Beautiful El Nido: a far cry from the peace of Port Barton

Beautiful El Nido: a far cry from the peace of Port Barton

The Bacuit Archipelago is considered one of the highlights of any visit to the Philippines: limestone cliffs jutting out of the sea as in HaLong Bay but without much litter and with great snorkeling. El Nido, at the northern end of Palawan, is the best base for exploring the area and the tour industry is booming.   There are four standard island hopping tours with tours A and C reputed

15 dives in 4 days: Liveaboard diving in the Similan Islands

15 dives in 4 days: Liveaboard diving in the Similan Islands

Dive Eat Sleep Repeat. That’s the accurate logo of Khao Lak SCUBA Adventures, the company with whom I booked a 4 night, 4 day liveaboard of diving in the Similan Islands off the coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. With 15 dives including one night dive and two sunset dives, the day really did go from sleeping to diving to eating and doing it all again. Exhausting but well

Inle Lake: Packed with Tourists for Good Reason

Inle Lake: Packed with Tourists for Good Reason

Almost certainly Myanmar’s most touristy area, Inle Lake won three nights of our time with my parents, and for good reason. It’s a beautiful place with – at least in August – delicious tomatoes and surprisingly good local wine. Plus temples, stupas, markets, floating gardens, multiple ethnic groups happy to sell you their wares, fishermen still willing to pose for photos, traditional artisans demonstrating their craft for all who stop

2 Days on the Mekong River Delta

2 Days on the Mekong River Delta

Along the lines of blackwater rafting in New Zealand, I’ve wanted to see the floating market on Vietnam’s Mekong River delta since I read about it more than a decade ago. Vendors live in their boats on the river, selling fruit and vegetables to locals in large quantities. Each vendor erects a bamboo pole at the bow with a fruit or vegetable tied to it showing what she sells. A

Diving in Cambodia

Diving in Cambodia

When thinking of Cambodia, diving is not the first thing that comes to mind. But continuing our trend of diving wherever we can reasonably fit it into this trip, we blocked out two days to spend a few hours breathing canned air in the Gulf of Thailand.    Dive shops are based in Sihanoukville and on the islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem. The islands are about 1.5-2