El Nido

The bus ride to El Nido was terrible. For the first hour or two, we were on a paved, though bumpy, road. Then, it wasn’t. I tried to fall asleep, as the ride was from 22:00 to 4 in the morning. It didn’t work. The plastic covered seats kept sticking to my legs; my knees were knocking against the seat in front of me; and every 10 seconds, the bus went over a bump or dip, jolting me up in the air.

When we finally got to El Nido, I did my best to avoid the overenthusiastic tricycle drivers who were doing their best to get me to ride with them. I waved them off, rather rudely due to my lack of sleep, and tried to find the beachfront. I had no accommodations until the next night, and I had planned to sleep on the bus. Instead, I slept on the beach for a few hours until sunrise.

There was a couple sleeping on the beach, so I didn’t feel too weird. I lay out my sarong, and bedded down, using my backpack as a pillow. The rush of the waves was incredibly soothing, but soon enough, I was shaken awake by a concerned woman telling me people would be there soon. I did my best to ignore her, but got up soon after to enjoy the sunrise.

This is what I saw when I opened my eyes that first morning

Playing on the beach

Later that day, I was even asked by a local if I had been drunk the night before.

I walked around sleepily, until I found a place offering island hopping for cheaper than everywhere else. 500 pesos (11 dollars) for a day trip with lunch included. The tour didn’t start until 9, so I wandered around a bit more and ate breakfast.

The view from where I ate breakfast

Heading out on the tour

Cheese

Our guide

My fellow tour-goers included the same Japanese-Italian couple with whom I had done the underground tour, a couple from somewhere in Scandinavia, and an Israeli guy. We went to several hidden lagoons and islands, snorkeling all the while. For lunch, we stopped at a small beach where our guides cooked lunch for us: fresh grilled fish, shrimp, rice, veggies, and bananas for dessert. I stuffed my face, and found a hidden beach a little ways away from the one where we had out picnic.

The island where we had lunch

Behind those rocks, I found a tiny hidden beach

The highlight of the tour was when they anchored our boat a little ways offshore of one of the islands and let us snorkel. We were given small pieces of meat to hold, and the fish absolutely swarmed us. We were in the middle of a giant school of fish, brushing against us and sparkling in the sunshine. It was amazing!!!

Tying us to the floating anchor for the fish feeding

Our last stop was a longer beach, and we headed back when it looked like it was going to start raining.

Due to my lack of sleep, I took a nap under the palm trees

The clouds were already rolling in

Sunset

I then tried to find my hostel, but no one knew where it was. I ended up staying on the beach front in Le Banane, a wonderful little bunkhouse where I met tons of people from all over the world, including Australia, England, Morocco, and France.

The next day, I decided to rent a kayak. I had to wait for a good long while for them to bring it to me, and I got a double instead of a single, albeit for the same price. In the meantime, I talked to the shop owner, and she showed me some of the crafts she does while she’s waiting for customers in order to earn a little cash on the side. It gave me a few ideas for projects for decorating my apartment in the fall.

I put all my gear, including lunch, in a “waterproof” bag, and headed out, despite the ominously grey skies. It took forever just to get out of the bay, due to the waves and wind and my sorry self who, never having kayaked before, didn’t know it was a good idea to stay close to the shore. I learned quickly though. I made it to the first island out of the bay after having crossed a good stretch of open water. I tried heading around to the west to see if the conditions were as bad as they had warned me they would be. They were, so I beached my kayak for a while and took a break. Heading around the other side of the island was the best part of the entire adventure. I was kayaking next to sheer rocky cliffs that jutted out of the ocean, carved away by the sea at their base. There were several areas where one could grab onto a rope and marvel at the view. At one point, I was nearly attacked by a pair of birds likely defending their nest.

I ate lunch at a beach that may or may not have been private property. Rice and veggies, and a piece of chicken. I headed further up the coast, but got stuck in a grove of mangroves, and so decided to head to the smaller island nestled in the curve of the larger one whose coast I had been travailing. I got there just in time. As soon as I had beached my kayak, a deluge of rain started pouring down. I decided to swim for a while as the ocean was way warmer than the air at that point, but being tired from all the kayaking, that didn’t last too long. The only shelter on the island was a large rock with a tiny, porous overhang. So I stood in the water, waves lapping around my ankles, trying my best to shield myself from the rain and trickles of water from the rock, waiting out the rain, and attempting to convince myself I wasn’t having an awful time.

Rain at the top of the islan

Can you tell I'm really cold and tired?

