Bye, bye Asia

Last stop in KL. And best one. We bid our farewells to all our favourite places (list is growing), gorged on unthinkable amount of sushi, had a few naans and it was already time to leave. Bitter and sweet. It was hard to grasp that we won’t be coming back to KL soon as it was our hub point on this trip (don’t say twice, now with cheap AirAsia tickets to London...). But it is nice to be back to Europe (still our favourite place in the world).

Talking about air travel. Yesterday we flew from KL to Singapore and then over to Colombo. After overnight in hotel we are now waiting for flight to London. Just noticed that we will also have a stopover in Maldives - will try and sneak out of the plane and stay :)

To you all that have followed Pelican, thanks. Hope that you shared a few laughs with us along the way. We really, really had a good time. And until the next one(you can bet there will be next one!), farewell...

Sulawesi

When we realised that Sipadan could be the last diving of this trip we got a cold feet – so we booked a ticket to Manado, Indonesia. Manado is a starting point for some very popular diving: Bunaken and Lambeh – world capital for muck diving. So we were looking at 2 more days at Bunaken and 3 at Lembeh.

Bunaken is nice, but not as good as Sipadan (as you can see we are not comparing to Palau any more, just not fair...). Lembeh is a different story altogether. It’s not pretty, it’s not nice, but is definitely unique. You spend your time in the black sand and look for really weird things. And it is actually fun. Except for the part with the sea-grass. Have been stung by many things in the sea, but this is on a different level. Not that you think that you have come across lion or scorpion fish from the initial pain, but it works out as a second degree burn later with the blister and swelling and all. Just add unbearable itching and you have it. And the grass floats around in the water so you are just not safe...

Last week of diving passed really fast. And that was it for this trip. We dried the gear and packed it one last time. This time we are on the way back home for sure.

More pictures here.

Sipadan

Back in Malaysia after 3 months. And surprised again. This time with Kota Kinabalu. We were expecting small Asian town (this is Borneo after all!), but found amazingly modern town with beautiful sea front. And best food market we have seen so far (and we have seen a few... unfortunately...).

Just a short flight away is a small town of Semporna, one of starting points for Sipadan. What can we say, it was really nice. But just nice. It is good diving with good drop-offs and good viz and lots of sea life, but... Unfortunately, we visited it after Palau, so can’t say we were stunned. Just felt it was missing that zing, that something extra and above.

We did some muck diving as well on Mabul. For ones that do not know what we are talking about, you are dropped in sand and this is where fun starts – you go on to look for funny and incredible creatures. And there were few, we can tell you that.

Semporna is nothing to talk about. Just a dump with few hotels and zillion dive-shops. Definitely not a place you should have on your radar if you are not a diver.

After Sipadan we spend few more days in KK. We met a local, René on a flight from Manila. He and his family were amazing hosts, they showed us all around KK and drove us to Borneo attractions as well. Proves again, it is just awesome to get a guided tour by locals. We did a jungle canopy walk (special trail built on the top of the trees, so you can observe jungle from above) and saw Mount Kinabalu as well. Clouds dissolved for full 2 minutes and believe it or not, we were at the right place at the right time.

2 weeks passed quickly. And now, we are on our way to the last diving stop of this trip – Manado, Indonesia.

Our camera flooded in Palau, so this time more pictures from fellow divers. And yes, we are the boring people now – stalking other divers in a bar for their pictures.

Palau

We have heard so much about it. Read so much about it. Saw it so many times on Discovery and National Geographic. So, it is safe to say that we had high expectations. And boy, were we wrong... completely wrong. It is better than anything we thought it would be! It is a rare occasions, but Jugs were speechless and stunned.

If you are a diver, forget Maldives, forget Thailand or Egypt... never thought that I would say this, but forget Philippines and Tubbataha... Palau is THE PLACE! Diving in league of its own. Just awesome, exciting, breathtaking, out of this world, mesmerising and better that you can imagine. Every day, we would go out of the water sure that it was the best diving of our lives (not that we are experts, but we still have been to a few places).

