SE Asia 2024

We said goodbye to the wonderful staff at Flower Island Resort and got the customary send off, they move the bar speaker down to the beach, pump up the volume and do a good bye dance as we pull away. The "boys" work hard on the island; balancing heavy loads such as suitcases and large water dispenser bottles on their shoulder while negotiating the slope of the boat ladder into the water depending on the height of the tide and then walking up the slope of the beach to the resort. The waves were pretty high getting to Palawan Island and then we had the 45 minute drive to get to El Nido, stopping briefly at a craft store along the way. We headed to Manila fie a brief two days on the way home. The flight to. Manila delayed due to wind - our first delaywd flight since the Wrstjet at the start, and on arrival our bags did not make it as it was fully booked and we noted some suitcases were quite large (likely filled with dive equipment). Grab to our hotel just inside the old Spanish walls (Intramuros area) and a nice dinner at the restaurant. Luggage caught up with us just after midnight. The next day Doug walked around Intramuros seeing the typical tourist sites and Nancy spent time picking up a few things at a local antique, art and craft store called Silahis which was very good. We then went to the SM Mall of Asia which is huge and Nancy bought a new gym bag to bring home her purchases. We had a final drink on the rooftop bar after a late check out as our plane does not leave until almost midnight to Tokyo; the first leg of a two and a half day trek back to Toronto via LA and Chicago.

MUSINGS ON PHILIPPINES AND MANILA
We found the Philippine people very respectful and pleasant. We were warned that Manila was not a big tourist draw and that walking around our area was not advisable after dark. Security checks at museums, the mall (carrying guns, they ask you to open and look in your bag, they no doubt need to do this to keep certain individuals out). We know there is significant poverty here and the common folk on Palawan are living very modestly but we did not get exposed to much of it during our short stay inthe tourist centre. City or country we are hoping the heat wave ends soon (highs in the mid 40s) and rain comes as it must be so hard on those who can not escape the heat.もっと詳しく