Has to be done!

Filipino friends on beach

Trip to El Nido

Around El Nido

View from our bungalow

Balcony of our bungalow

Sunset from balcony

Boat trip around Bacuit bay from El Nido

Bbq on beach

Beach at El Nido

El Nido town

Honda Bay boat trip- near Puerto Princesca

Photos from Palawan- see previous blog for Hong Kong and written blog!

Hong Kong and Palawan (Philippines)

Photos all above of Hong Kong - fairly obviously!!

Flew to Hong Kong from Ho Chi Minh. Hong Kong was a bit of a culture shock after the other places in Asia we have been travelling through. It is an incredible city with hundreds of high rises crowding the harbour - a bit like a very large Monaco. Our hotel room was on the 28th floor with a view of the city and part of harbour skyline with full length windows-quite disconcerting looking down on streets below! We went up the IFC tower (tallest in Hong Kong) but only to the 55th floor- about half way I think-it is out of bounds for visitors to go higher but a great view of the city. We also took a peak tram to view the skyline from "the peak" and watched the sunset and the lights come on in all the buildings around the harbour which was an incredible experience. Unfortunately my camera was not quite up to the job of taking the perfect photo - there were some professional cameramen up ther taking some superb photos but charging eight pounds a print. Talking about cameras I managed to leave my video camera on the bus while travelling to one of the Hong Kong suburbs but as I am so annoyed about it I am not thinking about it any more! Back to Hong Kong- we drank in the yuppie bars-everyone seems to be a banker inHong Kong earning fortunes although a few we spoke to seemed a bit worried if they would still be working next month- they have to earn a lot to live in Hong Kong - 3/4 million for the smallest flat and $10 a pint. We took the mid level escalators up to the harbour hills which run in between the streets to the south of Hong Kong Island for about a mile-you just get off when you see a bar or restaurant you fancy. We went to the zoo/botanical gardens which were a very nice oasis amongst the high rises. We took a boat across the harbour to Kowloon and all in all spent more in three days than we did in the previous 2 weeks.

We left Hong Kong and flew via Cebu to Puerto Princesca on an island called Palawan in Phillipines. As we have been travelling the weight of our baggage seems to have been increasing and on the flight to Phillipines we noted that the baggage allowance was reduced from the usual 20kg + hand luggage to 15kg. We were told we would have to pay $60 in excess. I'm not doing that I thought so we re-packed and stuffed as much as possible in hand luggage hoping it wouldn't be weighed with the checked in bags and I also had the bright idea of wearing as many heavy clothes as I possibly could, thinking I would be able to change back on board! I turned up at check in with long cords over shorts, sweatshirt and a very large heavy rain mac with the pockets full of heavy electrical items. I was sweating profusely as you can imagine in the 80 degree heat! I think that the check in staff must have thought I was in transit to go somewhere in Alaska and was expecting snow. When I got in the plane hoping to change in to something cooler I found that Tania had packed my T shirt in the checked in bags so I had to boil for the whole flight and customs etc the other end. At customs I noticed that passengers were being screened by thermal imaging cameras for swine flu-by this time I must have been about 100 degrees and flashing on their screens as a potential victim but they let me through and we saved $60!

We travelled from Puerto Princesca to El. Nido in the north of the island of Palawan by van-about 7 hours through 3 feet thick mud and pot holed roads - I don't know how the van's suspension didn't collapse and we were pleased to get off with sore backsides. The destination was worth the painful journey - a beautiful bay with rugged limestone cliffs and islands dotted around and small secluded beaches and lagoons to explore. We had a great day on a boat snorkelling and swimming and enjoying the magnificent views. We joined some Filipinos with guitars for a sing song on the beach and were disappointed to leave our lovely bugalow on the beach - van ride back just as bad! - flying to Manila tomorrow-unfortunately only 15kg limit again so will have to get cords, sweatshirt and mac out again!!

See next blog entry for photos of Palawan (Phillipines)- will try and include photo of me with cold weather gear on for next blog!!