Blogs from Palawan, Philippines, Asia - page 37

Coron town on the island of Busuanga was our next destination. We nearly didn’t make our flight due to a late dive on Boracay but managed to get a rickshaw in time and pushed aboard the shuttle boat despite protests that they were full. We were the last to check in but Neena, secretary at dive shop, had called ahead so they were expecting us. We had to be weighed for the flight but managed to smuggle our excessive hand luggage on board without paying for it. Our hand luggage was excessive due to the 40kg or so of diving manuals we were lugging about! As we sat in the tiny terminal we tried to guess which flight was ours, the one getting its engine fixed in front of us or one of the others. Turns ... read more

Granted with flora and fauna, Palawan is a great tropical escapade for those sun seeking, beach combing individuals who also want to taste tropical rural lifestyle. Michael and I went to Puerto Princesa October 2006 and stayed at Legend Hotel Palawan. One must not leave Puerto Princesa without going island-hopping. I must say that for those who want to fulfill their tastebuds and to really try the Palawan-style sumptous dinner, go to Ka Lui. Oh, you will love the ambience and their seafoods and also their appetizers are really exotic but great. We were never really dared to go partying at nights, except for an open beer garden there with billiard tables. I think it is more of the active and explore trip at daylight rather than a trip for those who are looking for nightly ... read more

The journey to El Nido We were up bright and early for our journey to El Nido, and only worried slightly when we put our backpacks on the jeepney an hour before we were due to leave and the driver promptly drove off with our bags still in the vehicle, leaving us in the street wondering if he was going to come back! Deciding not to worry we headed to Judy's and had some breakfast, and were relieved to see the jeepney drive past us back to it's starting location. We decided to stop off at the local shop to buy some supplies for the journey ahead of us and were introduced to a boy who made strange shrieking monkey noises and liked to stroke our arms! Sadly, it turns out that the boy had been ... read more

El Nido has to be one of the most beautiful scenic areas that I have ever been to. Its bays and countless islands are amazing. Most are made up of eroding limestone and shoot up from the water. There are hidden beaches everywhere, so finding one to call your own for the day is very, very easy. Shortly after getting to El Nido I teamed up with a mixed crew. There was William (New Zealand), Nadine (Germany), Sisters Bora and Sunmi (Korea), and Andy (England). Every day we did island hopping tours with the great guide Mascardo Villaraza (mobile +639192034199). He made sure that we were never rushed and saw exactly what we wanted. His wife and son helped out on board and would join us during some great snorkeling sessions. During our days out on ... read more

Ahhh - exotic Palawan...gorgeous beaches, pristine virgin rainforest, turquoise sea, waterfalls and underground rivers. Only one problem...you have to get there first! Finally we were leaving Manila...yey! Arriving at Manila's Domestic Terminal we were actually smiling but not for long as we were soon reminded of the ridiculously anal security transport measures in the Philippines. Examples of this are listed below: 1.You are not allowed into the airport terminal without a ticket and passport. Our ticket was booked online and the website just said to turn up with passport and booking number to check-in. So before we were even allowed into the airport by boys-playing-at-being-security-guards-with-fully-loaded-guns we had to find the airline office to get a ticket print out. 2.Finally inside the airport we were split into male and female queues for the baggage check, baggage was ... read more