Due to poor Internet quality throughout Asia, it has been especially difficult to upload longer episodes of Atlas Sliced. Therefore, I am suspending episodes of Atlas Sliced until I am back in the states in June. Don’t worry though, I will be back with some awesome stories and videos.

In the meantime, when I have good Internet and ample time to upload videos, I will share shorter videos on the site Perpetual Explorer.

Look out for new episodes and new guests in late June/early July.

India has proved to be a country full of adventure. Find out what happens when our hotel failed to book us train tickets and forced us to hire a driver to cover over 800 kilometers of “road.”

Lowlights and Highlights from the Drive
- Driving on the wrong side of the roads and dodging other vehicles coming at us from the wrong side of the road

Sharing the road with oncoming traffic

- Encountering blockades and boulders that prevented us from staying on the right side of the road

Boulders blocking the road

- Getting lost… a lot. Our driver had to use the map in our Lonely Planet book and ask tons of people for directions.

- Traversing bumpy, unpaved roads while wearing no seatbelt

Unpaved dirt road

- Eating hole-in-the-wall authentic Indian food in Podunk, middle of nowhere places

Hole-in-the-wall Indian food

- Keeping the driver awake

- Mosquito infested hotel rooms

- Three flat tires, one of which was fixed by putting a rag in the gap

Rag in the tire hole

- Not being able to see because so many people drive with their brights/high beam lights at night

- Being stuck behind herds of cattle and goats as they crossed the street

- Taking pictures of locals and seeing the country that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise

- Locals staring shamelessly at us and wanting to take our pictures and/or examine our every move

Locals watching us

Takeaways and Tips
- Taking a road trip in India gives you an opportunity to see remote and very off-the-beaten places.

- Bargain hard for the price of a driver.

- If you can, be flexible with your schedule in India.

- For those with a less flexible schedule, book trains ahead of time (They fill up quickly.) with an Indian contact, whether it be someone you know or a reliable travel agent. You need an Indian mobile phone number to book trains.

- Use the foreigner’s quota for booking trains or get a “tatkal” (urgent) ticket if you need a train right away.

- If you need to book a train while in India, try to book on your own before you resort to an agency or someone else to do it for you.

- The most helpful train site for learning about Indian trains: Seat 61

Holi: Ambushed and Manhandled in India
(NOTE: If you are subscribing to this post via email, go to the Atlas Sliced site to see the video).

Being ambushed with colored powder, foam, dye, and water during Holi in India (particularly Mathura and Vrindavan) makes snowball fights look tame. I hated it. My fellow guy travelers loved it.

For those who don’t know, Holi is a full-moon festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. People (mainly men and children) throw or wipe colorful powder, foam, dye, and water on anyone who crosses their paths. My group of friends and I went to Mathura, a small town that celebrates Holi to the max. During Holi, the town goes crazy, and tons of people come join the mass celebration.

Getting Colored

Why the guys loved it

It was very aggressive, and there was lots of physical contact. Most guys love this kind of stuff. There was also a lot of interaction with little kids, which was super fun.

Some Boys Celebrating Holi

Why I (and most women) hated it

I can’t speak for all women, but several of the female travelers I spoke to felt similarly to the way I felt.

Of all my traveling experiences so far, celebrating Holi was one of the most uncomfortable times of my life. I was touched and kissed on the cheek by men too many times to count. One of my female friends was kissed on the lips! I got my ass slapped and my breasts squeezed, after repeated yells at these men to stay away. They surrounded me and rubbed colored foam and powder in my face and all over my mouth and my eyes, which made it incredibly hard to see and speak. Pretending to be married to my boyfriend Eric didn’t help an ounce.

After Being Ambushed for the First Time

I’m sure Holi was once a tame holiday, but these days, it’s nothing short of riotous. For me, it was completely out of hand thanks to some huge perverts. In India, it’s very rare for men to have physical contact with women. I felt like this holiday was a poor excuse for them to be able to touch some fresh, white, lady meat. And, they certainly helped themselves. The entire time I was out on the streets, I saw only one women rubbing powder on people’s faces. She was very subdued and kind, unlike the men who were outrageously over-physical.

My girlfriends and I were wearing clothes that covered our knees and shoulders, but that didn’t deter these men. Since we weren’t nearly as covered up as traditional Indian women and since we were white, some men must have seen this as another invitation to touch.

