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Showing posts from April, 2018

Palawan: It's More Fun In the Philippines

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El Nido and Puerto Princessa, Palawan The Stressor My trip to Palawan was not without its complications. The Philippines was not part of my Southeast Asia travel plans. But when I found a low fare to the Philippines, I decided to add the Philippines to my epic Southeast Asia 2018 trip. El Nido had been on my travel radar for a while. Since there's no airport in El Nido, I booked a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa with Air Asia and a separate package tour through Asia Travel that included the transportation to El Nido and a hotel.  I also booked a hotel in Puerto Princesa through Booking.com. I pre-paid everything that was booked through Asia Travel.   The trip to El Nido from Puerto Princesa was long (6 hours), but not as bumpy as I expected.  The road was paved, winding with lush scenery. However, the stop to get food was far in between. We arrived in El Nido tired and hungry to find our pre-paid hotel room not only ready, but the hotel was fully booked. I coul

Sagada: It's More Fun in the Philippines

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It's More Fun in the Philippines Part 1:  Trekking in Sagada Not long ago, Sagada, one of the municipalities of Mountain Province, was isolated and essentially an unchartered frontier. It became famous for its hanging coffins and coffins found in the crevices of limestone rocks. For this reason alone, most people find Sagada a fascinating place to visit. Today, tourism in Sagada is going through crazy rapid growth, not only because of its ancient culture and undiscovered beauty but for inclusive mountain adventure – trekking, hiking, caving, spelunking. And it seems that the municipality of Sagada tries to capitalize on its mountain playground. All visitors in Sagada are required to register with the Government Tourist Bureau and pay forty pesos for registration. Visitors must hire a registered tour guide. The price for tour guide services, tours, and activities offered by different tour operators are pretty much the same. Most tour or trek starts at The Church of St. Mar