Anyway, moving on from that rather somber note - El Nido was just as delightful as promised and being further away from the mountains the weather was perfect – blue skies and sunshine. And very hot! We stayed there for a week and indulged ourselves in good food, island hopping and sunbathing. We stayed at a very nice family run guest house set back in the quieter, leafier part of the town. We took full advantage of the provisions on offer in the town – including back massages (Neil) and hand-washing service where for just a couple of pounds our towels and clothes were handed back to us clean, neatly folded and smelling lovely. Ahhh, backpackers delight after weeks of wearing crumpled, damp, and slightly smelly clothes. Evenings were spent at any one of the candle-lit restaurants lining the beach front – with the water lapping at our feet as we sat admiring the silhouetted islands across the bay. Local entertainment in the form of acoustic guitar and singing and cheap beer accompanied the meals.
Our days were spent visiting various small islands and beaches all within half an hour boat ride with lovely white sands, swaying palms and clear turquoise waters where we lolled about snorkeling, swimming and browning/burning nicely in the 31 degrees sun. We befriended some local fishermen who took us out on their boat for free on our first day (remember the True Manilla story from a couple of posts back? The guys recognised our bracelets we are wearing that we had been given from Edwin whom they also knew!) We also hired a kayak and made our own discoveries of deserted beaches for one afternoon. J Neil completed his full PADI Open Water Scuba Diving course in a record 3 days which I am very impressed with, having done this course myself a few years back in Egypt in about double that time. While Neil was stuck inside with his head in a book I did my Scuba Diving Refresher and day trip of three lovely dives. There can be found some fantastic corals varying massively in colour, shape and size from the very tiny and delicate up to a coral the size of a car! We dived through corals in giant cabbages/flower shapes, and some shaped just like mushrooms but 2-3 meters in diameter! Oranges, brown, pinks, purples, black, luminous yellow and greens – and yes that is about the most scientific identification you’re going to get! We swam around in reefs with such an array of giant clams, starfish, tiny, completely clear floating jellyfish; huge purple starfish the size of dinner plates which soon became commonplace; black, spikey sea urchins, morray eels, clown fish, parrot fish, large barracuda, eagle ray and blue-spotted rays, lionfish - just some of the many we saw. (On another island further south in Palawan Neil’s sharp eye’s spotted a large, clear jellyfish floating in the water with long dark tentacle’s– see our photos. Our boat man quickly retrieved it from the water and confirmed to us that yes, this was a Box Jellyfish - one of the world’s most deadly jellyfish, with enough poison to kill or severely injure a human! Gulp!)
Unfortunately for the last 2 days here we fell quite violently sick. We don’t know how it came about as my symptoms started 12 hours after Neil’s did but we think it was some kind of traveller’s sickness bug. It was very unpleasant but not serious, and luckily one of our neighbours at the guest house was a doctor and she kept an eye on us. By night time when we both were sick, the lovely Mr Marikit who ran our guest house took over caring duties and went out of his way to make us feel better fetching us ice and cold water, tissues and setting up a fan on his generator especially for us when there was no electricity. I thanked him profusely for this and will never forget his kindness (see the photo of me with him and his son and an employer in the doorway next to a Christmas tree).
The following week we travelled back down to Puerto Princessa and saw a few more touristy sights. We went to a crocodile rescue center and sanctuary which ironically sold crocodile meat at their shop and served various crocodile meat dishes on the menu at their resturaunt!! I found their poster rather amusing so you will see that in our photos. Another highlight was some close encounter’s Neil and I had with a very lovely mammal called a Palawan bear-cat by the locals, otherwise known as s Binturong. Resident only to Palawan island and nowhere else in the Philippines, a local had rescued two from being put in cages and kept them as pets so the locals could see them. He took them out in the village regularly so the local children could also pet them as there isn’t really a concept of pets here which the gentleman said was a real shame. They have a very sweet Meercat-like face, are furry with soft padded paws and a long tail like a monkey they use to hold onto branches (or alternatively an arm!) You will see from our faces how happy we were to hold them and feed them banana and let them climb all over us. The female took a liking to Neil’s air and chewed it gently, whilst the male licked my face in cat-like kisses!
During our month in the Philippines we observed the following: They love Karaoke. Whether city or village you are always sure to hear the wailing singing of a karaoke bar well into the late hours of the night. Cockerels – they are everywhere. To the average tourist they are detested: wherever you are you can be sure there will always be several pecking around outside your room to wake you up at 5am and crow continuously all day, but to the Philippino’s they are a prized possession – groomed, and tied up with string round the foot and ready to compete in their cockfighting events. The boys play basketball everywhere; meanwhile the men chew a peculiar combination of a beetle nut, a fresh green tobacco leave and a crushed up snails shell (lime) into a fine white powder, which when chewed up altogether in their mouth turns red! Apparently it creates a caffeine/stimulant effect – like coffee - which they claim helps them if they have to work late at night. It becomes a blood red colour when chewed and so their teeth look all red and they spit red on the floor and walls everywhere! – Yuk!
So. We have said goodbye to the Philippines now, and will remember the Filipino’s as quiet but friendly and caring, gentle people. They will go out of their way to help you, make you feel more comfortable and explain things to you. Everywhere we went they spoke very good English, they took pride in their homes and worked hard at what they did. Adults and children will always smile and greet you when you pass their home or shop and are happy to chat and interact with us. Sometimes you will see Filipino’s who look very Hispanic – from their Spanish roots of previous colonization perhaps, and you can see an a real similarity to Latin American’s in terms of facial features, skin colour and in their music too. We have enjoyed the islands and the beaches, the mountains and the rice-terraces, made friends with Filipinos in the villages and the city and leave with many sweet memories of this lovely country. I would definitely like to go back and continue to explore these seemingly endless beautiful islands, but for now we head onwards to mainland Asia…to Vietnam.
Goodbye for now,Phe and Neil x
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