Palawan

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Hello all,

Backdated blog due to gremlins in our laptop...

We landed in Puerto Princessa after a short flight from Manila and what a place!!

Touched down in a tiny airport with the most random passport control/airport you could imagine.

It's so green compared to the concrete jungle we left behind. No litter filling every which way you turn, jeepneys are few and far between, tri-cycles are still the preffered method of transport. Bartering the drivers is much the same though, it seems that when there is a whitee as a passenger the fair goes up dramatically. So much for the Catholic ethos...

We arrived at Mannys guest house, a lovely family run place, our room consisted of a double bed with a shared bathroom which we shared with a lovely Phillipino family.

As it was early morning when we arrivied we spent the first day exploring and getting some much needed laundry done and a few drinks in the evening to unwind. Sarah was in heaven during the day as there were at least half a dozen or so second hand shops to work our way through. Picked up a few bargains along the way. Tried some adodo pork and chicken with rice which is proper tasty. One for the lads back at work i think.

Following morning, woken to the sounds of cockrels and dogs singing away. We were then off on our first day trip to the underground river which is classed as one of the new seven wonders of the world, what an amazing place. 8km tunnel stretch done so on a little boat hand paddled by our guide in amongst tens of thousands of bats. Hope the pics speak for themselves. Inside the cave it was difficult to photograph but the staligmites/ staligtites/collums were out of this world.

Once back we went for dinner and onto watch 2 local live bands covering the latest pop and classic rock tunes, we had a great night. We had read the Phillipinos loved their music and was confirmed when Meatloaf, Mariah Carrie, Jessy J, Katie Perry, Coldplay was being belted out. During the night I went to toilet and Sarah wasn't at her seat but instead up dancing with the local wives and girlfriends. Something which is strange to the UK is that when it is someones anniversary the ritual (be it only in this bar) is to get up on stage and for the couple to sing a love song to eachother.... Fortunately (for us both) it wasn't our anniversary.

Following day we were off island hoping in a banka (boat), we swam/ snorkled in crystal clear water and ate beautiful seafood on remote islands. Being a lover of tropical fish it was amazing to be feeding them so close, got some great footage which hopefully we'll be able to upload.

Back home we crashed out, ate and went to bed as we were up early to move onto El Nido which is further north of Palawan. Beach here we come!!!

Hope everone is well.

xxx

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Comments

[susan chapman]

It looks fab!!
Hi sarah and jules!! My god yous are in paradise!! and i am in work on monday morning!! haha hope you both well, well i mean that is obvious!! but you know what i mean!! haha keep putting the photos on it is great to see yous, miss you lots of love Sue xxxx