Foot and Fire

 After the Tinagong Dagat trek, 2009 This is how I looked after traversing the Bacolod to Talisay route using the trail via Tinagong Dagat.  No hiking experience, fresh from 8-5 desk job, no gears (not even a raincoat), I ended up like a Vietnamese finding refuge anywhere in the Mekong River paddies. If you can picture that, you know what I meant. Meanwhile, the expert hikers have raincoats, as pictured below. In short, my first travel tip is: Be prepared to look ridiculous!

The Karsts lining the Campomanes Bay is verdant unlike the ones I saw in Halong Bay, Vietnam and Coron and El Nido, Palawan... One can't appreciate the karsts immediately because they appear to be a forest except for a few bald area as photographed above... Of course, this is a good news because greens still grow in the rocky mountain... We left our home base temporarily for a boat tour. We went to Obong Cave in Hinobaan first which took us 45 minutes by small boat. We passed by many areas, including the "Pulo" which is the first stop for most boat tours. The photo below is the pulo and the next two photos  are the shots of an opening from end to end. I observed that there is still a live portion of the rock in the "cave." One tourist touched it, a no-no action because it has the tendency to die after being in contact with human sweat, skin and human bacteria. There should be a warning of sort. Tour-guiding is not yet a commodity here. Lastly, I should neve...

      This is the most photogenic islet of Isla Gigantes. It can be taken after scaling the limestone-and-rock formation on one side of the island and while one is on top, one has to stand on the edge of the rock and click a camera for this souvenir photo that has become the poster photo of Isla Gigantes.  But the visit to Isla Gigantes does not start or end in Cabugaw Gamay, the location of the above photo. In fact, we started at Bantigue Sandbar where we had the undying jump shot and unlimited swim, then we proceeded to Cabugaw Gamay where we had our crowded photo shoot for that poster photo..., From there, we stopped at Antonia Island where we enjoyed a quick snack from their tiny sari sari store. Here, one can also climb to see the cave but we did not do the spelunking here since we would be doing one in Gigantes Norte where Gigantes Hideaway Resort, our accommodation, is located.  From there, we went to Tangke, a lagoon which should be visited ...

This is one of the many photos I got with karsts on it.  The pristine beach, the fine white sand and the smiles of the tour guides  will always be the feature of this tour. This is from EL NIDO, Palawan, Philippines! *** This is one of the many karsts I photographed in Halong Bay, North of Vietnam.  The monstrosity and the number of karts will amaze any traveller. ** I decided that my El Nido Trip vs Halong Bay Cruise are two different experiences. I encourage all Filipinos to take the El Nido trip as one can really appreciate the truest sense of the word archipelago when one gets to see the beaches and karsts there; it also made me prouder of our natural riches. Friend Doc Judy Ann, a certified traveller and top-notch photographer, says, "One should see El Nido in his lifetime... Truly a wonder of nature... God's gift to mankind... I would want to visit El Nido again and again..." Meanwhile, my multi-awarded photographer friend Bernadet...

TWO DAYS IN EL NIDO El Nido beachfront is inviting especially that we reached the place just before sunset. We swam just a little after sunset which starved us and sent us searching for a good dinner thereafter. We want to have dinner in the beachfront but it is full house and for a company of nine, we have to be waitlisted. We found a Thai-inspired resto that we chose because they can accomodate us right away and we seem to like the reggae band on the resto next door. The discomfort of town's regular brown-out from 6 am to 2 pm and limited water supply which we woke up to in El Nido kicked our patience out. But once we started the tour and as we approached the karsts and the same got clearer and clearer, our memory of the discomfort also got blurry. We started the day with Tour A. We rented the boat for P2,500 for the whole day, mask and snorkel (P75 each) and two kayaks (P700 each). We started the day with the secret lagoon, then the small and big lagoon which ...

I ate Tamilok, also known as shipworm, but technically, this is not a worm. It is an elongated mollusk that grows inside the dead trunks of mangrove trees. *** Meditated on top of a Karst in Matinloc Shrine in El Nido! *** I zorbed! I crawled inside a water-filled big ball and allowed myself to be rolled down the hill together with the ball. The experience was actually exciting and fun but also anxiety-filled because one can actually land in the hole as one rolls up and down together with the rolling big ball. *** I ate lato and liked it! This grape-like shaped seaweed has some bumpy crunch in the mouth that goes well with vinegar. A great and instant appetizer as it will just be washed with fresh water and then serve immediately. ***  I flirted with Chao Long but the love affair didn't work out. The Chao Long I tasted must not be an enough representative of the popular Vietnamese-inspired noodle soup in Puerto Princesa City. The sto...