El Nido

El Nido....translated it means The Birdnest. It got its name from all the birdnests that you can find in the mountains and in the archipielago.

But before going on, the already famous location, so that we all can learn a bit of geography =): El Nido is located north of Palawan. From Puerto Princesa it is a 4 hours ride by Van, 5-6 by Jeepney, 45 min from Manila by plane and 30 hours by boat.

A typical and famous roundtrip is to go to Puerto Princesa by plane, ride a van to El Nido, and from there by boat to Coron, the islands north of El Nido.

El Nido is on the west coast, and you can discover amazing sunsets over the ocean and the Bacuit Archipielago.

The Bacuit Archipielago are a lot of big and smaller islands and isletes, most of them inhabited, though you can find a few luxury resorts in them. Some of these islands are turtles sanctuaries, and they are protected by the status of marine sanctuary.

The town of El Nido itself, is a small town. You can find one main street and a few parallel streets. There are plenty of places to stay here, but we found a nice one called KapePuka. Our rate is very affordable and we got breakfast included. The fajitas here are awsome! =) The staff is very friendly (2 ladyboys, 2 girls, 1 baby, and the owner) and we are having a nice time there.

There are a few nice places to eat aswell. I would recommend Squidos, where you can find reasonable prices for pizza, pasta, philippino cuisine, curry.... BlueAzul, where the Falafel Burger is amazing... and the Curry Specialist, where the curry is great.

It's an usual place, this town...a lot of foreign people. We already knew a few spanish, dutch, greek, germans,....

HAhaha in fact, the germans were very funny...they had some conspiracy theories...we knew them because they forgot their camaras in our hotel. To thank you they wanted to invite us to some coffee, and they c¡had te chance to explain their conspiracy theories. According to them, the german government, is sending planes with aluminium, to spread it over the population. This way, aluminium gets into your system and the gobernment can control you talking through the satelites. Their purpose is to hidde the fact, that aliens are dominating the world. And they are sure of this theory, because of the sky. The clouds in europe aren't normal clouds. They have a different form... =)                                                           Funny theories...

Well, who knows...maybe that's reality, and just a few "Neos and Morpheos" know the truth =)

Ah, El Nido seems to be the place for Asmara Hostel! I don't want to advance facts, and soon it could be official, but we found some nice properties, and we are dealing with the owners to make a Joint Venture =)

Asmara Hostel for the people who don't know about it, is our little big project....I will tell you more about it soon.

We have been in El Nido for nearly 2 weeks now. One of the days, we went to Bucana, a small village in the north. Its a 40 min ride by motorbike and you can enjoy the real Filipino life there, where the nature is still untouched. We had a very funny day with the kids in the beach. We did some bodyboarding, with just small wooden parts of trees, played Coco-Freesbee, and some jumping and doing mortals in the air...

The best of the day was the smiles of the children!


We had a few more very interesting days...like the fishing day, where we had the chance to live a real filipino day. It was my first time fishing, and I cought a few big fishes, that we later had for dinner. The people who know me know, that I felt bad for killing the fishes....but that's the chain, isn't it? I am just glad that we humans are on top.............................

Well, these are the news for today...hope you keep enjoying my blog =)

Palawan: Sabang

Sabang...wuau...a small village (here they would call it city) that really surprised me (for good). Sabang is in Puerto Princesa, and you can reach it within a 3 hours ride with the Jeepney, even if it is only 120 km away (more or less).

According to my lonely planet guide, there are only a few resorts and hostels to stay in Sabang, but the village has experienced such an increase in tourism, that you can find all the beachfront full of hostels and big resorts.

Why this increase? The Underground River. Declared as the 7th Natural Wonder. the longest underground river in the world. And of coursde a good planning of the tourism. The hotels seem to respect the environment, and there is a very nice and long beach, with a sandroad that separates the hoteles from the beach. Soeven if the 20 meteres salvage zone is not respected 100% (20 from the shoreline to the buildings) it respects the nature environment.

We stayed in one of the hotels in the beach (can't really remember the name (bad marketing of nearly all the hotels of Philippines)). It was nice...simple rooms, nice food, no wifi (hard to find in Sabang),...

The trip to the Underground River was kind of adventurous. We woke up early to catch a boat, but we needed people to make the price lower, so we had to spend some time waiting for other tourists. We finally found a dutch guy, and an australian couple. But it's not that easy. Once you find people you have to put your self in a big queue for the boat....but there is nothing you can do, so my cousin and me, learning from the philippino just enjoyed the waiting talking with a group of teachers from Cagayan de Oro, and playing basketball with the locals! It was a very funny game, and we lost vs a guy with no fingers in his hands and feet.... wuau, he was good, but I can't figure out how he could through the ball that good (allways scoring).

