Friday 21 - 23 Dec - Port Barton

Have condensed Friday, Saturday and Sunday into one blog as we've had a few very lazy days. Wandered about the small village, but really not much to see. Nothing we haven't seen before. Eat, sleep, eat, drink, sleep.. Lol. Weather not been great although we did know from weather report it was to be thunderstorms. Although it's still very warm and humid, the sun wasn't splitting the sky. Bit disappointing especially as this is a lovely place. Our next stop will be El Nido. Wanted to make sure we had something semi decent as it is for 3 nights over Christmas, with the plan to move on on the 26th to another island. We'll see what there is at El Nido and take it from there. So just back from dinner, bags packed once again and ready for an early rise and a minibus ride which should only take 4.5 hours. Hopefully we'll get good seats to be able to sleep again..I'm not getting many photos uploaded as no Internet at our hotel and apparently, this next place is worse. Some places have no electricity available from 6am til 2pm! All is good though. We're enjoying this easy, lazy life with no stresses! Except when you whatsapp your son and get no reply!! Lol... Once a worrier, always a worrier!

Thursday 20 Dec - Puerto Princesa to Port Barton

Left Puerto Princesa today. Picked up by a mini van, picked up some others from the airport who were heading straight to Port Barton rather than having a stopover here. I managed to sleep most of the way. Earphones in, music on, eyemask on, towel at my neck and woke up in Port Barton. Nothing to do with the lack of sleep through the night or the slight hangover!! We arrived around noon and headed straight to our accomodation. The place is called 'Elsas Garden' and its actually not bad. We had opted for one of the huts on the beach and although your usual basic hut, it was clean and presentable - but still cold shower. Lol. We unloaded our bags in hut and headed out to explore the area. A nice small village with bars, huts and restaurants along the beach. More the sort of thing we've been looking for. We sat and had a few drinks on beach and then walked for an hour or so around the village checking out what was on offer. Lots of backpackers here, all just relaxing and taking in the surroundings. We found ourselves in a part where people must sit, just to watch the sunset and it was lovely. You will see from our pics how nice it looks. We headed back to the foyer of our accomodation and sat, had something to eat and then bed. Wasn't too late a night as we are still catching up on sleep. Jack was out like a log, and I sat and read for an hour or so before putting my head down. Slept like a log and didnt want to get up in the morning.. something's never change... Elsas Cottage Purok Pagkakaisa, Port Barton, San Vicente, Palawan, Philippines

Wednesday 19th December - Puerto Princesa

Up at 6.30am as we were getting picked up at 7.30 for Underground River Tour. Quick breakfast and then 2hr journey along with another 9 people. The queues are usually quite long at this place so when we arrived, the tour guide booked our slot and we went on a paddle boat - The sabang Mangrove Conservation Tour It's an educational tour by boat through Sabang’s mangrove forests. It was really tranquil. We saw monkeys jumping about the trees in natural habitat, a snake wrapped round a tree branch. Thankfully we didn't see the bear that apparently lives there. There is a tribe who live deeper into the Forest. Was really good. Once we finished had lunch and then did the Underground River. Was a 45 min ride in a boat through a cave which is 8.4km long. Due to restrictions though, you are only allowed so many kilometres in, but it was also really interesting. I kept thinking of these thai boys that were trapped in the cave this year in Thailand and thought how scary it must have been!! We got back to hotel about 4.30pm and headed out for a walk and food. Had a nice Mexican meal and I had 2 cocktails. I was very tipsy - couldn't believe how they hit me. I'm such a light weight. Got back to hotel around 10pm and fell asleep straight away. Tick off another great day... NO photos attached. These will follow as I'm on 4g as no WiFi just now so I can't upload any pics.

Tuesday 18 Dec 2018 - Puerto Princesa

Had to set the alarm this morning as we had booked breakfast for 8.30am and didn't want to miss it. We wanted a morning that we could sit down and relax and work out our journey from here on.   We're now 7 days into our time here and up until now,  it's been passing the days until we got to the island of Palawan. We could have flown straight here but we did want to see Manila etc.   This is really where it all begins.  So, tomorrow we have booked for the underground river tour which is meant to be amazing and a must see.  We had only booked for 2 nights in Puerto Princesa to get us settled and make plans, so we've now booked a 3rd night with a plan to leave here on Thursday and head for Port Barton.  It's either that or head to Port Barton on Friday and have 4 nights here.  The problem is that we want to have 4 nights in Port Barton but we don't want to be travelling Christmas eve to the next destination of El Nido where we hope to be over the Christmas period.   Decisions, decisions lol. After semi organising our plans, we got a ride down to the beach to do some sunbathing.  Yes sunbathing in December!! Warm and can be cloudy but perfect for us.  The beach here is nice but not one of your tourist attractions.  We had a good walk and then made our way into a hotel area that sat right on the beach.  Had nibbles and drinks (non-alcoholic for me) and made a day of it. Left around 4pm and went to the local shopping mall to get a few essentials. One thing I haven't said too much about is the security. It's like back in Ireland 25yrs ago during the troubles. Bags are checked going into these shopping areas and also going into some of the shops within the centre. Security guards are at all the entrances and most of them carry guns!! I attached a picture of 2 guards at the mall tonight with their "pump action shotguns". Not read too much into the history behind this but we certainly haven't felt frightened or intimidated. Everyone is very friendly. Had a quick bite to eat in a chinese fast food resturant and then headed back to hotel where im sat just now finishing todaya blog. Just found out our tour picks us up at 7.30am tomo so a drink free and early night. Hope you are all keeping up here...Lol

