Welcome on Board: Our Logos Hope* Floating Book Fair Escapade in San Fernando City

"Life is a journey. We're all going somewhere, but where are we going?" Honestly, I don't have any clue who said this but I pretty much agree with him/her. Each day we live is indeed a journey but we don't know what lies ahead.

"Life is a journey, we're all going somewhere, but where are we going?" That's my souvenir ship (left photo). I made it. I got the puzzle for free after I donated Php20.00.

Saturday, June 8, 2013. Right after work, Theresa and I quickly rode a jeepney going to town because we need to catch the 7:00 am Partas bus going to Laoag. We had an agreement with Leah to meet at seven in the morning so as much as possible we don't want to "break" the agreement. We've been travel buddies for quite some time now and rare is the case when we ended up "breaking our plan" - which I find "cool." Unfortunately, we didn't catch the 7:00 am bus so we took the 8:00 am bus which, I think, was a blessing in disguise. We boarded bus #82488 quarter to eight and we left Baguio at exactly eight in the morning. Because Kristine told us to drop by Monumento instead of going to the plaza in San Fernando City, we informed the driver's assistant to drop us there.

That's me and my long time travel buddy Theresa on our way to Logos Hope ship. I owe her the photos. 

We reached Monumento in San Fernando in less less than two hours and, from there, we rode a tricycle going to Poro Point. If my calculation is accurate, we reached the pier in ten minutes.

Welcome to Logos Hope! My travel buddies Leah and Theresa. 

We're fortunate because we're "one of the early birds" at the pier. Fact is, we arrived at least ten minutes before Logos Hope was "opened to the public."

Welcome on Board!
After paying Php20.00 for the entrance fee, we immediately boarded the ship. I haven't "traveled" via ship yet so I felt extremely excited. I also found it exciting to board on the "world's largest floating book fair with more 45 nationalities, over 5000 book titles and and over 450 crew members." It was absolutely a unique experience!

That's me (left) and the "collections officers" at the entrance (right photo.) Entrance fee is Php20.00 but free for students. 

If my memory serves me right, we were "greeted and welcomed" by a South African national and a British national. The two were friendly and they gladly "welcomed us on board." We had a short conversation and a photo-shoot with them before we proceeded to the orientation held at the Lifeboat's Theater. I couldn't clearly remember who conducted our orientation (I think she's a German) but I can still clearly remember what it is all about - it's all about Logos Hope. After the orientation, we went to Logos Hope "timeline/illustrated history" which gave us a better and clearer picture of how Logos Hope started and how it became the world's largest floating book fair with the goal of "bringing knowledge, help and hope" to different countries all over the world.

Welcome on board! That's us with the crew members from South Africa and England. I had fun chatting with them. 

*Logos Hope is operated by GBA Ships, an international, charitable organization registered in Germany. In almost 40 years of service, the organization has welcomed 40 million visitors in over 160 countries and territories around the world. (to be continued)