Once we got into the ship and arrived at the Underground River (it's a nice ride by boat) we got into another small boat, to enter the cave. Nice place in there. Lots of stalagmites and stalagtites, a big "cathedral", bats caves, ... the visit is worth it. But what I enjoyed the most, was the way back!

You can go back by boat or take The Mokey Trail. This way back is a 2-3 hours way by foot, going up a few mountains, and discovering a few hidden beaches. The beaches are white sandy and the sea is crystaline. Amazing!

Ah, we took aswell the Zippline. A cable, 800 meters long, that goes from one of the mountains to another white sand beach! The official prize is 550 pesos (9 euro), but we could get it for 350 (6 euro)...but later on, we found out the prize for locals...350, incluiding the visit of some caves in the area! :S Well we are no locals....hahahaha

This day we had to change our hotel, since the first one was full booked, like all the other hotels in the area, so we had to go a bit further away from the touristic beach to find The Blue Bamboo, where we could get rooms for 150 pesos (2,5 euro). The rooms are too basic, with only a matress inside the room, and a shared bathroom...but it was OK... we are backpackers, aren't we? =)

The next day, we took a Jeepney to Salvacion, where you can get another Jeepney if you are going to the north (Port Barton and El Nido), but we were picked up by Mark, who brought us to San Vicente...

More updates soon mates!

Jeepney

Today my friends, I will tell you about the most famous public transport in Philippines: The Jeepney!

It comes from the times, when the USA stayed in Philippines during World War II. The word is a mixture of Jeep and Jitney (a shared taxi in the USA and Canada).

They are well known for its colourfull decoration, their catholic crosses in the front, the sentences about God and Love (like "God will guide our way")...in fact, I have never seen the same sentence in two different Jeepneys, they are quite original.

They are probably the cheapest way of getting around in Philippines. In the cities, the cost is 8 pesos (13 euro cent) and it can take you along the route they make, and trust me, it can be very long (I did seat in a Jeepney for 1 hour for 8 pesos).

In big islands like Palawan, buses don't exist, instead they got bigger Jeepneys. The cost of a ticket to go from Puerto Princesa to El Nido for example is 300 pesos (5 euro) and it is more or less 400 kms...5 hours... unbeatable price!

Probably they are not as comfortable as a european bus, but well...who cares in Philippines... hahaha they are happy even if the Jeepney is filled with chickens, children, woods for a school in middle of the jungle.........

I think we have a lot to learn from them =)

So friends, everyday is a chance to learn something new.... Have a nice day!

Palawan: Puerto Princesa

Palawan…ufff…what tos ay about Palawan ni no niiii no niiiii, ni no niiii no niiii,….sing it according to Jurassik Park’s theme…

But I don’t want to advance any experiences…before telling about me and my stories, I will do as always: Where is Palawan? So I can bring to you people a bit more about Philippines, the antique Spanish colony.

Palawan is located  west of Philippines. It’s a long island, stretched from north to south. Aprox it has 700 Kms from north to south and depending on the latitude, about 60 Km from east to west.

In the east coast, about in the middle of the island, we find Puerto Princesa, capital of Palawan. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Manila, with Zestair (very cheap flights, ours was 20€). The most developed part of the island is from P.Princesa to the north. To the south you can find less developed towns, that have for sure a very original touristic interest.

The most touristic spots in Palawan are Sabang with its Underground River, 7th Natural Worldwonder, the longest in the world (next post I’ll tell you more about it) and the Bacuit Archipielago (many little islands) surrounding El Nido.

Puerto Princesa itself, is a nice and clean city. It’s the first “big” city of Philippines, where I could smell the original Philippines. 

There is a main road, where you can find most of the hostels, restaurants, karaokes, bars, …

Surrounding the city there are a lot of places to visit, some waterfalls, some beaches, some towns,… and tourism seems to be very well organized, with a few travel agencies, tourism departments that help you for free, etc.

Ah, the inmigration office located in the main road, behind a tattoo shop is a very bad one. If you have to extend your visa, or need some advice or help, do it before you reach Palawan. The people there were very rude and couldn’t help me out, trying to know prices, penalties, etc…

My cousin and me always went to a nice bar, in the corner of the two main roads, where they have a nice live band, try it if you go there!

