Almost Home

Day 13: What a difference a day makes!!! I feel like a new man. And in one sense, I am definitely a new man on the inside. That being said, and with my stomach problems seemingly behind me I packed up today and left for Manilla. I arrived safely and checked back into the Heritage Hotel. I definitely had mixed feelings leaving Puerto Princessa today. On the one hand I feel like I missed out on alot of things. For a few weeks now I had been reading about how beautiful the beaches where and how incredible some of the snorkeling was in this part of the Philippines. And because of the complications, both work related and stomach wise, I feel like I definitely missed out on a lot of the things to experience in the Providence of Palawan. On the other hand, I had this desperate feeling of wanting to get as far away as possible from whatever I ate that made my stomach a volatile lava pit and I also wanted to start the process of coming home, especially to my wife Deidi and my family and friends. Overall, I have a lot of very nice things to say about the Philippines, the people are soo friendly and genuine. There are some spectacular views to be had. And as a visitor you really are treated like a king in what ever hotel or restaurant that you go to. But there really is something missing when you don't have your loved ones there to share it with you. And you really think about that when you see these large groups of families on vacation in the hotels or on the underground river. They're all having fun and your left with this feeling of longing for your own family. I really did enjoy my experience here and who knows, maybe one day I will return with Deidi for vacation or work. But for now I'm content getting ready for my return flight, buying a few souvenirs for back home, and slowly recovering from two weeks full of adventure and experiences. And if I don't get to write you all tomorrow just let me say "thank you" for following along with me on my adventure and if you ever want to know all the details or see all the pictures from my trip just give me a call or shoot me an email and we can relive it all again. Bye for now.

Philippine Marc