asia, philippines July 8, 2013

Palawan, Philippines: A Photo Diary From Island Paradise

Travelling through the Philippines, especially somewhere like the island province of Palawan. It is definitely not like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia, which has an established tourist/backpacker trail.

The Philippines is made up of over 7000 islands. If you are travelling around the country, you will have to take a plane, a boat, bus, van, tricycle, and jeepney to get to where you need to go. With the Philippines, I think it’s the opposite of the saying “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”. It is definitely about the destination because the journey in the Philippines is often very challenging!

TRIP PLANNING STARTS HERE

HELPFUL GENERAL TRAVEL TIPS

Flights: Find a cheap flight using Skyscanner or Momondo. I like these two booking sites because they both search all websites and airlines around the globe including budget airlines.
Accommodations: I use Booking.com or Tripadvisor to find the best rates on hotels. Hotels.com offers a free night after booking 10 nights
Get up to $40 off your first Air Bnb stay by using this code!
Travel Insurance: Having gotten sick on my travels in the past, I never travel without being insured. You never know when something may happen. For my round the world trip and extended long-term travel, I use World Nomads. For other trips, I have used Roam Right and they cover activities like extreme sports.

Need Palawan accommodations? Booking has the best rates and cancellation policy!

Booking.com

Below is a photo diary from my time travelling in Palawan, which is an island province on the western side of the Philippines. It is the least developed part of the country and probably one of the most stunning places you will ever visit. You can see from my photos that it is truly about the destination.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, though. Electricity only runs for parts of the day in certain parts of the island (at the time in 2012), sometimes as little as 6 hours. I didn’t stay in fancy resorts when I was there. I stayed in very simple guesthouses and took cold water bucket showers because there wasn’t any hot water.

Some resorts had generators to heat the water but honestly, it was so hot it wasn’t necessary. I had the intention of shutting off and going off the grid. With very little access to electricity, there’s not much else you can do other than hire a boat driver, explore deserted islands, read books, and chill.

Things have changed a lot since my visit in 2011.