That little hollow is where I took shelter.
The last picture ever taken by my camera.

After the rain somewhat let up, I gathered a few shells, and took my last picture with my now dead camera. For part of the way back, it wasn’t raining at all. Then all of a sudden, a squall struck. I could barely open my eyes due to the rain and wind, and large waves were breaking over the top of the kayak (and my “waterproof” bag). At some points, it felt like I was moving backwards. I think most people would have panicked, but I took it as a challenge. My mental conversation went something like this:

Yeah! I’m paddling through a storm! Yeah!

Head down, eyes closed, move those arms faster!

You got this! You’re a strong rower! Ain’t no storm going to get the better of you!

And so forth.

After a while it let up again, but when I got to shore, the shop where I had rented the kayak was closed. The rain started again and I waited on the beach, shivering, until I was invited into one of the restaurants on the beach. The wind was blowing their decorations to smithereens, and it wasn’t all that much warmer inside than outside, but I was glad for the gesture. At one point I noticed that my paddle was missing. The owner had collected it, and I went back to my hostel to get dry, after braving a cold shower.

For the next few days, the rain barely let up at all, so I spent most of my time reading the books at the hostel. I must have read three or four total. I also met many more people, ate lots of good food, and got a full body massage for under 7 dollars (300 pesos).

At the end of the last day, I said my farewells, and got back on the awful bus.

In Puerto the next morning, I tried to find a souvenir shop which had been recommended by one of my tricycle drivers in the past days. I failed. After walking around for a few hours, a bicyclist approached me. He was part of the police force and wearing a Korean flag on his jersey. He helped me get a tricycle to where I was going and I bought souvenirs. Afterwards, I headed to the airport and headed back to Korea. I timed my expenditures just right and had only 20 pesos left as I boarded the plane to Korea.

Once in Incheon, I got super luck at customs, and got through in less than 15 minutes with a short line and my foreigner registration card. Taking the bus, I wasn’t so lucky though. I got off at what I assumed to be the last stop since everyone else got off as well. I had no idea where I was, and it was starting to rain, so I ate dinner at a kimbap shop, and used their wifi to figure out how to get home. I eventually got there at around 1 in the morning, and officially concluded my trip to the Philippines in a tiny bed in a goshiwon.

Last day in Puerto

My last day in Puerto involved a self-led tour. I first headed to the crocodile Farm by jeepney. There were a lot of crocodiles.

I purchased a tour ticket and hung out for a while. The tour was in English and took about 15 minutes. We were led through the crocodile enclosures, where there were different tanks for different ages and species of croc. The largest one was ridiculously huge! I can’t remember the exact dimensions, but it must have been almost 20 feet long. After the tour was over, we were given leave to explore the small zoo in the back, with numerous native species. The cages were poorly maintained as a whole, with the worst being that of the pythons, who were crawling in their own feces. L The coolest animal was the bearcat, because of its name. We were given the option of holding one for a fee, and could have also held a young croc. They were also selling croc meat dishes. I don’t know where they got the meat, as we were told the facility was one for breeding/rehabilitating and releasing only. I would have eaten some, but I wasn’t hungry yet, as it was only mid morning.

Gigantor

Smaller, but still really big

It woke up just as I got there

Pretty parrot

Croc skin in the foyer

After that, I tried to walk to the Eco Farm. A friendly police officer pointed me in the wrong direction, though I don’t think it was on purpose. I eventually got to the sign at a fork in the road, and headed down what I would later discover to be the really long detour path. I saw a small café and took some pictures, and then headed on my way.

Walking along the road

Asian cows are weird after Texas cattle all my life

A prison, not really
Just a noisy schoolhouse

Cute setup at the cafe

I must have walked for almost two hours before I finally made it to the eco farm. I was completely drenched at that point, Jakob style. :P There was a visitor house, open to the elements, where I decided to sit down and rest. They even had books, one of which I started reading. I stayed for a good long while, leaving only after I saw that everything was crawling with ants. The juice packet in my backpack from the day before had broken open earlier and had resulted in a sticky delicious mess for the insects.

Tired, sweaty, and sunburnt

After finding my way back to the main road, I walked along it for a while until an elderly man offered me a ride. Turns out he was the ex chief of police from Puerto. He dropped me off at the side road to my next destination, Baker’s Hill.

Baker’s Hill is basically where a lot of rich people live and have their restaurants. The main attraction is the Baker’s Hill establishment: a bakery, a few restaurants, a nice house, a playground, and some birds. Rather underwhelming. I bought some ube at the bakery, though I still have no idea what that is, and looked for the restaurant that I had seen recommended on the internet. No luck. I ended up eating at a really expensive place. The food was presented well, but in smaller quantities than I’d become used to.

