Someone described it as “hell on the outside and heaven on the inside.” Another compared eating one to “sitting on the toilet while eating your favorite ice cream.” Others weren’t as generous. Henri Mouhot, the French naturalist and explorer who popularized the ruins of Angkor to the West, didn’t mince words: “On first tasting it I thought it like the flesh of some animal in a state of putrefaction.”
The Philippines often lies in the path of typhoons in the western Pacific which means we’re often prepared for the worse. But a month ago three consecutive cyclones struck the country within a span of 18 days, one of them the strongest in the world this year and among the strongest in recorded history, a streak of calamities unparalleled in the country’s history.
Beginning in 2013, Palawan, Philippines, has been voted as the best island in the world by readers of Travel+Leisure a number of times in its yearly polls and in the top 3 rankings by Condé Nast Traveler. With huge limestone cliffs rising from palm-fringed white sand beaches, gorgeous seascapes, old-growth rainforests, subterranean rivers and impressive aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, the island has been dubbed as the country’s “Last Ecological Frontier.”
Romblon province is a typical Philippines destination that boasts Eden-like islands and beaches but which are only becoming popular in the last year or two mainly due to social media. It lies just to the north of popular White Beach on Boracay Island but we can confidently say that at least two beaches here are more stunning than that white-sand wonder.
Disembarking from our motorized outrigger boat, we crossed over the wooden pier spanning the crystalline turquoises waters of the cove and into an island of colossal karst rocks and cliff walls. Just slightly beyond the white sand beach of verdant Pangabangan Island where we landed we encountered one of the most remarkable sights we’ve come across in all of our island-hopping adventures.
With more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines is customarily known for its tropical climate, beaches, rainforests, islands and dive spots. However there are also wide swaths of mountainous areas waiting to be explored.
For decades the province of Masbate has been the cattle capital of the Philippines with its well-stocked ranches spread out over gently rolling hills. Cattle-raising here is so extensive that an annual rodeo festival in the provincial capital of Masbate City was launched beginning in 1993. But during our two visits to this province we discovered that Masbate offers so much more.
Ruthie went to her doctor on Thursday to review her est results. The Doctor told her, "I have good news and bad news."
Some stories seem too bizarre to believe but this did happen to me. It was 1999. We were working as missionaries in the Philippines. We developed a livelihood program which helped impoverished churches support their pastors in extremely depressed communities. One of the products we trained the people to make was handmade paper from banana plant fibers.
Fresh from catching glimpses of playful spinner dolphins navigating their way between Balicasag and Panglao Islands on an early Wednesday morning, we dropped anchor at a beach for a round of coffee and snacks. But our day was just beginning. Within an hour we were hauled off the beach in a small boat to a snorkeling spot not too far from Balicasag Island’s white sand shores.