PALAWAN

I seek out karstic landscapes when I travel. My list is growing, and right now I don’t have a favorite because they’re all awesome. With only a week to spend in the Philippines and so much to see, my karstic attraction drew me to Palawan. Like Halong Bay in Vietnam, or the islands of the Andaman Sea in Thailand, the Bacuit Archipelago in northern Palawan geographically juxtaposes precipitous mountains and limestone cliffs against a sea of turquoise blue. Of course I wanted to go there. 

Natalie and Merissa are two adventurous sisters from England on a yearlong journey around the world. (I want to travel the world with my sister!) I met Nat and Mo back in April when I first arrived in Kota Kinabalu and we were quick to become friends. We stayed in touch as they continued to circle the globe, and since they happened to be spending most of June in the Philippines, we decided to rendezvous in Palawan for a week. I’ve had great luck with travel buddies, and these two were no exception! The three of us met at the airport in Puerto Princesa and were greeted by mother nature with a wet smack in the face. Welcome to paradise, now why don’t you suck on this typhoon for a while!  Bleh. That night we matched the downpour by pouring down a storm of beverages at the local watering hole. And then danced on stage with the house band. That was fun. But after a dreary day in Puerto Princesa we caught a bus north to El Nido to do some island hopping and explore the Bacuit Archipelago. The bus ride was long, but like any trip through pastoral southeast Asia, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

El Nido sits wedged between massive limestone cliffs and a white sand beach. The town looks out across a glassy bay scattered with fishing boats towards a steep and jungly island rising from the sea. The crappy weather may have followed us north, but there was no escaping the allure of El Nido. And it's not just the scenery, but the people as well, with the town's laid-back temperament mirroring the quiet and gentle waves that lap its sandy shore. The scattered rain and dark skies were menacing and the glassy water we looked out across was a deceiving front, for outside the protected bay that El Nido faced, the lingering typhoon had been chopping up the sea and capsizing boats! Our plan to explore the Bacuit Archipelago was put on hold until the weather cleared up. But passing the time in El Nido was fine by me, especially since I was in good company. And it didn’t hurt that a bottle of local rum cost a little more than two bucks. 

El Nido literally popped after the typhoon blew over. It was like someone hiked up the saturation in my contact lenses. With the addition of blue skies and sunshine the scenery took on a whole new perspective and I was seeing colors that I hadn’t seen in previous days. I didn't think the water could get any more blue, but I was wrong. And the seas were calm once again. It was time to do some island hopping...