El Nido, Philippines

We arrived at Clark International Airport at 4:30 am. The check in office was not open and the flight said it was leaving at 7 am on the screen. This was peculiar because we had been emailed multiple times telling us the flight was changed to 6:30. Either way we made it through security in a jiff. It was similar to the security you go through to enter a museum or sporting event or the like. The plane was small, we were on the last row, row 12, but it was very spacious! A quick hour or two in the air, but the descent was wild because there was so much wind. We were shaking all over and it was so funny, however some people were scared, but at that point it was out of our hands. We landed right near the beach to a tiny airport. Ts family was picked up there and taken to the “waiting area” because the wind made the waves too big to boat them out to their resort. Mer and I left them, a bittersweet moment because it was great traveling with them, but this means we still have so many fun new places to visit. We couldn’t check in to our hostel until 2 pm and it was about 9:30 in the morning so we wandered around. Once we checked in we dropped our stuff into our room, went to grab some food, and waited for Kellen to arrive. While we were waiting I actually had a reaction to something in the food. I had ordered hummus, chickpeas, and falafel. This was not abnormal food, and I asked multiple times about peanuts and they said I was good. Regardless, I overcame the reaction and I’m stronger now. We just slept that night.

Today we went to two beaches. We went to Nacpan and Lio. We rode a tricycle to these beaches. We also rode one from the airport to our hostel. These are motorbikes with a metal covered cart attached that seats three squished together. Nacpan was beautiful, and it was the beach with the most sand between the water and the tree line. The waves were massive, and it was not crowded at all. We were there around 9:30 am though, and when we left around 12 people started flooding in. Lio beach was the place where the Lagan resort drove people to and from on boats. It was very touristy and had shops and restaurants. I actually ran into the Sticksel family from the PDC which was a crazy small world. That night we got meat kabobs on the street for 10 pisos each. I got 5. We walked all along the beach and found a neon lit club. It was 7:30 so no one was there and we got rum and cokes. The rum here is a signature of the Philippines and it was pretty good. I still don’t like coke though.

Today was our island hopping tour day. The whole economy of this city stems off of tourists taking tours. They have about 5 tours to choose from. Tours A, B, C, D, and Z. Every 3rd shop in the main town is a place to book a tour. We picked A because none of the tours had been running since the waves were so big and A was available the day before. We picked well because they cancelled all the other ones that day as well. We went to two lagoons, two beaches, and a snorkeling spot. The small lagoon was my favorite, we kayaked around and it was breathtakingly beautiful. The big lagoon was awesome too, but we didn’t rent a kayak for that one, regrettably because we had to swim extremely far. In hindsight we should’ve swam the small lagoon and kayaked the big one but we got a good workout in. They provided lunch for us and it was delicious, just fresh fruits and fish, crab, chicken, pork, and calamari, and rice. This is a meal I know I will miss when I leave. That night we went back, and because we saw a sign and our tummies perked up, we ate burgers.

Our last day in El Nido we decided to do a lot. Today is also the day we realized there’s always a hidden fee. Be it money, or exercise, they’ll get you. Once we accepted this, the day was a treat and more. A tricycle day again. We did a canopy walk above the main town and it was a spectacular view. Then we went on a hike and saw three waterfalls and swam in their little pools at the bottom. This was a steep hike! Then we went to do a zip line. This zip line was much bigger than the last one we did hahaha. This one also was a steeper walk than the waterfall hike! It was crazy! The zip line was amazing though. It was laying down like superman and it was as if we were flying across the ocean. Then we had to walk back because we didn’t pay for a zip line back (more hidden fees haha). Then we had to hike up more stairs to get back to our tricycle. My legs were shot but I needed the exercise ;). That night we simply got food, and went to the same neon club. We turned in early because we had to catch a van to Puerto Princesa the next day.

Today we had or last free breakfast at our hostel, packed, bought snacks, and tricycled to the van. The van was much more spacious because it had one less row than the van we took with Ts family. We made it to the airport pretty early, so we just sat and waited and played cards. Then at 7 we boarded the plane, and flew to Manila. We walked around the Manila airport for 7 hours. We decided to walk and find a sports bar to watch the World Cup. We still had an hour or so until out 4 am flight. We slept the whole way and then landed in Bali. It was around 9 am when we made it to our hostel and met up with T and Guy.