Welcome to the land of smiles :) The beautiful Philippines, a country built up of 7641 islands so as you can imagine it is very hard to get bored here. This country has really blown me away with its natural beauty, endless palm trees, green forests as far as the eye can see,crystal clear waters and white sand beaches. If that doesn't shout this is paradise then I don't know what is, if the scenery doesn't amaze you then maybe the kindness of the locals will. Where ever you go its good morning Ma'am have a nice day, the more rural you are people even slow down when they drive past you just to smile and wave, I have never experienced anywhere quite like this.
Arriving in manila I was greeted by a choir singing we wish you a merry Christmas, which is quite amusing considering its 30 degrees outside. I am travelling in wet season so I do get the odd shower here and there that lasts about ten minutes but other than that the weather is great, I don't think I would enjoy it as much if it was any warmer.
I only stayed one night in manila as busy city life isn't for me, You have to watch out for pick pockets in Manila just as you do in any built up city. So I am back at the airport the next morning jetting off to the amazing Palawan to start my adventure, somewhere I have always dreamt of going. I tend to leave everything to the last minute when I am travelling and prefer not to plan anything in advance as I like to see who I meet along the way and which destination I am drawn to next. I have found that in the Philippines its actually best to book your flights in advance as leaving it to the last minute can be quite expensive.
After spending a few minutes scrolling through hostelworld I came across an amazing find, staying in the middle of the jungle in a bamboo hut in a place called Maoyon in Puerto Princesa it was a few hours from the airport and required me getting in a tricycle tuk tuk then a coach, I prefer to throw myself in the deep end and avoid the main tourist spots as I like to get a feel for how the locals live and experience the country in its true authentic self. I would advise anyone who is doing this to make sure you have a Filipino sim with credit or ensure you have already contacted the hotel to give them an estimated time other wise you will end up stranded in the middle of nowhere like me. Arriving in the dark, no signs, no lights,no normality, luckily for me I found a small group of people who were also heading to this place and knew the way. So off I go carrying my 20K+ backpacks trekking up a dirt track hill in the pitch black wondering what unusual animal sounds I can hear, hoping that there are no snakes that are going to kill me hidden amongst the wildlife. I said I wanted to lose weight on this trip I don't think I will have any trouble doing this, feeling like I am in some intense army camp.
Another useful tip you NEED to know is make sure you have plenty of cash ( Filipino pesos) otherwise you will be in some serious trouble, no card machines & no ATM'S, no where to change money over either. This place really does feel like you are going back in time and you know what it feels amazing! Escaping normality, leaving the rat race, just you and a few locals in the middle of the jungle appreciating all that mother nature has to offer. You have your own swimming pool you can admire whilst chilling in a hammock, by swimming pool I mean river, there is also a restaurant in the jungle resort so you haven't got to worry about climbing the trees to get your own coconuts!
After spending a few days here and having a few visits at night from some new friends lizards and toads that is, I thought it was time to move on so I hopped on a local bus to take me to San Vicente, where I had a beautiful place to stay overlooking the ocean and this would be the first place I do an island hopping tour. My public bus experience was an adventure in itself to get to San Vicente, despite the fact it took hours, this is the cheapest way to get here but my gosh it definitely is not the most comfortable, the bus is not made for our western builds, I was crammed in between all the locals, there were people hanging out the doors even people sat on the roof of the bus. You do get a real sense on how the locals live travelling this way, local elderly farmers hopping on with their machetes on the side of their pockets. If this was in England your heart would stop with fear but over here everything just feels so safe. Driving through small villages seeing families cooking entire pigs, being a vegetarian it wasn't the most pleasant site but knowing this is going to feed all their family and friends and nothing goes to waste out here. Every part of the pig is eaten, I mean everything even the eyes! Filipinos love their meat so when your staying in non commercialised places like me it can be very difficult to eat anything vegetarian or vegan my answer will be if in doubt just eat fruit, plenty of tropical fruit out here and really tasty.
Waking up to the roosters cock a doodle dooing has become my morning routine here a sound I have gotten used to, some mornings I even wake up laughing to some of the noises the roosters make. This picture was taken on a tour where you stop off at around 6 different islands & reefs allowing you to see some amazing sites, I swam with turtles on this tour and even visited Star fish beach which is self explanatory. You can get some great pictures here and the tours are not overcrowded like I experienced doing a tour in El nido & Coron. Tours in El Nido are categorised in A,B,C or D, rumours say tour A is the best so I went along with this one, You see so many different places each in their own beauty, as you are out for the day, you are provided with a fantastic lunch on the beach all cooked fresh, plenty of fish for the meat eaters and veggie option is eggplant salad and rice which suited me just fine. When your on a tour in a place that is booming with tourism you will find locals kayak to you to sell you beers or refreshments, its quite amusing to watch, the last tour I did in Coron you even have people swim up to your boat with a bucket full of Jewellery to sell, it really is something I have never experienced before.
Whilst staying in Coron I did the ultimate tour fitting 8 different stops in, One is snorkeling around a shipwreck which was just fantastic as well as visiting some of the most jaw dropping lagoons & lakes you have ever seen. Barracuda lake is one hard to forget as the deeper you go down the lake the hotter it gets so for those divers out there it can get up to 40 degrees so you will probably want to skip the wet suit. If there is a group of you it may be best to get your own private tour and skip the normal times all the tourists are there because it can get overcrowded and loses some of the beauty.
There are so many amazing thing to do, whilst your in Coron if you fancy real adventure you can hire a moped out in search of the abandoned plane, I wouldn't advise doing this on your own as it involves driving for around an hour then kayaking some distance in the water to find it so it is not an easy task. Palawan really does have it all, Boat tours, waterfalls, jungle hikes, zip wires, yoga sunsets, cheap cocktails, whether you want to soak up the sun of fill your boots with adventure you definitely wont be disappointed by giving this place a visit, some places here really do just take your breath away.