The Aftermath

I felt violated almost the whole time. Here are three incidents that stick out most for me.

1) After being blasted on all fronts with color, Eric and I went for a walk to get away from one particularly chaotic area. At the end of our walk, we needed a rickshaw to get us back to our hotel. While we were walking toward a rickshaw, I felt a little “bump” on my butt, and I looked to my right. A man was walking next to me, and I thought he had accidentally bumped into me. I quickly learned that this bump was no accident.

When locals learned that we needed a rickshaw, we were quickly surrounded by at least six men who wanted us to go with them in their tricycle rickshaws. There was a cacophony of voices and bargaining, and the next thing I know is that I was getting a huge slap on my ass by the same guy who bumped me. I looked up, and he motioned for me to come with him. The only thing I could do was glare at him because we were outnumbered, and I didn’t want to start a physical fight. I would have kicked him with all my might. At this point, Eric and I jumped into a motorized rickshaw and got out of there as quick as we could. As we were leaving, another man reached his hand into the rickshaw and tried to grab me.

2) Walking down a street, a group of us (three white women, three white guys) were again encircled by men wanting to rub powder all over our faces, give us “hugs,” and wish us “Happy Holi.” I hated the male attention and asked loudly for them to stop, but they did not. Even the three guys we were with had trouble keeping the Indian men off us women. It was then that I noticed a man with his pants zipper down and a bulge sticking out of his pants. I told everyone we needed to get away from that crowd of men as soon as possible, so we did. I asked Eric to take me back to the hotel after that because I had had enough. Shortly after, everyone else came back to the hotel.

Other foreign travelers notified us that it wasn’t safe for us to be out and that we should wait until late afternoon if we wanted to go back out again. All the while, we were starving because no restaurants were open. Thankfully, our hotel made us some snacks.

Eating Snacks Prepared by Our Hotel

3) After seeing the man’s bulge, Eric and I found a tricycle rickshaw and got in. We were approached by lots of male crowds that sprayed us some more. We told the man pedaling the rickshaw to keep going. In one particular crowd of men, they swarmed our rickshaw and tugged forcefully at my chest. At this point, I began to cry. I was so appalled by the disgusting behavior of these men, that I couldn’t take it anymore. I have never been manhandled like that before, and I hope I never have to experience being touched like that again.

Tricycle Rickshaw

Our Lonely Planet guidebook says Holi is notorious for molestation and unwanted touching. It also says that women need to be extra cautious. It’s true.

The good parts

I can’t say that all of Holi was bad. There were some fun parts. Interacting with genuine locals was a great experience. I’ll list a couple good parts.

1) During my walk with Eric, we were covered head to toe in colors. We passed a place with tons of children. It must have been a daycare, orphanage, or a school. They were dancing, so we stopped to take pics. When the kids spotted us taking pics, they went ballistic and wanted us to come over to them. Eric and I were hauled into the center of a circle with kids and adults cheering us on. They put on music and told us to dance. Eric and I danced as best we could, with everyone clapping and whooping. When we left, the kids chased after us and wanted us to take more pictures of them.

The Circle of Kids

Kids Chasing After Us

2) On two occasions, we were taken into people’s homes. They liked that we foreigners were celebrating Holi. The first time, a nice middle-aged woman pulled us into her courtyard. I have no idea what she was saying, but we stood there, next to her many cows, as her family observed us.

We were also invited into another courtyard to eat snacks prepared by locals. They kept shoving cracker-like food into our faces! One lady spoke English and told us to be careful because the dye on our hands was poisonous. If we accidentally ingested it, it would not be good.

Locals Serving Snacks

Takeaways

Overall, I would not recommend women to celebrate Holi in Mathura or Vrindavan. I don’t know what it’s like in other cities in India (I heard it was much tamer.), but it was really unpleasant for me. Holi could still be fun for female travelers. The ladies just have to know what they are getting themselves into if they are in Mathura or Vrindavan. Below are some key takeaways.

- If you are a woman who wants to celebrate Holi, make sure you are in the company of at least one other male before venturing out.

- Kick and/or yell at your attackers.

- Bring a bandana or something of the like to cover your mouth. You may want one for your hair too.

- Bring wet wipes or water to wipe off your mouth and eyes.

- If you bring any belongings, make sure they are in waterproof bags and preferably hidden from others.

