5 hours of Shaun being stuck in the back corner of an overloaded mini van and we finally arrived into El Nido. We searched around for a place to stay, and after being way to hot and sweaty to look any more - we decided on a place in the middle of town. It was ok, but the road it was on was so stinky it made me dry reach every time I walked past. Drying fish maybe...who knows?
We chilled out for the afternoon and at the blessed time of 2pm - on comes the electricity (meaning we have fan power!). The electricity in El Nido is only on from 2pm - 6am each day, so before and after that - there's nothing to cool you down except for a cold shower.
Our friends from Banwa House in Puerto were due to arrive the next afternoon so we decided not to book a tour til they arrived - saving money in numbers is def the way forward here.
6am came around as the fan slowed to a stop and we woke up sweating again. We decided that the place were in was too smelly loud (it was a restaurant, a guesthouse and the house of a Philippino family of 10). We found an awesome hut and sorted a deal with the lady for a weeks hire. Right on the beach - no cock farms near by, it was near perfection! After we settled we hired a kayak and paddled to the nearest island - about a 30 minute sweat. We had the island to ourselves, no one else in sight and lots of sand and palm to trees to shade under.
The next day Anthony, Alli, Zhen,Charlie and also Joe (a Melbournian on holidays)arrived from Puerto so we met up with them for dinner, a few 'happy hour' beers and a touch of karaoke too! It was a cool night, and the we'd organised Tour A for the next day.
Basically, the next three days consisted of doing Tour A, Tour B then Tour C with our friendly boat man and his smily apprentice! Lunch was included and was a fresh bbq of fish and salad and rice. It was amazing! Each day we saw something different, not just stunning beaches but beautiful snorkelling (lots of fish, but not so much healthy reef anymore 😞 , also caves and secret coves! It really was worth it, especially as us 7 on board!
On Friday Joe left us for Coron to do some wreck dives, so Tour C was just us 6. Alli and Anthony left on Saturday morning to head back to Puerto. We had nothing planned for Saturday, and after the last 3 days activites, we were pretty knackerd. We spent the day on our balcany overlooking the ocean, ate some food and the caught up with Charlie and Zhen for dinner.
Sunday we decided to walk to Coron Coron beach, about a 30 minute walk away. It was really nice, better for swimming and chilling out than El Nido, so that was cool. Shaun was feeling ill today, had the first bought of the 'dodgy belly' so he's been a bit out of action. Monday I woke up with it, so dunno must have been something we ate or drank. Good thing was we hit the local chemist and they gave us antibiotics over the counter for next to nothing, so we should be fixed anytime now!
We're heading back to Puerto tomorrow on the 5 hour bus - then we'll spend one night in Puerto before catching our flight back to Manila to meet with our overnight bus journey to Lepizig before hoping on another short bus ride to Donsol - all in search for the whale shark!
After getting married in Cape Town, SA - we decided not to return to the UK, but take a few months to travel around South East Asia...what a honeymoon! Hope you enjoy as much as we are!... full info
Happy Birthday Happy birthday boet! Love you and miss you like mad. Will be having a few on you tonight (not that we ever need too much encouragement). Sam, Steve, Jade, Connor and Dillon.
Sam
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Happy Birthday
Happy birthday boet! Love you and miss you like mad. Will be having a few on you tonight (not that we ever need too much encouragement). Sam, Steve, Jade, Connor and Dillon.