hello Europe =)

       Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting the Black and Aegean Seas.[2]

       Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Yet the borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the primarily physiographic term "continent" can incorporate cultural and political elements.

Tourists Attractions 

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

     A masterpiece of Gothic architecture—all soaring buttresses, crouching gargoyles, and magnificent rose windows—Notre Dame de Paris has survived attacks of Huguenots, sans-culottes, occupying armies, and questionable renovations since its completion in 1345. In spite of its often violent past, visitors flock to the cathedral for the hushed peace and reflection it provides, even in the midst of Paris.notredamedeparis.fr —Ann Shields

       

                                                                Sacré Coeur Basilica, Paris

        Sacré Coeur lures visitors to the summit of Montmartre for a litany of reasons—while some come to pray and meditate, most come for the remarkable 360-degree views of the City of Light from its highest vantage point. The construction of the Basilica, which started in 1871, was intended to restore peace to a site stained by violence during the Revolution and Paris Commune. sacre-coeur-montmartre.com —Ann Shields

Canals of Venice

      Anyone who's been to Venice, Italy, knows that it's one of the most magical places on earth. Sitting in the Adriatic Sea like a vision (especially if one first approaches it from the mainland by boat), the city is emblematic of art, culture, and the power of imagination. It seems to float on the sea as if by magic.

Musée du Louvre, Paris

    The world’s most-visited museum doesn’t show signs of budging; its numbers have held strong at 8.5 million for several years now. While the Louvre is indeed an art-lover’s paradise of roughly 35,000 masterpieces, including the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, it is also the subject of controversy—not everyone appreciates I. M. Pei’s 69-foot-high glass pyramid, added to the museum’s entrance in 1989. louvre.fr —Lyndsey Matthews

Traveling Facts

Konnichiwa... JAPAN

          

        Japan  is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

         Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which together comprise about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 126 million people. Honshū's Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Ueno, Tokyo

           Ueno is a vast park filled with amusements: the National Museum, the Zoo, and a small 100-yen ($1) amusement park that’s popular with kids. At cherry-blossom time, a national obsession, crowds flock to Ueno. Just outside the park is Ameya-yokocho, a bustling street market filled with tiny shops and vendors’ carts. Stop for a snack of grilledmochi (a pounded rice cake) wrapped in seaweed and brushed with pungent soy sauce.

Annyeonghaseyo...KOREA

        Korea is an East Asian territory that is divided into two distinct sovereign states, North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast. It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and it is separated from Taiwan to the south by the East China Sea.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a single-party state, now centred around Kim Il-sung's Juche ideology, with acentrally-planned industrial economy. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a multi-party state with a capitalist market economy, alongside membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Group of Twenty. The two states have greatly diverged both culturally and economically since their partition, though they still share a common traditional culture and pre-Cold War history.

North Korea Flag

South Korea Flag

       North Korea  officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a country in East Asia, in the northern bulk of the Korean Peninsula. The capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Amnok River and the Tumen River form the international border between North Korea and China. A small section of the Tumen River also lies along the border between the Russian Federation, following the river's thalweg. The Korean Demilitarized Zone forms the boundary between North Korea and South Korea. The legitimacy of this border is not accepted by either side, as both states claim to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula.

South Korea  officially the Republic of Korea is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name Korea is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages. It shares land borders with North Korea to the north, and oversea borders with China to the west and Japan to the east. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It comprises an estimated 50 million residents distributed over 99,392 km2(38,375 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 10 million.

Sceneries in North Korea

Pyongyang Juche Tower

      The Juche Tower (officially the Tower of the Juche Idea) is a monument in Pyongyang, North Korea. The tower is named after the principle ofJuche, developed by Kim Il Sung as a blend of autarky, self-reliance, nationalism, Korean traditionalism, and Marxism-Leninism.

Kim II-Sung Square

Kim Il-Sung Square is a city square in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and is named after the founding leader of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung. Opened in August 1954, the square is located on the West Bank of the Taedong River, directly opposite the Juche Tower on the other side of the river. The square is a common gathering place for rallies, dances and military parades and is often featured in media concerning North Korea.

It is the 30th largest square in the World, having an area of about 75,000 square meters (807,293 square feet) which can accommodate a rally of more than 100,000 people. Portraits of Kim Il-sung, Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin are on buildings surrounding the square. The Grand People's Study House looks out onto the square and the river.

Let's Tour Mindanao

      Mindanao (Tagalog: Kamindanawan) is the second largest and southernmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country (the other two being Luzon and the Visayas), which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. Davao City is the largest city in Mindanao. Of the island's 21,968,174 population, according to the 2010 census, 10 percent is Muslim.