- Bring clothes that you want to throw away or that you want to dye. Your clothes will get stained.

- Expect the dye to not wash out of your skin and hair right away.

- Don’t wear shorts or tank tops unless you want tons of male attention.

- If you’re a neat freak or don’t like getting dirty, don’t do it.

More great Holi posts in the travel blogosphere

Holi Cow… Groped in India! by Kieu at GQ Trippin.

An intense Holi celebration in Mathura. by Jaime at Breakaway Backpacker

happy holi! by Val at ValBromann.com.

Lastly, to all my fellow travelers out there, happy travels, and I hope you come back with a story worth telling!

If you want to see me and my friends eating live octopus suctioning to everything and wriggling about, look no further. Reading this via email? Go to the Atlas Sliced website to check it out.

After two years in Seoul, I am leaving tomorrow for a three-month journey around India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. There was no way I was going leave Seoul without trying live octopus. Some people consider it a delicacy, so I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

The fish market from above

A couple weeks ago, my friends and I went to a wholesale fish market called Noryangjin Fish Market. It has all different types of seafood, such as sea cucumber, urchins, rays, octopi, squid, you name it. We picked out what we wanted, and the vendors put it in a bag. For fish, they chopped it up and then gave it to us in a bag. For octopi, they put them in a bag with water, so that the creatures were still alive.

Octopus and other seafood

Once we had our bags (full of fish, octopi, and prawns), we went to an underground restaurant that was teeming with people eating all different kinds of seafood.

Picking out the seafood

After eating some fish soup and some shrimp, they brought out the octopi. The octopi had just been freshly chopped; therefore, they were still writhing and wriggling around.

Delicious shrimp

The verdict: Except for one person at the table, we all agreed that it tasted like salty snot. It was very chewy, and we had to be careful to chew a lot, so that the suckers wouldn’t stick to our mouths. They suctioned so much to everything that when my boyfriend put one of the tentacles on a nearby bottle, it stayed on the bottle.

Tentacle sticking to a bottle

Takeaways
- Chew carefully.
- Do it if you want a unique experience.
- Don’t expect it taste good.

Happy eating!

This is the story of the craziest bus ride of my life. If you are reading this in an email, you will have to go to my site to view the video (see below). This video is different than other videos I have posted because I included photos in it. Changed it up a bit after a few suggestions from viewers. You can also read the whole story below.

Volunteering with kids

In 2009, I quit my job to travel solo. My one-way ticket landed me in Cusco, Peru, where I volunteered and became TEFL certified. During my free time, I would often go on trips all over the country. On one such trip, I encountered a horrible bus ride. I’ll be taking much of this story from a post I made over two years ago on my South American blog, which is no longer active.

The First Bus Ride

The friends/group members who had planned to go on my trip decided not to go with me because they heard there were going to be blockades in the road. At the time, there was quite a bit of civil unrest. Basically, the government was trying to take land away from the native people. In retaliation, the natives were blocking roads with rocks, boulders, cacti and anything else they could find, making it hard to travel.

My friends heard right because around 11pm the bus stopped, and we were alerted that there were tons of rocks in the streets. An hour later, we all had to get out of the bus and help move the rocks that were blocking the street. Meanwhile, locals were having a bonfire in the middle of the street. I was very tired and confused and could barely figure out what was going on. Fortunately, shortly after our walk in the cold night air, we were back on the bus for our destination.

Windy dirt roads

The bus ride was super curvy, and it felt like a boat rocking back and forth or turbulence in an airplane. Little did I know that this bus ride was nothing compared to the ride back.

The Bus Ride Back

After a beautiful but cold trip to Arequipa and Colca Canyon, I was ready to head back to Cusco.

Before I boarded the bus, I asked one of the attendants if there were going to be more protests that night. I didn’t want to experience another long delay. She said no, so I was happy that my ride would be smooth sailing.

Boy was she wrong. I wish it had been smooth sailing. I sat down in my seat at the front of the bus, and we took off. Even after they handed out blankets, I was still incredibly cold. The bus had no heat, and once again, it was below freezing outside. It was rocking back and forth, just like the first ride, but this ride was way worse. Throughout the night, the attendants had to get out and direct the bus on these narrow roads.

