Palawan (Philippines):...Now the islands

Honda Bay.



Arriving at the site of the Palawan Subterranean National Park, or the Underground River.



Entering the river to see stalactites and stalagmites. And from here on all my photos from inside the cave just suck. I also saw a lot of bats. (It's more breathtaking than this.)





Beverage, and dessert! The coconut is just the most perfect thing.







Taken at the Vietnamese Village, the city's settlement for Vietnam war refugees. Apparently most of them either repatriated or acquired US citizenship, so only a handful of the original refugees still live in this area today. They're now a stop on the tour, and tourists buy their old-school French bread.



On the way to Honda Bay...



Taken at Snake island, where we snorkelled and swam. I almost panicked when I counterflowed into a school of fish, but they ignored me.



Pandan island, where we had lunch.



Still Pandan island, where we insisted on staying despite nearly half of our tour group wanting to go back. It's a long story, involving many characters like the Joy Luck Club and honeymooners "Mr. and Mrs. D__la_", but the short of it is, we still had an hour to hang out at the beach and the KJs wanted to take our transport back to hotel already.

Evil Stepsisters ganged up on the poor tour guide, Herman ("Kuya Germs"), who to his credit not only found us another van, but also extended our stay an hour. We were very nice to him afterward, but the spark was gone.

The entire package, inclusive of airfare, hotel, breakfasts, 2 tours with lunch and airport transfers cost us just under P12,000 each. We survived on pocket money of P2000. I went a little over, but I would have stayed within budget if I didn't buy souvenirs and eat so much. Pricey for a weekend, but you get a lot of bang for your buck and now I'm just totally in love with the place.

Agh. The flight back to Manila was a little over an hour, barely enough time for a nap. Boo, reality.