Twelve days has passed since I came back from my Thailand trip, and I still have a hangover! Touring, shopping and going all around Thailand is one helluva experience.

When I got to Bangkok, my first impression was that it was just like Metro Manila, only cleaner and more orderly. The Sathorn road traffic below really looks similar to an EDSA traffic scene.

Bangkok "Traffic" / looks similar to how Metro Manila traffic looks like

However, after going around and getting a glimpse of Thailand’s city life, Bangkok soon became less and less like Manila. There are shrines and altars situated in some unlikely places, street vendors selling strawberries and various spicy foods, and tuktuks ‘cruising’ the traffic jammed road.

For our first day, my friends and I decided to tour the must-see places in Bangkok – The Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. And since we’re all trying to save our money for shopping, we opted not to avail of any tour packages and just go there ourselves. Good thing our hotel was just right beside the BTS; it made commuting and getting to places really easy.

Our first stop was supposed to be the Grand Palace. Unfortunately, there were several tuktuk drivers that tried to scam us. They kept telling us that the Grand Palace was close and that our only choice was to ride their tutktuks to Wat Pho. That would’ve been okay IF they weren’t charging us THB140 per tuktuk! Because of that we ended up walking on and on just to avoid them, and well, we ended up in Wat Pho anyway.

At Wat Pho

The place was amazing. I haven’t been in a Buddhist temple before, thus, everything seems so new to me. It would’ve been nice if we had a guide that could’ve narrated the history of the place. Unfortunately, we were on our own on this one. There were several times that we chanced upon a group with an English speaking tour guide, and overheard several snip-bits of the temple’s history.

Pang Nak Prok & drawings of the Human Anatomy

Initially, I thought that Wat Pho was going to be small place, where you’ll just find the temple with the giant Reclining Buddha. I was wrong, there was so much to see. But, of course, I don’t think anything could top the huge reclining buddha. I’ve never imagined that it would be that tall and long.

[Wat Pho Entrance Fee: THB50]

Reclining Buddha

After that, we decided to go back to the Grand Palace via tuktuks. The tuktuk ride was an adventure in itself. I’ve always thought that the most dangerous vehicles can be found in Manila, I guess I was wrong. The tuktuk ride was some sort of a roller coaster ride. After that, I never rode the tuktuk during my whole stay in Bangkok.

Everyone says that you cannot leave Bangkok without going to the Grand Palace. And they were right. The place was amazing.

at the Grand Palace grounds

The place was shinning and shimmering in gold.

intricate details, fascinating artwork found at the Grand Palace

There were also lots of artwork, and very fine intricate details. I would love to say a more refined, and articulate description of the entire place, but I can’t. You have to be there.

The Emerald Buddha

I could just imagine how their royalty lived before. It must’ve been something. And yes, I was able to take a picture of the Emerald Buddha, but I was outside when I took it. I think I exhausted my camera’s zooming feature.

sights at the Grand Palace

The place is perfect for taking pictures. I couldn’t stop.

one of the guards at the Grand Palace

Here’s one picture with one of the palace guards. It must’ve taken great discipline just to stand there all day without moving, while pesky tourists takes pictures of you.

still at the Grand Palace

There were definitely lots of things to see at the Grand Palace. When you think you’ve seen the entire place, you’ll suddenly find yourself in a totally different area. It was huge! If we weren’t so  tired and hungry, we would’ve probably checked out everything.

[Grand Palace Entrance Fee: THB350]

view of the Grand Palace grounds

After the tiring tour of the Grand Palace, our next stop was finding food. It only took us a few minutes to find a restaurant just outside the Grand Palace. It wasn’t an authentic Thai restaurant, but it’ll do as we were hungry already. Afterwards, our next stop was Wat Arun.

Wat Arun

This temple was amazing. The view was breathtaking; it’s especially exquisite when viewed on the boat. What’s great about Wat Arun is that you can climb it. What’s not so great about it is the steep stairs and the terrifying way down.

the ups & downs at Wat Arun | find me in one of these pics!

