El Nido doesn’t have a lot to offer out-of-work marketing copywriters – this level of natural beauty means there’s just no need to spin or exaggerate so the choice across town is simple – Tour A, Tour B, Tour C or, you’ve guessed it, Tour D.
Category Archives: Indonesia/Philippines 2010
El Nido. Trust me – you need to go take a look…
I’m not young. Would like to be, but am not. So when travelling the lure of the new is strong – always forwards, never back – three score years and ten – yada, yada. Until I met El Nido. I. Am. Going. Back.
Travelling North to El Nido
From Puerta Princesa North to El Nido it’s about 250 km and you’ve got two choices – the public bus (40PHP to the terminal, plus 350 PHP for 9 hours of non-airconditioned fun), or 650 PHP for the “luxury” minivans i.e. only 1 or 2 more passengers than seats. It’s a 6.30am pickup and an…
Arriving on Palawan
24 hours after leaving Indonesia and 3 flights later, it was wheels-down at Puerta Princesa, capital of Palawan in the Western Philippines.
Gili Meno – paradise or prison? You choose…
The half-hour crossing from Bangsal across to Meno helped fine-tune the mother of all hangovers, so very happy to chill out and watch the luggage at a beach café within feet of where the boat had dropped us, leaving the hotel hunting to my buddies. This is a serious business – the Gilis are not…
Bangsaal – three-time UNESCO global scam and dump award winner
Bangsal beach deserves it’s reputation as one of the planet’s premier armpits. You’re not paranoid – everyone IS out to scam you.
Last day on Perama 114
After Rinca the captain turned us Northwest to cross the Lombok strait, after which we would hug the thinly populated coast of Sumbawa on our way to Lombok.
Dragonspotting on Rinca
Leaving the mirror smooth open sea, an appropriately mysterious-looking inlet took our boat heart-of-darkness-lite-style up to a mooring point just a short dinghy ride away from landfall on Rinca.
Cruising back West to Lombok
For the next two nights and two days I’d be on the Perama boat, heading west from Labuan Bajo to Lombok, via stops on Rinca, Gili Moyo, the village of Labuan Haji and Gili Laba.
Dive days and lazy evenings in Komodo NP (part 2)
I’m a novice diver, so Komodo NP was a pretty steep learning curve. Dive sites were typically in the lee of exposed seamounts – where the water would be slack, in theory…