At about 5:15 AM, the bus was in such a tough position that we all had to get out while the driver tried to maneuver his way around the tight bends. At this time, ice was covering the windows. It then occurred to me that we were on a completely different road than the one I had originally taken to get there.

Apparently, since the main road was blocked by the protesters, our driver decided to take a different route that he’d never been on before. Consequently, he got lost and ended up following another “lost bus” in the hope that the other bus driver knew where he was going.

Bus stuck in a ditch

The alternate route was not meant for big buses at all. On several occasions, I thought we might go over the cliffs. Long story short, the bus we were following got stuck in a ditch. Then, our bus got stuck in the same ditch. It took two hours to get the buses free and turn around. All the while, the driver made a huge dent on the front bumper and completely destroyed part of the back bumper.

Bus bumper destroyed

We were literally in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone signals. Finally, we passed a couple of people on the road, and they directed us the correct way to go.

When we got to the main road, there were boulders and rocks everywhere. The natives had set up blockades. We all had to get out of the bus again and take turns removing the rocks. By this time, it was warm outside, and our bus had no air conditioning either.

Blockades in the road

Crossing the broken bridge

In the amazing Colca Canyon of Peru

Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse, they did. Around 1 PM, fourteen hours after we started the journey, we all had to abandon the bus. The natives had taken out several planks from the bridge that we were supposed to cross and had covered the road with more boulders, rocks and cacti for at least a mile.

I carefully made my way across the broken bridge with my luggage and walked for over an hour. At this point, I pinched myself to make sure that this in fact was real life.

Finally, another bus came to pick us up. It was filled to the brim with smelly people, and I was sitting next to some lady who was coughing up a lung and in front of another lady who started puking. Thus, I quickly decided to get away from them and stand for the rest of the two-hour ride back.

At least the bus ride(s) were very scenic. I’m happy to say that I made it back safely and in one piece. I felt a strong sense of accomplishment going solo, and I surprised myself with my independence.

Key Takeaways
* The biggest takeaway from this story is to check ahead of time what kinds of conditions you will face while you are on the road. Know what is going on in the country you are in.

* Another takeaway is that enduring a crazy moment while traveling solo can be end up being very empowering.

This post is about my paradise vacation to Coron, Philippines in December 2011. It’s chunked into sections similar to a travel guide for convenience and ease. I am hoping this info will be as useful as possible for people traveling to Coron in the near future. The WikiTravel site for Coron is a bit outdated, so here is more up-to-date info. I’ll probably update WikiTravel as well.

Scroll down to the “Diving” section to view the video about my experience diving in Coron.

For those of you who haven’t given much thought about traveling to the Philippines, think about it. There are hundreds of beautiful islands to explore. And, it’s cheap. Boracay remains one of the top vacation destinations for English teachers in Seoul. Bohol is also becoming popular. My boyfriend Eric and I chose a little more off the beaten path place called Coron.

How We Got There – Flying to Coron

Eric and I took a flight from Incheon to Manila, and then from Manila to Coron. The lines moved painstakingly slow in Manila. We were waiting in line to check in for almost an hour, and there were only about seven groups in front of us. If you book with Cebu Pacific Air, you will probably have a layover before your flight to Busuanga (Busuanga is the island where Coron is located.). The good thing about Cebu Pacific is that it’s located in a better terminal (terminal 3), so it’s not as dodgy as other terminals. We spent the night there sleeping on the floor near the shops and restaurants, and we felt safe. (*TIP for Cebu Pacific – Book your seats ahead of time to be in the front of the plane. You will have more legroom. Cebu Pacific skimps on legroom).

The island of Busuanga is an hour flight from Manila. Coron Town, the populated area of Busuanga, is about a 40-45 minute bus ride from the airport. If you can, arrange airport pickup before you arrive or else you might have to wait for a ride to pick you up.

The airport itself is tiny. You enter and exit the plane via stairs, and you are surrounded by greenery on all sides. Baggage claim consists of a little area that is a small section of a room.

First Impressions – Don’t Be Alarmed

Upon arrival, Coron doesn’t leave a wonderful first impression –There are no beaches within walking distance, and everything looks run-down. It was much more third world than I had imagined, with motorized tricycles everywhere and scarcity of air conditioning. The downtown area is very small, and you can walk around it in a matter of minutes. Despite all this, its majestic beauty will leave you almost speechless by the end of your trip.