Climbing up the stairs of Wat Arun was not easy. The steps were high and narrow. It was more like climbing a ladder rather than a stair. But then, the real challenge for me was going down. It was the thought of not being able to go down and my legs betraying me that made it difficult. If you’re afraid of heights, I strongly suggest to hype yourself up for this, and make it some sort of getting-over-your-fear challenge. [Wat Arun Entrance Fee: THB50]

After the long tiring day, we decided to treat ourselves and try out one of Bangkok’s fancy restaurant. Fortunately, the Blue Elephant Restaurant is just right beside our hotel. So we headed over there and tried out their dishes.

Fine dining at the Blue Elephant

The restaurant had a very classy, romantic and antique feel to it. Though some people may find it intimidating. As for the food, all I can say is that it was definitely good. If I wasn’t on a budget, I would’ve ordered more. My only peeve was that the drink Blue Mai Thai tasted like medicine mixed with vodka.

After dinner, we wanted to experience Bangkok’s night life. Initially, we had Bed Supper Club in mind. It took us probably around 30 minutes searching for the place in Sukhumvit Soi 11. However, upon getting there, we found out that there was an entrance fee. Unfortunately, it was just too pricey for me, especially after the fancy dinner we had. So thanks to me, we had to find another place. Unfortunately, most of the bars we passed by were either closing or full already. The Australian was one of the few bars that were open and had available tables.

The Australian pub & bbq

And this is the story of how we ended up in an Australian pub while in Thailand. The place was okay. If you’re looking for a place to chill while listening to music, or watching a game, then the Australian is for you. I can’t recommend it for their food because I didn’t try any. But their cocktail drinks were good. My favorite was their Sex On Bondi Beach drink. However, the prices of the drinks were kinda expensive. But then again, I was converting everything to pesos, and comparing the prices to the drinks in Manila.

We stayed until the pub closed at around 01:30 AM. It was quite early compared to the 02:00 – 03:00 AM closing time of  most bars here in Manila. But it wasn’t really a good idea to be out so late, especially when we plan to shop at Chatuchak the following day. Still, that didn’t stop us from looking for a 24-hour McDonald’s.

We finally found our McDonald’s after walking for several blocks, and discovering that “5-minutes away” in Thailand really means you’ll be walking for 20-minutes.

And that’s it for Day 1. It was definitely a long and adventurous day.

On our 4th and supposedly last day of our vacation, our group, again, woke up early. It’s actually more accurate to say we stayed up until 3 am in the morning. Since it was our last day, we wanted to make the most out of it – of course, while wide-awake. Mind you, our flight back to Manila was scheduled at around 5 pm. There was no need to hurry. BUT, of course we just had to decide to take a side trip to Sabang and explore the Underground River / Cave. We were already IN Palawan; it would be a shame if we didn’t visit one of the wonders of the world.

We talked this over with Kuya Neil, our trusty driver and pseudo tour guide, and verified the ‘feasibility’ of “the plan”. Note that our scheduled flight was at 5 PM; we had to be in the airport an hour before that. And if you can remember from the Day 1 post, the trip from Puerto Princesa to El Nido was roughly around 6 hours. When the clock struck 4 am that day, our tight schedule began. So here’s how our schedule went…

04:30 AM – 11:00 AM
We departed El Nido town proper at approximately 4:30 AM in the morning. It was hello to rough roads again. I’m amazed that I actually slept through it all.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
We finally arrived at Sabang. This is where we hired a boat to take us to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park (located in another island) where the Underground River/Cave is. Unlike the informal island tour setup we had in El Nido, arranging the Underground River/Cave tour was more systematic. You go to this government office, pay the necessary fees, go the boat rental and hire a boat. [Entrance/Environmental Fee: P150/head, Boat: P700/boat]

Sabang Port

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Boat ride to Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park.

12:00 PM – 12:10 PM
Once we got to the island, we still had to walk our way to the entrance of the Underground River/Cave ‘port’ location (I’m not sure if that’s how it’s called). It’s the place where you get the necessary equipment (hard hat and life vests) and hop on a small bangka. One bangka can fit in around 8 people that includes the tour guide.

