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El Nido, Philippines: Island hopping and pig slaughtering.

el nido, palawan, philippines — El Nido Beach.

We hopped on a jeepney in Port Barton bound for Roxas which is the transfer point for onward travel to El Nido. On our jeepney were 17 people and two chickens. We stopped to pile a shitload of animal feed on the roof and then we were off to Roxas (with a quick stop to drop off a delivery of a shitload of animal feed).

Boat Beach Port Barton Palawan Philippines — The beach in Port Barton.

We were informed that the jeepney to Port Barton left from Puerto Princesa‘s San Jose Terminal at 9am. We ate breakfast and took a tricycle to the terminal (P60/$1.45). When we arrived, we had a couple of buses to choose from. We were excited at the prospect of taking our first jeepney, but the buses were a lot bigger and more comfortable so we took the 9:30am bus to Port Barton (P200/$4.80, about 4 hours). Before the bus pulled out of the station, a large Filipino man read some bible verses for us and prayed for our souls (and asked us for a donation for the privilege). We were off! [Cue the obligatory dance music]

Flying over the Philippines towards Palawan — As we made the descent into Palawan we sensed we’d made the right choice.

We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Manila, cleared customs with our bags, and continued on to Puerto Princesa City on the island of Palawan. We chose to spend two weeks in Palawan to relax on some white sand beaches and do some island hopping. By the time we arrived at Puerto Princesa International Airport, we hadn’t slept for 24 hours. We had booked an airport pickup and a couple of nights with Dallas Inn (P600/$14.40 double bed room with private bathroom, P300/$7.20 per person for dorm). We exited the airport and scoured the pickup drivers for our name on a board. No luck. Our flight had arrived late and we didn’t feel like waiting around for who knows how long, so we jumped on a tricycle for 50 pesos/$1.20. When we arrived at the guest house, they told us that someone had been sent to pick us up. Not really sure what happened there. Aside from the airport pickup debacle, Dallas Inn is arguably the best backpacker accommodation in Puerto Princesa (make sure you book ahead).

Vietnamese Food: Everything we ate during our first visit to Vietnam

Edit: I wrote this after traveling in Vietnam for the first time. Since then, I moved to the country, and went totally nuts on the food. If you want to learn more about the cuisine, check out my Food-Lover’s Guide to Vietnamese Food. It took me 2 years to make and contains over 75 dishes.

A Food-Lover’s Guide to Vietnamese Food

Inside of the Vinh Long Market in Vietnam — Vinh Long market during a brown out

The Story – Vinh Long, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Bus from Ben Tre to Vinh Long, Vietnam — These buses were not built for lanky white people.

Coming from Ben Tre, we took Bus 8 from the bus station for a very reasonable 20,000d/$1. The bus had absolutely NO leg room. We piled our luggage on our seats next to us and hoped that no one would want to sit down there. We were lucky that Asian people never want to sit next to westerners on a bus. The bus was used for everything from cargo transport to school bus, and it appears that tickets can be bought or bartered for with pretty much anything, including motorcycle parts [disclaimer: this may or may not be true].

Vietnamese Beer Review

There are 329 beer producers in Vietnam. Sara and I would love to try all of them but we don’t have the time or the liver to spare.
Beer brand popularity widely varies from province to province. This is because there are so many breweries and the cheapest, and freshest, beer is often the one made by the closest brewery.

Huda (Hue, 4.7%, 450ml, 10,000 dong/$0.50)

Ryan: A pretty clean taste. Easy to drink. Who da man? Huda da man! 6

Sara: It’s good — not too strong. I wouldn’t buy it if it weren’t cheap and plentiful here. I think the volume of the bottle is ideal. You can really taste that Danish technology. 7

Fishermen in coracles in the South China Sea, Vietnam — A row of traditional Vietnamese fishing coracles.

The Story – Mui Ne, Vietnam

We left for Mui Ne from Nha Trang, taking a bus that we booked through our hotel. We usually book buses directly with the company to avoid the commission fee that hotels and travel agents charge, but we were having a hard time finding a bus ticket office. The only ones that we could find were sleeper buses (Sara’s worst enemy). The hotel hooked us up with Tan Hanh Travel (126,000d/$6). We found out that the bus’ ticket office is at 14A Tran Hung Dao and if we had booked directly through them, we would have only paid $5 for the ride (that’s a savings of 2 beers!).

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The Mekong Delta provides many treats to a traveller: the abundance of river waters, the friendly people, the less-touristy cities, and the freshly grown tropical fruits. We decided to indulge in the latter. If you enjoy this article and want to learn more about Vietnam’s amazing food, I have a guide with over 75 dishes Food Lover’s Guide to Vietnam

Want to travel Vietnam? We did it for $20/day! Check out our Budget Travel Guide to Vietnam

Quy Nhon, Vietnam beach with fishing boats — Fishing boats along Quy Nhon beach.

The Story – Quy Nhon, Vietnam

Quy Nhon, Vietnam doesn’t see a lot of tourists and it breaks up a trip from Da Nang or Hoi An to Nha Trang nicely. The train ride from Da Nang was about 6 hours long, cost 180,000d/$8.60 and took us to Dieu Tri where we had to take a taxi to Quy Nhon which cost the same as the train despite it only be about 10km.

China Beach, Danang, Vietnam — China Beach. You can rent a chair for 20,000d/$1 for the day… don’t pay until the end of the day though, or the women will sell your chair to someone else when you go for lunch.

The Story

We thought about skipping Da Nang, Vietnam but decided against it. It was a good decision. Our first train ride in Vietnam was a pleasant one. We took train SE1 (70,000d/$3.30) departing Hue at 8:02am and, one Scrabble game later, we arrived in Da Nang around 10:45am.

Crossing the Laos-Vietnam Border: The Bus From Savannakhet to Hue

We took a bus from Vientiane to Savannakhet which was a killer nine-hour ride. Our butts were sore but we headed to Leena Guest House for the night.

bus schedule for Savannakhet, Laos to Hue, Vietnam — The bus schedule.

The next day we were up early to catch the 9am bus going from Savannakhet to Hue, Vietnam. It was a sleeper bus. A new experience for us. We had middle seats; not the best. I had the coffin-like bottom bunk, but Ryan was pretty comfortable on the top rack.

What We Ate in Laos

Given its geographical position, it’s not surprising that Lao cuisine is heavily influenced by its neighbours. It is easy to find a Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese flair in their dishes. However, there are delicious eats that are Laotian in origin: larb, papaya salad, and their penchant for sticky rice cooked in bamboo to name a few. Of course, don’t forget to wash it all down with a glass of national pride: Beerlao.

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Main menu

El Nido, Philippines: Island hopping and pig slaughtering.

Port Barton, Philippines: Rum in the Sun

Puerto Princesa, Philippines: Hello, Palawan (goodbye, hot water)!

Vietnamese Food: Everything we ate during our first visit to Vietnam

A Food-Lover’s Guide to Vietnamese Food

Vinh Long, Vietnam: Vinh Love You Long Time

The Story – Vinh Long, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Vietnamese Beer Review

Mui Ne, Vietnam: Resort to it.