It’s not until you get away from the commotion of Coron Town that you begin to realize its true beauty. Islands upon islands stretch as far as the eye can see. Many of them have their own white, sandy beaches. Coron Island, which is about a 20-minute boat ride from Coron Town, boasts breathtaking limestone cliffs cascading into clear blue-green water.

Getting to the Islands

The one thing that surprised me the most about Coron was that in order to see all of the surrounding beauty, you have to take a tour or hire a boat. There are numerous tour companies that offer tours to different islands and even to El Nido (*TIP – If you plan on going to El Nido from Coron, trips often get canceled because of rough seas. The boats are not equipped to handle large waves.)

Most tour companies offer similar tour options, with no more than 10 people to a tour. We took a liking to a company called Nice in Paradise. They had a friendly staff with good “buffet” lunch (fried whole fish, crab, pork, rice, salad, seaweed, bananas, water, soft drinks). Their boats also seemed a little nicer than some of the other tour companies. Nice in Paradise also had a boy working for them on the boat. He swam like a fish and seemed to really enjoy working. He claimed he was 14, but he looked and acted no more than 12 to us. Labor laws are probably not enforced too much here.

We booked our tours a day or two beforehand. It’s not hard to find tour companies to take you out, and there is no need to book way ahead in advance. Tours ranged from about 650-1300 pesos, and they are usually all day. Prices varied depending on which tour we took. Snorkel rentals were 100-150 pesos. Be careful in the snorkeling areas because there are tons of sea urchins. There are jellyfish in some areas, but we were lucky enough not to encounter them. We met someone who had been stung twice, and she had some horrible looking scars. She said it was very painful, and she had to go to the hospital to get treated.

Coron Island Tours

We took two Coron Island tours, which consisted of visiting lakes, relaxing and snorkeling at beaches, and snorkeling at other underwater sites. I’ll list some the highlights in this section.

Coron Island has two very clear lakes that are open to the public. Kayangan Lake is the clearest lake in the Philippines. The visibility is great, and you can see underwater rock formations. It got a bit crowded, but it was still very beautiful. The hike up to the lake takes about 10-15 minutes. You can stop at a gorgeous viewing area, where you can take a shot of the bay with clear blue-green water. If you Google “Coron,” this is the shot that comes up in Google Images.

Barracuda Lake is also very clear. We had Barracuda Lake to ourselves for the first 20 minutes, which was really great. You can snorkel both Kayangan Lake and Barracuda Lake, but you can only scuba dive in Barracuda Lake. They both have unique thermoclines, where if you go deep enough (over 10 meters), the water will heat up rapidly like a natural hot spring. Most thermoclines are the opposite, where the water gets colder at the bottom.

On the tours, we stopped for lunch at Banol Beach one day and 91 Beach another day. They are white sandy beaches on Coron Island, so there are beautiful limestone rock formations on one side, and clear blue-green water on another side. You can relax on the beach here or snorkel. We did both.

Since we went diving, the skeleton wreck was nothing special. As a snorkeler, you can see the wreck, but not well. Our guides threw some food into the water, and tons of colorful fish came swarming to eat it. That was the highlight.

The Twin lagoons were also a big highlight. We boated to a lagoon in a very calm area with clear water, and then we swam under a limestone rock formation to another lagoon with clear water. Again, we were surrounded by jagged rocks and beautiful water.

*TIP – It is a good idea to bring a waterproof camera or waterproof bag on the day trips. There are times when you might have to wade through water to get to the shore or the dock. The last thing you want is a broken camera.

Coral Garden and Siete Picados are fantastic snorkeling spots. Coral Garden was shallow and had tons of beautiful coral, along with brilliantly colored fish, sea stars, sea urchins, anemones, and sea horses (if you are lucky). Siete Picados also had some nice coral, but had even more beautiful fish. Siete Picados is a protected area, which means there is no fishing allowed. The fish were incredible, and I felt like I was swimming in an aquarium. I wish I knew the names of all the fish I was looking at.

Malcapuya Island and Banana Island Tour

We took a whole day tour with Nice in Paradise to Malcapuya Island and Banana Island. The islands are about an hour and a half away from Coron by boat. If the boats were speedboats, the islands would probably be only about half an hour away. Banana Island has a beautiful white sandy beach with clear water. Snorkeling is great there. Malcapuya Island has an even better white sandy beach, but the visibility isn’t great, and there is nothing much to see when snorkeling.

