After my second year of teaching in Korea, I decided to do a little traveling around Southeast Asia. At this point I was a little disappointed by some silly bullshit with the new management at my work place and I really had a hankering for a vacation. The first place I went to was The Philippines. I spent most of my time on the island of Palawan and it was incredibly serene, peaceful, and just what the doctor ordered.

I was having a little bit of trouble deciding where to begin my foray in SE Asia. I was kind of eyeing The Philippines based on some research and friendly recommendations. This beautiful girl named So Yun told me I should check out El Nido on Palawan. I decided to go there over Boracay because from what I read, it seemed a little more chilled out with fewer tourists as well as having more scenery and corals.

I flew into Puerto Princesa which is the capital city of Palawan. It is a super nice tropical area. It is so much different than Seoul. The roads are unfinished. There are dogs just lounging all over the place. The primary means of transportation are motorized tricycles (not three-wheelers), and motor cycles. In retrospect I should have bounced out of Puerto Princesa on the first bus to El Nido. Many bus rides were conveniently ready to go right at PP’s quaint airport. However, I had heard that bus rides could be a little daunting, lasting up to eight hours and sometimes the buses would get stuck. Since it was getting dark, I decided to crash in PP and check out the underground river and bat caves the next day.

I got a cheap hotel in PP from a random dude outside of the airport. There are a bunch of dudes trying to get people to come to their hotels, so they yell out prices and amenities. The place I went was pretty nice and cheap. It was a little outside of the city but whatever, tricycle rides are cheap. The underground river ended up being a bust. I went to the building where you sign up but it was over booked and the booking hall was full of Chinese tourists waiting to be alternates in case anyone dropped out. There was maybe twenty-five people just waiting and most likely none would go on the tour. I thought I had misunderstood the tour guides when they explained I could wait to be an alternate behind all these people. After they explained it a couple times, I decided to walk around the city, eat a bunch of seafood, see the sights, read a book, drink some mango smoothies, and a bunch of beers. Over all it was a nice relaxing day and I wasn’t too bummed about missing the underwater river and bat caves.

The next morning I woke up and hopped on the first bus to El Nido. The bus probably fits seven or eight and they definitely pack us in there. Also there are all of our bags. Oh, and there was a rooster. Now the rooster was in a cage in the back and every once in a while he would crow his little heart out. I sometimes think of that rooster and wonder if he was destined for the cock fighting ring or for someone’s dinner. The bus ride wasn’t bad at all and was less than five hours. It did make a couple stops for us to get refreshments and stretch the old legs. One of the stops was about halfway up the island to make sure we weren’t bringing any mangos with us. Apparently the mangos to the south are quarantined because of some parasite. Luckily, there are plenty of parasite-free mangos in the north. On the bus I seated next to this Korean man that has a Filipino wife. We chatted about Korea and he seemed really happy that we had something in common. At one of the stops he actually had people take a photo of him and me and a photo of his wife and me.

El Nido is amazingly beautiful. It is an old fishing village that is incredibly scenic and chilled out. I got myself a hotel room right on the water. After I threw my bag down, I wandered around some and went to get some dinner and drinks on the beach. The food was real delicious and well-priced. The view of the bay was breathtaking. At this point I knew I had made the right choice in coming here. All of the worries and anxieties that had built up at work melted away. This place made me relaxed and happy.

I took a few tours while in El Nido. These tours were a lot of fun. We would take a boat out first thing in the morning. It was nice to leave early because El Nido has no electricity between 6am and 2pm. The weather was great as we navigated between deserted islands and limestone pillars jutting out of the sea. We would visit corals loaded with fish and plants and do some snorkeling. For lunch we would find a nice island beach and the guides would cook up some fresh-caught fish and serve it with fresh fruits, vegetables, and a few cold beers. We visited caves, chilled on beaches, visited a handful of islands, and went on little hiking excursions. It was great to meet people from all over the world. In the afternoon we would get back to El Nido clean up and meet at a watering hole for happy hour followed by dinner followed by walking up and down the beach listening to reggae bands. I wandered all over the small town. I ate at many an establishment. I drank many a beer and many a cocktail. I shared some rum with some natives on the beach after everything else had closed down. El Nido was a place I would visit again.

After a few days in El Nido, my friends from Korea whom I was traveling with met me. We went on a tour. We enjoyed the island life and all agreed we wanted to stay longer there. The day we left El Nido was a rainy day but we had to leave anyways. So we spent the day in a hookah bar enjoying fresh fruit, beers, and some shisha.

We headed back to Puerto Princesa in order to catch our flight out the next day. We got back late, ate some sisig, listened to a rock band, drank a bunch of rum, and ended up buying a bunch of beers and swimming in the ocean which was full of bioluminescence. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and made me appreciate PP much more.

Overall Palawan was a wonderful experience and a great way to start my vacation. I would like to visit again and I would like to visit for a longer period of time. It was by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.



