Paradise, found.

I have found paradise. 

From deep blue tropical waters, great shards of dark limestone rise sheer to one or two thousand feet - jagged, cave-riddled and cloaked in vivid green jungle of trees, vines, orchids, mosses and other strange, endemic plants that I’ve seen nowhere else. Clouds clip the tallest peaks. 

The islands are home to soaring swiflets (their nests give the area its name, El Nido), monkeys, hermit crabs, lizards, birds and butterflies. In the warm, clear waters are hundreds of species of fish and corals, turtles, whale sharks, dolphins and dugongs. 

As seascapes around the world go, it doesn't get any better than the stunning Bacuit Archipelago. Three hours from Manila, it's remote, spectacular and unspoilt, and reached by a bumpy small plane and a boat ride. 

Only two of the forty-five islands are inhabited and the entire area is a protected marine reserve. The snorkeling - over coral gardens, tall sponges and the iridescent blue mouths of giant clams - is superb. On the first day a six-foot green sea turtle swam past our boat, or bangka. 

There are other places similar to this – like Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay and Thailand’s Krabi and Phi Phi islands – but dare I say it, this place is more beautiful, if only because it is pristine and little-visited. And what El Nido also has (and those places lack) are stunning beaches: empty arcs of palm-lined, coral sands backed by jungle, and secret, rock-cloaked coves and turquoise lagoons where the only sounds are the paddle of your kayak and bird calls.

 

If paradise has a downside it's that it poured with rain, torrentially and non-stop for the first 24 hours. Cats and dogs. However, after it cleared, the staggering beauty of the place revealed itself and took me aback.

El Nido.

I'm heading to El Nido later, a group of islands about 400km south of Manila.

Back on Wednesday. 

A palm tree short of a grove.

On hearing Manila was to be graced with a Papal visit, Imelda Marcos, always a little out of touch with reality, decided the city needed a suitable residence to accommodate him. At a cost of USD 37m, the 'Coconut Palace' came into existence.

This was one sight I had to see. 

True to its name much of the place is built with, or decked-out in, the palm's by-products and it showcases the nation's crafts. 

Expecting frills and kitsch aplenty, I instead found a rather dour and soulless place on reclaimed land overlooking breezy Manila Bay. A healthy dose of irony and some campness would have gone some way to livening it up a bit.

The guide for my group (of one!) proudly showed me the bedroom in which Brooke Shields, "a good friend of the Marcos's " (but clearly not such a great judge of character) stayed, complete with banana fibre sheets; a banqueting table, the mosaic surface of which was made-up of 47,000 pieces and put together by children of 9-13 years "because their small fingers could work the pieces" (thank God for child labour); and various rooms or furniture items were pointed out as "Mr or Mrs Marcos's favourites", like the above mother-of-pearl seat and table.

Overall, I was a bit unimpressed and in the end so was JPII - although for different reasons. In a country where many people then still had no access to clean water, dismayed at the building's cost, he took his business elsewhere and stayed instead at a convent in the city.

Manila: so far, so not what I was expecting...

... but in a good way.

The flight from HK was superb - Cathay is an outstanding airline. I have to admire their audacity, offering 1961 bottles of Petrus in their Duty Free brochure at USD 39,000!

I leave the capital tomorrow for a couple of the 7000 islands. A nice lady - with the fabulous name of 'Princess' - is working on an itinerary. Am heading to Palawan, near Borneo, described by Lonely Planet as one of the most beautiful and unspoilt seascapes on earth. 

Have enjoyed Manila so far, not that I've seen much of the 'real' city. Am staying in Makati, the central business area which is all glassy skyscrapers, clipped planting and shiny SUVs. Other than the heat (and boy, is it hot) it's pleasant, but it doesn't feel much like Asia. I could be downtown in a US city, except there are more luxury brands here.

Security everywhere is extraordinarily high - you're checked entering every building, including your hotel - and you can hardly breathe outside, which might explain why it's so mall-tastic. They love them and some are unexpectedly pleasant.

Manila is no beauty and there are few 'sights' per se: it's vast, was heavily bombed in WWII and a million and a half people live in its peripheral slums, but the people are kind, the food is good and IT'S NOT KATHMANDU!

Right, I'm off to see Imelda's 'Coconut Palace'...