Entrance to the Park

During our walk to the ‘port’, a cute golden retriever walked with us. He’ll stop walking when we stop walking. Cute!

Our guard & guide dog during our walk to the underwater river bank

12:15 PM – 01:00 PM
The Underground River Cave tour. If you’re not used to dark enclosed places, I suggest you condition yourself before going in. Once you go deeper into the underground river cave, the only light source you can depend on are the flashlights provided. The tour guide, who was also paddling and navigating the boat, gave an interesting and entertaining spin of the cave’s history. He was also able to engage our imagination as he pointed out rock formations resembling vegetables like carrots, eggplant and cabbage, holy figures like Mother Mary, the holy family, and Jesus’ face and animal figures like a horse and a cow.

getting ready to enter the underwater cave!

Our only source of light

the Holy Family

The seahorse

Rock formations

it's the end of the tour!

obligatory picture!

01:00 PM – 01:15 PM
Boat ride back to Sabang Beach

01:15 PM – 03:00 PM
Another two hours travel time to Puerto Princesa Airport.

03:00 PM – 04:00 PM
At around 3:00 PM we arrived at Puerto Princesa, and with time to spare for ‘pasalubong’ shopping. Good job, Kuya Neil!

04:00 PM
We arrived at Puerto Princesa Airport. And this was where the universe conspired to let us stay in Palawan for another day…

waiting for our plane

someone's hungry!

05:00 PM
Cebu Pacific announced the our flight was delayed. We waited and waited and waited…

06:00 PM
Cebu Pacific announced that our flight was cancelled. Chaos ensued. “Where do we stay?”, “Do we sleep in this airport?”, “I don’t have money left!!” were some of the things that ran through my head.

in line to get our checked-in luggage back

After we got our checked-in luggage back and rebooked our cancelled flight to tomorrow, we called on several hotels near the area if they still have rooms. One of our friends, who were also vacationing in Puerto Princesa, suggested a place to stay, De Loro Inn and Restaurant. De Loro has a barkada room package for 8-10 people. When we called, lucky for us, they still had a room available. We immediately confirmed and waited for their van to transfer us to the hotel.

De Loro Inn

Once we were in De Loro, we immediately checked their barkada room and flopped on the beds. I, for one, didn’t want to think about anything. We were stuck in Puerto Princesa with few cash left. Unfortunately for me, most of the establishments here don’t accept credit card. Good thing though, we didn’t really plan on moving or doing any activities for tonight – aside from eating – and for tomorrow.

After we settled in our rooms, we went out to look for a restaurant that was still open at this time. We found one, which I forget the name. We were their only customers, probably because it was late already. Their food was great. I would definitely recommend this place if only I remember the name. =P When we got back, the owners of De Loro of saw us and invited us for a few drinks. After a few rounds of drinks and chitchatting with the owners, one by one, our sleepy bodies gave up. I believe only 3 of them were left to finish off the drinks. Haha =P

FOOD for hungry stranded people

stranded people

Day 5
We were just literally bumming around. We didn’t have to wake up early this time so most of us slept until around 9 am. We had our breakfast and proceeded to use De Loro’s videoke room. Around 2pm, we checked out and went to the airport.

bumming around

another obligatory group picture

So here we go again. We waited and waited.

picture taking while waiting...

Until finally, we were boarding the plane!

yey! we're finally boarding!

Finally back in Manila!

finally back in Manila! waiting for our bags

And finally I finished this blog series. =P Till the next trip.

It’s our 3rd day in Palawan and our 2nd day in El Nido. Our day started early again. We had to wake up early because electricity goes off at 6 am. Around that time, we ate our breakfast c/o Marina Garden. Afterwards, we prepared for another day of island hopping. This time, we got the Package B tour. Our Package B destinations were Entalula Island, Snake Island, Codugnon Cave/Island, Cathedral Island Cave, Pinagbuyutan Island and Ipil Beach. (Package price is still P1800. Great job to the hagglers. =P)

Entalula Island
The main part of the Entalula Island is owned and maintained by a private resort. If you want to visit the whole island, you will have to ask permission from the resort. Good thing for us, there is a small part of the island that is open to the public. Check out the top-left picture below; that boat in the middle is where the private resort is located. Oh well, the other side – our side –  is also pretty. Nice place to snorkel and lounge around the beach area.

