34. Philippines @ Cebu - Cebu + Bohol - Alona Beach

We went from Coron to Cebu by plane.



First we flew very delayed to Manila and



then we went on to Cebu. We were so delayed on the first flight, that we did not catch the second flight to Cebu, but had to buy new tickets. Thank you for the extra cost, Cebu Pacific Air....

Cebu island is a long narrow island stretching 225 kilometers from north to south.

Cebu city is "the second city of the Philippines". It is the 5th most populated city in the country with more than 2.60 inhabitants.

Cebu city is the first Spanish settlement and the oldest town of the Philippines. It has a huge shipping port and is home to about 80 % of the shipping companies of the Philippines.

In Cebu we met up with Riku, one of Markus good friends from Finland.



Together we went by ferry to the island of Bohol and



with tuk tuk to beautiful Alona Beach on the peninsula Panglao.

Bohol is the 10th largest island in the Philippines.

After enjoying the sun and the water spending a couple of days on the beach in Alona Beach Area we decided to rent scooters and have an island tour around Bohol Island...



First stop was the Loboc river where it was possible to do a river cruise in a motorized banca.

From the bridge across the river we could see Loboc church.

The church was damaged by the earthquake in 2013.

The earthquake was mesuared to 7.2 on the Richter scale.

On the way we stopped and had a little brake.

We bought coca cola and I looked behind for the local kitchen.

Then we went to Loboc Zipline.

This is not us, but we could see people on the zip line and how much fun they had.

Carina was the one who needed the most thinking time, but

after some time we decided to do it even that it looked a bit hmm..... :)

When we were gliding we could enjoy this beautiful view.

It was amazing.

First we took the zip line 520 meter and

then we took the cable car 420 meter back.

Next stop was in the tiny town of Bilar where a 3 kilometer man made forest is sanctuary to the endangered Tarsier.

The second smallest monkey in the world is as big as a mans fist.

The Tarsiers are most active at night and their diet consist mostly of insects.

They were cute, even that they were sleeping...

On our way we stopped for gasoline and just beside the gas station these guys were working.

The Chocolate Hills consists of 1268 haycock hills in an area of 50 km2, with heights ranging from 30 to 120 meters.

The dome shaped, grass covered limestone hills dry up and turn brown during the summer, transforming these rows and rows of Chocolate "kisses".

33. Philippines @ Busuanga - Coron

This is almost our route to the town of Coron.



We went from El Nido directly towards Coron. Not first south. That took us about 8,5 hours.

The first sight of the island of Busuanga where the town of Coron is situated. Our boat was the same as the one on this picture. Maybe a bit bigger. We were about 15 passengers and 4 crew members.

Here we are on the boat from El Nido to the town of Coron. On this picture we are almost on real ground again after 8,5 hours on the water in a not big boat. It was not a bad trip. Very pleasant, with lunch and beautiful sights every time we woke up from our half sleeping... We were so few people on board that it was possible to lie down and Carina was very glad because she gets seasick quite easy.

We spend some days diving in water around the many islands. It was great. First time we dived into old shipwrecks.

We had to move on because we were going to meet Markus's good friend from Finland.

32. Philippines @ Palawan - El Nido

The drive to El Nido was not very easy or pleasant.



We went with 3 different buses. There were buses going all the way, but they were full, so we went little by little. It did not take longer, it was cheaper, but it was not nice.
In the end we got there and we loved it.

El Nido town (Town Proper) sits in a limestone mountain sheltered bay with a pier in one end along a crescent beach.

The paradise in the north of Palawan is said to be the best beach and island destination in the Philippines.

El Nido is an area, a town, but also a maritime National Park.

The area called El Nido is composed by at least 45 islands and islets.

We ate a lot of freshly caught fish.

It was just funny. These rooms were for rent... At least according to the sign.

We went on a day trip.

We wanted to see some of the islands, beaches and nature surrounding us.

We had a good day, we saw many beaches, but for us the beaches were too crowded.
For example when we went to the "secret" beach we laughed, when we saw that somebody slipped out the secret. The place was overcrowded with tourists.

The places the boat took us were absolutely stunning.

Our boat was the last, so we managed to see the place and to get some pictures without people.

They made the best seafood BBQ for us. The crew made it on the boat.

then we went to a beautiful beach and ate the lovely meal.

Here we are with some amazing limestone formation behind us.

We also went in the water and it was lovely. We snorkeled and swam from the boat in between the islands.

This is a clown fish or "Nemo". We see them everywhere and they Carina's favorite.

This is a black Snapper. It taste good too.

We climbed a little hill and had a pretty

pretty view.

We found the area so beautiful.

Also in the setting sun.

One day we rented a scooter and drove to Nacpan Beach.

Carinas favorite beach so far...

31. Philippines @ Palawan - The underground river

This is our route to the underground river.



We took a minivan some of the way to the underground river. After the minivan dropped us in a junction, we got a ride from a local truck the rest of the way from where we needed to take a local boat the rest of the way.

Here Carina is waiting for the boat to take us to where the underground river starts.

The Philippine boats are kind of stable with their 2 poles in the water on each side of the boat. We have now learned that the boats are very good and stable.

On the way to Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The river is also called "The Puerto Princesa Underground River"

The park has limestone mountain landscape. 

Beneath the St. Paul Mountain lies the quiet underground river which snakes and winds through the cave before opening up into a clear lagoon for then to flow directly into the South China Sea.

The underground river is 8,2 km long and is navigable by boat up to 4,3 km.

The river was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on December 4th 1999.

The river flows through one of the worlds largest chambers which is 360 meters long and approximate 2,5 million square meters volume.

The cave contains major formations of stalagmites and

stalactites.

We visited the underground river on the way to town of El Nido. We left Puerto Princesa in the morning and in the afternoon we caught the first of the 3 buses that would take us to further north of the island.