'15 Travels -- onward ...

Our last day in Sabang was a great one. We had our first dive as certified scuba divers in tge morning. We went to a spit called 'Kilima' and it was amazing. Five minutes after we entered the water our guide tapped his tank and pointed, sure enough there was a sea turtle -- the creature I was most hoping to see. He was swimming away from us and disappearing quickly, then he swooped back down and swam right along us! There was another person on our dive with a camera, so I'm hoping he gets those photos to us at some point. After that we went through what seemed kind of like in underwater canyon. There was reef on both sides of us, flooded with fish. It was a great end to our training and really brought everything together. I do wish I had done better on the dive, I was having some buoyancy issues from the very beginning, I was even having a hard time descending. In addition to improving my breathing, I'll probably wear more weights the next time we go. The whole thing was such a great experience and very addicting, hopefully we won't kill out budgets too bad. I can't wait to go again not only for the obvious reasons, but also to keep working on my control underwater. That night we ended up hanging out with a bunch of the local staff of the resort, as well as a few filipino tourists who were also taking dive courses. It's always a great time to hang out with the locals, and just drink and laugh despite all the differences you might have. That night we learned the term 'scuba rat', basically a nicer sounding term for a cheap traveler. Or more the idea that anyone can travel, despite their financial situation ... You just gotta rough it and make it work, aka master being a scuba rat! We had an invite to go fishing with one of the guys from the dive shop the next day, but already had plans to get to our next destination so just continue with that. I hope we make it back to that resort sometime before our trip is up and possibly take him up on that offer. We ended up one two jeepneys followed by two vans (stuffed full of people) to get to the town of San Jose. There's really nothing to do there and Paul and I both got weird vibes off the town and the locals, lots of weird stares and less friendly people. We were just there overnight to catch a 6am cargo ship to Coron, Palawan the following morning. The ship was actually very comfortable, it's a huge cargo freighter, but the top two decks have beds for passengers. It was quite easy to sleep, and it was about a 5 hour journey. It is quite weird to be on a boat for hours, and then look around and still see nothing but water -- you really feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. Once we got to Coron, we signed up for an island hopping tour to explore Coron Island, off the mainland where all the hotels and town is. Only members of the local tribe are actually allowed to live on the island. The island itself is comprised mostly of limestone and us said to be growing every year. The cliffs are quite tall, sharp and breathtaking. It feels to me like a tropical Yosemite. Everywhere you look you are surrounded by these gorgeous, lush mountains, separated by crystal clear waters. This area has been voted the best island in the world and it is easy to see why. Our tour consisted of visiting 6 different places around the island, from deserted beaches, to hidden lagoons, to the most beautiful green lake, Lake Kayangan. We snorkeled along the way seeing more coral, and tons of sea urchins. It's definitely a little scary swimming over them so close, but you just have to keep calm and keep floating. The lagoons are a mix of fresh water and sark water, which makes for hit and cold spots as you swim and amazingly clear water. Kayangan Lake, was an exceptionally beautiful stop, snorkeling there was very cool as you could follow the limestone cliffs as the lake got deeper and deeper. At one point it's as if you are floating and looking straight down a rock face, it's the closest I would imagine you could come to feeling like an astronaut here on earth. The whole tour was such a highlight and easily the best 650 pesos (about $15!) we've spent. It not only included a delicious filipino lunch, wonderful and friendly guides (they always insist I start learning Tagalog), but also the chance to meet some fellow travelers from Scotland, Sweden and Germany. We ended up meeting up with must of our tour later for drinks -- the night of course ended up at a dingy karaoke bar surrounded by wasted Filipinos. The next morning we woke up not feeling the greatest, for a 7am ten hour boat ride to El Nido on the main island of Palawan. This was not a cargo ship, but a small ferry boat holding about 60 passengers. Everyone sits along the sides of the boat on long benches, so you are lucky if you get enough space to stretch out and sleep. Most people figure out some uncomfortable way to do it. I had developed a bit of a heat rash the night before, so was dealing with that in addition to feeling a little hungover. The rash, or prickly heat, is common among travelers and it's best treated with cold showers and air conditioning, things hard to come by in Southeast Asia. Needless to say, the boat wasn't helping my condition. Everyone seemed to be having a pretty miserable time. I thought Paul was doing fine, but he ended up sick and passed out in the bathroom. All in all we made it, and the bait took less than 10 hours, thank god. Now, we find ourselves in El Nido. Taking a couple laid back days, as I'm still living down this rash and anything I can do besides stay in our room (we were somehow able to find a cheap ac one in this tourist spot) will probably make it worse. We will have to head down to Puerto Princesa as we are running low on cash, and it's home to the only ATM on the island! The plan there is to explore the famous underground river park and hopefully go snorkeling with some whale sharks, but who knows what will happen or how things might change. Until next time, hope everyone is well at home!