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TheSwede
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Posted: Tue Feb 5th, 2008 03:54 pm |
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I came back again on saturday the 2nd of February after another month in the Philippines. I will try to make a short travel report soon. I am exhausted after my two first days at work  . I went around Mindanao and northern Palawan this time. Naturewise probably the best of my three 1 month visits!Last edited on Tue Feb 5th, 2008 03:57 pm by TheSwede
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Patric THEPHILS.COM
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Posted: Tue Feb 5th, 2008 04:11 pm |
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We´ll be waiting impatiently for that report   .
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ZambeziKid
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Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2008 09:00 am |
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Yeah, would be nice to read for sure. I'm heading to Palawan shortly myself.
Isn't El Nido a beautiful little place!
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sat Feb 9th, 2008 01:38 pm |
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| El Nido was wonderful, but I liked Port Barton more, if I am going to compare those two small towns. But, the Bacuit Arhipelago outside El Nido is absolutely breathtaking. Unbelivable. I have been all over southeast Asia, but the beauty of the Archipelago simply beats everything I have seen, when it comes to beautiful beaches and snorkelling opportunities!
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sat Feb 9th, 2008 02:29 pm |
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Ok. So I will try to give a shorter version of my 1 month trip here. I was as usual not sure about where to go in detail. I mean I dont plan every day of the trip before I go. But I usually set a a few "must-go" places. This time it was Mindanao and Palawan that was of most importance. I ended up going to Davao immediately when I arrived in Manila. Had a booking with Cebu Pacific Air already.
Davao was a great city. It it was really to my liking. And the cab drivers turns on the meters even before you enter the car!! I almost spent too many days there cause I liked it so much. Got to know the central parts of town quite well and went on day trips to Samal Island and also to Eagle Conservation Center, which both were nice day trips.
Then I took a trip and stayed overnight in General Santos. General Santos wasnt a very nice city, but it seemed quite peaceful, despite bombings in the public market and so on. I had heard from some people before I left Sweden on the net, about a nice beach around a place called Glan. The beach name is Gumasa beach. After talking a few locals though, I decided not to go there. They said there had been some kidnapping problems recently. Even though there were no foreigners involved, it put me off from going there. In this case I decided to take the advice from the locals seriously. I dont do that always. Just ask a manilan if it is safe to go to Mindanao . General Santos had some nice seafood though, which I enjoyed before I went back the day after to Davao. I really liked the scenery from the bus while travelling between those cities. As in most other bus trips I would later do around Mindanao, it was absolutely beautiful.
So back in Davao again and out to check the night life before heading up by bus to Surigao, the gateway to Siargao Island, the day after. Davao had an ok nightlife and wonderful locals to hang out with. And the feeling of being safe in the city is total. It might be just a feeling and that I am a bit naive, but I was walking around a lot in the middle of the night without noone hassling me or any other kind of problem.
On the seventh day I jumped on a bus to Surigao from Davao bus station, early in the morning. The security was tight in davao bus station and my bags were searched at the entrance! First time in my life that I had to open my big backpack upon entering a bus station! The bus trip was hard but very nice, with wonderful views of Mindanao nature! It took almost 11 hours to Surigao City where I overnighted to be able to take the early morning boat to Siargao in the morning.
The boat out to Siargao Island took about two and a half hour, and when I arrived in Dapa I immediately knew that this was going to be a wonderful place to stay a few days in. I was right. The place is unspoilt and beautiful, has nice surf breaks, nice beaches and nearby islands to take boat trips to. There was only one problem I wasnt aware of. It is rainy season in these parts of Mindanao in December and January . Hehe, the Philippines surely have a lot more complicated weather pattern then for example Thailand. As I dug in my LP I could find it written that this the case. In fact, I had quite a lot of rain during my 4 days on the island, but it is didnt spoil my visit. I rented a motorbike and went around, I went to a wonderful fiesta with local people that I got to know in General Luna. I got quite drunk that day, cause the tradition during the fiesta is to go and eat at all relatives houses. Tanduay is always included with the food! It turned out that I got to know a waitress very well in General Luna and I decided to ask her to go with me to Camiguin Island!
She, her boss and parents accepted my invitation and we were off to Camiguin the next day! It took a full day to get from Siargao Island to Camiguin Island. We took the early morning boat (around 6 am) from Siargao and arrived in Yumbing on the northern side of Camiguin just after dark.
