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| From Jamie's Philippines Pics |
On Monday, Jamie and I headed out of our not so great accommodations in Manila (Green Mango Inn), and headed out for our 9:40 flight to Busuanga, Palawan, Philippines. Our flight was a little prop plane on Zest Air. The amazing thing about this flight is that there were only about 14 people on board the plane and the total cost for us was $20. The departure fee from the airport was $9.
We arrived safely literally in the middle of a cow field in the middle of nowhere. We took an odd little trip for about 45 minutes to the village of Coron. The reason why it was odd was because only sections of the road was paved. No big deal, but they would pave one section of the road for 200 yards, then pave the other side for 200 yards, then switch again. Go figure...
We arrived at the Coron Village Lodge and checked in. We bought a package deal that would take us island hopping for 3 days, but it didn't start until the next day, so we just hung around the village, walked around, read, and had a great dinner down by the water. Our place isn't on the beach, but once you see the pictures of this place, you'll understand that there aren't many beaches.
Tuesday (today) was one of those days for the books (or blogs in this case). After breakfast, our guide took us on a little boat across the bay to Coron Island to this little small beach, no longer than 100 yards. The water was the emerald and blue that you always see in magazines and the sand felt amazing. We took some snorkling gear with us and spent an hour or so snorkling around the beach area and around. After lunch, we swam some more and were off to another little section of the island for another beach. We only stayed here for 30 minutes, but the water was just as beautiful.
Next, we took a trip to the Twin Lagoons, and in order to get into it, you had to swim in under the rocks. It was part freshwater from being fed by a lake, and part salt water. It was here that Jamie said, "This water is so blue it looks like the water in at a putt putt course." Quite true, but this water is real and the bottom certainly isn't painted or food coloring added.
After the Twin Lagoons, we went to a lake where we had to hike up some steps. Before we reached the lake, we saw a little cave where our guide told us that the people of Coron hid from the Japanese during WWII. From the opening of the cave is the picture you see above, perhaps one of the most beautiful sites I've seen. Jamie and I have our picture taken there too as well as Seymore. The lake was great, but we actually just rested in the shade there.
Next, we went to "7 Islands," a little clump of islands in the middle of the bay where we snorkled and fed the fish with some bread. They all came in droves to nibble away at the bread under the water. Only when it was gone or a larger fish came did they stop. The fish were beautiful colors and neither Jamie or I had ever fed them this way.
Next, we went to the local hot springs for a relaxing dip. The water was quite warm but very refreshing considering our muscles were tired from swimming practically all day.
Dinner tonight was a great fish served with veggies and a mango shake.
I've uploaded all of the pictures and a few videos. I doubt they will do any of it justice, but maybe you can get an idea of our day through them.
Let me know if you have any questions. Great wifi here at the hotel, so I'll post tomorrow about our day along with some pictures.
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