Blogs from El Nido, Palawan, Philippines, Asia
El Nido - Sunshine & Island Hopping, This Is The Life! (Nick)
Published: May 1st 2012Asia » Philippines » Palawan » El Nido
May 1st 2012
April 8 - 21 / 2012 After Port Barton we headed up to El Nido, another beautiful beach town famous for its massive limestone karsts that erupt from the sea like enormous green daggers. We checked into Cliffside Cottages, one of the most beautiful and friendly guesthouses we have ever stayed at. Set amongst the stunning cliffs that make El Nido famous, this place has proven to be one of the true gems of backpackers accommodation. The owners here treat us like family and provide service that would be acceptable in a 5 star resort. The manager, Edda, provides hot water every morning for coffee or cooking, she ensures that someone is there to greet you at your room and turn on the light every single night after dark, and when Dariece had stepped on a ... read more
April 26th 2012
Pitch black. Silhouettes of palm trees are barely recognizable against a starry sky. The air is humid, and the ocean is still – the absence of the sun has done nothing to lower the dry season’s broiling temperature in the evening. The narrow trail across a forest is only visible through the flashlights that inform us of barbed fences precariously lining the sides of the path and the imposing forest beyond swallowed by the darkness. Crickets form a steady rhythm of calls to accompany the sound of our steps and occasional heavy sighs. It’s already 8 p.m. when we reach an inconspicuous stretch of coastline hidden from the main highway by a thick dense of trees. The sky is filled with a dizzying array of constellations. Adjusting my backpack, I follow five well-built men as they ... read more
April 1st 2012
Hello, there is not much to say when you visit the second largest archipelago in the world ... I can actually discribe it with one word "GORGEOUS". Philippines are with over 7000 tropical islands one of the best destinations for relaxation and underwater exploration. Numerous islands will definitely satisfy every single taste ... If in my previous blog was all about rice and rice terraces is this blog about turquoise sea and all that comes along with it ---> enjoy my pics :) Lots of positive energy and allt he best, Jana... read more
March 31st 2012
El Nido blog We have been in the Philippines now for just over a week, we spent a night in Puerto Princessa on Palawan before taking a mini bus up to El Nido in the north. This whole area is renowned for it’s spectacular scenery and marine life. The town of El Nido it’sself is little town mostly set along the seashore and surrounded by towering limestone cliffs. During the daytime the shore is lined with boats coming and going taking visitors to the many offshore islands and local children splashing around in the sea, climbing in and out of the boats and swinging on their outriggers. In the evening the beach comes alive with restaurants set on the narrow strip of sand and live bands entertai... read more
PALAWAN - PUERTO PRINCESA, SABANG & EL NIDO
Published: February 17th 2012Asia » Philippines » Palawan » El Nido
February 1st 2012
The journey across from Panay to Palawan was simple enough although still a bit painful. My morning flight with AirPhil was delayed but it didn’t matter as it only meant bumming around a little longer at Kalibo airport instead of the Mania Domestic Terminal. That said I still had to kill a good few hours in one of the dullest terminals I’ve ever passed through. My luck with flights that day had clearly run out as my second flight with Zest Air, an airline that makes even Ryanair seem punctual, was also delayed meaning I arrived to Puerto Princesa in the dark when I should’ve got there during daylight. It wasn’t all bad however since it was at the domestic terminal that I met a fellow Brit called Nev who I would go on to spend ... read more
El Nido, Philippines with Emily, Mom, & Dad
Published: February 1st 2012Asia » Philippines » Palawan » El Nido
January 31st 2012
Living on a subtropical island such as Taiwan means that the winter does indeed bring cool weather, with conditions perhaps comparable to a damp autumn day in North America. Nevertheless, traveling south past the tropic of cancer, which passes through Taiwan near the medium sized city of Chiayi, puts you in swimming-year-round territory, and another hour south by plane brings you to the Philippines, which are outright hot any time of the year. The Chinese New Year holiday provides the must needed days off during this chilly season. This year my parents were in town for the holidays. First, we did a hot springs tour of Taipei City and surroundings, shot off some rounds of fireworks, and then hopped on a flight to Palawan, a thin, 650km long island; one of 7000+ that make up the ... read more
January 30th 2012
Happy Monday to you all, hope this finds you all well. Before we left El Nido we decided to hire a Kyack and do some island hoping. It worked out cheaper than the tourist package and meant that we could visit the islands we fancied and stay as long as we wanted. We packed a picnic and plenty of water to last us the day. So we handed over our 1000 Pesos, and was given 2 minutes worth of instruction which included a map of the islands which we could reach by our Kyack and set sail. We had been paddling for only a short while when the reality of it kicked in, it wasn't going to be the romantic day trip we had had in mind. I'd done a tiny bit of Kyacking on lakes/rivers ... read more
January 20th 2012
Hi everybody, We've landed in El Nido after a 5 hour bus journey. In this part of Palawan, electricity is only on between the hours of 2pm and 6am with fairly frequent blackouts. That is the only slight negative about this place. We're surrounded by white cliff mountains, clear blue sky and amazing beaches lovely!! Found a secluded beach on the second day, a short tricycle ride away. We were on the beach for most of the day and only saw a stray dog and two little local kids playing in the sea. We decided to go back to the same beach today, which was a little busier with a group of 8 local children who came running over once they saw scrabble being played. They sat with us for ages watching and playing sand ball ... read more
January 2nd 2012
We had to be at the scuba shop by 8:00am so we were up at 7 and our hostel fixed us a breakfast of bread with pineapple jam and an egg. I always enjoy how people do breakfast in warm climates. Lots of fruit and bread. Once everything got settled at the scuba shop, we had to carry our gear out to the beach and then carry it out to the boat. I carried my dry stuff (clothes, towel, purse) on my head, which worked out pretty well. We drove out to an island around the city and our first task was to swim 200m and back. Which seemed fairly simple at first. But as soon as we got in the water, the winds picked up. And they had neglected to tell us that there were ... read more
January 2nd 2012
We got up early again to do scuba. Breakfast at the hostel was banana pancakes and oranges (yum). We headed out to go diving with one Discover Scuba diver (Matthieu, originally from Marseilles, used to live in Seoul, currently lives in Hong Kong, architect) and our boat broke down in the harbor. Apparently a bolt got cut. So one of the guys who works on the boat had to swim back to shore to get the spare part so that they could fix the boat. Once it was fixed, we took off for our next beach and about halfway there, the boat died in the water! So we were stuck out between the islands until another boat could come to our rescue. Which was a while because they only have 2 boats. One we were on, ... read more
