Hello to you all for the penultimate time!
Palawan didn't exactly go as Alex had planned, but we still had a brilliant time with some of my most memorable experiences here. We flew from Cebu into Puerto Princessa where we changed some money and extended our Visas. It is very annoying that I didn't extend my Visa in the UK because it turned out to be very expensive. That is defo one of the downsides of the Philippines. They seem to charge you a lot of money all over the place for silly reasons, like paying a mandatory express fee for our Visa extension although we were quite willing to wait; or charging you to enter the airport; and even charging you to leave the country. Alex has been particularly annoyed about this, but never mind. Alex also had plans to visit several places over Palawan, El Nido, Corin, Port Barton etc. but we have been unable to do them all due to the expense of transport. However, we still managed El Nido and Sabang...
I did not hit it of with El Nido at first. It was raining the entire journey and my bag got soaked on top of the van. I ended up having to do some washing the second I got here. The accommodation was also pretty expensive and not even that nice. Alex searched in the wet and eventually found somewhere which was OK. The staff were lovely, but the room and bathroom were very basic. Luckily the weather picked up. The next day Alex and I hired a kayak and went on a mammoth trip. I'd like to say I got a bit of a work out here but I probably contributed about 400 strokes during the 5 hour trip. The scenery was very beautiful but the stress of Alex potentially asking me to help him row was quite exhausting and I was glad when we arrived back on land!
The most memorable part of the Philippines so far, and perhaps even of my trip was our camping trip in El Nido. There are many trips you can go on here to explore the many islands surrounding El Nido. Alex keen to be different decided he would like to do the tour where you stay over night on one of the islands, and continue another boat tour in the morning. With our limited funds this meant camping in a tent rather than spending lavishly on a nice expensive beach hut. I was certainly not keen on this idea at first, but agreed that if the boat was OK and the toilet satisfactory I would do it for him. The next day I was horrified to discover that there was no toilet or shower on the boat, but not to worry because "there is many trees to go behind and the driver can dig you a hole". None of this seemed to bother Alex at all who argued that, "it's not unreasonable for me to ask you to crap twice on a beach". Hello, what planet is this boy living on? I am a lady, and ladies should not be expected to go to the toilet amongst spiders. I knew straight away that I was going to be guilted into this trip. I decided that Alex wanted this experience more than I didn't, and if one day I wanted to be on Shipwrecked this was a good opportunity to test whether I could do it. The most camping I have done in my life was at Brownies, but Brownie Camp did not prepare me for this experience in the slightest. There was not a toilet to clean or potatoes to peel in sight. As per usual Alex was right and I had a very fun time in the end, but under no circumstances does this make his request reasonable.
Our tour guides went out of their way to create an amazing experience. The tours themselves were as I expected, amazing scenery and amazing snorkeling. We saw sooo many tropical fish, all of which I recognised from playing fishville on facebook (and some people say those games are pointless). I even got attacked by a fish that I had reared and sold on fishville- and I am not kidding. Alex told me I was being stupid when I told him this fish was attacking me, until it started attacking him. We must have been stood very close to her nest or something. During the evening the tour guide and boat drivers created a romantic scene, bonfire, candles and dinner. We didn't expect them to go to this much trouble at all. Although the sleeping part was pretty exhausting, the time spent on the island during the evening made it worthwhile. All in all we had a fab time in El Nido. We were very unlucky with the weather as it was raining most days we were there, but luckily not during the 3 day camping trip!
With limited time left in Palawan Alex and I decided to spend a couple of days in Sabang where you can visit the Subterranean Underground River. Getting there was interesting, having to sit on the top of a very big bus (like a double-decker) for 3 hours, ducking for trees and wires. Most of our time in Sabang was chilled out due to rain, but we managed to see the river on a reasonably good day! To get to the river you have a choice of walking 5 km through part of a jungle or taking an expensive 15 minute boat. Most tourists take the boat which I think is pretty pointless. Admittedly the average older person would not be able to do the walk as it is very steep and exhausting in places. However, considering the cave trip itself lasts less than 10 minutes it is nice to prolong the experience by walking. Inside the cave was spooky and amusing. The boat driver came up with all sorts of explanations for the developing stalagmites, "This is what we call Jesus Christ, the Three Wise Men, The Virgin Mary", pointing at lumps of rock! It was particular amusing entering the fruits and vegetables section, where it seemed that 1 stalagmite looked like a mushroom so they desperately searched for any other piece of rock that vaguely resembled another fruit or veg! At least it was funny to listen to. I was certainly in pain the next day though, from the walk and I have only just recovered! I was horrified whilst listening to an older (very old!) English guy and his young Filipino wife's conversation, that they were planning on doing the trek that day. This guy could barely walk! I never saw him again, and I must admit I was a little worried!
