Just realized I didn't post the El Nido part, so here it comes. (see post above for pics)
In El Nido we did Island hopping tour A; A and C are the supposed to be the nicest, but C was not running that day (or the week) because of the wing/waves. Another very attractive option was a combined island hopping tour that wasn’t much more, combining the highlights of two tours. (Side note, all the tours were booked after arrival-there are tour operators all over the small town, and can also be booked through your hotel)
The next day was Friday, and since we did not have enough time for another boat tour we decided to rent scooters to drive to the much heard about Corong Corong beach. We decided to each get a bike, but ended up driving there on one…. The ride itself is pretty long, and part of it is not paved-basically it is not as easy as the locals claim. The beach itself is very nice, and after walking to the very end, found it to be completely empty.
Shabbos was spent with the new El Nido chabad couple. Originally, we were told that there was no chabad in Palawan at all, and we expected to spend Shabbos alone with our meal mart shelf stable cholent. While in Hong Kong at the beginning of our trip, the Kowloon chabad couple told us that there was a Chabad couple that had literally just moved to El Nido a few weeks before to open a chabad house for all the Israeli tourists! We didn’t know where they would be staying, but after asking a bunch of random people where the chabad is, we asked about a rabbi and they all knew. They’re a really nice young couple from Chaifa who were so happy to see us! I think this was their first Shabos hosting people, and they insisted we join them. There is no kosher food on the Island, everything gets flown in besides for fruits/vegetables and fish which they buy from the markets. So the shabbos food wasn’t lavish, but it was very tasty and sufficient. And the company more than made up for it!
Sunday was a fast day, and was therefore spent exploring the town and buying souvenirs. There was a tiny street/alleyway where there were lots of vendors selling really nice handmade jewelry for really cheap that we watched them make on the spot. We took a tuk tuk to check out Las Cabanas beach which was a waste of time.
Getting to Puerto Princessa so we could board our flight to Manila was an excruciating and scary 6 hour van ride, although cheap. Was booked a day before departure. The PP to Manilla flight was the only Air Asia flight we took that was delayed, and would have caused us to miss our next day’s flight. On a whim, I checked with the gate agents (sounds so official, but totally wasn’t) and they were able to change us to a flight that was leaving an hour later than our original flight.
I had been in touch with the Levy’s, the chabad couple in Manilla, who were extremely helpful.They mentioned that there was a kosher takeout in Manilla, which we did not have time to make use of. Additionally, when planning the trip I really wanted to take a trip to the Taal volcano which looked really cool. But that would entail a long drive to tagatay, a boat ride across the lake, then a long hike to the tip of the crater to see the island within the lake, within a lake, within an island I realized that trying to stuff it all in a day trip was too ambitious. Also, flying to Cebu and swimming with whale sharks seemed like too much. Instead, we decided to fly directly into Bohol (most people fly into Cebu and then take the ferry) and stay there to see the Virgin island (way overrated).
So we spent a night in Manila in an excellent Airbnb in the neighborhood of Makati (the safest neighborhood in Manila) and then flew very earlythe next day to the island of Bohol. When leaving the airport, we were bombarded with tons of tour companies offering private drivers to bring us to the different attractions on the island. We managed to bargain down A LOT, and got someone to drive us to the tarsier sanctuary, the Chocolate hills, and the Hindagannan cave. Side note, there are 2 sanctuaries; make sure to go to the one where the tarsiers are free and not caged up.
When we got to the sanctuary it was pouring, but we were still able to see the animals. The way it works is each morning someone goes out and marks locations of tarsiers since they do not budge during the day. We were taken to see them by a sanctuary guide. They are tiny animals, part of the primate family I believe, and very endangered since they commit suicide when scared.
IMG_1254 by
eandd, on Flickr
Next we were taken to the chocolate hills, a very amazing and weird sight. During the dry season they look like chocolate kisses since their vegetation dries up and turns brown.
IMG_1322 by
eandd, on Flickr
Unfortunately when we got to the cave it was closed, so we decided to save it for the next day.
Our hotel booked on Agoda I believe, and was on Panglao Island (part of Bohol but separate from the mainland). The hotel was cheap and clean, nothing fancy. We had asked the manager to warm up one of our meal mart meals in his microwave, and he mentioned that if he had know n we keep kosher he would have prepared us a special meal! Turns out he had dealt with the special meal requests on Disney cruises for years, and claimed to know the rules of kashrus. That evening, we walked around Alona beach (super overrated), and bargained many boat owners for a private island hopping tour the next day. Finally, we got the price we wanted and made up to meet the guy by the docks the next morning.
