Having seen the news that you can get a free visa (matters a lot for Backpackers like me)on arrival in Philippines Manila,I decided to explore the country.You get frequent cheap flights to Manila from Malaysia KL airport and onward connection to Puerto princesa. My original plan was to explore the underground river which has been declared as one of the latest 7 wonders by UNESCO world heritage .But having landed in PP seeing the heavy scorching sun and waiting time to get the permit to the river.
I decided to travel straight to El Nido which was not in my plan originally and in fact that was a good decision .I could enjoy the scenery along the coast as the bus took more than 7 hours to reach El Nido and reached by sun set.You have to go by the public bus to enjoy this and must travel in Day.having put my bags in the Hostel I booked for the Island tour C since I did not want to get myself drenched in Sea water as in all the other tours you have to wade through water to reach your picnic spot.
That is how I landed on the Snake Island and what you see in my Blog Home page is the photo taken by me from the top of the hill the sea separated by the snake like path which are visible only when tide is low and the mangrove forest at the back.Our boat operator and his assistant started preparing the lunch for our group.Many of us on our trip indulge in too much of unhealthy junk food because of its availability in all food restaurants in the Boracays long white sands beach
But to my amazement these guys went and caught some fish from the sea and started roasting using the fire woods available in the Island.They had brought lot of fresh fruits like Pineapple,Water melon,Jack fruit,Papaya and fried vegetables like egg fruit,ladies finger etc which are available in plenty in the Island.
Many boats joined by then and those guys also started preparing the lunch for their members.It was a good sight so many young boys preparing food for the foreigners from Japan,Korea,Germany,Czech,Israel,India,
Filipinos,France.There was plenty of rice and sauce for people like me who eat only vegetarian food wherever I go.
The Island had small bamboo huts may be to protect people from rains during monsoon.It had a neat washroom and the ladies were quick to use it happily.As the groups become bigger and bigger it looked like a party at scorching sun and everybody enjoyed the food.Nothing was left at the end and people started taking snaps about having eaten food at the snake infested Island.There were warning signs which prevents
people from entering the Jungle and the fear of snakes kept everyone at bay.It was really fun to get out of the beaten track and enjoy the Island trip in Philippines.I found more convenient to travel in Philippines than in Thailand as many people speak good English and the Tours are also well praised.I was told that they will be increasing the Tour rates in par with Thailand in Future.
But conversion rate is less in Philippines and I know more visitors will visit this place once the roads are laid perfectly from PP which will reduce the travel time by Half.
No comments:
Post a Comment