Alex and I are now back in Manila waiting for our flight tomorrow. Fingers crossed it all goes well as I hear England is snowy! I guess all that's left to do now is sum up my trip with some final thoughts and reflections...CRY!
xoxo
Palawan didn't exactly go as Alex had planned, but we still had a brilliant time with some of my most memorable experiences here. We flew from Cebu into Puerto Princessa where we changed some money and extended our Visas. It is very annoying that I didn't extend my Visa in the UK because it turned out to be very expensive. That is defo one of the downsides of the Philippines. They seem to charge you a lot of money all over the place for silly reasons, like paying a mandatory express fee for our Visa extension although we were quite willing to wait; or charging you to enter the airport; and even charging you to leave the country. Alex has been particularly annoyed about this, but never mind. Alex also had plans to visit several places over Palawan, El Nido, Corin, Port Barton etc. but we have been unable to do them all due to the expense of transport. However, we still managed El Nido and Sabang...
I did not hit it of with El Nido at first. It was raining the entire journey and my bag got soaked on top of the van. I ended up having to do some washing the second I got here. The accommodation was also pretty expensive and not even that nice. Alex searched in the wet and eventually found somewhere which was OK. The staff were lovely, but the room and bathroom were very basic. Luckily the weather picked up. The next day Alex and I hired a kayak and went on a mammoth trip. I'd like to say I got a bit of a work out here but I probably contributed about 400 strokes during the 5 hour trip. The scenery was very beautiful but the stress of Alex potentially asking me to help him row was quite exhausting and I was glad when we arrived back on land!
The most memorable part of the Philippines so far, and perhaps even of my trip was our camping trip in El Nido. There are many trips you can go on here to explore the many islands surrounding El Nido. Alex keen to be different decided he would like to do the tour where you stay over night on one of the islands, and continue another boat tour in the morning. With our limited funds this meant camping in a tent rather than spending lavishly on a nice expensive beach hut. I was certainly not keen on this idea at first, but agreed that if the boat was OK and the toilet satisfactory I would do it for him. The next day I was horrified to discover that there was no toilet or shower on the boat, but not to worry because "there is many trees to go behind and the driver can dig you a hole". None of this seemed to bother Alex at all who argued that, "it's not unreasonable for me to ask you to crap twice on a beach". Hello, what planet is this boy living on? I am a lady, and ladies should not be expected to go to the toilet amongst spiders. I knew straight away that I was going to be guilted into this trip. I decided that Alex wanted this experience more than I didn't, and if one day I wanted to be on Shipwrecked this was a good opportunity to test whether I could do it. The most camping I have done in my life was at Brownies, but Brownie Camp did not prepare me for this experience in the slightest. There was not a toilet to clean or potatoes to peel in sight. As per usual Alex was right and I had a very fun time in the end, but under no circumstances does this make his request reasonable.
Our tour guides went out of their way to create an amazing experience. The tours themselves were as I expected, amazing scenery and amazing snorkeling. We saw sooo many tropical fish, all of which I recognised from playing fishville on facebook (and some people say those games are pointless). I even got attacked by a fish that I had reared and sold on fishville- and I am not kidding. Alex told me I was being stupid when I told him this fish was attacking me, until it started attacking him. We must have been stood very close to her nest or something. During the evening the tour guide and boat drivers created a romantic scene, bonfire, candles and dinner. We didn't expect them to go to this much trouble at all. Although the sleeping part was pretty exhausting, the time spent on the island during the evening made it worthwhile. All in all we had a fab time in El Nido. We were very unlucky with the weather as it was raining most days we were there, but luckily not during the 3 day camping trip!
With limited time left in Palawan Alex and I decided to spend a couple of days in Sabang where you can visit the Subterranean Underground River. Getting there was interesting, having to sit on the top of a very big bus (like a double-decker) for 3 hours, ducking for trees and wires. Most of our time in Sabang was chilled out due to rain, but we managed to see the river on a reasonably good day! To get to the river you have a choice of walking 5 km through part of a jungle or taking an expensive 15 minute boat. Most tourists take the boat which I think is pretty pointless. Admittedly the average older person would not be able to do the walk as it is very steep and exhausting in places. However, considering the cave trip itself lasts less than 10 minutes it is nice to prolong the experience by walking. Inside the cave was spooky and amusing. The boat driver came up with all sorts of explanations for the developing stalagmites, "This is what we call Jesus Christ, the Three Wise Men, The Virgin Mary", pointing at lumps of rock! It was particular amusing entering the fruits and vegetables section, where it seemed that 1 stalagmite looked like a mushroom so they desperately searched for any other piece of rock that vaguely resembled another fruit or veg! At least it was funny to listen to. I was certainly in pain the next day though, from the walk and I have only just recovered! I was horrified whilst listening to an older (very old!) English guy and his young Filipino wife's conversation, that they were planning on doing the trek that day. This guy could barely walk! I never saw him again, and I must admit I was a little worried!
Alex and I are now back in Manila waiting for our flight tomorrow. Fingers crossed it all goes well as I hear England is snowy! I guess all that's left to do now is sum up my trip with some final thoughts and reflections...CRY!
xoxo
Final accommodation
Lara Prior!
Arnold!
Cave
Playing hand puppets
Our ride on top of the bus...
Had to duck for wires and trees
Foreign Jen and Jemima
Our boat was called Princess Pinky- I don't think it could have been more perfect!
Alex's head injury
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