We're here in the little town of Coron, our first stop on our trip to Palawan Island, southwest part of the Philippines. It was 20 hour ferry boat ride out of Manila--a wooden boat with about 150 passengers. On route we saw dolphins leaping repeatedly right near the boat.

Coron, the capital of the district which contains Busuanga Island, is a welcoming quiet, show-paced change from very noisy, hurried Manila. We checked into a waterfront hotel called the Sea Dive Resort which has lovely second and third floor balconies overlooking the bay. Coron is famous for the multitude of undergound ship wrecks from World War II. Unfortunately, we do not have the time or skills (diving certification) to dive these sites.

Yesterday, we hired a motorboat (locally termed pump boat, 8-person capacity) to take us across a narrow straight to Coron Island, a jagged, mountainous place made of limestone. (see photos) We shared the cost of the excursion with 3 other tourists, 2 Germans and 1 Danish. The first stop was a small, extremely picturesque bay. But the main attraction was one of Coron's several lakes which we reached by climbing over a steep ridge. Our companions didn't waste time jumping into the crystal clear brackish water with its profusion of odd shaped fishes. We, on the other hand, were offered a paddle boat ride around the lake, which turned out to be the maiden voyage of the boat and the first time it was allowed by the local elders for tourists to go around the lake. The owner of the boat paddled us slowly along the perimeter of the lake while singing locally-composed church songs. We saw butterflies, a wild duck, beautiful blue-orange kingfishers and other fishes leaping repeatedly along the surface like skipping stones. We saw the cliffs where Chinese tradesmen harvest the swallow nests for the famous "bird's nest soup". It was very quiet around the lake and the water was just the perfect blue. So healing! Maitri got to help paddle, too. The boat ride was her biggest wish for this trip come true beyond expectation.

After the lake, we went to Twin Lagoon for swimming and snorkeling. This is two small inlets that are separated by a high rocky ridge with a gap just small enough to swim through at its base. Ole and the Europeans swam through into the other lagoon and took turns snorkeling. Maitri, who is a less confident swimmer, enjoyed floating in the area of the boat with a life vest. The waters were very warm and again crystal clear.

Our third stop was a picture perfect, if tiny, little white beach. The mid-day tropical sun was blinding. We relaxed in a shaded picnic area while our friends swam and snorkeled in the shallow waters. Ole's swim in the lagoon had washed off his sunscreen and he wished to avoid further sun exposure. (For an unaccustomed Caucasian visitor from the northern latitudes, even and hour of unscreened sun can result in a nasty burn. Generally, it requires a week or more of gradually increasing sun exposure to acclimatize oneself to the intense radiation. The solar energy potential of this area is enormous, and relatively unexploited.)

The last stop of the day was another tiny beach, this time with a little courser, yellow, sand. It was inhabited by a Filipino family with seven children whose abode was a small bamboo hut with a sheet of plastic for a roof. The kids, the youngest of whom was just a toddler, were constantly playing in the water and paddling the family boat just off shore. We were among three boats of tourists who moored on the shore. Most of the visitors took advantage of the excellent snorkeling opportunity afforded by two large rock outcroppings a ways from the beach. We were told there were fishes more than a foot in length swimming around these rocks. The family had dried one of the fishes they caught for their evening meal.

All in all, we had a wonderful outing, although we got a little too much sun. So today we are staying in the shade, catching up on email (our hotel has free WiFi), and making plans for the next couple weeks. Later this afternoon, when the sun is less intense, we will hike to a nearby hot springs and climb a nearby peak that overlooks the town. It apparently has steps all the way to the top, which seems to be a not uncommon Asian tradition.

8 pm

Well, we didn't make it to the top of the hill, but we made it to the hot springs, about half an hour's walk from the pier. The water was very warm and salty (!) by the seaside! We were told it's very unusual to have a salty hot springs. Anyhow, it was wonderful!

We leave for El Nido tomorrow morning. The owner of the resort we're staying got it all arranged for 15 tourists as there was no ferry boat scheduled at all for the next 2 weeks.