       Mindanao is the only area of the Philippines with a significantly large Muslim presence. Due to widespread poverty and religious differences, the island has been the site of a separatist movement by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Fighting between MILF and Philippine forces has displaced more than 100,000 people.
       
       Mindanao is considered the agricultural basin of the Philippines, where eight out of top 10 export agri-commodities come from.

Six Administrative Regions

                Mindanao is composed of 26 provinces, each headed by a governor. A governor is elected by popular vote and can serve a maximum of three terms consisting of three years each.

                As for representation in the Philippine Congress, Mindanao is represented by 46 congressmen elected in the same manner as the governors.

Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9)

                Zamboanga Peninsula, located in Western Mindanao, is an administrative region located in the Philippines. The regional center is Pagadian. The provinces and independent cities are:

• Isabela
• Zamboanga City
• Zamboanga del Norte
• Zamboanga del Sur
• Zamboanga Sibugay

Northern Mindanao (Region 10)

                Northern Mindanao is an all occupying the north-central part of Mindanao island, and the island-province of Camiguin. The regional center is Cagayan de Oro. The provinces and cities are:

• Bukidnon
• Camiguin
• Lanao del Norte with Iligan
• Misamis Occidental
• Misamis Oriental with Cagayan de Oro

Davao Region (Region 11)

                Davao Region / Southern Mindanao is one of the regions of the Philippines, located on the southeastern portion of Mindanao. The regional center is Davao City. Its provinces are:

• Compostela Valley
• Davao del Norte
• Davao Oriental
• Davao del Sur with Davao City

SOCCSKSARGEN Region (Region 12)

                SOCCSKSARGEN is a region of the Philippines, located in central Mindanao. The regional center is Koronadal. The name is an acronym that stands for the region's four provinces and one of its cities:

• South Cotabato with General Santos City
• Cotabato
• Cotabato City is a part of Maguindanao but a part of SOCCSKSARGEN Region
• Sultan Kudarat
• Sarangani Province

Caraga Region (Region 13)

                Caraga is an administrative region of the Philippines, on the northeastern portion of the island of Mindanao. The regional center is Butuan City. Its provinces are:

• Agusan del Norte with Cabadbaran City
• Agusan del Sur with Prosperidad
• Surigao del Norte with Surigao City
• Surigao del Sur with Tandag City
• Island Province of Dinagat with San Jose

Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM Region)

                Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is the region, located in the Mindanao island group of the Philippines, that is composed of predominantly Muslim provinces. The regional center is Cotabato City although it is not administratively part of the ARMM. Its provinces are:

• Basilan except Isabela
• Lanao del Sur
• Maguindanao except Cotabato
• Sulu
• Tawi-Tawi

Tara sa Visayas!

       The Visayas /vɨˈsaɪəz/ və-SY-əz or Visayan Islands (Visayan languages: Kabisay-an, Tagalog: Kabisayaan), is one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Mindanao and Luzon. It consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are considered the northeast extremity of the entire Sulu Sea.[2] Residents are known as the Visayans.

            The major islands of the Visayas are Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar.[5] The region may also include the islands of Romblon andMasbate, whose population identify as Visayan.

           There are three administrative regions in the Visayas: Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas.

Administrative divisions

  

Western Visayas (Region VI)

Western Visayas consists of the islands of Panay and the western half of Negros. The regional center is Iloilo City. Its provinces are:

• Aklan
• Antique
• Capiz
• Guimaras
• Iloilo
• Negros Occidental

Central Visayas (Region VII)

Central Visayas includes the islands of Cebu and Bohol and the eastern half of Negros. The regional center is Cebu City. Its provinces are:

• Bohol
• Cebu
• Negros Oriental
• Siquijor

Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)

Eastern Visayas consists of the islands of Leyte and Samar. The regional center is Tacloban City. Its provinces are:

• Biliran
• Leyte
• Southern Leyte
• Eastern Samar
• Northern Samar
• Samar

Trip to Luzon

      Luzon  (Tagalog: Kalusunan) is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name of one of the three primary island groups in the country (the other two being the Visayas and Mindanao). Luzon as an island group includes Luzon proper, the Batanes and Babuyan groups of islands to the north, and the outlying islands of  Catanduanes, Marinduque, Masbate, Romblon, and Mindoro. Luzon is the economic and political center of the Philippines, being home to the country's capital city, Manila. It is one of most populated islands in the world, only behind Java, Honshu, and Great Britain. It has a similar population size to Sumatra but much smaller area.

Administrative divisions

The island of Luzon contains 8 of the 17 administrative regions of the Philippines. These regions are not political entities, but merely serve as administrative groupings of provinces. They are:

• Ilocos Region (Region I).
• Cagayan Valley (Region II)
• Central Luzon (Region III)
• CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
• MIMAROPA (Region IV-B)
• Bicol Region (Region V)
• Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
• National Capital Region (NCR)

Ilocos Region (Region I) is on the northwest side of the island and faces South China Sea. The region is well known for its white sand coastline and rich history. Its provinces are Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan. The region's administrative centers is San Fernando City, La Union.

