3 Days, 3 Flights, 3 Countries

El Nido, finally

After 3 days with 3 flights and leaving Australia, a night in Singapore and Manila it is good to be in El Nido, where we stay for 3 nights.

We arrived here at 12pm after a smooth pick up from the airport, but the hotel check in wasn't until 3pm. We had some lunch and then waited by the pool until about 2.30pm when the room became available.

Evening Out in El Nido

The hotel is 5km away from the town but has a shuttle bus to and from the town a few times a day. We caught this shuttle to go and watch the sunset from a beach front bar. The bar had happy hour on, 2 for 1 from a list of cocktails. I did try to start with beer but the draft craft wasn't available and then the beer I picked, Red Fox, was 7%. After that I joined Karen on the cocktails. The staff were really friendly but very forgetful. We ordered food which didn't arrive so we had another drink when it had been an hour I asked again and they said it was on the way. I cheekily asked if we could have free cocktails while we waited, and they came back and said yes. Great at the time but not so brilliant the next morning! To get back to the hotel we caught one of their trikes which is basically a tuk-tuk built on to the side of a motorbike. It was a fun way to travel, especially after cocktails. As well as having these for taxis, there are ones without seats so just a small flatbed which are used for carrying stuff. We saw one today with an upright fridge freezer being precariously transported

Island Hopping

We took a boat tour the next day and both were feeling a bit jaded! The trip was good some snorkelling, kayaking, visiting beaches and lagoons. For us it was booked by the company who sorted the Philippines itinerary so was a bit surprising when we had to pay to borrow the snorkelling gear, recommended shoes and the kayak. As well paying an entrance few to one of the lagoons. Other trips we have been on, have always included this type of thing.

Some of the areas were crazily busy for example we had lunch on a beach the size of a living room with 4 other groups, our group alone was 24 people! However, the guides were great and the scenery brilliant. And although we are late to this snorkelling mullarkey, we do find it amazing.