Mountain conqueror takes to the tides for China challenge

MANILA - After conquering Qomolangma, which is also known as Mount Everest in the West, Philippine adventurer Carina Dayondon is set to sail to China aboard a wooden replica of an ancient boat in the hopes of raising national awareness of her country's forgotten maritime prowess.

Dayondon is planning to sail from Manila to southern China early next year, recreating trade and migration voyages made before Spaniards colonized the Philippines in the 1500s.

"People tell me I am crazy. They ask: 'Wow, why climb Mount Everest? Why go to China on this tiny thing,'" Dayondon, 39, said in Manila Bay aboard one of the two boats that will make the expected six-day sailing journey.