and there are many other things to see and do in the Philippines

Whilst the mummies were the highlight, there was much more on my itinerary for my 30 days in the Philippines.  I was grateful that I no longer scuba dive, as that shortened the list somewhat, but there were still UNESCO-listed churches, rice terraces, old (Spanish colonial era) cities, and subterranean cave-tunnel, not to mention the natural wonders of Bohol island and the karst coast of El Nido.  Too much to fit in, really, but who knows whether I will have the time/money to visit the Philippines again?

The churches were impressive, as was the old centre of the city of Vigan (although the latter was pretty touristy), but the natural wonders were my favourites.  I paid for a guided day tour of the island of Bohol, to save time, and this included a visit to the Tarsier Sanctuary.  The tarsier - see picture to the left - is the smallest (and cutest) primate in the world, with a head around half the size of its body.  It's nocturnal, but thankfully this one opened its enormous eyes briefly, when I already had my camera focused on him.

Also on the day tour was a visit to a butterfly and snake farm, where a number of pythons lay around which I was allowed to stroke (although I couldn't put one around my neck as they had just been fed and apparently such handling might make them sick).


After Bohol I flew to the island of Palawan, to see the UNESCO-listed subterranean tunnels of Puerto Princesa, and from there up to El Nido to see the beautiful karst coastal cliffs.  Had I not had a flight already booked out of the Philippines, I would have been tempted to prolong my stay in Puerto Princesa, where I’d found a homestay/hostel cross costing me £1.23 (US$1.56) per night, including a good breakfast – a place with a lovely, friendly host and one other guest who was good company … a good ‘downtime’ place to rest, catch up on admin and sleep, etc.

El Nido is very touristy, but still a great place to spend some time. I took an organised day tour out on a boat, visiting various lagoons, with opportunities to snorkel and kayak, and with lunch on a 'secret beach' that we had to swim to.  The coastline is stunning - although not as unique as they try to make out, as my next destination after the Philippines (I'm way behind with writing up my adventures...) was Palau, with exactly the same kind of coastline!


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