As usual, in the main beach of the city we saw some old guys, with young ladies…awful!! Something not worth seeing! (You can even see in other cities “old man parties” with their young ladies… :S )

Ah, we had a very good time at White Beach....after a few months in Philippines, I decided to sing some Videokee. I sang a cheesy song, that I heard in Glee =) A philippino young girl did the female voice and of course her eyes gliced triing to make me fall in love (she didn't knew I already felt for someone else =) ) 

Well, after meeting Mark and his wife, a nice philippino woman and real state agent, and having some nice dinner for free (fish in coconutmilk, bukojuice, beef, etc...) we head to the bus terminal to take a big Jeepney to the north, destination Sabang, to visit the underground river! Next post will tell you more about it!!

See you soon friends (the Spanish and even the german ones!)

New horizons!

Amigos!

Friends!

I just decided, to continue my blog in english… Why? Simple question: English is the universal language. 

I was just seeing through the stadistics of my blog, and realized that many of my visitors were from Germany (poor, they couldnt understand anything for sure), America, Canada, Australia… Google is helping me with my visits, but I need to be able to hand all the information to all my visitors. Probably there are a lot of people looking to come to these beautifull country...to the country of the smiles!!

Apart from that, I think it could do a lot of people good to read English, since the English level in Spain is not bad….its worse! Hahahaha

And another reason is ME. I am talking nearly 24 hours english in Philippines, it’s good for me to keep practicing. =)

 So, this is a new challange for me aswell, there will be a lot of mistakes for sure, but I bet you will pardon me.

So, I hope you don’t mind learning some English, my Spanish friends.

Merry Christmas! =)

Camotes Islands

Como ya es habitual empezare situándoos geográficamente =) Camotes es un conjunto de tres islas, llamadas Poro, Pacijan y Ponson. Estas islas están ubicadas al este de Cebú, ofreciendo unas vistas al atardecer espectaculares. Islas Camotes fue elegida en Filipinas como la región más ecológica, hecho que se siente por las calles: no hay basura en ellas, siempre hay diferentes contenedores para reciclar, muy pocos coches y motos por las carreteras, carteles de “Be healthy, buy a bike”, jardines bien cuidados, etc…

Nos alojamos en un hotelito gestionado por un Italiano y su mujer Filipina, a pie de playa llamado White Beach.  Precio asequible y cuartos básicos…lo que buscamos =) Ah, hay un restaurantillo enfrente que pone un Sizzling (como una sarten humeante y muy caliente) de squid (calamares) increible, y una red para jugar al voley o futvoley... =)
He decidido que cuando Asmara Hostel este construido pondre una red de Fut-Voley

Al día siguiente de nuevo en moto (esta vez me dan una de las grandes!! ) nos recorremos la isla entera. Visitamos el Boho Rock Beach, una roca en un acantilado desde el que se puede saltar al agua… que diversión…la primera vez siempre da cague y te tiemblan un poco las piernas jajaja, pero al final acabas haciendo fotos, saltando haciendo el tonto…

Luego visitamos unas cuevas en el extremo este de Poro, y el lago Danao. Aunque no encontramos justo lo que estábamos buscando, un lugar donde cenar en el lago…asi que al final nos pegamos una buena barbacoa en la ciudad!! =) (Que bueno es cuando las segundas opciones son tan buenas)

Ah, hay que mencionar los partiditos de Fut-Voley (ah ya lo habia escrito antes...)que nos echábamos en la playita…echo de menos el futbol… snif snif…

Bueno, voy asi un poco rápido para poder llegar al día de hoy…que aun queda como semana y media de cenitas por Manila y viajes por Palawan…

Hasta pronto amigos =)

Malapascua

Bueno….si existe algo parecido al paraíso, Malapascua se le parece mucho!! Quizás no tanto como Palawan…pero aun así es una maravilla!!

Malapascua, se encuentra en el extremo norte de Cebu. Es una islita bastante pequeña, que debe medir unos 2 kilometros de norte a sur, y 500 metros de este a oeste. Tiene una playa de arena blanca que me recordó mucho a Alona Beach, en Bohol, pero más bonita aún. Mucho más natural y sin los plastas de vendedores intentando venderte gafas de sol, tours, vuelos, a su madre,…

La primera línea de playa está llena de resorts, algo caros, y con restaurantes a pie de playa. La mayoría de ellos son también Diving Shops, ya que Malapascua es conocida mundialmente por su submarinismo. 