Entalula Island

I was extremely frustrated during our day 2 tour (especially when we were at the Small Lagoon) because I didn’t have an underwater camera with me. So, I came prepared for this day and bought my own underwater camera.

Underwater!

Snake Island
Make sure that you go here when it’s a low tide. The place is really pretty. It’s a great spot to take pictures. Aside from taking photos, you can also do a mini-trekking. Yes, apparently, you could go up the highest peek of the island. The view was breathtaking.

Snake Island El Nido

Photo shoot at Snake Island!

At the top of Snake Island

Codugnon Island
Also part of the deal was the Kuya boatmen would cook our food. We bought the raw fishes, squids, meat and all the ingredients needed. Kuya Boatman (We never really got his name. We just called him Kuya, which is the generic name for an older guy), then, cooked everything during our stop here in Codugnon Island.

Lunch at Codugnon Island

Codugnon Cave
After eating our lunch, we headed over to the Codugnon Cave. It’s just a few meters away from where we ate our lunch. To go in the cave, we had to enter through a small opening. Once inside, you’ll find yourself, well, in a cave. Honestly, if the place had more history it would’ve been more interesting. If you are a photographer, rock climber or a repeller, you will definitely enjoy this place. The light passing through the small openings above makes it a great place for photography, while the rock formations is, well as far as I believe, a great rock-climbing route.

Various ways of entering the Codugnon Cave

Group picture!

Cathedral Island Cave
It would’ve been cool if we were able to get inside the cave. Unfortunately, the opening was just enough for a small boat to fit in. Aside from that, Kuya happily informed us that were sharks in the area.

Cathedral Island Cave

Pinagbuyutan Island
This is probably one of the most memorable islands I’ve visited El Nido. Not because of its unique natural beauty, but because of our ridiculous attempt to snorkel in the so-called beach area. See the top most picture below? Well, that’s the so-called beach. And there’s us, giving up snorkeling.

The "beach". And us - trying to not injure ourselves.

But I have to give the place credit; It IS a nice place to take photos.

Go Emz! (Picture taken by Norman)

BTW, this is where Kuya Boatman borrowed my underwater camera and went crazy taking pictures of “Nemo” the clownfish. Yes, he was the only one who managed to the enjoy swimming and snorkeling in this area.

The Nemos (clownfish)

Ipil-Ipil Beach
By the time we reached Ipil-Ipil beach, we were already tired.  This is where we hang out for a bit, sat on the beach, and snorkeled.

Clare in El Nido '09

And that sums up our day 3 – El Nido tour.

Underwater Peace!

I’ll be posting our Day 4-5 soon! (Yeah, I’m really stretching out this blog series, aren’t I? lol)

Day 2: Road Trip and Island Hopping – Longest Day Ever!

The following day, our group woke up at around 2 am to be able to leave Puerto Princesa and start our road trip to El Nido. Based from Kuya Neil’s estimation, the trip would take about 6-8 hours, depending on the road condition, traffic and of course, speed. Since we didn’t want to waste one day of our vacation to traveling alone, we computed for the best and latest time we could leave Puerto Princesa to arrive at El Nido by lunch time. Based on our computation, we should leave 3-4 am in the morning; thus the 2 am ‘call time’

We had our breakfast c/o Kookaburra. It was nice of them to accommodate our request to have our breakfast be ready by 2 am. From what I can remember, I got one of their Filipino Breakfast offerings. The food was good. I think it’s the earliest time I actually ate breakfast. Afterwards, we packed our things and left Kookaburra and then Puerto Princesa.

