We left Sri Lanka to go to the Philippines because a group of friends from Southern California were taking a three-week trip there to kite, explore, and relax. We thought it would be nice to hang out with friends from back home, and it was.
What a great bunch to travel with.
We moved a lot (more on this in the next post), and we saw some great places, but we had fun at every stop.
We started on Palawan, and stayed at this beautiful beach in Puerto Princesa. There was no wind, but we ate a bunch of good food and explored some islands by boat.
The view from the front door, and the beach at low tide. Puerto Princesa.
Nina, Tam, Anya, Inger, Me, and Milo on our first day in Palawan. At our hotel in Puerto Princesa.
The crew: Inger, Anya, Capri, Milo, Me, Tam, Monika, and Dan visiting Luli Island and Cowrie Island for a no-wind day of relaxing and eating really great food. Sometimes the best thing is to just give in and do blatant tourist stuff with a bunch of friends.
I found a diving board and now I’m stuck out here. Now what do I do?
Oh, yeah… Backflips!
Then we went to El Nido, on the very Northeast tip of Palawan, and found this great place to stay: Eastwind Resort. It was super remote, super comfortable, and about thirty dollars a night. This was the view from the restaurant at the Eastwind, looking out towards the water. We had a couple of really great kite sessions here with great wind and flat water.
The beautiful, huge, and deserted beach at the Eastwind Resort. It was just the group of us. Not another kiter in sight.
There is some amazing kiting out here in El Nido, and only the five of us out to share this perfect sandbar with strong, gusty, fun wind (more on this later too).
Chilling on the beach after a ripping day kiting and exploring islands by boat, and Milo and Nina enjoying giant Filipino beers afterwards at the Eastwind Resort in El Nido.
It took another twenty-four hour tuk tuk to van to plane to van to ferry to van to tuk tuk epic to get to the island of Boracay, but we made it. Finally. And we got to see the harbor at Boracay with the local Coast Guard cutter at anchor.
And we finally found some Mexican food!
All fourteen of us eating Mexican food in Boracay. Now the gang is all here with the addition of Millie, Cesar, Michelle, Avi, and Lisa. After fourteen months away from home, Mexican food is one of my biggest cravings. This place wasn’t too bad.
Beers at the Windrider Inn after another of three really great kite days in Boracay. This place is unbelievably crowded, but it is beautiful. The Windrider is on the quieter side of the island, away from the thousands of tourists flocking to the white-sand beaches of the lee side. Thank goodness, cause that other side is fucking nuts. Still a lot of people kiting there, with lots of bad behavior in the water. It is a choppy, shallow water lagoon, so it does attract a lot of students. There are a ton of lessons out there every day, but enough room to get upwind of them just inside the reef. It reminds me of Cabarete in the Dominican Republic.
Some quiet, peaceful contemplation and hours and hours of great kite sessions here at Kitesurfing Mindoro on Bislig Beach. It is wonderfully remote (a huge blessing after the crowds of Boracay), with great food and perfect, uncrowded kite conditions. The water is flat and the wind blows all day. We will have more about this place later: Tam and I will be coming back here for two weeks after everyone else heads home and we are on our own again.
This is where we are today, writing this blog post. We are at, shit, I don’t even know the name of this place. We are just staying one night here, then heading back to Bislig Beach. This little pace was pretty magical, tucked away on this short stretch of beach, surrounded by a small fishing village. It is really relaxing. There are kids running around, families walking on the beach, and friendly dogs wandering about. I had a really great walk and tide pooling adventure this morning.
It may not always be easy, but sometimes it is all good friends, full moons, and rainbows.
Wind, Water, Waves, Wander 