The lure of Ko Lanta was too much for us. Despite already having spent two months here around Christmas, we decided to come back for another month. One reason is that it's such an easy-going kid-friendly island. Another was the fact that we knew it had access to fast wifi and cheap phone calls. After spending two months in the Philippines where none of this works, we had a huge "to do" list built up in terms of flights and accommodation to be booked. We also had to call Bank of America AGAIN to sort out yet another screw up. We'd planned to go back to stay at Best House again but arrived to find it being packed up and closed down for the end of the high season. Luckily, we landed a bargain at Arrow ... read more

White Sands and Cave Pools Leaving the beautiful Polaris Dive Resort and arriving at DapDap Resort in Anda brought us crashing back into reality. At half the price, we were not expecting much, but the contrast was stark. A bumpy 700m driveway took us down to DapDap, recommended in our guide book. It looked a little run down but we went ahead and took a look at a room. It was the old thatched style but had four beds and looked passable. It was easier to just take it for the night and reconsider in the morning. We went down to see the beach. It was a small, pretty bay but it was hard to get into the water due to rocks that came right up almost to the high tide mark. Useless for swimming! We ... read more

The Philippines is a land of islands, 7107 of them to be exact! After spending a month on just one of the bigger ones, Palawan, it was time to spread our wings and explore some new islands. Two short flights later we were arriving on Bohol for what I consider The Philippines Part II. We left the tiny Tagbilaran airport and found a tricycle, Kyla and Jake watching with interest as the driver tied on our luggage. By this point in the trip I'd been determined to ditch one piece of luggage, but it wasn't happening. In the past we've always traveled with just a big backpack on our backs and a small one on our fronts. This trip we've been using the exact same backpacks but we have also added a huge wheelie suitcase into ... read more

It's almost time to leave El Nido after being here for about a month. Tom left for Puerto Princesa yesterday and we'll be doing the same in a couple of days. I've written blogs about all of the famous boat trips, but here's all the other little things I've been wanting to write about... The Simple Life We spent most of our time staying at Morning Walsh resort on Corong Corong beach, known locally simply as "Green House." We had the luxuries of air conditioning and a hot water shower, so it wasn't a simple life in that way. However, now that we'd moved away from the hustle and bustle of El Nido town, the sound of tricycle horns and revving engines was replaced by the cock-a-doodle-doing of roosters. The kids could roam around the amazing ... read more

Picture in your mind a perfect beach of white soft sand, swaying coconut palms and backed by the most amazingly steep cliffs jutting right up to the sky. Add to this a keyhole gap in the rock, leading into a huge lagoon surrounded by those same steep jagged cliffs. You've now got an idea of what the islands around the Bacuit archipelago look like. We'd been in El Nido almost a week when we were finally all healthy enough to head out on one of the famous boat tours. There are four tours to choose from, imaginatively named Tours A, B, C, and D. We started with tour A, dubbed the "lagoons" trip. Everywhere you go in town, there's a travel agent or guesthouse trying to sell you a tour, but most look pretty awful, cramming ... read more