| October/November 2016 - Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand
I did a big trip this time. I went to three countries: Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. I went to the Philippines first. I did the usual route, SFO-Taipei-Manila. My final destination was Apulit Island off of Palawan. It's one of four El Nido resorts. Although my flight arrived in the morning, it did not arrive early enough to catch the connecting flight to El Nido. I had planned for this and had a reservation at a hotel in the Intramuros, the Bayleaf Intramuros. I did arrive early enough to do some site seeing in the Intramuros. Shortly after checking in, I went down to reception, viewed a map of the area and off I went. There is a lot to see. Much of it within walking distance of the Bayleaf. There are also many places to eat. The Bayleaf is a nice hotel and has 4 restaurants. (Go to the Sky Deck bar for the view.) But if you don't want to be in the hotel the entire time, try one of the local restaurants. The next morning I checked out and got transportation to the airport. (Side note: As far as I could tell, there is not any free shuttle service to and from the airport. You can either arrange for it with the hotel for a fee, or you can get a cab at the airport.) Traffic is bad in Manila. Even though Bayleaf is about 5 miles from the airport, it takes 30-45 minutes to get there. Once there, have your itinerary ready. Security won't let you into the building without it. ( I've experienced this in a few countries.) It doesn't have to be a paper copy. You can display it on your phone. (That's what I do.) It's a 55 minute flight to El Nido airport. It's a very small airport... It's more like a short runway with a couple of buildings... structures. It does service all the El Nido resorts. Guests of each resort are put on their respective shuttles and off they go. For Apulit Island, it's a 90 minute drive to Taytay. From there it is a 40 minute boat ride to Apulit Island. A welcoming group was there for our arrival to Apulit Island. After a couple of songs and a quick speech, we were escorted to our water cottages. Apulit has 50 water cottages. 20 have a loft and sleep 4. 30 sleep 2. Of the 4 resorts, it is known as the "Eco-Adventure" resort. It's also all-inclusive, meaning all meals and most activities are included. I did a few activities: snorkeling, diving, spelunking. However, I was there during and after a typhoon hit the Philippines. We didn't get the brunt of it, but we did get the aftereffect. Visibility was not that great for dives and snorkeling. I stayed in Apulit for 5 nights. The sixth day, departure. The farewell song by staff followed by smiles and hand waving. Boat ride back to Taytay; van to El Nido airport; flight to Manila. I spent another night in Manila, then flew out the next morning for Malaysia. (A lot of people I met were doing the same thing. Spend the night in Manila, fly out the next day.) I stayed at the Red Planet hotel, Aseana City. It's a good place to stay for one night. The next day I flew to Malaysia. It's about 3 and a half hours from Manila to Kuala Lumpur, roughly 1500 miles. From Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu is about 2 hours, a little over 1000 miles. (Side note: El Nido to Kota Kinabalu, just over 400 miles.) 20 minute car ride from Kota Kinabalu airport to Gaya lounge at Jesselton point. Then a 15 minute boat ride to Gaya Island. It was dark and raining when I arrived. Also, the resort had lost power earlier in the day. They were still in the process of bringing parts of the resort back up. Unfortunately, my villa was in the section where the power was still out. They gave me a free dinner while they were working on it. When they still couldn't get the power up, they just moved me to another villa. Gaya Island is a beautiful resort. Because I booked so early, they gave me the spa package. That's a massage every day. (Spa Village, awesome!) I did other stuff besides massages: a couple of dives and snorkeling. Of course, I did my obligatory tour/exploration of the resort. I think they refer to themselves as a small resort, but I think it's big. Walking up and down a lot of stairs and some steep roads may have had some influence on that thought. There are also monkeys on Gaya. I didn't have to go on a nature hike to see them. There was a monkey hanging (literally) around my villa. I've been to several places where there were monkeys. The warnings were don’t feed them and be very mindful of your belongings because they are notorious for stealing them. Here, the same warnings apply with the addition “Keep your villa locked." One morning, a monkey (not sure if it was the same one) tried to get into my villa. Later in the morning, another monkey was at my door. Checkout day, there were four monkeys. I stayed 5 nights on Gaya. Checkout day: No farewell song, but a couple of photo ops with staff followed by smiles and hand waving. Boat ride, car, flight. Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur to Phuket, Thailand. It's about an hour and 15 minute flight to Phuket. 1 hour time difference. If you look at your phone, it appears you landed a few minutes after you took off. Again, I had a car waiting for me. It was a 20 minute ride to Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas. Another gorgeous resort. I've stayed at Anantara resorts before. I think they have the best buffet breakfast. This resort is big. My villa was great. I only did a few things at Anantara, diving and elephant trekking. Elephant trekking is a half day event. Diving was an all day event. I also explored the resort, hit the beach, toured the area around Anantara, and ate at a local restaurant. (There are 4 resorts next to each other: Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas, Anantara Vacation Club, JW Marriott, and Marriott Vacation Club.) Except for the outdoor tub, I got full use of my villa. After another 5 nights, checkout day. Great breakfast. Smiles and waves farewell. My driver performed above and beyond in getting me to the airport. 1 hour and 15 minute flight from Phuket to Bangkok. A little over 3 hours from Bangkok to Taipei. Around 11 hours from Taipei to SFO. From SFO to Amtrak Richmond station, a little over 1 hour. Amtrak took a little over 2 hours to get to Sacramento. It's normally about 90 minutes, but Union Pacific had some issues. On the way from the train to the curb at Sacramento station, I used Lyft to schedule a ride. The car was there in 2 minutes and I was home shortly thereafter. Things of note about this trip:
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