I don’t remember much about the first few hours of our road trip to El Nido. I slept through it. The ride was quite smooth and peaceful until a few hours after; we finally got to the end of the cemented road and start of the dirt road. Yes, the “highway” from Puerto Princesa to El Nido isn’t much of a highway. The smooth ride became a bumpy one. And then, we found ourselves literally in the middle of nowhere. The view around us was literally green all over and there were no signs of civilization. If we got stuck there, I don’t think anyone would find us. There were no cars coming from any direction and our cellphones weren’t getting any signal from any cell tower. Well, we did pass by several houses after several hours so it’s not like the place is devoid of people. But still, it’s just 9 people in the middle of a jungle. How freakishly alone.

By 10 am, we found ourselves ‘gliding’ smoothly on cemented pavement. The ride was smooth again. After a few more minutes, we found the sign, ‘Welcome to El Nido’. We’re here! We took a few photos and then went for another few minutes of driving to find Marina Garden Beach Resort. Upon arriving at El Nido town proper, we were greeted by an amazing view. The town is situated perfectly along the beach line overlooking several islands and a mountain made of limestone. The sight was breath-taking.

We finally got to Marina Garden Beach Resort. The place was not a typical resort that I’m used to seeing in more commercialized beaches. It’s a simple place, which is strategically situated near everything. But then, El Nido is a small town where everything is likely a walking distance away. Anyway, back to Marina Garden; it’s a beach front resort where you have a full view of the El Nido’s coast line. Not only that, it’s easier to access boatmen-slash-tour-guides who are offering island hopping tours. Well, good thing for us, Kuya Neil already knows one of the owners that handles the island hopping tour business. He was already able to get a package deal for us. By 11 am, we were off island hopping, the package A tour.

There’s no point going to El Nido if you won’t island hop. Besides, the electricity in El Nido town proper is scheduled; electricity is off from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm then on from 2:00 pm onwards. Aside from lounging around the beach area, touring the town and searching for souvenir shops, there’s really nothing to do for tourists but island hop or snorkel or other water activities. Island hopping is definitely a must when you visit El Nido. There are 3 standard island hopping packages; that’s package A, B, and C. Some guides offer packages D and E, but they vary depending on who you talk to. The standard price could go from P600-1000 per person. For us, Kuya Neil got us a nice deal of P1800 for the whole boat rental and Package A tour plus an additional P100 for each snorkels per person. That’s P1800 divided by 8 people plus P100 [P325 per person]. Nice deal huh?!

So back to the boat ride… the boat ride towards our first destination was absolutely breath taking. It’s not my first time to island hop – I’ve actually done this at Hundred Islands in Pangasinan – but the view of the islands was just incredible. Then, add the calm sea and fresh air… it’s just perfect. Pictures can only do much, you must be there to experience it. But at this point, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

Small Lagoon
Great place to snorkel. Make sure that you’re strong swimmer or you’re wearing a life vest before you go in. Water can be very deep especially the area inside the lagoon.

Simizu
This is where we ate lunch. Great place to swim and snorkel.

Big Lagoon
Great place to kayak. Too bad we were on a tight budget. Kayak rental costs about P800-1000 the whole day.

Stopping here. The boat can’t pass because it’s low tide. We had to go down the boat and ‘walk’.

We were already near the “inside” of the Blue Lagoon and the deeper part of the area when Kuya revealed that there were baby sharks there. (Uhm, okay thanks for telling us now, kuya.)

7 Commando
This is the last stop of Tour Package A. This is where we lounge around and drank buko juice.

At around 4pm, Kuya Boatman (Yes, I don’t know his name) told us that it’s time to go. It was getting dark anyway.  And this is where I’ll end my Day 2 El Nido experience. LONG DAY, huh? Day 3 to follow soon.

Picture credits: Mine, Bunny, Kat, Norman, and Ton

One of the things I really want to do is to travel. I want to see the world, visit the wonders of the world, tour the key cities. And my first stop, the Philippines. What better way to jump start my traveling dreams than to start in my own country. I’ve already been to various key destinations in this country – Baguio, Boracay, Mactan (Cebu), Pagudpud (Ilocos Norte), and Vigan (Ilocus Sur) just to name a few. Since this country is composed of 7,101 islands, I think I still have a lot to go. For the first time this year, I got to visit Boracay and this month, El Nido, Palawan.