Maquinit Hot Springs is very relaxing after a busy day of sightseeing or diving. Make sure to negotiate with your tricycle driver before he takes you there, and be aware of the closing time. The road to the hot springs is a bumpy dirt road. We managed to fit six people (plus the driver) in the tiny motorized tricycle. We had to get out and walk at one point, so the tricycle could make it up a hill.

Diving

Coron is known for its wreck diving. American forces sank a fleet of Japanese warships during World War 2 in Coron Bay. The wrecks are covered in coral now. If you’d like to hear about our diving experience, watch the video below. I’ll recap it in text as well.

Eric and I became open water certified in Coron. We had never dived before, and we got our certification in two days. Before arriving in Coron, we took the dive theory portion of our SDI (Scuba Diving International) course online.

We dove with a dive company called Discovery Divers because they are a five-star center, and they seemed safe. Marcel, a retired engineer from Switzerland, was our instructor. He was very well informed about safety and diving, which was great. I was super nervous, and he did a good job to try and calm my nerves.

Day 1

We had the whole boat to ourselves. Marcel and his crew took us to an island with clear water, a sandy bottom, and some pretty coral. Other people were learning to dive there too with other dive companies. We learned the following things:

-       how to inspect the equipment

-       how to assemble the equipment and put it on

-       how to clear our masks of water

-       underwater hand signals

-       how to enter the water with a “giant stride” (big step off the boat)

-       the basics of breath and buoyancy

We did two easy dives the first day to get the feel for diving. We made sure to equalize (plug your nose and blow out) and breathe the whole time, since those two things are very important.

We saw some cool coral, fish, and even some squid. I used up more air than Eric the first day because I was so nervous!

Day 2

On the second day of our dive training, it was raining, and I was cold. I was also worried about the visibility, and I was nervous about the “tasks” that we needed to perform in order to get certified. I will list just a few things that we learned/did this day. We did the following:

-       took off the weight belt and put it back on in the water

-       took off our vest (with our tank and breathing equipment) and put it back on in the water

-       simulated being out of air

-       blew air into our vests to inflate them manually in case the inflator stopped working

-       simulated when a diver is too tired to continue and how to help our partner

After we did our tasks, we went for a dive. We dove down to East Tangat Wreck, which is a shallow wreck that’s good for beginners. We went up to 18 meters deep and saw some great sea life, full of lots of coral and beautiful fish.

We also did another dive on day two. We saw Olympia Maru, a huge warship. Our instructor told us that Olympia was much deeper than the first wreck. He told us that all we would see when we were descending was blue and not to freak out. So, we looked at him as we were descending, and before we knew it, we were looking at this amazing coral everywhere moving like a symphony to music. We explored the more shallow areas of the ship and saw so many different fish. I especially liked the lionfish and the coral that looked like brains.

I felt much more relaxed during this dive, and I used less air than Eric! After that, we were officially open water certified.

Right after we climbed back onto the boat, one of the dive masters screamed that she saw a snake. Lo and behold, we looked down and saw a Belcher Sea Snake. Some reports say that this snake is the most poisonous snake in the world!

Day 3

After becoming certified, Eric and I took a day off to island hop, and then signed up to go diving again. I did two more wreck dives, which I will briefly talk about here.

The first dive we did on day three was Tangat Wreck. There was a bit of a current here, and I was a little nervous about my mouthpiece. The left side of my mouthpiece was a little loose before the dive, and the part that I was biting down on ended up breaking off during the dive. My mask also filled up with water as I was descending. We went about 22 meters, although we were only supposed to go 18 meters. I felt okay going deeper, and we saw some great sea life again. All in all, this dive was a little stressful for me because of my mouthpiece.

Eric had to breathe on our dive master’s octopus (the extra breathing regulator) because he was using up more air than the rest of us. Since the dive masters know how to breathe very well underwater, they knew how to conserve air. So, in order for Eric to conserve air in his own tank, he used air from our instructor’s tank for a few minutes.

That day, we did another wreck dive, which was shallow. We saw Lusong Gun Boat. It barely looked like a boat because it was covered so much in coral. We not only saw the boat, but we also saw a nice reef close by. The water was clear, but there seemed to be a lot of particles floating, which made the visibility worse than the other dives. The highlight was probably seeing a huge sea cucumber.

