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Photos and stories from many of my travels in the past 5 years

Mithun Divakaran Tapyas Coron Philippines

Philippines: Coron island-hopping tour (Part 2) – Twin lagoon, CYC island; climbing Mt. Tapyas

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 30, 2013
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Philippines, Travel

Date: 31st May 2013

This is a continuation of the first half of this Coron island-hopping tour. After lunch, the boat set off towards the next stop on the tour.

Emerald green water Coron Palawan — Goodbye to the emerald green water

Floating hut Coron Palawan — Floating bar?

Coron hills Palawan Philippines — Telephone signals seemed quite far away

Filipino girls Coron tour — Some of the tourists were in their post-lunch nap

We were supposed to go to Barracuda Lake next but we couldn’t because of some “problem” there. So instead, the boat took us to the Twin Lagoon. The water here looked far clearer than Siete Picados and the skies were clearing up too. So I got ready to jump in.

Twin lagoon water clarity Coron — Here we go!

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Philippines: Coron island-hopping tour (Part 1) – Siete Pecados, Kayangan lake

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 11, 2013
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Philippines, Travel

Date: 31st May 2013

I woke up today morning feeling quite hungry. I was going to be swimming and snorkeling a lot later today, so I needed some energy.

Bacon eggs breakfast Coron — I had a filling bacon, eggs and baguette for breakfast

After that, I was picked up by the tour operator for my island-hopping tour.

Tour boats docked Coron Palawan — We boarded our tour boat docked at Luahati Park

Tourists boat tour Coron — But it was a long wait before we departed because we were waiting for some more people

Tour guide Coron island tour Palawan — Eventually we did set off and begin our tour. This was our guide for the day.

Sleeping giant island Coron Philippines — This is the “Sleeping giant” island, not too far from Coron’s shore

Siete Pecados marine park Coron Palawan — Our first stop was at the nearby Siete Pecados Marine Park

Siete Pecados Marine Park Coron Philippines — Siete Pecados Marine Park is a snorkeling site

Snorkeling Siete Pecados marine park Coron — I took out my underwater camera and jumped in

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Philippines: Aerial view of Mount Mayon; arriving at Coron

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 01, 2013
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Philippines, Travel

Date: 30th May, 2013

Today was my last day in Legazpi. I had to head to the airport for my 12:40pm flight to Manila.

Backyard Legazpi coconut trees — Woke up to a view of the backyard not too different from what it’s like back home at my village

After breakfast, I checked my e-mails, packed my bags, said my goodbyes, and hired a cycle taxi to take me to Legazpi airport (I could take it easy as I had the time). Legazpi airport, like most regional airports isn’t very big and they weren’t even beginning the check-in procedures 1.5 hours before the scheduled flight time.

Legazpi airport Mayon volcano background — From the departures lounge I got to see Mt. Mayon… cloud-free

Magayon volcano smoke Legazpi Philippines — Still smoking

Legazpi airport runway Mayon mountain — At the time of check-in, I specifically asked for a window seat on the right-hand side of the plane, so that I could see Mt. Mayon at take off

Flight take off Legazpi — To head to Manila, the plane takes off…

Legazpi aerial view — And then turns around

Mount Mayon volcano full view from sky — Truly the world’s most symmetrical volcano

Magayon volcano full view from sky — I guess seeing it from an airplane is obviously the only way one can see Mount Magayon in its entirety

Here’s a video I shot:

Mount Mayon aerial view from plane — Goodbye epic mountain I had a tough time photographing without the clouds

I landed in Manila at 1:45pm and I had to then make my way to the next gate for my connecting flight to Busuanga Airport (Busuanga is the main airport serving Coron island). I had lunch from the airport itself as my flight would only depart at 3:15pm.

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