The Philippines and the island of Palawan

When the sweat starts to roll down your forehead at 7am and you hear the hot breeze blowing through the palm fronds, you must be in Palawan, a beautiful and still untamed island located in the southwest of the Philippines. It's a place where village life still prevails and the daily rush hour consists of ambling water buffalo and the occasional motorbike on a dusty road.

With the local past time being cock fighting, many families raise fighting roosters which means that days begin very early on Palawan. It's not uncommon to hear the first strained crow begin around 4:30 in the morning, and once the first one starts, it's only a matter of a few moments before the whole chorus joins in.

Midday brings the soaring heat and thunder clouds roll in for late afternoon relief. The clear turquoise waters of the South China Sea are the only escape, an underwater world seemingly made from every color in Mother Nature's palette.