At the entrance

Halo-halo, an icy milkshake with chewy somethings in it

Organic Caesar salad

After my meal, I proceeded to fall asleep on a rocking chair platform and watched a rain storm approach.

I waited out the storm at the bakery, buying some brownie bites and started walking down the hill.

On the way back, I almost got attacked by a dog, but an old man heading in the other direction chased him away. I love strangers.

Back in Puerto, I ate dinner and found an internet cafe so I could reassure my parents that I was still alive.

Small green cafe with ancient machines

It was soooo good

At that point, I decided to head to the bus station and wait the few hours until my bus left. I took a jeepney there and met an adorable mother with a young child while I was waiting. She told me she was sleeping at the entrance to the chicken feed warehouse, and even helped me find a restroom. She fell asleep waiting with me, and when it was time to leave, I debated whether to wake her up to say goodbye or leave quietly. I decided to let her sleep with her baby in her arms, and boarded the bus.

The young mother, sorry for the bad picture quality

Underground River

My second full day in Puerto, I woke up early to go with Ann and MC from Manila to the Underground River.

We got to the bus terminal super around 5:45 though the jeepney didn't leave until 7.

This made me a tad bit nervous, as our tour of the river was scheduled at 9:30.

It took 2 hours to get there. The roads were bumpy and the seats too close together. I ended up with bruised knees and a bum even achier than the day before.

Once there, we waited a really long time. There was a line for paying the environmental fee, a line for hiring a boat, and even a line for the restroom which cost 5 pesos.

At the Sabang port

And we were way late. We ended up sharing a boat and a tour with an Italian guy and his Japanese girlfriend.The boat ride was quite pleasant, but the underground river was a bit underwhelming. The tour guide tried way too hard to be funny, and you couldn't see all that much since it was dark.

Heading out

On the boat

Gorgeous cliffs

The river

Oh I'm so excited

Another tour group

Stalactites

This was supposed to look like something...
What do you think?

The exit

Vines

I sat next to a nice Filipino grandmother whose children and grandchildren were visiting from the US and sharing a boat with us.

After the tour, we waited for a really long time for our boat to take us back to Sabang. 

Waiting for our boat. We had to take number 23

Natural wonder of the world marker

At the beach

Once there, the last bus was about to leave. My companions all wanted to go back to Puerto, but I wanted to see the waterfall, so after much debate, I decided to go.

After the tour

Trail to the beach

Can you find the monkey? Sorry the zoom was broken

The hike to the waterfall wasn't all that strenuous, just very precarious, going over very rocky shoreline. At the waterfall, I tried to climb it, thinking that I had read somewhere that there was more than one. There wasn't, but I got a nice view from the top of the falls as well as a bunch of scratches and dirt in my clothes.

Yay for waterfalls

Looking down from the top

Dang that's a lot of ocean

When I got back to Sabang, I tried to find a way to get back to Puerto. So, I did a really me thing to do and just started walking the 77 km back to Puerto Princesa, hoping someone would stop for me. I walked for a good long while, getting more frustrated with every mosquito bite I got and every curve I rounded. Just as I was about to give up hope, an old guy asked me if I needed a ride. He had a red dinged- up helmet, a backpack front-strapped on his body, a jacket worn backwards (presumably to protect him from bugs), and a chicken for cock fighting strapped on to the front of his motorcycle. 

I was desperate at that time, so I asked him if he was going to Puerto, and got on with his affirmative. After a while, we stopped at his friends' house for refreshments and a smoke. Seeing the country from the back of a motorcycle was amazingly exhilarating. I had a smile plastered on my face the whole time. We took another pit spot at another one of his friend's establishments where I was served a green coconut (buko) and Energen, a sort of sports/cereal/milk drink served hot. We hung out there for a while and Samso smoked at least three cigarettes. 

When we headed out, it was getting dark, and the stars were coming out. I hadn't seen stars since moving to Korea due to all the smog and light pollution! He had to stop at one point and put a light on the front of his bike. Everything was fine and dandy until we got a flat (presumably because of my added weight on the back of the bike). Samso left me on the side of the road to get his tire vulcanized, during which another Filipino came back twice to ask if I needed a ride, which I refuse. When he came back, we kept going, and he dropped me off at the Banwa, I tried to give him at least a little bit of money to help with gas but he refused. So yeah... Good times in the Philippines.