Palawan

On March 2011, I bought the tickets as a  gift for myself.  No better way to celebrate a graduation on March than go to the  so called " last frontier"- Palawan.

My mom booked the accommodations and to my surprise she chose a pricey one. Later, I found out that it was a tour package. The hotel would provide the transportation, food and a tour guide. It was the best vacation in my whole life. We never haggled with drivers as to the transportation fees, nor we got lost and argued whose fault is it. Okay, we got lost once and it was scary. The resort we stayed was new and nobody knows where it is. and Palawan is a city within a forest. You will know what I mean when you get there.

We booked at Deep Forest Garden Inn Hotel.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294257-d1740030-Reviews-Deep_Forest_Garden_Inn-Puerto_Princesa_Palawan_Mimaropa.html





Palawan is indeed a paradise.

One good thing about  in a tour group is sometimes you meet friendly people.

Day 1 of our tour: Undergound River

Day 2 Island Hopping at Honda Bay

                                                             day 3 tour around the city

 “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

Bohol- the home of the chocolate hills, the tarsiers, and the beautiful panglao island...

This is one of the the travels where  we have no itinerary and we spent most of our time being lost and arguing. This is disastrous...My sister almost never made it to the airport. She works at night time in  a call center and she is cranky for lack of sleep. So the three of us wanted different things. I wanted to take pictures, my mom wanted to go her friend's house, my sister wanted to sleep and we have no  accommodations yet. We eventually settled at Dumaluan Beach Resort.

 Rest cooled our heads and we finally found ourselves in a "tourist mode".

at night the resort is abuzz with activity ...mostly on the gastronomic side...

WATER SPORTS 

MUST VISIT IN BOHOL

1. Loboc River Cruise

2. Chocolate hills but preferably in the summer when the hills are brown...

Vigan, Ilocos Sur

 I first heard of Vigan when I was with a Luzon  tour with my officemates in 2009. The first batch made it to Vigan but the 2nd batch(that includes me) due to a typhoon and a landslide which  made the roads to Vigan impassable went to Baguio and Tagaytay instead.

As the saying goes, we always want what we didn't get, I got more curious of Vigan.

So  when I chanced upon a piso sale to Laoag , Ilocos Norte, which is 2 hours away from Vigan, I immediately asked my mom (who happens to be travel addict like me) to visit the place.

Acording to Wikipedia , it is a  World Heritage Site.  It  is one of the few Hispanic towns left in the Philippines, and famous for its cobblestone streets, and a unique architecture that fuses Philippine and Oriental building designs and construction, with colonial European architecture.

True enough its like being in another timeline...

This reminds me of my mother's ancestral house in Catbalogan, Samar, I wonder if it's still there...

Door bell in the olden times...

sewing machines...

TRAVEL TIP:


We arrived at around 7:00 PM at Laoag and with no hotel reservations we asked the tourism desk officers at the airport for a budget friendly hotel. They showed us a list of affordable accommodations and we chose UKL hotel. The airport has shuttle buses which cost 20 pesos per person.

Laoag Hotel review/ratings 

UKL hotel in Laoag is affordable (700 plus per night), clean, with hot and cold shower and the personnel are friendly.

BUT, I find the bed so uncomfortable. It's just me  because my mom slept soundly.

VIGAN HOTELS

Since I hardly slept in our stay in Laoag, I forego with the adventure of sleeping in

 old mansions or heritage hotels. 

creepy...

The Kutsero pointed us to a place called The Green R hotel. It is near the  bus terminal and the market. I had a good night sleep. Clean rooms, friendly staff, affordable rates.

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharal Nehru

I Hope to see you again Vigan!