And like that is not enough. Drive to every dive site is just something else. Gliding on a speedboat between thousands of islands on a stunningly blue water. We have just died and gone to heaven, that is called Palau.

Unfortunately, we can’t really give comment on anything else on Palau. Sure there is something to do if you are not diving, but not that much...12 days passed like 12 minutes and we were on our way again. After a quick stop in Manila (again visiting Filipa and Sebastien – think we broke every good guest rule by now...) we are on our way to Malaysia again. Another diving paradise, Sipadan.

Some more pictures here.

Donsol

As Donsol was mention as “have to see place” in our 10 years old Lonely Planet we were expecting a nice little village with hotels, shops, bars, restaurants... Little did we know again! Village is just a shop with few houses that offer sort of accommodation – no restaurants, no bars, no nothing... And beach and shark watching is about 6km away. So we decided to just stay there. Nothing there either, but at least sharks were close...

And so the day finally came! We were on a little boat with captain and spotters just ready to jump in with the sharks. And boy, did we jump in. For 4 hours straight you swim and snorkel with number of sharks – from baby ones of 5 m to big boys of 10m. Just magical. Visibility is not best (about 2-5m), so just all of a sudden you see this amazing creature emerge from the mist and swim next to you. And they are so gracious and magical, probably one of the most beautiful creatures of the sea. But they are fast! We felt like dying, but just went on swimming, and on, and on... In the end you just want to crash anywhere and go to sleep. But it was so great we just had to do it again – next day! Absolutely worth all the hassle to get there.

From Donsol we headed to Legaspi to see Mount Mayon – one of more active volcanoes and probably most photographed sight in Philippines – it is that known conical shape mountain. We decided to go on a day’s walk up the mountain. Hiking is really, really cool when done Philippines way – means you get a porter to carry your water. Deadly! And handy, as it was a really hot day and we did need a lot of it.

In a day you make it to about half way up the mountain and have some great views of the volcano on the top and Legaspy bay below. It is scary how close the town really is to old and not so old lava flows.

And one more night ride to Manila – this time on best bus we’ve ever seen. Seriously, seats look better than first class on the plain. We really, really enjoyed this little luxury...

With the only few days left in Manila it was time to say goodbye to Philippines.

Next stop Palau, well known diving destination.

More pictures here.

Samar

When we decided to go to Donsol from Padre Burgos we thought the best and quickest way to do it would be to take a bus, we would be able to see a bit of the countryside after all. Little did we know of east Visayas...

A quick geo description. Padre Burgos is on island Leyte that is connected with island Samar with a bridge. Samar is further on connected with the short ferry ride with Luzon, and this is where Donsol is. Luzon is not Visayas any more - it is actually "the main" island; it is where Manila is. Piece of cake!

And it started just great. We took a bus from Padre Burgos, that is on the south of Leyte to north of the island. It was a lovely day and a nice trip on a local bus - you know: you, chickens, roosters, food and furnishings... and open windows. We enjoyed it a lot! Road twists next to the sea most of the time so you are rewarded with amazing views.

Next leg - Samar. And boy, were we not prepared for it! At all. First, there is some weird custom that you cannot get on the bus, unless you are going all the way to Manila. And as we wanted to go only half way, we did not get the ticket (after we were assured all is OK the previous day!). The bus was only 20% occupied and all reasoning was in vain. We were on a little local bus again.

First part of the trip was great: lovely bridge from Leyte to Samar, nice sceery... And then, first there was no more scenic road by the sea, next little shops and restaurants just disappeared and were replaced by bamboo shacks, then no more asphalt on the road and then – no roads at all! We muddled through mud and wholes size of a small car for hours. Bruised and tired we finally made it to the town we were thinking of spending the night at – but there was practically no place to stay. So we had to go on. On a jeepney this time – local mean of transportation: sort of small truck refurbished to transport people. In amazing numbers having in mind space available. Local buses felt like first class transport... Jeepney also connects neighbouring towns only, so we had to change quite a few along the way... We stopped every bus along the way and asked for transport, but the answer was always the same: NO. Finally, we made it to the ferry and Luzon. Out of shear desperation we went to bus station and asked for a ride to town closest to Donsol on a bus route and they said yes. YES!!! Normal seats, your own space – not even the constant smoking of all the passengers could change our good mood. We were just one more jeepney ride away from Donsol!

