Vacation

I am writing to you from Puerto Princessa City, Palawan. I am on vacation. The really best part is that my Dad is here with me!
So my vacation started almost 2 weeks ago. I hiked out of the mountains with Pliding and Unda for the first time! I hadn't left the mountains since I arrived making this the end of 6 and a half months in the mountains. It was nice to see the trail and to see the various villages and houses that I have heard about but don't remember seeing that first trip into the mountains in the dark and early morning hours on September 18, 2009. I got to see Brooke's Point and its two main hospitals. This is the town closest to Kemantian. Hiking down the mountain took about 1 and a half hours. Hiking in took us about 3 hours in September. Then I caught a shuttle to Puerto and met my dad the next morning at the airport. We spent the weekend in Puerto going to church at the Palawan Adventist Hospital Church which worships in english. Then Monday we travelled to Sabang with a day tour and went to the Underground River. We didn't return with the day tour to Puerto but instead stayed in Sabang for 2 nights. I really enjoyed laying and sitting around reading (Dahveed 2) and resting! I also enjoyed a little swimming in the ocean.
Then our adventure began as we decided to travel to El Nido. No boats were going and not enough people were wanting to hire a car/van so we decided to take the bus. The trip was quite an experience! Three buses and 12 hours later we arrived in El Nido! Normally this trip only takes 5 hours! We took the first bus (much like a Jeepeny) to the junction of the national highway then got off and waited for another bus heading north. We realized that there were two European couples also heading to El Nido, so we waited with them. We all managed to get a seat on the next bus but it was only going as far as Roxas. There we would have to catch the last bus of the day heading to El Nido from Puerto. When the bus pulled into the stop at about noon, our chances of making it to El Nido that day looked pretty bleak but we were determined. The bus was piled high on top and the inside was jammed full of people. We pretty much begged to go with them anyways, offering to stand in the aisles. We found out there wasn't any aisle left to stand in but we could perch on sacks of rice and other goods piled in the aisles and stand in the stairwell. So they threw our bags on top of the heap on the roof of the bus and we squeezed into the bus. Most of us fit on the sacks of rice in the aisle but my dad had to stand in the stairwell with 6 other people. We continued like this for 3 hours before some people got off the bus and my dad and a couple others could sit on the tiny seats. Meanwhile, three times we had to get off the bus and walk up hills because the bus was too overloaded to make it up the hills. Not just us but almost all the passengers got off to walk. We actually relished the opportunity to get out and stretch our legs! One time a dump truck stopped and took several of us to the top of the hill. We arrived that evening in El Nido at about 6:30pm covered in dust and pretty tired and sore!
The next two days I went on island hopping/snorkeling tours. I really enjoyed tour A of the lagoons near the various islands, the snorkeling was amazing! Through out our time in El Nido we kept bumping into this Australian middle-aged couple, Beth and John, that we had first met on our tour in Sabang. They took me under their wing the first day, as I went snorkeling by myself since Dad wasn't feeling well. A very neat couple that were very fun to talk with and were experienced snorkelers. They hooked us up with a better and cheaper room at Inngo for the rest of our time in El Nido. Friday Dad and I went on tour C of the "secret" beaches . The first place we stopped for snorkeling was amazing! There was so many fish and great coral to look at! Many different schools of fish and I even say flying fish, flying! We also got to observe divers with SCUBA collecting the "crown of thorns" which is an extremely poisonous creature which is destroying the coral. For Sabbath we attended the local Adventist Church in Tagalog. Sunday we took windsurfing lessons and then just walked around and enjoyed one more meal at the local restaruants. We really enjoyed eating at the Blue Azul, The Alternative and The El Nido Art and Boutique Cafe. We especially enjoyed the seating at the Alternative; we sat in this private "bird's nest" pod like balcony over looking the bay with padded floor and beanbags to recline against. It had really good vegetarian food but a bit expensive.
Our return trip to Puerto was much less eventful and we made it by shuttle in 5 hours. In Puerto we like eating at the Vegetarian House and Ima's Gulay Bar. Ima's is an vegetarian restaurant run by Adventists with excellent ambiance and food! I really like Ima and Sam the owners.
So our plan today is to stock up at the NCCC (grocery and department store) with food mostly and then head to Brooke's tomorrow and then hike to Kemantian Thursday morning! My dad will be with me in Kemantian for about a week and a half before returning home. I am here in Kemantian until I return home June 10.