Nic Trips

Our 2nd day in El Nido and our last full day in the Philippines, we went on an island hopping tour. They offer four different tours of the area, each going to 5 destinations and including snorkels and a lunch. We did tour A, which was the highest recommended from everyone we talked to. Our tour group was one of the largest, with 22 people. Most groups are on small boats with only 6-10. I was skeptical at first, but I ended up liking having a big group, because it meant we got an extra big boat with lots of space to move around and sit in the sun. One of the islands advertised in a different tour was Helicopter Island, named because it looks like one. We spotted it out on our way to our first destination. Our first stop was Seven Commandos Beach. It was on the same, main island of Palawan, but is unreachable except by boat. Here we had our first taste of snorkeling in the crystal clear water. Then we also had our first taste of jellyfish stings. The ...

After spending on night in Manila at the Lions Den Hostel, we woke up super early to go to the airport and catch our 7:00am plane. Because we booked a flight to Palawan so last minute, everything was full and we were forced to book a private airline called ITI that flies straight to El Nido. It was more expensive, but kind of worked out nicely because we didn't have to go to Puerta Princesa and then take a 6 hour bus to El Nido. Because it was an expensive, private airline, everything was super fancy. There was minimum security to go through, they gave us wooden boarding passes, and we got to sit in a really nice waiting area with a free buffet of fruit, sandwiches, soup and drinks while we waited. We even had our own table with name cards on it and the WiFi password waiting on a little slip of paper. When we were ready to depart, they shuttled all the passengers to the plane and we had a red carpet entrance! The flight was only an hour and then we got a red carpet exit as...

I arrived in Banaue from the overnight bus at about 6:30. The morning fog was still resting over the mountains and the dawn light was dim, but it still provided for an great view of the valley from the restaurant that the bus dropped us at. There were two buses going from Manila to Banaue every night and each was filled with mostly locals and about 10-15 tourists. I was on the first to arrive at 6:30, and the other arrived about a half hour later. They dropped us at a hostel/restaurant where we got to get some breakfast and enjoy the view while we waited for the tours to begin. As soon as the 2nd bus arrived, all the tourists were swarmed with the local guides offering to take them to the scenic spots of the area. The 3 typical things to do included hotsprings at a fancy resort two hours away, going to the high viewpoint of Banaue, and visiting the rice terraces and waterfall in Batad. I had already planned to go to Batad, so I joined 11 other foreigners in a jeepney to be...