Coron

Firstly, many thanks for your generosity in terms of yesterday’s blip milestone - your comments, stars and hearts are very much appreciated, particularly when there are so many blip birthdays around! I’ll try to thank you all individually, but for now, on with the journey! 

Oh my goodness - what an arrival! After yesterday’s dismal weather, we arrive in Coron - our second destination in the Philippines- in glorious sunshine. This is another  area of beautiful karst scenery, colourful boats and turquoise seas. I’m annoyed with myself that I didn’t get up earlier for the sail-in through the islands, but any annoyance quickly evaporates at the sound of the band on the quayside.  We’re still some distance out, but they’re playing - and marching - with enthusiasm.  The band are dressed immaculately in blue and white uniforms, the dancers/majorettes in front in white and waving large turquoise scarves in unison. It’s delightful, and unmistakably Philippines.  

They continue playing as we come alongside the single pier, the ladder’s whistles announcing each new number in their repertoire.   There’s a break in their performance while they presumably go for resuscitating drinks - it’s already hot and humid - but before long they’re back, performing for passengers as they disembark. I don’t think there’s a single person who doesn’t have a beaming smile on their face this morning. By the time we leave the ship for our boat trip, the festivities are over, but the memory of that welcome will be something we’ll never forget! 

Ports vary greatly from place to place, but usually there’s a degree of messy industrialisation on show - cranes, the inevitable containers piled high, goods waiting to be transported. There’s some of this here in Coron, but in many ways it’s like mooring alongside a traditional Philippine fishing village as we look out on rows of ramshackle stilt dwellings built alongside or over the water, each with its own outrigger fishing boat moored alongside. Now the band has stopped, all’s quiet but for the sound of cockerels crowing at regular intervals. Quite magical.  

We have only a few steps from the ship to our excursion boat - another one of these brightly coloured outriggers - and son we’re off, cruising around these islands of jaw-dropping beauty.  Over shallow water where there’s sand, the water is a stunning turquoise, and the karst landscapes form fantastic conical shapes covered with lush vegetation, the edges of which are caught by the sunlight. 

This is a destination for snorkelling and scuba diving- the coral is apparently wonderful and there’s the added attraction of several accessible wrecks. Some of the small bays are busy with numerous boats for this reason, and the additional opportunity to climb some of the ‘mountains’ to reach the lakes within.  I love snorkelling and wish I could participate, but unfortunately as simple swimming is out, this is not possible and I have to be content with the surface view. With such beauty, it’s hardly a hardship! 

As usual, really difficult to choose a main, but now my extras are refreshed, I can add lots of (temporary) extras.