#smoressss

:cries:

Coron

Wow this trip took quite a turn for a few hours! I experienced the most miserable boat ride of my entire life. To get to Coron, an island in northern Palawan, you either fly or take a 7-8 hour ferry from El Nido. I was tired, hungover and packed on a small, hot boat with 50 people at 8am. You can imagine how I felt as I sat there melting on a wooden bench. The water was calm and we made it eventually. The plan was for me to dive at some of the epic ship wrecks that surround Coron. I signed up for an 8am dive the next morning. I even went to bed at 9pm, however as exhausted as I was I slept through my alarm and woke up 12 hours later missing my one chance to dive in Coron. Great.

It wasn’t a total bust as some locals that Vance had met took us on motor bikes to cruise the countryside and go to a hidden waterfall. I had my first and hopefully final mishap my ancient scooter as the shock broke off (guess i’ve been eating too much) and shattered the wheel. luckily I wasn’t injured and the owner didn’t even make me pay anything as he was super nice and the bike was well past its prime.

That night we were invited to meet up with Matt, another awesome couch surfer from Manila that we met through Anthony. He invited us to an “after party” of a friends wedding on the island. It turned out to basically be the dinner reception after the wedding and only had about 30-40 people there, all close friends of the bride and groom. And then the goofy, underdressed Americans. Needless to say the hospitality came out again as we were fed, given drinks and introduced to everyone. The brides father was a legend and did a shot with us and toured us around introducing us to his family. I was amazed at how friendly everyone was and how they would bring us in to an intimate event never having met us. Such a cool experience, thank you for making me feel so welcome.

The next day Matt and some of the wedding guests invited us on their private boat tour. We hopped around to more amazing islands, did some snorkeling and ate a seafood feast prepared by the boat captain and chef. The food was amazing at it was clearly fresh and tasted like it. I think the highlight was a lake in the middle of a small island off the coast. It had an epic view of the ocean, deep blue water that wasn’t very salty and the sun shining. I even got a performance from our travel companions who are all in a choir. They sang two songs and everyone at the late was completely silent listening to them as their song echoed around the cavern. Man they can sing. 

It was a busy few days on the island as I got to camp out on an empty island with Vance and Matt. We slept on the sand, built our own fire and roughed it like true cavemen. Was awesome to get away for a day and be on an island in the middle of nowhere.

Another highlight for me was playing basketball with some locals. They have a serious love for basketball in the Philippines which is amazing. Everyone wears jerseys and plays when they get the chance. in Coron they play at the police station every day. I made my way out there and played for the first time in about 6 months. Safe to say I was way out of shape. I had half a foot on everyone in height but couldn’t keep up as they raced up and down the court. Regardless it felt so good to play again and we picked up a few W’s.

I had some of my favorite food here and tried a few new things. My favorite was Beef Tapa or Tapsilog with garlic rise. Usually a breakfast food, comes with beef in a bit of a sweet sauce, rice and a fried egg. I also loved chicken adobo which is a staple everywhere. I even got a bit adventurous with pork and tuna sisig, which was minced pork cheek (or tuna) and served on a sizzling plate with some veggies. It was surprisingly good.

We wrapped up the Philippines by heading back to Manila for a night and having a nice little send off with some of the couch surfers and the “Columbian” from Panama. All in all it was an amazing portion of the trip. I was surprised how many friendly people I met and how hospitable they were to us. A big thank you for everyone that hosted, toured us and generally included my lost self in things. I am forever grateful and will be back.

The final stop on my quarter life crisis tour is India for Anand and Ashwini’s wedding. In honor of Anand I have officially grown my travel beard to the appropriate length. Stoked to see the wedding and reunite with some friends from home. See you in India!