Part 22: Paradise.
In the aftermath of the Merrell Adventure trail, I planned as little as possible for a few days, not that I had much choice, I could barely even walk.
I've never felt a pain like it in my legs before, and could not even bend them.
And then when I did manage to get out of bed, I spent the following days with the severest of limps, hobbling around everywhere.
My friends, bless them, booked me combination massages in the village to ease the pain, which I certainly wasn't complaining about. They were heavenly and almost embarrassingly cheap.
90 minutes of a range from Swedish, Thai and sports massages totalled less than £3.50! - the tiny Filipino girl bent me into impossible positions, walked up and down my back before clicking nearly every bone in my body.
It was awesome, and exactly what the doctor ordered. I was soon addicted, booking several more in the coming days, before I could walk properly.
My next adventure would lead me to an island just north of Borneo called Palawan or better known as the 'land of promise' and in complete contrast to the cauldron of Metro Manila, was the Philippines most sparsely populated region.
I'd not really heard to much about it before, manly learning of it through my friends here but the pictures they showed me looked incredible, making immediate plans to visit this paradise.
It was surrounded by sea's so blue and equal to any in South east Asia.
Much of my travels to date were not really centered around beaches and sand so this would be my first since my adventures began, and what better way to fully get over the Merrell mountain adventure than some well earned r&r in Palawan for a perfect getaway.
It was a 75 minute internal flight from Metro Manila to the Islands small capital, Puerto Princesa. Philippines was full of more than 7000 islands to explore, many secluded paradises like Palawan. In fact less than 2000 have inhabitants which is pretty incredible when you think about it.
Each day I was discovering more and more about this beautiful Country and began to fully understand its slogan of 'Its more fun in the Philippines'. There were banners everywhere you looked with these words emblazoned on them.
The government have invested heavily in a promoting the tourism trade with this tag line. Take it from me, based on what I had seen so far, It most certainly is more fun in the Philippines.
On the day of the flight I prepped my bags and chose to travel lightly - finally I had cracked the art of backpacking. Sometimes its the only way to learn as what experience did I really have prior to my adventure?
I now unashamedly had a growing supply of freebie toiletries that I'd swiped from hotels and hostels, along with toilet paper.
Goodness knows what unnecessary expenditure I wasted on expensive soaps, creams, tooth paste etc.
I thought If I was to extend my travels for as long as possible then I would need to wise up, and fast - which is exactly what I have done. My survival radar was well and truly turned on to the maximum now!
Just before my flight there were tropical storms causing delays, my word did the rain come down. It was relentless with unbelievable thunder, lightning and strong winds, causing delays of more than 4 hours at the packed, modest and tiny domestic airport, with no air con or anything ekes to keep you distracted none of the hundreds of Filipinos were complaining as they patiently waited for information on the long delays. A few whilst they where waiting for news, started singing in Tagalog, as others clapped and joined in, it was really quite endearing to see.
'Pasensya' or patience was their attitude and one that I was very much learning. Could you imagine this happening at Heathrow airport?

Once the flights were announced they started whistling and cheering, before finally we were allowed to board - nothing seems to dampen their spirits.
In the past my chronic over thinking and neurotic mind set would have had me sweating, and in swathes of anxiety at the very thought of boarding the plane. It was still difficult to comprehend how I was overcoming my fears as again, anyone who knows me well would understand my previous fear of flying - especially small domestic flights like this one in the storms. Anyway, apart from a bit of turbulence the flight was fine; unfortunately we were unable to see the island approaching because of the delay as I was hoping for.
Then almost within minutes of landing at the tiny airport we were in a Filipino trike speeding our way towards the accommodation in the islands capital, Puerto Princesa.
Passing through the small center on the way, mainly full of the locals, wasn't quite the paradise I was expecting at this stage. It looked a million miles from metro Manila, although still lined with small shops and street food, it was quaint and without the tidal wave of people or congestion.
I also learned that the small center holds the accolade of being the cleanest and greenest in the whole of the Philippines. I was like a sponge absorbing all this info - oh the benefits of having a clear head for the first time in decades. All the fog and negativity had lifted to be replaced by this new found, and most welcome head space.
On arriving at the neat accommodation, we were met with smiles by friendly staff as is always the case here, before being shown to my room.
It was a really long day with the delay, and after ordering some food I called it a night for some rest.
The next day was an early start ready for some secluded island exploration, I was so excited. All the storms had now cleared and where replaced by a beautiful blue cloudless sky.
We took a 30 minute Jeepney ride to the tiny port where a traditional fishing boat awaited us, It looked awesome anchored to the shallow turquoise sea bed. I climbed down from the wooden pier and into the shallow warm water to get on board. One of the sailers lowered a really dodgy made wooden ladder down and helped me up as he welcomed me onboard. 'good morning sir' he beamed in a friendly voice .
I could not stop smiling back, looking all around me at the view, it was beautiful.
The sun was strong even at this early hour, and with out protection you would literally fry, so I made sure I was fully covered in factor 50.
The boat chugged away from the shore leaving behind the mountainous horizon of Puerto Princesa in the distance as it headed off into the deep blue sea.
Our first destination would be 'Starfish island' which was about an hour away.
Relaxing, and soaking up the scenery at the front of the boat, I was in awe as we passed several tiny secluded islands.
Snake Island, Adobo island, Cowrie Island, Turtle island, there were so many. Several which were no more than 30 to 40 meters across, some even smaller.
The sea was so calm and clear, and around 30 minutes later we were approaching our first stop - Starfish Island. It was a long narrow shaped tropical paradise lined with palm trees and rocky ruins on the white sand.
We anchored close to the shore and climbed back into the warm sea, walking to the powder soft sand. This was the stuff dreams were made of and I could not have picked a better destination for my first taste of tropical island paradise
The water was the crystal clearest I'd ever seen, full with corals and tropical fish, shells and huge star fish, hence the name.
With no power on the island at all, It was the ultimate eco-tourist’s paradise.

