El Nido is a pain in the butt.  You’ll know what I’m talking about when you get there after 7 hours of pot-holed roads.  Ok, to be fair, there are stretches of nicely paved roads, but you kinda take those things for granted considering the hefty chunk of money the government bites off of your payday.  What should get every local tourist’s goat is that of all those pork barrel funds given every year, why not pave the roads properly, all of it?  You kinda wonder whether this is a punishment to local tourists who take the more scenic route instead of patronize Asean Spirit (at around P12K roundtrip, who would?).

But there is a silver lining to all of this.  And somehow I am torn between wanting a nicely paved road and keeping it as such, so that the place remains not-so-accessible thereby slowing the march of commercialization.

To those who have never been to El Nido, you need to go there– it’s PERFECT.  And it’s not only for the rich.  You just have to weather the 7-hour ride to get there (like I did).  There are a lot of dirt-cheap pension houses if you’re in a tight budget.  If you can gather enough number of travelmates, it becomes very affordable.

Pictures after the jump.

Oh well.. Pictures.

If these pictures won’t tempt you to save up and visit the place, nothing else will.

But now’s not the time to be thinking about nasty things, I’m sure in the grand scheme of things these folks would have a very special place in that not so very touristy spot in the great beyond.  One that smells of sulphur and brimstone.

This trip has burned enough holes in my pocket willingly and unwillingly.  I wouldn’t elaborate on the involuntary part as it would be a sob story that you can’t sell to the most diehard of Judy Ann Santos fans.  What’s done is done and I could just imagine that those bills fell out and some crocodile gobbled it up.  Still I’m glad that this is happening.  The last time I was there, I was confined to the scanty pleasures of Puerto Princesa.  Not that you would call the natural wonder of the underground river as flimsy but for a guy with serious claustrophobic tendencies, it’s a bloody deathtrap.  All the time I was inside that cave, I couldn’t stop thinking that it would indeed be a watery grave had we not come out of it sooner.  I couldn’t breath in there!  That’s why I couldn’t share my companions’ excitement about the prospect of seeing this much ballyhooed natural wonder.  I am not going back into that hell hole, thank you very much.

The thought about island hopping in the El Nido area however makes me dizzy from excitement.  I have already spent precious company hours searching each mentioned mini-island we will be visiting and by gosh they look perfect! I’ll be bringing my camera and shoot the hell out of those spots.

Oh well, this has gone long enough and I’m bloody late.

I really believed I could stay away from the computer throughout my holiday but I was given too many opportunities to be in front of one. Anyway, since I’m already here (while the SO rearranges her store here in Lim Ket Kai), I might as well write a few sentences about my vacation so far. I will be writing the details at a later date.

I started the weekend in Anawangin. It’s an island somewhere in Zambales. So far, it placed second in my best-visited-beaches-so-far list. The first will always be the Pink Lagoon in Surigao.  I’m not even sure if I can still go back to that place as my friends and I can no longer agree on the exact name or location.  Perhaps it’s one of those enchantment things.  I just hope that that place is not lost to me forever.

The joy of Anawangin is its back river.  It has a river just a few steps from the beach. And there are woods there too.  A colleague even commented that the place sort of resembled Lake Tahoe.  I wouldn’t know though.  I’ve never been there.  Because the place is not yet developed, it makes for a very good camping spot.

After Anawangin, I flew to CDO to participate in an all-expense-paid vacation involving white water rafting and a 3 day stay in Caminguin. I didn’t care much for Camiguin as I’ve been there a few times already. It was the rafting I was most interested in.  I must admit to raising a skeptical eyebrow everytime I read all the praises about this different kind of adventure from folks who’ve been there.  What’s so special about a river, a few rapids, some raft?  I’ve been burned by clickthecity’s review on Putipot Island before that I’ve been doubly wary about other people’s reviews.

But I was pleasantly mistaken.

White Water Rafting In CDO is indeed an adventure worth taking. There– I’ve already joined the bandwagon. The clincher really was the number of HOURS I spent aboard the inflatable raft.  Yes, you read that right. You will be aboard the raft for at least two hours and man, you get to really appreciate the CDO river.  It is absolutely amazing. I didn’t realize that we have a river like that in the Philippines and I’ve seen my share of rivers.   I can’t begin to express the exhilaration I felt surrounded by all those cliffs and the vegetation and the still waters.

If there’s one adventure that you must do this summer, do this one. I guarantee that you would have one hell of a great time.

Yep its the beach again this weekend and we’re calling the bluff of those who say that Potipot Island in Zambales is the bomb. It better be folks, or we’re thrashing your houses.

But from the looks of it, looks like we won’t have to.