More pictures here.

Padre Burgos

Initial plan was to go to Cebu City and from there to Leyte. But some local festival spoiled everything. All hotels booked, transportation in mayhem, we decided to change a route. New plan was to take boat to Leyte from the north part of Cebu. But the boat didn’t show up. We got our money back and a “Thank you”. These guys must have heard of Ryanair! So, with the group of locals we headed for a different ferry. A REALLY bumpy bus and tricycle ride away was our new port. Well, not sure if it can be called port, but the boats were there, so... And we boarded. After 3 hours of high seas, few boat repairs on the spot and manual bilge pump we arrived on Leyte. And had to take another transport to town of Ormoc, where we were to spend the night. Have never seen van so full of people! We were literally glued to windows.

After a night and really tasty chicken on spit bbq we continued on to Padre Burgos. Finally we managed to forget one of our backpacks on the local bus – the one with the laptop and all important stuff! Jugs in full element... But chase on a moped with the local resolved the issue. Ups!

Place is mentioned in our 8 years old Lonely Planet, so we expected a nice spot. Boy, this was a different cup of tea. Village center (about 10 houses) and few dive resorts down the road – long way down the road... Can’t say they didn’t have Internet cafe and that it wasn’t a site, well judge for yourselves.

Diving was nice, but not really spectacular. Thing they are famous for are really whale sharks. So, we went for it. Really nice day. First the boat stops at the local village and local chief boards. And collects fee. Also, 2 tiny little boats join us – they are occupied by guys called spotters. They are supposed to find the sharks. Initial feel is that it is another tourist extortion – how is the guy on a small boat supposed to sea shark better than we on the big one? Boy, were we wrong! These guys row like crazy and dive every now and then and they do find the sharks! It was great experience, snorkelling with gentle giants. Just beautiful.

And that was it for us in Padre Burgos. But we liked whale sharks experience so much, we decided to head north to world Mecca of these beautiful creatures – next stop Donsol.

More pictures here.

Malapascua

After a night a Cebu and some good food (we are learning to appreciate Pizza Hut big time... non processed cheese...) we continued on. An unbelievably bumpy bus and short boat ride away is a small island of Malapascua off the top of Cebu.

In a dive comunity Malpascua is renowned as the only place in the world with Tresher shark cleaning station. What we didn't know is that it's local name meaning is - place with bad weather (only during the time you are there, as per usual). Guess that we will remember it by that one for sure... It is exposed to winds from the sea from west, north and east. And we had plenty of all of them...

Island is really beautiful (when there is nice weather) and all-around diving is good - we heard. We stayed for over 10 days and made only couple of dives - must be a record. Locals were saying that weather wasn’t too bad, actually slightly better than a typhoon. Like that should make us happy. So, we spent a few days just idling around – reading books, watching TV (well, our laptop...) and eating. And yes, finally some good food at the resort we were staying at - they made fresh bread in the morning, pure bliss. There is a fantastic Italian restaurant on the island and we made good use of that one as well.

So, being The Place to see thresher sharks, no need to explain why we came. When we arrived, full of hope, a cold reality strikes. Horrifying stories were being told in the dive center – 5 dives and no sharks, 3 dives, 2...

For some reason (perhaps to annoy the tourists) sharks also like to get cleaned really, really early. More like during te night. On a lucky day, diving day starts at 4:30am with 1 hour boat ride and then 1 hour sitting at the cleaning station looking at nothing for 59min 30sec. And we where the luck ones, many guests have stayed for over a week and haven't seen the sharks at all. On the unlucky day, you wake up at 4:30 and after a wait at about 5:30 you are informed weather is too bad for diving. Bummer!!!

