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Published: December 16th 2015
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I had a really laid back day in Manila relaxing by the pool and sleeping in an incredibly comfortable bed. I had a very early morning flight to Puerto Princessa in Palawan then caught a bus straight to El Nido as soon as I got off the plane. It was a nice ride across a beautiful island. I arrived in El Nido mid afternoon and settled in. There were a few Finnish guys staying at the same place that I checked in to so we hung out at our beachfront cottages having some beers and watching the sun set.
We met a Croatian couple who joined us for a really nice seafood dinner and then had more beers at the beach bar. We also found a local gambling establishment with some really fun games. I came out even so consider it a success! I finally made it back to bed around 4 am. For a small beach town El Nido really knows how to have fun!
After another lazy beach day (nursing a pretty great headache!) I packed up my gear and boarded the Balatik, a traditional Filipino sailboat for a 5-day sailing trip through the islands from El
Nido to Coron.
It was sheer bliss. We stopped several times a day on pristine, deserted white sand beaches, dropped anchor in remote snorkeling sites, explored areas where we never saw another tourist for 5 days. Each night we anchored off shore, swam to the beach, slept in bamboo beach huts, got massages from locals, toured local farms on the islands and ate. The food was the biggest surprise - fresh everything. Fish, squid, crabs, chicken, vegetables... so delicious! Our biggest surprise came on our second to last day. A small boat came out to ours when we were about the leave in the morning. We all peered at the back where the kitchen is as they unloaded a large, live pig onto the sailboat. Partway through the day some of us watched them kill and butcher the whole pig and then we had a pig roast on the beach that night for dinner!
Early in the morning on our last day, when we were scheduled to be dropped off in Coron, our captain informed us that a typhoon (Typhoon Nona) was making landfall in the Philippines. We would have been caught in it if we tried to
make it to Coron that day, so we sailed into a sheltered bay area near several islands with a small settlement. We spent the day and night there - the wind was crazy and the rain never ceased until very early the next day. The boat was fine so we loaded up and sailed to Coron. Having no experience with typhoons (they are the equivalent of a hurricane to us) I hadn't known what to expect, the crew on the ship were so great, they made it seem like part of the adventure and kept us all calm and comfortable given the circumstances. Since we were in such remote areas - no power, let alone internet or cell signals - it wasn't until we arrived at the pier that we heard how bad it had hit in other places and realized how lucky we were. Power is out across many islands and a dozen people perished. Lots of flights have been cancelled, and the diving I came here for is temporarily suspended until the seas calm down so I'm not sure how things will pan out over the next few days. Hopefully everything is sorted out with the flights by
the time I am booked to fly back to Manila on the 20th.
In the meantime I'm going to visit some local hot springs, get some massages and keep pestering the dive shop hoping to get a few dives in before I have to go!
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Deb
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Typhoon!
Wow... you are fortunate that you found yourself with a great crew during the weather event... I am glad you are safe. Just yesterday I was polishing my shoes at work and it reminded me of you... and I got thinking I had not heard from you for bit... got me worried. Again, I am glad you are doing well.I imagine you will head to YVR soon. I wish you a Merry Christmas with your family and friends! I cannot wait to see you! Zoox