Overall, we had a good diving experience. I’d definitely recommend diving in Coron.

Food – “Expensive” Places and Cheap Places

Eric and I began our trip eating at the touristy restaurants (Sea Dive Resort, Bistro Coron, and La Sirenetta are all recommended), but they were putting dents in our wallets. We hadn’t anticipated spending $5-6+ a meal. I know this is still very cheap, but we were planning on eating $2-3 a meal. So, after a few days, we asked one of our Swiss dive masters if it was safe to eat at the hole-in-the-wall places, and he said yes. It was a fabulous decision.

We ate very cheaply and like royalty, and we did not get sick. The one drawback is that many of the restaurants seem to close around 7pm, and there are only a few options. The places we liked best were the places that had several dishes already prepared and sitting out on display. I know it sounds shady deciding to eat at a place that has food sitting out, but we were perfectly fine. The food was delicious too. You cannot leave Coron without having Pork or Chicken Adobo. It’s a Filipino specialty. If you don’t know what something is, just ask. Many Filipinos speak English.

Also, Go to Coron Public Market for extremely juicy and delicious mangoes. They are safe to eat. All you have to do is peel off the skin, take a bite, and you will be in heaven. The cost was 100 pesos per kilo. If you go when a food shipment has just arrived, you will get the freshest ones, and you will not be disappointed.

The more you explore, the more you find. We found two decent and CHEAP bakeries, where we picked up snacks and breakfast almost every morning.

Princess of Coron

Eric and I stayed at Princess of Coron, an Austrian lodging house, which we booked through Agoda. I highly recommend it. Below is almost a verbatim review I wrote on Agoda and TripAdvisor. I edited the reviews slightly for this post.

Princess of Coron is awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone. It’s about a 5-7 minute walk from the downtown area, which is great. I really liked that it wasn’t near the main street because the main street was super noisy.

The staff is helpful if you need airport pickup or need to arrange a tour. I stayed in a standard room that had air conditioning, a fan, and hot water. Most other accommodations in Coron don’t have air and/or hot water.

The place itself is very charming and is kept looking really nice. The patio near the roof has some tables and chairs, so you can relax with a nice view.

The only criticism I have is that the service is a bit slow, but that is typical of the whole island of Busuanga.

Here’s a tip about the booking: Email them at princessofcoron@yahoo.com to make sure your booking went through. Sometimes their Internet is down, and they double books things.

ATMs and Money

There were two ATMs that I saw. I met several people who used their ATM cards with no trouble at one particular ATM. I don’t recall the name of the bank, but it was near a church, and it was about a 3-5 minute walk from Sea Dive Resort.

Cash is the best way to get around, since most places charge you if you use a credit card. If you can, get bills of small denominations. People don’t like to take big bills.

Toiletries and Shopping

There are plenty of small “stores” that sell sun block, mosquito repellent, and other toiletries. I didn’t look around too much since I brought my own, but it looked like the selection was fine.

You can also buy clothes at Coron Public Market or some other stores, but don’t expect anything high-end. I got a couple nice sarongs and some sandals for a few bucks.

This concludes my post on Coron. If you want a magical vacation, go to Coron during dry season, and hopefully you will love it as much as I did. Check out a small album below!

NOTE #1: If you are subscribing to this blog via email or a reader, click on the title of this post if you want to see the video.

Today’s Special

You don’t want to miss this story from Natalie Menezes (read about her below). She talks about joining the “Walrus Club” in Poland, where she submerged her body in a frozen pond in -27 degree (Celsius) weather. That’s about -17 degrees Fahrenheit. My body almost hurts just thinking about this! Watch the video for a full explanation of the Walrus Club and Natalie’s experience. I have no idea how she didn’t get hypothermia!

About Natalie
Natalie Menezes is a South African globetrotter who has lived in 5 different continents. She is an educator and a woman of many talents. Recently, Natalie co-founded IDEE (The Initiative for Development, Education, and Empowerment), a nonprofit organization that is committed to educating and empowering survivors of modern-day slavery. They are currently partnering with Youth Creating Change in Ghana. Check out their website for more information and their most up-to-date projects.

And now, without further ado, here is Natalie’s crazy, unique Walrus Club story. Enjoy!

