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Published: February 19th 2007
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Jungle swimming pool
Look closely and you'll see the vines and the shrine! The airport here has a tarmac'd runway for most of the wya as well as a terminal building. None of the charm of El Nido airport though! Our jeepney into town had to follow various diversions including one which took us away from the bridge and through the river instead.
Coron didn't hold much appeal. After checking in we had a wander about. The front, hosting the famous Seadive resort, was built on stilts out onto the water allowing the sewage to pour directly into the sea. This mingled with the meat and fish market created such a stench that it put Mark off his beer (a first, I believe). Glad we weren't staying there!
After being woken at the crack of dawn by tricycles and jeepneys we decided that, in the words of the Animals, 'we gotta get out of this place' so we headed to catch the 10.30 jeepney to Conception. It finally left at 11.15 to go 20 yards before stopping to pick up the cargo of the previous jeepney which had broken down! It was a long trip!
Our first thoughts on arrival in Conception were "what have we done?'. The next transport back
Sunset Pier
This was taken from the hammock in our room! out was the 5am jeepney and there was nothing but a wee stall and a small school to be seen. However, we quickly found the Pier House and booked into a gorgeous 3 walled room over looking the sea. The view from the hammock was amazing!
We spent the afternoon swimming in a fresh water pool in the jungle, jumping down the waterfall and swinging Tarzan-style from the vines. The fish, despite being tiny, tried to eat us, but we were too chilled out to bother.
There were two other people swimming there when we arrived, one of whom coincidently turned out to be a guy we had been trying to get a hold of to arrange diving. We booked in for the following day. The first dive was on a reef with the sun shining down on the coral. We saw some new fish (hopeless with names, sorry), a couple with long pointy noses (not Barracuda) and some eels. Our next dive was on a wreck. One night in 1944, some American pilots spotted some islands moving round Busuanga. They turned out to be disguised Japanese Naval ships and 25 of them were promptly sunk. 12 of them have been found and some of them are sitting not too far under the water. We went down to see an oil tanker. You wouldn't know it was a metal ship as it was so covered in coral and barnacles, it looked like a ship-shaped reef! It was teeming with fish! We got to swim through a school of giant angel fish and watch families of clown fish (Nemos) defend their anenome. It was cool. We also went down into some of the holes created by the bombs to see the engine room and the steering room. We didn't swim around inside the ship though as we're still beginners but it was great to see as much as we did. Our third dive was after a sumptious lunch on the beach, and we just went out by ourselves to see a reef not far from the shore. It was interesting going without a dive master although a tad worrying as we didn't have a clue about where we were going. We found a reef shortly after altering our vague plans to avoid the sea snake (are they following us?) though we felt like cheats as by this time we had gone so close to the beach we could stand up! Next time we'll do as PADI instructs 'plan your dive and dive your plan.'
After a day of 'well-earned' rest, we got up at 4am to catch the bus back to Coron. We stood for a while like a pair of numptys waiting where we were told the jeepney would pick us up to discover that it would actually pick us up on the National Highway (dirt track up the road). The bus rolled up a while later impersonating an Indian bus, there were people in every conceivable space, so much so that Mark joined many others on the luggage rack on the roof where he was serenaded by a guitarist! That and the incredible view of the sunrise made up for his discomfort.
We spent our last evening on the Philippine islands chilling out in the hot springs. These were in the mangroves at the edge of the sea and the outlook was stunning. The pools were full of beneficial algae so we'll be in peak health for the rest of our trip.
Back to Manila for a dew days to catch up with the newly engaged Louise and Tom, and to try and somehow get all of newly acquired stuff into our already full rucksacks. Our next stop will be Singapore for a few days. The Philippines has been an amazing experience. There is such a difference between each of the places we have visitied and we have found something to suit everyone. There are beautiful places which are so unspoilt like Port Barton and other places like Manila which revere commercialism and all things American. The people we have met on the islands have been very welcoming and friendly and everyone seems to have a huge infectious smile.
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