Visit to El Nido, Palawan

[BingColin]

My daughter came to visit us a few weeks ago, the first time we have seen her since we left the UK nearly eight years ago. We took her up to El Nido, this was the first time we have been there. I have posted a few of the Photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/c-reader/sets/72157634094504863/ .

I had a pro account with Flickr some years ago, but when I dropped back to a normal free account they would not let me see all my photos so I stopped using it. However, they have now given everybody a free 1TB of space making it worthwhile to continue with it. I am slowly adding more photos and creating sets so there may be other items that would interest people.

[wildbill]

Loved those pics Colin very nice clean looking place there.looks so peaceful.

[meylou]

Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures, Colin.  I also took the liberty at browsing your other albums. They're also very nice. Makes me want to visit these places in Palawan.
Thanks again.

[coleman2347]

Great pictures, I'm a little envious....seems much quieter and more peaceful than here..    Lee

[BingColin]

For anyone wanting to visit El Nido, the only practical way is to drive up from Puerto Princesa. There is a small charter type airline that flies from Manila, but it is very expensive, has restricted baggage and can only be booked up to 5 weeks in advance. The journey takes 5 hours by private van or 6+ by Bus. We hired a private van and driver for P15k and the driver stayed for the 4 days. The cost per single journey on public transport is P600. The last hour of the journey from Taytay is on unmade roads and very uncomfortable. There are random half sections of road concreted but we did not use them.

El Nido is only a very small place, but I imagine that it will get more like Boracay in time. It will get more crowded when the road is completed and perhaps the airlines that originally flew there re-establish their routes. There is also talk of an airport at Port Barton which is a lot nearer than Puerto.

[John Edwards]

Nice pictures Colin, and you are right handy with a camera too.

[Gray Wolf]

Awesome photos, Colin!  Did you get a new camera?  What camera did you take this photos with?

[BingColin]

Awesome photos, Colin!  Did you get a new camera?  What camera did you take this photos with?

Still using my old Canon EOS D40, and some were taken by Bing with her older Canon IXUS 500.  I did the usual cropping and minor corrections in Photoshop although most did not need it. I also reduced them in size to reduce the time it takes for posting although Flickr will accept the full size originals. You don't need the highest quality for viewing on a monitor.

Now that Flickr has improved, I will be slowly adding more photos taken over the last few years, and maybe remove some of the ones that I added for the benefit of the online courses that I took.

[paulgee]

Good for you to get together again with your daughter Colin. It is unfortunate that the Philippines is a "once in a lifetime" destination for most visitors from the UK, and probably USA, because of the time, money and effort required.

Nice photos, I am looking forward to including travel and photography to the things I will enjoy most when living mainly in the Philippines.

Paul

[Palawan Aussie]

Thanks, Colin 

And, these guys seem to provide an unforgetable experience: http://www.taophilippines.com

[BingColin]

Yes, I have seen that, one of the many tours offered. The four standard one day island hopping tours are good and more suitable for those with only a few days and would prefer to spend the evenings in a beach restaurant or bar.