After a mere hop, skip, 10 hour
flight to Seoul, followed by a 5 hour layover, 4.5 hour flight to Cebu, overnight sleep in a hotel, a 1.5hour flight to Porto Princessa, finally a 6 hour van ride, and jump, I finally arrived in the pouring rain to the town of El Nido on the island of Palawan in the Philippines. Nothing looks as disappointing as a tiny tourist town at night during a rainstorm. My friend S and I (who I met up with in Cebu) and I went to the tourist trap of a restaurant which was of course recommended to us, ate our crap-tastic meal in exhausted silence, and happily passed out at 9pm
But not to worry, I didn't travel all that way to be disappointed. Here's where the happy part of the tail begins:
We awoke to a sunny day and hopped on a boat to one of the thousands of islands the area boasts. The town and surrounding islandswere nothing short of spectacular; it's as the the ocean birthed rock formations and painted them with lush green trees. The mountains come out of no where and boast such incredible beauty.
We snorkeled, and hiked and saw all the place had to offer, then did it again the next day. When the snorkel felt more like a tease than anything else, I ponied up the funds and went diving. Apparently the region was a favorite of Jaques Cousteau- and with good reason- I witnessed a massive tropical aquarium only 12 meters below surface. Fish of every color, turtles, octopi, rays, all swimming about in a symphony. It was just devastatingly beautiful.
S and I managed to eat fresh fish for both lunch and dinner daily, we also managed to find a bar that had a two-for-one happy hour from 4-6. The Philippine version of a caipirinha was our drink of choice, and our routine of boating, bar, shower, dinner was just perfect. Ironically enough, despite all that distance and my long travels, I managed to encounter more Israelis in El Nido than any other tourist. How do you like that?
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