for  We Spent around 7 weeks in total travelling through the Philippines, stopping in Manila, Palawan, Coron, Bohol, Apo Reef, Mindoro, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

We travelled between these places using ferry, bus and plane in some cases. Travel and transport was not too bad really and in most cases we got from A to B with moderate ease. 

The start of our trip was predictably Manila as that is the main airport location and the cheapest destination to land into the Philippines for us. After a few days in Manila to get a feel for the place we were ready to move onto somewhere more relaxed (Manila being a very busy City).

We went directly to Palawan (Puerto Princesa) to start our Island hops and we were not disappointed, Palawan has a host of attractions and interesting places to visit including the infamous El Nido.

The open prison/penal farm (Iwahig) not far from Puerto Princesa was a good 1/2 day visit – you can take the opportunity to visit the prisoners on the farm where they are going about their chores.  On the day we visited, we met with some that had been in the highest security prisons in the country and were seeing out the end of their sentences for the most serious crimes which they were happy to talk about.  We had been talking to another couple on the way and they mentioned to us another place to visit called “Port Barton” they said that it that was like El Nido but without as many tourists so after a few days we made a move North West from Puerto Princesa travelling by bus and from memory it took around 5 hours and cost around 300PHP (£5.00). The bus’ stop at service stations so you can get food and drinks / toilet a few times along the route.

Port Barton was a lovely place that we enjoyed very much, a place right on the beach with everything you wanted, it was very peaceful and relaxed, the roads (in the main) are no more than dirt tracks that can be a bit dusty but the surrounding beauty compensates for that. The local people are very friendly towards you and you really are made to feel welcome. We stayed in a traditional bamboo “Hut” which was quite nice but we did wish we’d paid a little more for aircon as it was very warm at night time. We hired a motorbike and took ourselves off into the hills and discovered the smaller villages away from the throng of Europeans. We had about three or four days here and enjoyed every minute of it. Food was a bit of a challenge as there were only a few local eateries but plenty of street food stalls.

El Nido followed on from there, again via a private mini bus, I use the word “Private” very loosely as you will find yourself sharing a 10 seater bus with around 15 others as they use the aisle to seat people and room very quickly gets tight but they are faster than a bus and the cost is good too. We always try to get the front two seats next to the driver as you have more room. Just tip the driver or offer to get him his lunch at one of the stops, usually works or make sure you get there early and stick your bag on the seat well before people board (Don’t let that van out of your sight though if you use the bag trick).

El Nido was what we thought it would be and we only stayed there for two nights (three days) before moving on, very nice place, bit more expensive but still relatively cheap compared to Europe.