Puerto Princesa Airport

Last September 10, my batchmates and I flew to Palawan for our 4-day El Nido, Palawan vacation. We touched down at Puerto Princesa airport around 6 in the evening. (The landing wasn’t very nice by the way). After that we were unsure what to do next, aside from the fact that we just wanted to get to El Nido. However, getting to El Nido was the tricky part. El Nido is located at the northern most tip of Palawan and is about 238 km away from Puerto Princesa. Once in Puerto Princesa, you could travel to El Nido via air, sea or land. Our group opted to take the land route. We had already arranged a shuttle service a few weeks before our flight. Our driver, Kuya Neil, was also our tour guide. He was nice and accommodating; and he definitely knew his way around Palawan. Without him, we would have been lost tourists in Palawan. [Shuttle Rate: P15,000 for this particular deal]

See, the initial ‘plan’ was to head straight to El Nido upon arriving at Puerto Princesa. However, that plan was dependent on several variables like the weather and road condition. There were a lot of “what ifs”. Good thing Kuya Neil helped us decide what to do. (Yes, for a 4-day vacation, we didn’t prepare a concrete itinerary. How adventurous of us. LOL). The final decision was to stay in Puerto Princesa for the night. So, the next question was, ‘where are we staying?’ Well, Kuya Neil also got that covered. He apparently knew the people that manages one of the newly built inns in Puerto Princesa and had already reserved us two rooms. Yep, he’s that efficient. Good thing too, else, our group would have probably just search for any open cafe shops to hangout or sleep in the van.

Kookaburra Travel Lodge

Kookaburra Travel Lodge was the place Kuya Neil suggested.  The lodge is fairly new; everything about the establishment still looks fresh and well, new. According to their site, they have 14 rooms. I wasn’t able to count but we got their two standard rooms, which were located at the ground floor. Since there were 8 of us – 4 boys and 4 girls, the girls stayed in one room and the boys in the other. Both rooms were really just made for 2 people, three is probably pushing it. The additional beds were not even useful because there wasn’t any floor space to place it. I’m not sure how the guys did it but for us girls, we were able to fit ourselves in the queen-size bed [I think it was queen-sized]. Aside from that, our room was nice. The bathroom was okay too; however, the bathroom window was not tinted and was beside a staircase. Someone could easily look in, good thing that didn’t happen. Over all, I would definitely recommend this place. [Room Rate: One standard room for 2 people - P1,500/night]

Bilao at Palayok: Seafood and Native Restaurant

Before settling in for the night, our group decided to have dinner out. Since we were not familiar with the place, it was again Kuya Neil that suggested the place. We ended up at ‘Bilao at Palayok: Seafood and Native Restaurant‘. The place does have a native feel to it. Most of the restaurant’s interior were made of bamboo or some type of wood. Their decorations were mostly ethnic in origin. To summarize, the ambiance of the place was really homey , peaceful and refreshing. Yeah, I obviously suck at interior design review.

Ihaw Ihaw sa Bilao Special

Let’s go to the food. They offer a wide selection of Filipino food, all served in a bilao or palayok. Their speciality is geared towards grilled seafood. Since we were on a tight budget, we opted to get their Ihaw Ihaw sa Bilao Special, which is good for around 8 people already, Pork Sisig and 8 cups of plain rice. Their Ihaw Ihaw sa Bilao Special consists of steamed shrimp, grilled squid, baked tahong, grilled tuna, grilled tilapia, liempo, and steamed crab together with grilled eggplant, achara, bagoong, salted eggs, tomatoes and green mangoes on the side. It’s definitely a must try if you happen to dine in this place. My personal favorites are their grilled squid and steamed crab.

After dinner, we went back to Kookaburra to rest. We were supposed to look for another hangout place but then remembered that we still have to wake up at 3 am the following day for our long road trip to El Nido. And that’s another day to blog about.

Picture credits: Mine, Bunny, Kat, Norman, and Ton