We stayed at a place near Parras resort, which I didnt find it worth the prcie they asked. But I used their pool once . I paid 1000 pesos for a nice big air con room! More than enough for me. On camiguin we rented a motorbike and toured the whole island as a day trip. All the sights, sunken cemetery, some waterfalls and up on a volcano. Didnt go to any hot springs though. One day was spent on white island which is relaxing with fresh seafood cooked in front of you and Camiguin island in the background. Camiguin is amazingly laidback and the locals are lovely. I loved it. May it stay this way forever!
After a few days in Camiguin it was time for my friend to go back to work in Siargao so we said farewell and I went the other direction to Cagayan De Oro. Cagayan De Oro was nice and some kind of timeout to sample a little city life again and a few trips to some fast food places! I liked Davao better though. Few days in Cagayan then out to Cagayan De Oro airport to catch a flight to Cebu city and then on to Puerto Princesa the following day. It turned out that it was going to be a long in Cagayan De Oro airport. First they delayed the flight again and again and then finally it was cancelled. When the flight was cancelled, the whole place became like a war zone. Some people had international connections from cebu city the same day. For me I had my Cebu-Puerto Princesa flight the day after so I remained calm but became very hungry. There are not much food in Philippine airports!! I finally got a seat on a Cagayan-Manila flight and then from Manila to Cebu. I stayed overnight in Mactan Island and then I flew to Puerto Princesa in the morning.
Puerto Princesa was the first place on my trip where I started to meet foreigners in any significant numbers. Even a few Swedes! As I was a bit late to arrive in Palawan with just a bit more than a week left of my trip, I immediately set of to Sabang with the underground river. Found a jeepney quite fast to take me there. I had myself a good seat on the roof of the jeepney! Good photo opportunities! Istayed in sabang a few days. Sabang had a nice beach with good surf, so I did some bodysurfing which was great. Then me and a 62 year old british guy walked to the underground river. Jungle trail to go there and the monkey trail to go back. It was well worth the trek instead of using the boat, but it is not for unfit people! You walk through some really nice jungle. The underground river was amazingly big!
Next stop in my plan was Port Barton which involved a jeepney-bus-jeppney trip to get to from Sabang. The first jeepney had a flat tire and the second jeepney between San Jose and Port Barton had to stop cause the road was washed away. I ended up helping to reapir the road, so we could get through. The locals laughed and said this is the time of the year when the roads are at their best! In fact the road between San Jose and Port Barton was much better 20 years ago when there was a big logging company operating in the area, in the need of a good road. Port Barton was a nice place just to relax and do nothing. Reading, lying in the hammock and sunbathing. I stayed in summer houses directly on the beach and the room rate was 450 pesos per night. Just amazing! Well maintained place run by a british guy. I just loved Port Barton. The flow of tourists is perfect too. Not too few not too many. There is nothing like loads of foreigners arriving each day, I think it is mainly due to the fact that it is quite a hassle to get to Port Barton. Which is good! The beach right in town is great and there boat trips available to nearby islands which are said to be nice but not as nice as those in the Bacuit Archipelago. I didnt take any boat trips here. Just relaxing on the beach
Going between Sabang, Port Barton and El Nido is also doable by boat. I had a hard time finding boats though, and I heard horror stories along the way about people travelling by boat, especially between Port Barton and El Nido where you pass through quite rough places with open sea. The land routes are also a lot cheaper and there is always funny things happening. The scenery is also great. So, I went overland again between Port Barton and El Nido. It was another full day of travelling. The road from Port Barton to The main road at San Jose was now passable so we didnt have to stop this time. It was the same jeepney I took travelling to Port Barton, "The Lion King". It seem like there is only one or jeepneys doing these routes per day!
El Nido. I was finally physically in the place I heard so much good about! And it really fulfilled all those things. One thing that is a bit annoying is the feeling of monopoly in the town of El Nido. It seems like everything is controlled from El Nido Art Cafe and Boutique. Tours, bookings of air tickets out of El Nido and so on. The owner Judith (Swiss) doesnt have a nice attitude either. I had some mail contact with her about booking an air ticket between El Nido and Manila. That was when I was still in Mindanao. Cause I was scared to get stuck in Palawan and miss my flight back to Sweden. She replied fast and said it was ok to get a ticket with ITI. When I arrived in El Nido I felt stressed about the fact that I still didnt had an air ticket to Manila, so I booked it with the girl at the reception in the place I stayed. Then I later talked to Judith and said that I didnt need her to book the ticket cause I already did it. Then she got angry with me. She said: "I am the general agent here for ITI. Who did you book the ticket through?" I didnt like that question at all. How am I supposed to know that she is a general agent?? It felt like she was angry cause she lost the commission on my ticket. Then I met other people who boycotted her place totally, even though she probably is the best to book tours and so on with. The boat trips are big business in El Nido as it is the big thing to do here. Me and a French couple found a couple of very nice guys that took us on boat trips two whole days, cheaper and nicer than going six people booked thourgh Art Cafe. The French couple felt the same as me. We were determined not to put any of our money in the Art Cafe!
