El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

Feb. 3, 2026 After a 1-hour flight, we landed at El Nido, a very small airport. We had to take a tricycle to our hotel, only 300 php (~$5). The tricycle ride was a new experience for us. It was a motorbike and an enclosed sidecar. The motorbike really struggled up the hills. We thought we might have to get out and push, but it made it to our hotel. The room was pleasant, albeit not as nice as the one at the Belmont by Manila airport. Feb 4, 2026 The next morning, breakfast started at 7 am. We were the first there. It wasn’t nearly as good as at the Belmont, but adequate, except for the coffee, which was dreadfull. Immediately after breakfast, we went in search of the nearby “Via Ferrata Canopy Walk”. It cost 430 php each. Together with two Filipinas, we were assigned a guide and each given a harness and helmet. The route was quite short and really tame/lame, although it led to a nice viewpoint above the harbour. Disappointed that the excursion was so short and so lame, we walked north through town until the road ended past a bunch of hostels. We retraced our steps along the beach, an alternate route, and stopped at the Atienza ferry office to see about exchanging our receipt for tickets (as instructed in the email receipt), but were told simply to show up tomorrow at 11:30 for the ferry. By this point, around 11 am, it was getting hot, and I wanted some decent coffee. We sought out a cafe, “Grounded”. It was an oasis of calm, just like Himalayan Java had been in Pokhara, Nepal, although this wasn’t quite as nice and the cappuccino wasn’t quite as good. They had a 3-group Sanremo (Italian) espresso machine. It was a vast improvement over the coffee at breakfast. Two cappuccinos later, I was feeling a lot better/happier. We set off to explore a local hypermarket, but it wasn’t that great. On the way back to our air-conditioned room, we stopped at a mobile phone store and purchased two USB C-to-C cords. I’d brought two external batteries that have USB-C outlets, but had only brought USB A-to-C cords for our wall chargers. We stopped at a bakery, bought a few pastries, and retreated to the relative comfort of our hotel room.