Halong Bay: Vietnam's Pride

North Vietnam's main attraction is Halong Bay. It is a 4 hour bus trip from Hanoi. The scenery of countless limestone karsts on the Bay is impressive and the place deserves to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Part of Halong Bay tour is a visit to the Thien Cong Grotto. This is a cave which is colorfully lighted to highlight its numerous attractions.

My trip to Halong Bay was still enjoyable in spite of the problems we had on the tour. I paid extra for an overnight stay in a junk boat on the Bay but we were told that there was a typhoon coming and boats are not allowed to stay during the night in the Bay. So instead we spent the night in Cat Ba Island in a cheap hotel, the value of which was cheaper than the tour that I paid for.

But next day, I found out from a friend that they spent the night on their boat in the Bay! That was a major disappointment for me. But I guess that was just a confirmation of the way organized tours are run in Vietnam. There are warnings in Lonely Planet about Halong Bay tour scams and I experienced this first hand. So tourists beware!

Hinagdanan Cave: Much Ado about Nothing

It took many trips to Bohol before I finally decided to visit one of its major attractions, the Hinagdanan Cave. Probably I suspected that it will be one big disappointment. It was indeed a disappointment! And I just tried to make the most out of it.

Hinagdanan Cave is a small cave with an equally small pool where people can supposedly enjoy a cool swim in its clean and clear waters. As in the other caves being promoted as a tourist attraction in Philippines, it is hard to appreciate the stalagmites and stalactites because of poor lighting. At least here, there is some amount of natural light supported by some light bulbs which are however still inadequate to provide good visibility. Underground river in Palawan relies on flashlight and in the others like the caves of Sagada, you have to bring your own flashlight or torch.

Nothing really much going for this cave. I was even warned by my guide not to take a dip in what appeared to be a clean pond because it is actually dirty and a lot of people have complained about itchy skin and rashes after taking a swim in the pool.

Good thing, the admission to the cave is a cheap P15 (US$.35) and it is just about 20 minutes away from the resort where I was staying. Stayed only about 15 minutes inside and the trip was only worth taking if only to say that I have been to Hinagdanan Cave.

Bohol Bee Farm: Organic Farm Paradise

The latest addition to Bohol's diverse attractions is the Bohol Bee Farm. It has deservely become one of Bohol's most popular destinations. Good thing I went there around 9am so I was able to explore the place with some peace and quiet. By the time I left at around 11:30 am the place was already filled a large number of tourists.

Bohol Bee Farm is an organic farm that operates as a resort and restaurant similar to the concept of Sonia's Garden in Tagaytay. The restaurant offers delicious buffet meals at a very reasonable P500 (US $12). Salads on the buffet have organic vegetables freshly harvested from the resort's farm. The buffet also includes servings of home made ice cream that comes in different flavors (i.e. mango, ginger, chocolate, pandan, etc). My personal favorite was the ginger ice cream. They also sell the ice cream at their shop at P50 (US$1) for 2 scoops.

Accommodations in the resort are also good value with prices ranging from P2,000(US$46) to P5,000 (US$116) per night. It also has a shop where the farm's produce are sold. Good buys are squash muffins, honey, home baked bread, and the unique Cab cab (made from cassava) which is a healthy alternative to potato chips and comes with a coconut jam dip.

The resort offers a guided tour of the place for only P20 (US$.46) per person. So when in Bohol, the Bee Farm is definitely a "MUST" place to visit.

Bohol's Alona Beach: Intimate Beach Place

Bohol's most popular beach destination is Alona Beach in Panglao Island. The place is a most pleasant alternative to the more popular Boracay in Aklan. Alona Beach has a much smaller stretch of white sand beach than Boracay but this is compensated by the relatively quieter and intimate atmosphere of the place.

Probably because this is a more laid back place since it has fewer restaurants and bars, the locals and tourists are friendlier. There was a large number of foreign tourists, mostly Europeans and Koreans, during the time I was there. However, food and hotels here are relatively more expensive than Boracay.

Nevertheless, Alona Beach is the better place (rather than Tagbilaran City) to use as a base to go diving and to visit the other popular Bohol destinations including Chocolate Hills, Balicasang Island, Pamilacan beach, and Loboc River.

Flyin AirPhilExpress

Following the success of Cebu Pacific, Philipine Airlines relaunched and rebranded its budget carrier, Air Philippines into AirPhilExpress. Finally, got the opportunity to fly on AirPhilExpress on a recent trip to Tagbilaran, Bohol.

My round trip ticket cost only US$37 for the one hour flight and definitely gives Cebu Pacific stiff competition. AirPhilExpress follows the Cebu Pacific formula. It is a budget, no frills airline flying to the major destinations in the Philippines and at present one international Asian route, Singapore. Periodic promotional prices are offered and in my particular case, it was a one day sale.

The airlines uses new Airbus A320 aircraft and the cabin really looks new and smells fresh. The flight attendants are also young and my flight left and arrive on schedule. AirphilExpress uses Manila's newest international airport, NAIA Terminal 3. Bookings can also be made online at www.airphils.com

My pleasant experience with AirPhilExpress gives me reason to fly with them again as a good option to flying with Cebu Pacific.

Port Barton: Palawan's Puerto Galera

A short 3 hour trip from Puerto Princesa is the beach community of Port Barton. Because of its accessibility to Puerto Princesa and the availability of relatively cheap accommodations, this has become the most popular beach destination in Palawan.

The place reminds me of Puerto Galera in Mindoro when it was not that popular yet. So Port Barton is in danger of becoming like Puerto Galera, crowded with backpacking foreigners looking for cheap fun and cheap girls.

Nevertheless, Port Barton is still worth visiting because it is still relatively quiet and the fine sand beach is clean. The town is also near some beautiful islands which have even better beaches and good areas for snorkeling. Unfortunately I opted not to do any island hopping tours and instead spent lazy days in Port Barton, relaxing, eating, sleeping and reading a book.

Best place to stay is the reasonably priced 360 Palawan Resort which has pretty beach side cottages which are as close to the water as you can get.

San Vicente: Next Boracay?

Being promoted as the next Boracay, is the Long Beach located at San Vicente, Palawan. San Vicente is a 5 hour land trip from Puerto Princesa. Half of the trip is on good roads along the national highway, and half on dusty, (muddy during the rainy season) and unpaved roads leading to this beach town. An international airport is being constructed to make this town more accessible to tourists. Presently there are no resorts along the Long Beach area. But there is a 5 star resort under construction.

Long Beach is a 14 kilometer stretch of fine sand beach which is as good as the white fine sand of Boracay except that here the sand is not really white, more light brownish. According to the locals, about 15 years ago, the sand was really white but because of the logging going on in the mountains in the area, the eroded brown mountain soil is wash down to the beach during heavy rains and has altered the color of the beach sand into light brownish white.

I came during the rainy season and expectedly the waves were strong. But there was an even stronger undercurrent. Concerned residents advised me against venturing far out into the sea and just stay along the beach.

However, a friend who owns a property in the area told me that during summer, the sea is calmer and the color of the water is a beautiful turquoise similar to what you see in Boracay.

Long Beach is definetely unspoilt and pretty in its own way but I am not sure if it can rightly claim to be the next Boracay.