Our Escape to the Philippines

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè  (Happy New Year)  ~  Travel dates:  February 4 - 10, 2014

Chinese New Year is loud and crazy.  Fireworks at all hours of the day and night, 100's of thousands of people migrating to the big cities, and then everything shuts down.  So what's a person to do?  Well we like to leave the country.  Last year it was Australia, this year we opted for the Philippines.  I do so love to go somewhere warm in the winter.  

The airport to Puerto Princessa was so small we couldn't even find a ticket office.  Our ride to the hotel was done in a tuk tuk.  This is a very nice one that we found in a mall parking lot, but normally they are really old and hack looking.  It is just a motorcycle with sitting area added.  You can get five people plus the driver on one of these.

We stayed at an awesome place in Puerta Princessa (Balay Tuko Garden Inn).  The management was so helpful, the room was very nice, and the grounds were beautiful.  Upon arrival we were welcomed with a coconut drink.  Once we got checked in it was quite late and we were hungry.  This restaurant wasn't my favorite, but maybe because I ordered BBQ ribs and I not sure what they served me; and it certainly wasn't what I was used to for BBQ ribs. (Think Lucille's)  The rest of the restaurants had been researched by Donn and they were awesome!!!

We headed off early to do some island hopping.  Our first stop was Luli Island.  The water was a little chilly, so it took me a bit of time to dive in.  Found this really cool starfish.The next island was Cowrie Island.  We enjoyed some tanning, a Filipino buffet, and an oil massage.  Best-ever location for massage.

Day 1 we rented a motorcycle to tour the island with.  We have rented cycles before, but this was crazy.  We gave them our passport and money and they gave us the keys and a helmet.  No check for scratches, dents, etc.  Just a return time and we were off.  One tourist must-see is Baker's Hill.  They had beautiful flowers, statutes, peacocks, and of course food.  I loved the umbrella tree right in front of the hotel.

Baker's Hill Palawan Island

Donn finally talked me in to a two-hour motorcycle trip on mountainous roads to Ugong Rock.  I was a nervous nilly by the time we got home, but the zip line and hike through the rock were amazing.

Ugong Rock Excursion

Day 2:  Underground River.  This is a 3-hour van trip.  The van picked us up last so we were scrunched in the back seat of a 15-people van.  Once we arrived we had time to walk around and see some of the beach area.  It was pretty interesting to see large Carabao bulls sitting under the palm trees.

We were warned multiple times to not let the monkeys see food or plastic wrappers or they would attack you.  I thought I'd done a pretty good job of putting everything away.  Apparently, this monkey thought I was hiding something as he grabbed my backpack and wouldn't let go.

Our friend from the Philippines told us that we must try some of the "dirty" ice cream.  It was delicious. I was volunteered to be the light holder for the underground tour.  If I had been able to understand the accent of our guide, I would have done a bit better in following his instructions.  This lizard was a bit intimidating as we were preparing to get into the canoe.

Day 3 we booked a van to take us on our six-hour road trip to El Nido.  Airfare is very difficult to find and very, very expensive.  Our driver was crazy and many times I looked over at Donn to see him with a death grip on his door handle.  El Nido was amazing.  We ate the best doughnuts and crepes and did some amazing snorkeling. We also stopped at Non La Restaurant and had some amazing food.  We also enjoyed one evening having an oil massage.

El Nido, Palawan

I wish we could have stayed longer.  I really wasn't ready to come home.  We spent the night in the airport because we had a very early flight the next morning.  I was able to get a few hours of sleep and would have done better if it had been a little warmer in the airport.