In keeping with the rest of my time on Palawan, by the time i got to El Nido it was time for another town fiesta. This time was the Foundation Day Fiesta celebrating 60-odd years of the towns existence. Arriving in El Nido inside the bus (instead of on top but by no means any less shaken) after the 9 hour ride from Port Barton i found myself in a beautiful little town in the shadows of huge towering limestone cliffs.

I love El Nido and i spend the day wandering the streets of this tiny town and meeting the locals who are all congregating on the beach to watch the legendary Bangka racing which is the little Filipino version of powerboating. And of course, like all things 'Pino extremely dangerous. Basically its the little tiny fishing boats stripped out and fitted with a tiny but powerful outboard motor. So where you see fishing boats chugging away these things absolutely fly, skimming the water as they smash through the tides around an off shore race course. Races of differnt age groups, i assume weights of drivers and a knock out competition takes place throughout the day with winners crowned on the beach late on...

Superb fun to watch, not something i have ever seen before and judging by the popularity a very dedicated local following.

So this really brings to the end my little stay on Palawan. Coron island beckons so i spend a couple of hours trying to work out how to get there. It appears the only way is a 9 hour ferry to coron island goes over night, so i dont even get to stay long in El Nido. I book a ticket on what turns out to be a cattle cargo ferry and join a few other tourists as we head off to the little island of Coron and the next adventure.....