I arrived in the Philippines and was struggling a bit because I had hit a wall with my traveling. I’d been on the road for some time, and it was difficult to leave my husband and start another couple months without him. After awhile, the solo traveling, bunk beds, and nasty bathrooms start to take a toll, but I had to give myself a pep talk. I have loved this adventure so far, and I still have a lot ahead of me.

I arrived in Manila, and transferred to the Pink Hostel. I had to wait over an hour in the taxi line. I was dropped off outside the hostel in a dark alley. When I walked in, there was one guy with a clipboard asking me to check in. The ground floor was had open cement walls with gruff men lifting weights. The man told me to go to the elevator, and transfer upstairs to my hostel. As the name suggests, it was all pink and the women there were singing loudly non-stop…night and morning. I could tell several of the guests were on drugs, and they were talking about it. It made for quite the scene with them talking and the girls singing. While in the lobby late that night/early morning, I booked my flight to Palawan. There was quite a bit of traffic going to the airport, and it was interesting to see the different types of vehicles. There are many large former military jeeps converted into taxis and all decked out. The Philippines were not on my original schedule to visit, but I found a super cheap flight and the pictures were beautiful. I decided to squeeze it in, and I’m very happy I did. It was a good remedy to re-energize me for the next leg of my trip.

The flight into Palawan was beautiful because the plane stayed low, and I could see all the beautiful islands and blue shades of water. When I arrived in Puerto Princesa, I immediately took a 6-7 hour bus north to El Nido. On the ride I met a nice lady. I was to arrive late that night, so I was trying to call from while en route to book a place to sleep that night. I found a cheap place on the water, and I woke up to a phenomenal view. El Nido is surrounded by the Bacuit Archipelago, a group of limestone cliffs/islands coming out of the water, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I booked Tour C, and hopped around Hidden Beach, Helicopter Island, Secret Beach, Matinloc Shrine, and Star Beach. It was stunning. The water was so blue and so perfect. My favorite experience was Secret Island. We pulled up to a rock island with no beach. Everyone was confused because all we saw was rock and water. The guide pointed to a rock and said that was where we entered. Only every four waves or so did the water get low enough to see a tiny little hole that each of us were supposed to swim through. The water was so blue, I was excited to play around in it. Half the boat decided it was too dangerous with the waves crashing on the rocks. I was second in line to go through the tiny hole. The guide said to swim down as low as possible and come out the other side. One bald man went before me, and I was thinking he was getting too close to the rock without going under. He was waiting, and the wave crashed his bald head into the jagged rock. I could see blood coming out of his head. I immediately went under water and swam for a very long time until I was sure I was on the other side clear of any danger. The other side was a peaceful area hollowed out of the island mountain. It had a circle of water with coral for snorkeling and a very tiny beach. It was quite exhilarating, and the sense of adventure made it quite fun. The guide told us that the water was lower in other times of the year and makes it easer for people to get in. When we got back into the boat, three people had smashed their heads on the rock (making only a few of us with no problems). I love that they allowed us to go in (says the girl with no injuries)…a sort of enter at your own risk method. If you think it’s unsafe, don’t go…up to you. In the US, they never would have allowed that tour because of all the lawsuits that make everyone scared. We moved on to other islands, and we had a delicious lunch cooked on the rocks. That night I took the long bus back to Puerto Princesa and stayed in a really cool hippy-style hostel called Banwa Art House. Another highlight of Palawan was the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, an underground river cave, voted one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New7Wonders_of_Nature. Puerto Princesa was a good base to go see it. We took a two hour bus ride, then a 15 minute boat ride to the cave’s entrance. It is believed to be the longest underground river cave in the world. Once on the island, we saw several monkeys and got on a small flat boat to enter into the cave. The cave’s river emptied into the ocean, and the entrance was quite nice. Immediately, the smell of bat guano was so strong that it was unpleasant. Swallows were everywhere, and the stalactites and stalagmites were beautiful. The river was 26 kilometers long, and we were allowed to go 1.6 kilometers in it (if I remember correctly). At one point the ceiling was 200 feet tall. It was quite a wonder. Back in Manila, I spent a day exploring the city. At Fort Santiago, I learned about Rizal (the local hero) and some of history of the city. I found a tuk tuk driver that took me around all day. He took me to a clean local restaurant for my last stop, and I got a lot of surprised looks from the locals when I walked in. They spoke no English, so I had to go with the old “point and smile” language. While eating, a young worker across the way hollered out to me to ask if I wanted any “soap”. I looked at him confused, and a lady in the back corner started laughing because she realized he meant “soup”. The restaurant had a good laugh. My flight out was late that night, but I found a park to sit and read/write for awhile.

Because I squeezed the Philippines into my schedule, I wasn’t  able to stay as long as I wanted. It takes quite a bit of time to travel around the islands. When I return some day, I want to go to the rice fields up north, scuba dive in several places, go to the Coron Islands, and Boracay.