More Fun in the Philippines

The Philippines are somewhere I've imagined visiting for a while, ever since my cruise ship days. Most of my crewmates were Filipino, and many would regale me with tales of the beauty of their island...the MOST beautiful island in the Philippines. Having now visited just a few, I understand how they could all say that will such confidence, as each beach and island has proved itself to be worth the bragging rights. 

With so many islands to visit, it was hard to know where to start, however after speaking with friends and co-workers (shout out to the Cardozo fam), we decided to visit the islands of Sirgao, Cebu, and Palawan. We went a bit off script by skipping the popular tourist destination of Boracay and Bohol, simply based on time and cost. 

Our first stop, Siargao (pronounced something like sur-gow), was meant to serve as a relaxing, chill, beach-vibe introduction to the country. It did feel like we were a bit all off the beaten path in terms of the tourist infrastructure. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of Westerners, but it was that surfer/backpacker crowd that meant yes, there are hotels and homestays, but there may or may not be hot water, A/C, or wifi. 

Although Siargao is most famous for its Cloud-9 surf beach, two other spots stood out to me as island highlights. Using our preferred method of transportation, we took a motorbike for a few days and made our first stop the Magpopongko rock pools. These are not just your average tidepools, but full-on actual plunge pools, deep and wide enough for a cannonball, and housing coral reefs and all the life that brings. The downside is that it seems that the education and protection of the place has not kept up with its "Instagram fame", as I saw most visitors not choosing to snorkel to enjoy the reef, but rather using it as a private pool and stepping all over the living coral and its inhabitants. Very sad, and it makes me wonder if any living reef will endure the lure of social media beyond a few more years.

The second spot was one I hit solo, the Tayangban cave pool. A simple mom-and-pop roadside attraction that totally knocked my socks off. I donned the headlamp and helmet to swim the underground channel, navigating narrow canyons by only my headlamp (and of course the local guide showing the way), and after what felt like a magical eternity (probably 7 to 10 minutes in reality) we emerged into a pool of rope swings and high dives. All to the tune of 140 pesos, or about $2.50.

After Siargoa, it was off to Cebu. Cebu City was a very quick pass-through, including a very grumpy capsule hotel stay on my part, but it was meant as a jumping-off point for a cannot miss spot I had heard of repeatedly, the Kawassan Canyoneerng tour. After a 4-hour public bus ride out of the city, we found ourselves in the town of Moalboal. Unbeknownst to us, it happened to not only be their local fiestas for their patron saint, but also a random travel music festival on the nearby White Beach. This meant we barely snagged the last two bunks in a hostel dorm. Despite the unexpected crowds, we still not only found that the canyoneering was totally worth it, but I also really enjoyed seeing the sardine run right off the beach in Moalboal.

From there we headed to Oslob for snorkeling and Sumilon Island. Unfortunately, the island was "closed" (shrug emoji) so we needed a plan B. I sent Johnny some options for other local attractions, and, surprise, surprise, he selected waterfalls; Tumalog and Inambakan.  Inamakan we hit early the morning after labor day, a great call on our part as it was primarily a local tourist destination, and the day after a holiday meant we had it to ourselves. A  guide was recommended to show us all the cliff diving options as it was a 5-level waterfall. Johnny couldn't get enough of the cliff jumping and declared the new standard for future vacation destinations needs to be "waterfalls he can jump off".

After Cebu, we were off to our last providence, Palawan. We flew into Puerto Princesa as a base from which to visit the Subterranean River National Park. Voted in 2012 as one of the "New 7 Wonders of Nature" by UNESCO, it is an 8 km long river into a limestone mountain. Some of the caverns were huge, and it was wild to be in these limestone cathedrals. Under a mountain. In a boat. It's hard to get any photos inside the cave, as we were at the mercy of wherever the guide was pointing the light, and they ask for everyone to remain silent while you listen to an audio tour headset, adding to the ambiance of the whole experience.

         

Our next destination on the island of Palawan would be El Nido, one of my favorite stops of the whole trip thus far. A few rainy days may have gotten in our way, but we lucked out with gorgeous weather the day we did the island hopping tour. There are so many to choose from, but I knew I wanted a tour that included the Small Lagoon. Our lucky streak continued, as we had heard some of the tour stops can be overrun by different groups, however when we hit the Small Lagoon after lunch, we were the first ones out in a kayak which meant we had the caves and coves to ourselves.

The (planned) final stop was a 5-hour ferry ride North to the island of Coron. We opted to go by boat for the view of the dozens of beautiful islands along the route, and although some ferries had been canceled earlier in the week for foul weather, we had smooth sailing for our trip. That's where the good weather ended for us, and unfortunately, our last few days in Coron were a bit of a bust as there were thunderstorms and downpours every day. We did make the trek to the top of Mt. Tapyas in town but were stuck on the top waiting out a storm that did not show up on the radar forecast but, there it was. I was determined to do something to see Coron, so I took a motorbike out on our last day (Johnny very wisely chose to stay back and plan Vietnam) and had a very challenging motorbike day of heavy rain and very muddy unpaved roads. I also have a bone to pick with Google Maps and its seemingly very loose criteria on what it was willing to call a "road". I returned back that evening, late and absolutely covered in mud, but otherwise unscathed. 

And here is where the itinerary went off the rails.....We hadn't planned on spending any time in Manila, only passing through for a few hours as the flight from Coron came in Friday evening and we were set to head to Hanoi very early Saturday morning. Up at 2am to catch our flight, we hit the first major issue of our trip (not bad for almost 5 months of traveling). Turns out I must have entered my passport incorrectly on my Vietnamese visa, as two digits were inverted and I hadn't noticed until the eagle-eyed girl at the check-in counter caught it. 

Without much time to decide, we settled on Johnny going on to Vietnam without me, as he had an appointment to sort out his own (totally unrelated) Visa issue for India, and me hanging back in Manila to figure out how to get a new Visa. As it was now Saturday morning, all embassies would be closed for the weekend, my options were limited. I could pay $350 for an emergency weekend visa and rebook on a more expensive Sunday morning flight, or I could wait it out until Tuesday and pay $90 for a 1-day workweek emergency visa and significantly lower flight rebooking costs. With that said, I had a surprise 72 hours in Manila that I tried to make the most of despite feeling pretty bummed at the whole situation. I stayed in the Pasay neighborhood to be near the embassies in case there was something they could do (there was not) and visited Rizal Park, The Mall of Asia, and the Poblacion section of Makati. 

After a very tense Monday waiting to hear back from the visa agency, word came through around 5pm that my visa was approved and I would be able to catch my scheduled 5am flight the next day. All in all, although it felt major at the time, it was certainly not the worst thing that could've happened and hopefully just makes me a more savvy traveler moving forward. Tuesday morning, I was reunited with Johnny in Hanoi and it was time to start country #7, Vietnam.