Cagayan Valley (Region II) is located in the northeast portion of the main island and also covers the Batanes and Babuyan Islands to the north. The valley is surrounded by the Cordillera Central and Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Running through its center is the country's longest river, "Rio Grande de Cagayan". Its provinces are Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. The region's administrative centers is Tuguegarao City.

Central Luzon (Region III) contains the largest plain of the country and produces most of the country's rice supply. Its provinces are Aurora, Bataan,Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales. The region's administrative center is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. The former United States Navy base of Subic Bay is located in Subic, Zambales while the former United States Air Force is in Clark Field, Pampanga. Both are now two of the country's booming special economic zones. The main languages are Kapampangan, Ilocano and Tagalog.

CALABARZON (Region IV-A), one of the newest regions of the country, was previously a part of Southern Tagalog (Region IV). It is one of the most populous areas of the country. The name of the region is actually an acronym that stands for its provinces, which are Cavite, Laguna, Batangas,Rizal, and Quezon. The Tagalogs are the dominant ethnic group in this region, with Tagalog as the main language. The region's administrative center is Calamba City.

MIMAROPA (Region IV-B), along with CALABARZON is the newest region of the country, and was previously a part of Southern Tagalog (Region IV). It contains most of the islands in the Luzon group. The name of the region is actually an acronym that stands for its provinces, which areOccidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan. The region's administrative center is Calapan City.

Bicol Region (Region V) occupies the Bicol Peninsula at the southeastern end of Luzon island, plus the outlying islands which include the island provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate. The remaining mainland provinces are Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Sorsogon. The region's administrative center is Legazpi City. The inhabitants are of Bicolano descent with Bikol as the main language.

Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) almost completely covers the Cordillera Central mountain range of Northern Luzon. CAR, created in 1989 is a special administrative region for the indigenous tribes of these mountains. Its provinces are Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province. The regional center is Baguio City.

National Capital Region (NCR) is a special administrative region that contains the capital of the country, Manila; the country's most populous city, Quezon City; and an additional 15 more cities and municipalities. The region is more popularly known as Metro Manila. It is the only region in the country that has no provinces, and is the most densely populated with over 10 million people living in a 636 km² area.

    Luzon is sometimes divided into three areas: Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon and Metro Manila. Northern Luzon are the regions north of Metro Manila (Regions I, II, III and CAR), while Southern Luzon are regions to the south and east of it (Regions IV-A, IV-B and V). In some statistics, Metro Manila is included within Southern Luzon.

SOME TOURISTS SPOTS IN LUZON

Mt. Mayon in Bicol 

              Mt. Mayon is one of the top tourist spot in Bicol. It is because of its perfect cone shape.To add to its international limelight, Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, having had erupted 47 times in the past 400 years! Mayon’s last major eruption was in 1993 and the last recorded major activity was in December 2009. Due to Mayon’s volatility, the volcano is continuously monitored by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOLCS).

Adventures in Mt. Mayon:

1. Mt. Mayon Trekking

                  Treks Offered and Inclusions:

• Day Trek – suggested meeting time in Legaspi is 8AM and expected arrival time back to Legaspi is 4PM; Legaspi-Mayon-Legaspi transfers, guide, registration fees, packed lunch, and refreshments;
• Overnight Trek – suggested meeting time in Legaspi is 8AM (on Day 1) and expected arrival time back to Legaspi is 3PM (on Day 2); Legaspi-Mayon-Legaspi transfers, guide, registration fees, meals while on Mt Mayon, and refreshments. Tents and sleeping bags can be provided but advance notice is required.
• 3D2N Crater Trek – suggested meeting time in Legaspi is 8AM (on Day 1) and expected arrival time back to Legaspi is 3PM (on Day 3); Legaspi-Mayon-Legaspi transfers, guide, registration fees, meals while on Mt Mayon, and refreshments. Tents and sleeping bags can be provided but advance notice is required.

    Mayon Camp Levels:

1. Base Camp – approximately 250 meters or 800 feet above sea level. Vehicles can drive up to this area. As per Department of Tourism rules, trekkers will also have to register in this area.
2. Camp 1 – Approximately 700 meters or 2,300 feet above sea level. For overnight treks, guests will be spending the night here. It is common that guests trek past base camp 1 on Day 1, but the guests will have to return to this area for the evening’s rest.
3. Camp 2  – Approximately 1,800 meters or 5,900 feet above sea level.
4. Knife’s Edge  – Approximately 2,200 meters or 7,300 above sea level.
5. Crater