But, believe it or not, Jugs’ shark luck has finally changed! On our initial 2 dives we saw sharks both times. Only people on the boat of 16 divers! Not very popular people in resort. Days later we did some dives without sharks as well, but for quite a while were only people in resort who saw them. And not just sharks, manta reys as well (yes!!!). Because of rotten weather, we managed to do only dives on single dive site - cleaning station.

As the diving is done by the time for breakfast, there is loads of time for lying on the beach and reading books on a good day as well. Well, for the ones that can do it - sand flies are supposedly not a problem on this island, but we can prove otherwise (well, female part of our duo at least...). Nice change from our usual dive, dive, dive routine.

After 10 days on Malapascua, we head on east. Next stop, Padre Burgos on Leyte.

More pictures here.

Dumaguete, Negros

All the guide books said this was a nice place. And we have to agree. Our standards are questionable after Siquijor though. In any case, compared to other towns we saw on Philippines Dumagette was nice. Not too small, not too big and with the nice promenade next to the harbour. And a proper ice-cream parlour! First frozen yoghurt after Bangkok. Deadly!

We also hooked up with the local who took us diving around Dauin the local way. Pretty much the same around the world – grab some tanks and weights and drive to a nice location and just plunge from the beach. It was good, some nice coral, but again fish life is just... well... fished out. We also did a trip to Apo Island, one of the prime spots. It is better, more fish, turtles, sea-snakes, but again no big stuff. And it is in Dumagette, out of shear desperation and after a few beers that we took the credit card out and bought tickets to Palau – one of the prime world shark destinations. Yes baby, here we come!!! Reality may strike back in Europe, we are on hype now...

After 5 nights (we initially planned to spend only one) we are on our way to Cebu again. This time with a bus.

Some more pictures here.

Siquijor

That we even can’t put a town’s name where we stayed next to the island’s one says it all. Not our thing. You can call it unspoiled, real Philippines or just dump. We chose the last one. A little piece of info about the island – you can’t buy milk anywhere! Had to work really hard to get some beer.

Also, no diving there – we did a bit of snorkelling, but biggest fish we say was one on the plate in the restaurant. Felt like Adriatic. It wasn’t all bad though – we saw a harlequin shrimp snorkelling off the beach. Now, that was amazing!

After 4 days here (couldn’t leave earlier – no ferries) and one of the weirdest New Years Eve’s ever (resort bar closed at 9:30! Thank God we stocked on booze ourselves...) we bought a ticket for first available ferry in 2009 to Dumagette on Negros.

Some more pictures here.

Alona Beach, Bohol

Next stop is one of the best known dive sites in Philippines – Balicasag, a small island off the Alona Beach. This place was a runner-up on our first trip 8 years ago, and now here we are. Diving is good, nice coral and fish, but still feeling is that this country is overfishing. No big stuff at all.

But Balicasag has much more to offer. We rented a scooter for a day and went for Chocolate hills in the island interior. No, we’re not losing it from good cocoa deficiency. These small hills are results of erosion and at the end of the dry season reminded someone of chocolate (our kind of soul).

Also saw smallest primates – tarsiers. Now, imaging something unbelievably cute and the size of your palm. Just amazing. And as usual, endangered. Felt really, really sad...After an eventful week on Bohol it was time to move on. A jeepney, tricycle and a bumpy boat ride away was Siquijor.

Some more pictures here.

Moalboal, Cebu

Our first Visayas stop. Moalboal is one of the first dive destinations on Philippines. And was it a surprise! We were expecting Philippines of 8 years ago on Coron, but this was completely different. Nice resorts, restaurants, zillions of dive shops... nice surprise. We dove Pescador, small island off Moalboal. Nice walls, solid coral and fish life and even a shark. Yes, a shark. Well, we liked it anyways. Our stay was not long, only 3 nights.

Next stop Bohol, Alona Beach.

Some more (few) pictures here.