El Nido: The Journey to Paradise

El Nido is located at the northernmost part of mainland Palawan; roughly  five to six hours drive from Puerto Princesa City. It's quite amazing that despite the location, many tourists are visiting El Nido. I guess the distinct beauty of El Nido makes it a premier destination for both Filipino and foreign tourists. FYI: Almost 80-90% of tourists are foreigners.

The most popular activity in El Nido is island hopping. The islands of El Nido are made of limestones, believed to have risen from underwater and are expected to rise a few meters every year due to environmental changes.

Tours range from A - E. Tours A-D are the island (water) tours while Tour E is mainland tour of inland beaches and waterfall. For tourists with limited time, some travel agencies offer combination tours. Combination tours consist of selected places from Tour A and Tour C which can be visited within a day. For our two-day stay in this paradise, we availed of the most recommended tours - A and C.

Because we need to catch the van going back to Puerto Princesa on the second day, our contact travel agencies decided that we start with Tour C because its farther compared to Tour A. For the first day tour, we visited Hidden Beach, Secret Beach, Talisay Island, Matinloc Island and Helicopter Island. Warning: This is a picture heavy post. 

1) Hidden Beach

Group picture at Hidden Beach

On to our first stop, Hidden Beach. As its name suggests, the white sand beach is hidden from view and located between the limestone cliffs. Big boats dock at a particular place and guests can either walk or swim to the beach. We were lucky because it was not yet crowded when we arrived. 

The limestone cliffs and tourists walking towards the beach.

The Gift of Education

If there is one thing I could give the Philippines, that is the gift of education.

In terms of effort, the government has been doing its part. They have been continuously exploring ways to improve the quality of education, hence the implementation of the K-12 education system program. Financial resources have been utilized to build additional classrooms, hire teachers and buy school books and materials. A mobile education system was formulated to help more Filipinos gain access to education. Despite the efforts, there are still a lot of things that need to be done.

We have seen television documentaries of children taking the extra mile just to pursue education. Children walking for hours ignoring the scorching heat of the sun or the heavy downpour of the rain just to get to the lone school in their municipality located kilometers away from their homes. Some were forced to cross dangerous bridges or rivers or even embark on a wavy and terrifying boat ride just to get to school. Some would have to work extra so they can buy schools supplies or have pocket money to buy food. Some would have to settle for recycled school supplies, worn-out uniforms and even torn books; while some just won't have the luxury of having a single school supply.