Salt Water Hot Springs in Coron

 First off ... where is Coron? It's at the north end of the state of Palawan, in the country of the Philippines. We were in Palawan back last September when we had a boat ride in an underground river. Now we're back in the Philippines, but not in the exact same place.

There's some really interesting sights near Coron. I'm instantly drawn to the Maquinit Hot Springs. I've been a fan of hot springs ever since my California days in the 1980s.  Reading up on it you learn that it is salt water. I've never heard of a salt water hot springs. Gotta go!

Here's the ship docked at Coron:

When we first got here, we went for a walk. Yikes, this is a poor place. The main method of transportation is the tuktuk. Basically it's a motorcycle with a sidecar contraption that can hold several people. This is the taxi service. People who live here either walk or have a motorcycle. 

We walked thru the town, dodging tuktuks, dogs, and chickens. Then, down one side street, we saw the Dive Bar. Ha! Sounds like our kind of place. It was nice. As with lots of poor places, there's a big difference when you get to the tourist places. This bar was very nice. We struck up a conversation with the bartenders who were from Manila. Manila, they tell us is a metropolis of 14 million people!! To them, Coron is heaven! Truly, they love it here. The beer was good too. Red Horse, a Philippine brew.

On the walk back, I saw the town thru different eyes - could have been the beer 🥰 but mostly the conversation with the bartenders. Sure, it was poor, but the people seemed happy. It's not a huge, crowded city like Manila and it is surrounded by exquisite natural beauty. We noticed a barber shop striped pole and Jim decided to take advantage and get a haircut.

Nice job! and the cost? 300 Philippine Pesos, or about $3.25. I need a haircut too. Let's see if I get brave enough. After all, in 14 years of RVing around the USA I got accustomed to "hairdresser roulette!"

On to the hot springs

The next day, we saw a message on our ship's whatsapp group that someone had arranged a van to tour the town and go to the hot springs. They had a few spaces left so we jumped on it. We drove thru the town, stopped at the main church in town, then the Cashew factory. How interesting! Cashews grow out the bottom of a 'cashew apple' that looks like a bell pepper. At the factory, the separate the nut from the fruit, shell it, cut it in half, roast it, and flavor it. 

The hot springs was delightful. It was hot, but not too hot - my guess is 102-3 degrees fahrenheit. The water was crystal clear and the springs were large, with 3 separate pools. It was obviously a popular local attraction with lots of people there, but still not crowded. We enjoyed soaking for about an hour with a few breaks. Here's the video that Jim put together of our day: