Blogs from Coron, Palawan, Philippines, Asia

Well. I’ve been sitting here drinking icy cold beers for the last few hours just trying to work out how I could possibly describe the last five days. Pictures will barely do it justice, let alone my feeble attempt at putting the experience into words. My fellow travellers and I ran out of superlatives in the first few hours of our five day trip and resorted to ecstatic grins, satisfied sighs and genial shrugs of the shoulders for the rest of our journey. I mean, I couldn't even come up with an interesting and creative title. But here goes anyway… I flew out of Dumaguete at sunrise and after two flights and a cramped and knee-shattering van ride, I arrived in the little village of El Nido sixteen hours later. The real delights of El Nido ... read more

It’s lovely to be here in Palawan, but we’re underwhelmed by Coron town. We’re surrounded by islands harbouring secret lagoons and coral reefs, but the town is hot and dusty and noisy. We’re frazzled from dragging Elliot on and off planes, in and out of vans, up and down stairs. Our view from the Coron Gateway Hotel is of the jeepney station, a dusty square littered with metal destination signs, dogs rutting and a huge Christmas tree. It shimmers with heat. The next day, our perspective changes. Skimming over the waters, the bothers of our travel days slough off. We’ve got a boat called Katrina Dea. Our captain, Lar, has ‘sailor’ tattooed on his left bicep. Boatman-cum-babysitter, Ern, has a body is roped with sinew and tight bulges of muscle, skin dark and lined from the ... read more

After the storm had passed I headed off to discover what the town had to offer. Its amazing you don't get 'hello mister' a million times as you walk down the street. Its a nice little town with a great walkway and seating area around the sea and some beautiful views. I booked to go diving to a sunken oil tanker and skelton wreck the following day, there are literally hundreds of wrecks around the area, many not yet discovered. For dinner it was noodles even though there is a wide range of western food here I still choose the rice and noodles you don't have expectations of them as much as western food and western food never seems to be quite how you expected it to be. My day trip diving was a long ... read more

I arrived into Clark airport just after 8pm and with only carry-on luggage I was quickly able to get through customs and immigration (it helped that most people on the flight were Philippino and there was a separate cue for foreigners). I was then able to get some money and book a bus to Manila. The bus eventually departed just after 9 and arrived in Pasay about 1130. I had booked to stay at Green Mango Inn, taxi drivers refused to put the meter on all saying no metered taxis at night and after initially been told 500pesos I paid 300p and the taxi driver still got lost! In the end I arrived about 1230 and after been shown the dorm room the staff had to clean it, even-though it was a six bed dorm ... read more

Last Monday I travelled back to Puerto Princesa so that I could catch my flight to Busuanga. However, when I went to check in at the airport, on the Tuesday afternoon, and after much confusion surrounding which queue I should be in I was told that my flight had been cancelled. I was directed to the AirPhil booking office (when I say directed, I mean the general direction was pointed towards with the use of pursed lips - a method of communication used by many Filipino people) where I spent an hour explaining the problem and working out new flights. The staff there were really helpful so I must say thank you to them and they were able to arrange a flight to Manila and then to Busuanga for the Wednesday at no extra cost. There ... read more

It was 2002 when the four and a half month Southeast Asia tour took place; it being the first part of a yearlong round the world trip. I had had one fortnight long holiday to Thailand since then and I was missing Asia. Having revisited Africa, Latin America, and of course Europe numerous times, I thought I owed Asia the same dedication. My three month contract in Japan wasn’t sufficient to sate my Asian appetite. I loved Japan, but the experience of living and working there was nothing like the great memories I’ve got of backpacking through Southeast Asia with Rob and Dave when I was 22. So finding myself between contracts after Christmas I had only one destination in mind. Actually that’s not completely true, I had several, but all in Asia. India: Given all ... read more