Stuck between a rock and a wet place.

There are two places in the Philippines that I really wanted to see on this visit: El Nido and Banaue, an iconic landscape of rice terraces created over 2,000 years, rising thousands of feet and shaping entire hillsides. 

An engineering feat and World Heritage listed, they are widely regarded as the most striking and beautiful in the world, and this was supposed to be an ideal time of the year to see them before the rainy season in June. 

But this year the rains have come unusually early. Having returned to Manila to head north, I've been advised not to travel to the terraces as the roads are poor and landslides are a problem. Worse still, it's raining over pretty much the entire country and as I've already found, even paradise is dull in tropical downpours.

Wherever I have travelled over the last five months I have been incredibly fortunate with the weather, however, I now need to reconsider my options for the last few days in Asia.