Monday 17 Dec 18 - Manila to Puerto Princesa

Woke up at 8am. Flight to Palawan today so need to be organised. Not till 1.45pm but wanted to give ourselves plenty time. We knew that the airport was only about 20mins away so grabbed a coffee downstairs and got organised with passports etc. Just so happened to say to Jack that i thought it was strange we hadn’t heard any planes overhead considering we were so close to airport! Asked the lady who ran hostel and she said airport would take us 2 hrs to get there!! Lol. Didn’t understand as Google map said different. So downed coffee and ordered a taxi and off we went. We were there in 20 mins so she had got it wrong. Maybe she thought we were walking?! Manila is a huge airport and internet said Air Asia fly out terminal 3 so we queued for half an hour to actually get into the terminal. Security very tight here which I’m happy about. Got into terminal and couldn’t see Our Flight so after asking at help desk, we should have been in terminal 4. So headed to the bus which takes you there and we had another security check plus a 45 min wait. Finally got on the bus and it was a good drive again. Went through security 4 times before we eventually sat in departure lounge with still 1 hr to go before flight. Finally after being here since Thursday, we saw westerners. Loads of couples, travellers , all obviously heading to the islands. Hooray lol. Enjoyed a nice coffee and sandwich, and then it came up on the board that our flight was delayed!! Anyway, had enjoyable flight and arrived around 4pm to be picked up by hotel driver. 10 mins and we were at b&b. Nice wee place with excellent reviews. We couldn't get money at airport so we went straight out once we'd dropped off bags and headed for an Atm. Told the hotel owner we'd be back soon!! Story of our life! 6 hrs later we returned and I think they had been worried we had got lost. Ha ha. We had found a nice terrace bar with live music and one drink led to another and the rest is history. Hit our bed around 10.30pm and went out like a log...

Sunday 16 Dec 2018 - Manila

Had a long lie in as we are still trying to catch up. Decided that we if are booking any more hostels, then it needs to be a private room - no more sharing. In with 4 teenagers last night and they weren't the quietest although we did manage to fall asleep. We have dorm to ourselves tonight so happy days. Went for a wander when we got up and had breakfast at hostel. Jack left the day up to me so I booked a cab and we went to the shopping mall. It was a good call as it was a bit more up market although very busy. After having a look around there, we found a nice restaurant where we sat and had a few beers and for me, a few cocktails. Felt a bit tipsy! Lol. Sat there til late on just taking it all in and then got a motorbike cab back to hostel. Didn't want to have a late night as we needed to be organised in the morning as flight booked to Palawan, puerto princessa at 1.45pm. Jack is such a worrier. More so than me, so he wants to be there in plenty time and to avoid getting stuck in traffic. Today we sat and had a coffee in Costa coffee. We had 2 large coffees with 3 shots and a cake and it cost no more than £4. Our restaurant bill was £25 for 5 Heineken beers, nachos, and 2 gin cocktails, and this was an up market classy place. Off to bed now but here are the photos of the day.

