Why is this dog riding on the roof of this rickshaw and why has it been spray-painted pink?
Two separate photos…adds a strange effect
Shots from around Boracay.
Marlieke getting her tattoo..
…and my one.
Monday, 6 October 2014
Island Hopping tour Coron, Palawan, Philippines
As you can see by the photos, this island hopping tour was awesome, much better than the one we did in El Nido
Another beautiful sunset.
21/08/2014 - Diving Japanese wrecks with a bunch of Koreans.
Finding out that it was going to rain for the next few days Marlieke and my plans to motorbike around the island fell through and the contingency idea was for me to dive the various shipwrecks nearby.
Having only 30 minutes to spare I ran to the closest dive shop and joined a tour to head out to 3 shipwrecks near Coron town. Unknowingly that the tour was filled with non-English speaking Koreans, I'm not saying this is a bad thang but it would have been nice to be able to talk to someone on the journeys between wrecks. However it being a Korean organized tour the food was tasty and spicy - the way I like it.
So the diving - Epic! although the first dive I was given a faulty mask that I had a bit of an ordeal with on my first dive, despite the struggle to breathe at times when water would flood my mask I managed the situation and enjoyed all I could.
Out of the 3 Japanese ship wrecks I explored with my assigned dive master Erwin, the last was by far the best, named Olympia this ship is 120 meters in length, a Japanese army auxiliary supply ship that was sunk by the Americans (like all the other shipwrecks the the area) and lay 25 meters below the surface on its side.
In all honestly it would be near impossible to navigate through the wreck without a guide, from not only it being dark, the visibility was so-so and the way that the water magnifies your field of view can be extremely disorientating. Still, the experience was like no other, think haunted house, the movie Finding Nemo, the use of a flashlight to find your way whilst trying not to kick up too much sand in a narrow passage whilst breathing from a pressurized canister strapped to your back. Certainly not for those who are claustrophobic or scared of fish... Or diving, but for me it was a memory I won't soon forget.
First time divers really excited about the trip….
Olympia ship… so awesome to have ventured into the ship
A portrait of me drawn by the korean woman above
El Nido.
El Nido, a rather large tourist destination located in the north end of the main island of Palawan, also the main port town to reach Coron island via boat.
el Nido offered many attractions and activities but for those of us who wanted a place to relax and enjoy the local catch it was a pleasant place to stay.
Knowing that El Nido was high on the list of places for people to visit in the area both Marlieke and I expected a place to withdraw cash from an ATM, of course this was exactly the issue we had with the only bank in town being a local bank where international bank cards were not accepted.
A whole day spent searching for various methods to withdraw cash using a credit card they all failed and our last resort was to use the money transfer service Western Union.
It was either this or taking the 12 hour round trip back to Puerto Princessa where ATMs were many.
So, with the 3G internet connection on Marlieke's iPhone tethered to my laptop (yes, they have 3G connection here but no ATM, really???) I unsheathed my credit card and opened an account with Western Union.
With high hopes of this fore-filling my dreams to eat that evening, the transfer did not go through and I was left on a multitude of Skype calls to the company to confirm details getting passed on from one desk agent to another, then another and another only to be shrouded in disappointment as the process for whatever reason was unapproved.
To my dismay I told the agent that if she would find a western person (with my features) begging for money in the streets of Palawan, Philippines that she should kindly offer some small change or even a small bite to eat as it would be much appreciated.
I figured that the main issue with the money transfer was that the sender and receiver for this cash was both myself but we tried it with Marlieke's card and it worked - of course followed with a gigantic sign of relief.
Having figured out our financial situation we wanted to enjoy our time in El Nido so we organized a boat trip that took us (and others) around several islands and into two lagoons.
It was a pleasant hassle free trip that we enjoyed very much however it was more expensive for me as I managed to loose my snorkel gear at the bottom of the first lagoon (and site) we visited on the tour.
The included lunch to the tour was fantastic with a plethora of different seafoods served to us whist bathing in the sun on a small islands white beach that is only accessible by boat that was surrounded by steep cliffs one side and bright turquoise clear waters the other. Idealistic, some would say but unfortunately we were also offered up some rain on the subsequent days we spent here.
The sunsets at this location were amazing as shown with the pictures below.
The accommodation we chose on the beachfront was a little rough around the edges but offered a great view with sounds of the waves crashing on the sand to put us to sleep, however irritatingly and promptly followed by other drunk tourists returning from the bar belligerently chatting outside our window.
Still, I always sleep with music blasting in my ears and this didn't bother me as much as it did Marlieke.
One of the best views of the surrounding area and ocean is from the viewpoint/restaurant on the northern road 20 minutes walk from town, it's am awesome place to watch the sunset and take advantage (like I did) of the all you can eat buffet menu with delights like stuffed squid and BBQ'ed snapper and at 260 pesos well worth the price.
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Banaue to Manila and Puerto Princessa.
View Larger Map
Having spent many days with unbeatable views of the surrounding rice terraces it was time to leave the mountains and find some nice beaches that are not affected by the rainy season somewhere in the south.
At a whim Marlieke booked us tickets to Palawan, a lengthy island that stretches from mainland Philippines (Luzon) to almost Sabah, Malaysia. I can't remember the reasoning behind why this was chosen, perhaps it was the mention of some sort of beach, but we made our way out there via a terrible bus journey to Manila, where the bus kept on breaking down and a preemptive tipsy flight to Puerto Princessa. Having met Brie and Donny on multiple occasions in Northern Luzon we just so happen to have the same flight to Palawan, so whilst waiting for the flight we ate and drank.
One thing I found interesting was that at no point did I need to show my passport let alone any kind of id, Marlieke had to prove her identity for the two tickets but I was never asked. (Terrorists, don't take note).
So Puerto Princessa, situated in the dead middle of the island, the main hub of Palawan was pretty lifeless, I suppose maybe it was just out experience there and what we saw but as it says in the guide book, "an over grown small town". People come here for other things though, whether it is island hopping on a boat, zip lining, and the most popular activity being boating the underground river (at a hefty price) we chose none of these and opted for a motorbike to simply cruise about. We did attempt to go see the underwater river but unfortunately we got caught up in the worst of the downpour and found ourselves seeking shelter at small family houses who were always kind enough to offer us hot drinks to keep warm and by the time we made it to Sabang (where the tour starts) neither myself or Marlieke wanted to be on the roads at night so we scratched that plan and headed back to PP.
The rest of our time in Puerto Princessa was simply chilled and quite uneventful, and the only thing I can think of worth mentioning is the food place we found offering, what I'll call 'upperclass fast food' for cheap and with UNLIMITED rice!!! I took full advantage of that offer.
When the rain from the monsoon season gave us a break with great views
Got to love these motorbikes made to look like a car… practical, yes. safe…...? perhaps not
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