After traveling all day to El Nido we arrived at night time when it was dark. So we really couldn't see much of the place. We took a tricylce, which are riding carts attached to motorcycles in to town and proceeded to try to find a place to stay. The tricycle rider seemed like he was helping us out going into various hotels with us and speaking in Tagalog for us inquiring about rooms. It wasn't until a little later that we realized that he was speaking to them so that they would charge us more and he would get a cut. We only discovered this after Angela went into a place Samantha, the tricycle driver, and I had just gone in and the price she was quoted for a room for us to share was 900 pesos, about $25, as opposed to 1300, about $33, we were quoted when with the driver.

We took the 900 pesos room, and were happy to have that taken care of. Our room was right on the beach and was beautiful. When we walked into the room though Sam in a flurry of fast movement slammed her foot down to kill one of the biggest cockroaches I've seen yet. These are pretty common in tropical places. It still scared the crap out of me. Sam assured us that they traveled alone, were lone creatures, there wasn't any more, many other lies to ease Angela and my fears. Sam then went to pick up the body only to find it was still alive and she squashed it again. We all screamed.

We were right on the beach but couldn't see what any of the scenery looked like, because it was so dark. El Nido is a town of maybe 4,000 people, so it's very tiny, not tons of lights. It also has brown outs every day where the electricity is off from 6am-2pm, and the internet isn't great hence the late blog post.

We ventured out that night and went to a beach bar right near by and ended up making friends with the live band singers, and a guy from the UK who was days away from opening a dive shop there in El Nido. We followed these guys to one of the oldest bars in the city and enjoyed the company and live music.

For being such a small town it's crazy how much live music they have. it was awesome. I think there's a huge percentage of the population that performs music.

After calling it a night, at 3AM (have no idea how time got away from us), we went back to the room to find another huge 'friend' waiting for us and for Samantha to squash again. That quite dispelled the lies of them being lone creatures lol. Every time I went to the bathroom that first night I was scared I was going to run into another one.

The room we stayed in didn't let much light in so we didn't know what time it was, and ended up getting up around 9:30 am and were amazed

Now it's the rainy season right now while I'm traveling which in most places means it rains for maybe 90 minutes a day and then it's clear and sunny. Not so in El Nido. The clouds of rain roll in unpredictably any time of day, but the fog rolling over some of the limestone cliffs was something to behold.

That first day we went to breakfast and then ended up going to a beach near by where there was a resort called Las Cabanas. The beach it was in was beautiful

The day was nice and ended with us again going to a beach bar then turning in early for the night.

The second day we woke up early and walked around bargaining to get the best price we could for an island hopping tour. There are so many breath taking islands off the coast there that it is one thing you have to do when you are in El Nido. We ended up getting the tour we wanted for 900 pesos, about $21, and it included are snorkel gear and lunch. We had to bargain in the snorkel gear to get included, but it's easier to do right now while there isn't much tourists.

As we went out to the first island we went through quite a heavy

At night we went out again and made friends with a group of local dive instructors. The people in Philippines, and especially El Nido have been some of the most friendliest, fun people I've met all trip. No one seems to have a guard up or large egos. They're just nice, fun loving people.

It's a good thing we went island hopping the day we did, because the next day, our last, ended up raining all day long. We went to try to go swimming at Las Cabanas beach and ended up being stuck in the same restaurant reading all day long.

Even with the rain the trip was amazing. Also one good thing, in El Nido they had a gas station that let me do a cash advance charging my credit card so I was able to access some cash, which you all know has been an issue on this trip. Hopefully I will resolve that soon.

The trip was amazing, and the company was wonderful. Right now I'm in Puerto Princesa for a few more days. I'm going to go to take a tour of an underground river here tomorrow, which is one of the new 7 wonders of the world, so that should be exciting. Things in my travels are good right now, because I have some cash to work with. I'm still trying to figure out ways to access my checking account until I get my ATM card but baby steps. Sorry for such a long time in between posts. I will be better while I have access to internet. Hope all is well with everyone.

written by  Kirk on September 12, 2012 from El Nido, Philippines
from the travel blog: Kirk's South East Asia Adventure
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Hello,

Blog seems to be very interesting. Thanks For sharing such a nice blog. It’s great pleasure to get the chance to comment on such an informative blog.

written by  Grapessolutions on September 12, 2012

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I am happy that you appreciate Palawan even you're not from the Philippines. Many foreigners are really in love with this place and ME (i love it so much) . I promise to myself that every holidays I will vist and explore Palawan again and again!

written by  Katherine @ Palawan Resorts on September 18, 2012

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