Key Takeaways
- The Walrus Club is an extreme version of the Polar Bear Club.
- If you are in good physical condition, you might be able to do this.
- People who are part of the Walrus Club claim it’s good for health and vitality.

A Few Pics
Here are some photos Natalie’s bone-chilling Walrus Club adventure. I think I would have froze in seconds.

NOTE #1: If you are subscribing to this blog via email or a reader, click on the title of this post if you want to see the video.

NOTE #2: I am filming Atlas Sliced in my tiny apartment in Seoul, South Korea with my webcam. I know the camera angles and lighting aren’t great (video quality is also very poor with Skype over long distances), but there is not much I can do about that. The goal of this project is to serve up some great travel stories. Over time, locations and filming options will change, but for now, this is how it is. Eventually, I’d love to have an audio only option as well. Please forgive!

Today’s Special
This episode is with Mike Welch, the man behind GoPowerKick and PowerKicKinc.com. He is a master power kicker and an English teacher in Thailand at Assumption University. He talks about his month-long journey from the north of Vietnam (Hanoi) to the south of Vietnam (Saigon) on a motorcycle – pretty bad ass! His story is below.

Also, check out Mike’s interview on Teaching Traveling, which is a site that has a fantastic assortment of you guessed it – teaching and traveling stories.

Key Takeaways
- With a few hours of training and courage, you can ride a motorcycle in Vietnam, even if you have never done so before.

- The Hai Van Pass has amazing views. Great place to see when you go to Vietnam.

- Vietnam is a beautiful country with tons of things to see and do. Motorcycling is a great way to see the sights and meet/bond with new people.

A Few Pics
Here are some pics from Mike’s motorcycle journey.

NOTE: If you are subscribing to this blog via email or a reader, click on the title of this post if you want to see the video.

The Meat and Potatoes
Robyn Larsen, English teacher and Peace Corps alumna (country: Kiribati), talks about her day tour to eerie Kaesong, North Korea in November 2008. It’s incredibly different from South Korea and seems straight out of the 1950s.

I am super jealous that she got to go into the country. I have literally taken only a few steps into North Korea at the DMZ, but Robyn got to spend several hours there. It’s a very fascinating and secretive country. Check out the story below. It’s hosted on Blip.tv, which seems to be having difficulties right now. If you don’t see a video below, copy/paste the link into your browser to watch it.

A Few Pics
Here are a few of Robyn’s photos of North Korea. Click to see larger images.

NOTE: If you are subscribing to this blog via email or a reader, click on the title of this post if you want to see the video.

You’ve already heard about my family’s wild river rafting trip on the Nile River in Uganda. Well, there are several more stories from that trip. This one is from when I contracted Malaria there. Not just malaria – the deadliest form of it. You will hear about it in this next video by yours truly.

You’ll also hear a little back-story on me and my tiny apartment with only one double burner. I think I mentioned that there were two (I wish there were two.). Probably the biggest things I miss from home are an oven and a dryer for my clothes. Whenever I wash my clothes, I have to hang them all over my apartment. Also, see if you can count how many times I say “you know.” After playing back this story, I thought, “Yikes!” Definitely something I need to work on. I had no idea I was saying it. It’s a little strange talking into a camera with no one around.

Moving on, I must have contracted malaria from a mosquito early on in the trip during one of the safaris because it takes a few days to incubate. I probably got less than 10 bites the entire trip. However, we were in an area where malaria was very common.

And now, without further ado, here is my story.

Key Takeaways

* You can still contract malaria while taking anti-malaria pills.

* If you have access to a good local doctor, go there. They know about their country’s diseases and can probably help you.

* Make sure the clinic you go to is legit. Mine was recommended by our hotel. Clinics might seem a little shady, but keep in mind it’s a third-world country, and standards are not the same.

* Obviously, there will be times where you are not prepared. When that happens, surround yourself with knowledgeable people if possible. We were “prepared” because our hotel staff and guide were able to help us out.

And lastly, for those who haven’t read Tim Ferriss’ horror story about getting ridiculously sick in India, it’s a good read. Check it out here.

A Few Pics
Here are some pics of the area where I probably got malaria and a not so flattering pic of me drinking the nasty electrolyte mix. Click to see a larger image.

Sunrise

Amazing view with no sign of civilization

Savannah plains in Uganda

Drinking the nasty electrolyte drink

More amazing scenery

Our lodge from afar