Falling in love with Palawan

The Philippines have been much more than we ever expected, but Palawan Island was like a dream.

It started with the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park which was about 2 hours out of the city in the little beach town of Sabang (not to be confused with Sabang on Mindoro). Here, we rode in a bangka 3Km down an underground river full of stalactites, stalagmites and BATS! Just outside the cave we came across some monkeys (yay!) and a huge monitor lizard.

Oded & Ursa on our cave trip

That night we had dinner with some people from our tour; Oded (a guy from Israel), Ursa (a slovenian girl), and a Russian guy named Pavel. Being so many different nationalities, it made our dinner conversation very interesting, humorous, and at times confusing. Here is just one example from our conversation that night:

Slovenian: When is your birthday?
Russian: August. I'm a virgin.
Canadian: Virgin?
Israeli: I know what he means but that's not the right word.
Canadian: You mean Virgo?
Israeli: Yes, Virgo. And my birthday is April. I'm a son of a sheep.
Slovenian. Aries!
Russian: But I don't understand. The sun (son) is in the sky and a ship (sheep) is in the sea.
Canadian: Oh dear.


The next night Oded, Ursa, Carlos and I caught a crowded Jeepney out of town. It seats about 20 people comfortable, but 40+ people managed to squeeze inside with about another 40 people hanging off the sides and on the roof. The drive through Palawan to El Nido was beautiful. Lush green land, plenty of palm trees, and we drove up to El Nido just in time to see the sun set over the water and surrounding islands. I knew at that moment that although we loved Boracay, we were going to be blown away by this place.

Our driver took us to two guesthouses, but both were full. Ursa and I waited with the luggage while Carlos and Oded went to find some accommodations (The Russians had arrived earlier). Nearly an hour later the boys returned and said that every single room in town was booked, but exclaimed that they had both good news and bad news. "The good news is, we found a place to sleep," said Carlos with a huge smirk on his face. "The bad news is - it's in a tree!"

WHAT!?!?!!!!!

Carlos on the way to the tree house

Carlos and Oded had gone to every single guesthouse in El Nido and when the last place (called The Four Seasons) told them they were full, the boys explained to them we had no place to sleep. The owner came out and said he had one place we could sleep, free of charge. It was a little bamboo hut about five feet off the ground practically in a tree, with the construction of a pool on one side, and the South China Sea on the other. It had just enough room to fit two double beds, and when I say just enough room, I mean we couldn't even get the door closed because the bed was there. So there we were, the four of us - who less than 24 hours ago were complete strangers - now all sleeping in a tree at The Four Seasons. Classic.
Our room at the Four Seasons

Bahala na: a Filipino saying that means "go with the flow," or the idea that all things shall pass and that in the meantime life is to be lived.

Our five days in El Nido were fantastic. We saw the best sunset of our lives... we watched the deep red and orange sky faded behind the tiny islands in the background and silhouetted the bangka boats in the foreground, only to have the sky come alive a second time with sparkling yellow and violet colours. We did two full days of island hopping which included exploring beaches with white sand and crystal clear turquoise waters, snorkeling, picnicking, and swimming in lagoons. During the evening the six of us would meet for dinner along the beach and have more entertaining conversations. Everyone we met in El Nido was so friendly, and one of the ladies we met invited us to this place where they feed poor children once a month. There were over 50 children in a small room, most under six years old. They do not get the proper nutrition they need at home, as it is cheaper to buy less nourishing meals such as noodles and rice. It was really hard to see so many children in need, but it was nice to see their smiling faces enjoying a hot meal. Afterwards we played with the kids for a bit and they let us take some pictures.

More photos of the children to come!

It was a great experience all around and Carlos and I definitely list El Nido as one of our favorite places we've been. Thanks to Oded, Ursa, Pavel and Dimo for the good times!

From El Nido we headed to Bohol where we felt a little rushed and unfortunately got rained on, but we got to explore the Chocolate Hills and hold a Tarsiers (palm-sized, wide-eye monkey). Now we are in Cebu where we thought we'd spoil ourselves with a stay at the Marriott so that we can refresh for Part II of our trip - Indonesia!