Saturday 15th Dec 2018 - Road to Manila

Got up just after 10am today and got ourselves packed and organised. Booked out of hotel and got a lift to the bus terminal from one of the motorbike/side car rides. A picture will follow in another post as I forgot to take a picture. Thank goodness for mobile phones as explaining where we're heading makes it so much easier showing it on a map. Got directed to the correct bus and off we headed. 2 hrs to Manila. Roads were fine, no pot holes as in other countries but traffic is mayhem. Worse than anything we've seen. Even just to cross the road, they'd run over you!! We got dropped off about 30 mins from our hostel so we headed for food first - McDonald's!! Tasted just the same as back home and half the price. Everything very cheap but I'm Definately not eating from street vendors after Jack's food poisoning last year. Before we left Scotland, I had downloaded an app called "Grab" which basically you put in your destination and a cab comes and picks you up and takes you where you want to go. Price is set before you confirm and again very cheap so we used this for the first time today, and got dropped at front door of Our hostel. Not the nicest of areas. We're in downtown manila and since coming to the Philippines, we've not seen one westerner! That will change next week as I don't think alot of people come in via Clark. Hostel is only £17 for the 2 of us for 2 nights, so u can imagine but has good reviews and they are all so friendly. Had a quick change then headed out and walked for most of the afternoon. It is very poor here and the area we are in is dirty and over populated. Made it back for a half hour sleep about 6pm then back out for food. We booked a grab taxi once again and headed to Pizza Hut! Had a drink in a local karaoke bar and then taxi back to hostel. Just having a beer outside just now while updating blog but about to head to bed. Not sure how much sleep we'll get as it's a 6 bed mixed dorm we are in. In hindsight we would prefer to have been moving tomorrow but we have another day and night here which might just be a relaxing day. Weather still very warm and we managed to find out that we don't need to do a travel visa extension. We can just pay on departure from the philipines at the airport. You can see from some pictures the dirty streets and the poor kitten that hangs around hostel. Don't think I'll manage it in my suitcase.

14 Dec - Angeles, Clark

We woke up around 10am after a great nights sleep. Jack went to have a shower and the water was cold!! This is a pet hate of his as we were constantly having cold showers in Thailand last year but put it down to the fact we were roughing it in hostels. Lol. So after a birdy bath we headed out for breakfast and a wander to see what was happening. Definately not our kind of place. It is a very seedy place with prostitution everywhere. Even the young girls were blatantly walking about with numbers pinned to them. Clubs, parlours everywhere and young young girls trying to attract the men. They all look pretty, but horrible to see old men walking about with them. We saw this in Thailand but seems a hundred times worse here. Wandered for most of the day and stopped in and out of cafes for coffees and beers to keep us hydrated. Weather cloudy but very warm at 30°. Had some rain late on at tea time so headed back to hotel for a quick wash and then back out to get food and a few drinks. It's quite cheap too. We bought coffee, juice, water, beers, and crisps in a local shop and it cost about a fiver. Pizza and subway roll for dinner A few beers later and a couple of gins then headed back to hotel around 11pm. Way past our bedtime! Was worth the visit but Definately not a nice place to stay in. Certainly opens your eyes to the reality of these people's lives and the need to make money. Alarm set for 8am as we have a bus to catch to Manila. Hopefully....Lol

Still Travelling - 13 Dec 2018

So arrived in Dubai which by now we are quite familiar with! Stop over for 2.5 hours which gave us time for a nice coffee and a wander around airport. Boarded our flight for Clark which was having a stopover at Cebu. Flight was full again so no chance of getting sprawled out over 4 seats!! However, it was 2.45am and we were both tired. Watched a few movies, had food and then tried to sleep. I managed not too bad but Jack struggled so entertained himself with some movies and a few beers. 8.5hrs later and we arrived in Cebu, Philippines. Some passengers got off and some new ones came on. We didn't need to get off the plane. Took a couple of hours for a crew change, cleaners and refuelling, then we were off again on the final leg of journey. This was a short flight of 1hr 20 mins which took us to Clark International airport. We landed at 6.25pm philipino time (10.25am Gmt) so at this point we were 25 hrs travelling. Luckily I'd already booked a hotel for the first 2 nights and I emailed them when flight stopped in Cebu requesting a taxi to pick us up at the airport. Glad we did as we just wanted to get our heads down. By the time we got through customs etc and got to hotel it was well about 9pm. We got ourselves organised and went straight to bed. We opted for this rather than heading out as we weren't too sure of the area and knew we had a full day the next day to explore. From what we saw coming into the town by taxi, it was very lively.

The Philippines - The journey 12 Dec 2018

Managed a good sleep last night but we were both wakened by 6am this morning.  Unsure if nerves or excitement!!  Jim picked us up at 9.30am and we were ready to head - No time for hanging around.  Arrived at Glasgow airport in no time, right through check in and customs and sat and had a coffee and beer in departure lounge.  Very quiet but the girl who served us said that the airport was busy busy all morning.  Loads of Rangers supporters heading to Alicante for the Europa league game.  Glad we missed that but was annoyed that we had only missed the team who had gone through about an hour before us.  Lol. That would have been a great photo for the album, and grandad! First flight to Dubai which was 7.5hrs.  Before boarding we got speaking to a young girl who was on her own and first time out of Orkney. She was heading to Melbourne, Australia via Dubai.  Think she was happy to talk to someone.  She was only 20yr old and heading to live with a friend for 4 months.  She said her mum was in tears when she left and I would imagine she'd have been well warned following the tragic murder of British backpacker in NZ.  Good flight once again and I managed to sleep most of the way.