Tiene diferentes lugares donde bucear, y se pueden ver Gato Fish, Trasher Sharks, Tiburones Martillo, Mandarine Fish… Pero mi apretada agenda no me permitió disfrutar de ello.

Al final encontré un hotelito bastante económico, el Blue Ocean, por 500 php(8,5 euros) con internet, baño, …. Lo único malo es que tenía un generador (en la isla cortan la electricidad de 2am a 4pm), bastante ruidoso… Pero después de casi 2 meses aquí, estoy inmunizado a los gallos destemporizados (se ponen a cantar a horas aleatorias de la noche), obras, generadores, etc…

El primer día me dedique a recorrerme la isla andando hasta el faro del norte, donde una jovenzuela me mostró el camino escondido al faro…que sino habría estado horas buscano la manera de subir a él.

Los demás días ya sabeis…trabajando mucho, viendo terrenos, estando en la playita…

He de mencionar el sitio al que iba TODOS los días a cenar…cada plato principal costaba 60 pesos, que viene a ser 1 euro…  así que con un plato principal y alguna cosilla para acompañar, tenías una comida esplendida.

Es aquí donde conocí a Mark, Susan y Aart. Tres holandeses supermajos, con los que al día siguiente me fui a Camotes Island. Y lo que es la vida…que Aart tenía el mismo vuelo a Manila que yo desde Cebu, por lo que pase unos cuantos días con él. Un chico la mar de simpatico, buena persona y aventurero (tiene montado en su coche un colchón con el que recorre Europa).

Y bueno, con esto os dejo con mis aventuras en Camotes Island, una isla paradisiaca aún muy poco desarrollada pero que es una perla…

Hasta el próximo post!!

SIQUJOR

Tierra de fuego, de brujas, de magia blanca y bodoo. Así es conocida esta pequeña isla, situada de nuevo en las Visayas, al sur de Cebu y al este de Negros. 

 

Cuando le decía a los locales de otras islas que me disponía a ir a Siqujor, me miraban con una mirada entre miedo y respeto diciendo: “Nooo…not Siqujor….many witches (y no bitches)…don’t touch the trees…be carefull with old women…” y otros comentarios, que a mi me parecían graciosos, pero que ellos dicen de todo corazón. Los filipinos son muy muy supersticiosos (una vez uno no me quiso enseñar un terreno por si me gustaba, y porque había una leyenda, que decía que el que vendiese la propiedad sería perseguido por un fantasma y acabaría muriendo).

Esta isla tiene varios atractivos turísticos, uno al sudeste de la isla, en una pequeña ciudad llamada San Juan (que en España probablemente no llegaría ni a ser pueblo), y al norte, con unas playas preciosas. Además cuenta con una montaña en el centro de la isla con numerosas cuevas y alguna que otra catarata.

El primer día al llegar tarde, ya de noche, me aloje en un hotel koreano muy bonito, con acceso directo a la playa y un restaurante elevado sobre ésta. Ahí pude alquilar una moto (ya estoy hecho todo un motero!!) con la que recorrer toda la isla, por ambas costas. Asi que por ahí anduve perdiéndome entre caminos de tierra, bosques tropicales, pueblos pequeñitos donde el mayor atractivo es una cabañita pequeña donde todo el pueblo (7 personas) se reúnen para aburrirse juntos…jajaja… 

Y así encontré las Cambugahai Falls. Unas cataratas compuestas por dos niveles en donde conoci a Jaqueline y a Nicoletta, dos suizas, una de ellas mitad filipina, con las que pase el resto del día, visitando la famosa playa de…no me acuerdo el nombre, y con las que salte de unos 10 metros de altura al mar…toda una experiencia =)

 

Soy un vago…si no puedo dar más detalles es porque hace tiempo de todo esto y no he tenido mucho tiempo para escribir…que mal…me tengo que comprometer a escribir mis posts diariamente!!!

Bueno la cosa es que al día siguiente coincidimos en el barco a Cebu…solo que habían cancelado el barco, por lo que tuvimos que tomar un barco a Dumaguete, de ahí otro al sur de la isla de Cebu, y de ahí una carabana llena de Lady Boys que no dejaban de mirarme mientras dormía (me sentía un poco acosado…jajaa) para llegar a Cebu City… y ahí siguen mis aventuras a Malapascua, Islas Camotes y Palawan…pero para que digiráis bien mis posts los publicare de día en día =)

Ciaos Pescaos!!