El Nido's Lagen Resort on Palawan Island

I made a promise to not go online while I was on vacation, but I can still write my blog and post it later. ;-)

I am vacationing with my friend Ken (old friends from work...he lives in Shanghai) on Palawan Island at the El Nido resort called Lagen. Getting to Palawan requires a 75-minute flight on a chartered plane (departing at 7:30 am), then a transfer to a speedboat (after a quick snack of sticky rice…basically mochi rice that you sprinkle on coconut and sugar – I had 3!), which then takes us to a larger catamaran boat, then another transfer to a speedboat again to get us to the dock. Whew! Lots of boats, but we remained dry.

We land on an unpaved runway. Yes, we feel like Indiana Jones in this airplane!

As we skim the clear blue waters en route to the island, Grace, our activities coordinator is helping us selected some activities we want to book. This is an all-inclusive resort so the activities are generally included. We agreed to the island hopping tour in the afternoon, and in subsequent days kayaking, rock climbing, snorkeling, sailing and diving for Ken.

We pass plenty of islands. Similar to those seen in Malaysia (Ken thinks it looks like Vietnam). Most of the islands are just large rocks in the water. The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands.

The Lagen resort is in a U-shaped cove. Talk about picturesque! There are 51 rooms in this hotel built in 1991. The landscaping is beautiful. The view from the pool is unbelievable.

We’re welcomed with a fish-shaped lei made coconut tree fronds (they make these in Hawaii too) and the employees singing a traditional Palawan march. Yes, we’ve arrived in paradise and we're being treated like royalty.

After checking in and getting settled in our water cottage (thank goodness we splurged to stay in one of them), we looked out at the fish under our balcony and I lounged by the pool for an hour while Ken swam in the water and did laps in the pool.

Lunch is a large buffet with an amazing selection. The fish was really good and the black bean crab was tasty, but too much work. There’s also a stir fry, grill, and shabu shabu station. We’re certainly not going to starve on this trip.

After lunch we took the island hopping tour. Chris was our tour guide (he's in the green shirt) and took us to a cave where we had to climb through a small hole (there are bats inside!).

Then we went to Snake Island…no snakes, but a sand bar connects two islands and the tide was out so we could walk across. We also could swim in the clear water, but Chris made us wear our life vests (party pooper!). You can see the sand bar pretty well in this photo.

And the last island was a "drive" into a small cave - yawn!

After we returned, we got a massage in the room. We wanted the massage hut, but it was already booked. We did reserve it for the next day though.

The massage ended just in time for the sunset. And a spectacular one at that. We sit on the concrete jetty and enjoy the show.

A drink at the bar, then dinner outside next to the pool (we got there early enough to ensure a table next to the water). The staff puts on a nice little show of national dances.

One dance uses two long bamboo poles and the dancers jump as the poles are being struck in rhythm. We used to learn this dance when I was in elementary school and I forgot all about it until seeing it again. After they dance, they recruit audience members to learn it. I decline, remembering how many times I used to get my ankles stuck between the poles. I’m too uncoordinated for this dance.

By 9 pm we were exhausted and crashed. We had an incredibly busy day, but at such a relaxed pace. We were just grateful that we didn’t get sunburned and can enjoy our activities tomorrow.