure through this website: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html
b.) There are no direct flights from the Philippines to Delhi in India. You may take a flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, then take another flight to Delhi. Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights.
c.) Taj Mahal is located in Agra, quite far from Delhi. The fastest train going to Agra is the 12050 Gatimaan Express, which departs from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station daily except Friday when Taj Mahal is closed. Fare is 1,500 Indian Rupees (around R1,171).
d.) Entrance fee to Taj Mahal costs 1,000 Indian Rupees (around R781).
3.) The Great Wall of China, China
a.) Philippine passport holders need to apply for a tourist visa at least a month before the flight. Visit ph.china-embassy.org for details.
b.) Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights, which can go as low as R7,000 round trip.
c.) Beijing Downtown Backpackers offers comfortable budget accommodations and affordable day trips, starting at R2,500, to the Jinshaling section of the Great Wall of China. You may email them at [email protected]. Their official website is www.backpackingchina.com.
4.) Machu Picchu, Peru
a.) Philippine passport holders don’t need a visa to visit Peru.
b.) Book a flight to Cusco City in the southern part of Peru. Check www.skyscanner.com.ph for the cheapest flights. Flights are expensive if you are flying from Manila, around R60,000 per way, so it is better to visit Peru coming from a neighboring South American country such as Brazil.
c.) Book a round trip train ticket from Cusco City to the town of Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes) at www.perurail.com. The cheapest round trip ticket costs at least $150.
d.) Entrance tickets to Machu Picchu are not sold on the site. It is strongly advised to purchase ahead especially during the high season (June-August), as tickets can sell out. You may purchase directly through Peru’s Ministry of Culture website (www.machupicchu.gob.pe) for $47 each. It can get a little inconvenient because the website doesn’t have an option to change the language from Spanish to English, and they only accept Visa credit cards. For hassle-free reservations, you may purchase tickets from an authorized agency (www.ticket-machupicchu.com) for $70 each. The agency accepts both Visa and Mastercard.
e.) From Aguas Calientes, you make walk to the gate of Machu Picchu for a little over an hour or you may ride a bus for 20 minutes. Round trip bus fare costs $24.
5.) Cristo Redentor, Brazil
a.) Philippine passport holders do not need a visa to enter Brazil.
b.) There are no direct flights from Manila to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Find the cheapest flights at www.skyscanner.com.ph. Round trip flights from Manila can go as low as P40,000.
c.) Ride a train at the Cosme Velho Station to get to the top of the Corcovado Mountain, where Cristo Redentor is. The round trip train ticket, including the entrance fee, costs $22.
6.) Chichen Itza, Mexico
a.) Philippine passport holders need to get a visa to visit Mexico, unless they have a valid Schengen, US, or multiple-entry Japanese visa. Call 02 812 2211 or email [email protected] for inquiries. Visa processing takes up to 15 days.
b.) Book a flight to Cancun City, the jump-off point to Chichen Itza. Find the cheapest flights at www.skyscanner.com.ph. Expect to spend around R40,000 per way. Most flights in and out of Mexico have a layover in Canada or the US, which require a transit visa.
c.) Most hotels in Cancun offer day trips, starting at $60, to the world-famous Mayan ruins. If you want to visit them on your own, go to the ADO central terminal in Cancun and ride a bus bound for Chichen Itza. Travel time is three hours and fare is around $25.
d.) Entrance fee to the site is $20.
7.) Petra, Jordan
a.) My experience in getting a tourist visa through the Office of the Honorary Consulate of Jordan in Manila is quite traumatic. Obtaining one, however, is much easier when you join an organized group tour.
Contact Christopher Catungal of BackPacker Travel and Tours for details.
Phone: 63 918 947 0058; 63 917 317 4536
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: BackPacker Travel and Tours