Like I have said earlier, the Archipelago is the nicest place I have seen in my life. World class beaches, world class snorkelling and breathtaking nature. Not many tourists even in the high season. It is nowhere near southern Thailand in terms of tourists. On the second day boat trip, we were alone all day in the archipelago!
I will post pictures soon. Need to chose a few and resize then. It is saturday night and I am going out, so no more time now!
Last edited on Thu Mar 6th, 2008 04:28 pm by TheSwede
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Patric THEPHILS.COM
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Posted: Sat Feb 9th, 2008 07:07 pm |
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TheSwede !
Great trip report !
I must say, u really manage to see a lot of different places during your trips to the Phils.... Impressive!
Never been to Davao but after what u described it seems like a nice city to visit.
Cheers!
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 06:38 am |
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| Thanks Patric! I notice that there is still a limit on the picture size. When I compress my jpg:s, almost always they are still bigger than 204800 bytes so it is a bit of a hassle. What is the best way doing this? This might have been asked already in other parts of this forum but i ask it here again.
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Patric THEPHILS.COM
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 07:41 am |
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Well, i´m sure there are a lot of different good ways of doing it but i use the application ACDSee. The way i do it is by choosing "resize images" (one or more at a time) by choosing percentage . My experience is that this is a lot easier than trying any other option. U´ll probably need to try a couple of times depending upon how large your pic is but usually it works for me when resizing using 50-40%. If the pic is still to big (for this board it needs to be just below 200kB) just redo it or run the resize percentage again to get the right size.
Cheers!
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 09:36 am |
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| Funny I use ACDSee too, but I never used that function. Good advice! But there is a one to one relationship with the post and the picture right? Last edited on Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:12 am by TheSwede
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:13 am |
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| Davao City. Attached Image (viewed 24 times):
 Last edited on Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:13 am by TheSwede
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:16 am |
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| Philippine Eagle Conservation Center. Attached Image (viewed 25 times):
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:17 am |
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| Beach by the small town of General Luna in Siargao Island. The beaches are average but clean, but the nature, jungles and so on are lovely. The people too. You can see the rainy season clouds in the picture!! There was more than one heavy shower during my on the island! I loved this island a lot! Attached Image (viewed 25 times):
 Last edited on Sun Feb 10th, 2008 11:44 am by TheSwede
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:19 am |
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| Wonderful place. Laidback and not many tourists at all. Let it stay this way! Photo is taken from White island with Camiguin in the background. Look at the color of the water! No fake! Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
 Last edited on Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:20 am by TheSwede
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:21 am |
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| Me myself on white island. If you look closely you can see a glimpse of Bohol in the background! Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:21 am |
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| Sunken Cemtery, Camiguin Island. Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:22 am |
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| On my way to Sabang from Puerto Princesa. Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
 Last edited on Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:22 am by TheSwede
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:23 am |
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| 7 Commandos Beach, Bacuit Archipelago, Palawan. World Class. Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:24 am |
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| Another less known world class beach, on Matinloc island. Snorkelling was amazing too! Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
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TheSwede
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:30 am |
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| City Garden Hotel, Makati, Manila. Well worth the 3500 peso rate! Good ending to a wonderful trip. Attached Image (viewed 23 times):
 Last edited on Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:30 am by TheSwede
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Patric THEPHILS.COM
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Posted: Sun Feb 10th, 2008 10:33 am |
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Beautiful pics !
Well, if u mean if it´s possible to post several pics in one post.... yes & no, as part of the post & having the pic hosted by thephils.com u can only post 1 pic per post BUT, it is possible to post several pics in a row if u use for example photobucket or imageshack. I use photobucket myself & it works very well.
Cheers!
Last edited on Sat Mar 1st, 2008 09:24 am by Patric THEPHILS.COM
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