I took a huge intake of the sea air trying to savour the moment and everything around else all around me.
The palm trees, the rocky ruins on the shore, Palawan in the distance where we just came from, it was perfect!
Whilst we all took this opportunity to snorkel, explore and take a closer look at the sealife, the fishermen were busy preparing a barbeque feast of grilled freshly caught sword fish, rice and vegetables on the shore under a bamboo shade for us.

On closer examination of the seabed It was really cool to witness the tropical multi coloured marine life, spending quite some time swimming and playing with the fish or soaking up the sun, then walking the short distance from one side of the island to the other, taking several pictures.
No tourists, no hotels, no cheap tacky souvenir shops, just a couple of beach huts and a small covered area where the food was being prepared.
There where several beach props and cheesy outfits in one of the huts and couldn't resist, trying on a grass skirt and flower-crown, then started dancing, swinging my hips, and grinding, not realising a bunch of people to my left were watching me, laughing their heads off - talk about embarrassing!

It was soon time for our barbecued feast. I'd built up quite the appetite and couldn't wait to sample some of this sumptuous food neatly laid out on the table. It was worth the wait.
The fisher men kept bringing more and more over for us but I was already so full. Although I did reserve a bit of space for the pineapple and melon dessert - life does not get any better than this.
I certainly wasn't in any rush to leave here, and could quite easily have stayed, but sadly we had to move to our next destination - More snorkelling at Pambato reef.
This was a man made floating island completely constructed from bamboo and wood, shaped like a gigantic turtle.
It was directly above another huge protected nature reserve coral reef, 12 meters deep in the middle of nowhere.
We were met by a local guide with a huge personality, who welcomed us onto the wobbly and swaying platform, as he joked about sharks eating us.
But when the laughter died down, his tone suddenly changed. He was deadly serious about anyone causing damage to the reef, giving as a list of do's and dont's.
They handed me a life jacket before climbing into the deep blue water as another guide led us to the reef.
There were huge tropical fish, a magnificent cluster of gigantic, almost prehistoric clams snapping shut, before slowly opening again, rainbow coloured bright corals and all sorts of bizarre marine life to view in the clear water, I absolutely loved it.
The staff explained the sea life to me, how proud they were and extremely protective over the area they were, really getting the sense of how much they cared for the reef.

We were ushered back onto the boat and took us to Cowrie island, about another hour away.
Here it was just all about lazing around and relaxing - the perfect place to unwind after all that snorkelling.
It was full of tall coconut trees, abandoned boats and several bamboo huts, with a small bar in the center. But still no electricity at all which I loved.
Unlike the other islands we toured today, this was completely surrounded by sandy shore, a beach lovers paradise.
The water was shallow and warm, the sand was scorching hot, making it almost impossible to walk on.
So I just lay backwards in the sea floating, looking up at the blue sky, not wanting this day to end.
All the people, especially the fishermen were incredibly welcoming and friendly making it even more of an amazing day.
I was falling in more in love with Palawan and we barely even scratched the surface.
I made conversation with some fellow travellers from Vietnam, who gave me several travelling tips on their country so I took several notes.
The few Islands I visited today were a tiny fraction of what there is to explore.
With out hesitation, you could stay here for 6 months travelling and discovering more Islands, no problem, but sadly for me it was time to head back to Puerto Princesa.
I was pretty tired by now but still found time to try a fantastic fresh sea food restaurant recommended to me by some of the locals.
We had an assortment of more delicious fish, traditionally prepared in the Palawan way, introducing me to a fish called Lapu Lapu which was grilled with absolutely no seasoning - I was told Its sacrilege to spoil it with any sauce or even salt. Instead to sample it completely plain so you could taste the sweetness- and yes it did taste amazing - what a day, from start to finish.
Senses where in complete overload.
But my comfy bed was calling my name and off I headed to get some rest.
For tomorrow we would head north, to Sabang, in search of one of the 7 wonders of nature.....