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El Nido-Island Hopping Tour C

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We woke up around 7 am today to get ready for Island Hopping Tour C.  There are 4 main Island Hopping tours here in El Nido and they are just named A,B,C and D.

The boat picked us up right at our hotel beach, so we had breakfast here. I had an omelet it was very weird. It had what seemed to be canned carrots and potatoes in it with cubes of cheese and a bacon. Weirdest omelet I have ever had haha. It was okay though. Don had Filipino breakfast, it was bacon with rice and eggs.

Our tour left at 9 am and our first stop was Hidden Beach. We snorkeled a bit here but didn’t see much. We swam around the rocks to find the Hidden Beach then we swam through a little cave to go back to the boat. Here’s some pictures of Hidden Beach.

So at first we swam around some rocks to find the beach and on the other side of the beach there was a cave that brought us back to the boat. It was really cool.

I believe our lunch was at Star Beach which is part of the Tapiutan Island. We snorkeled here while the tour guides prepared our lunch. This location was in my opinion the best snorkeling site of the day. You had to swim out pretty far though. It was worth it because there was a shelf where the ocean floor dropped and the side of it was all coral. There were so many fish there. Our lunch consisted of grilled fish, grilled pork chop, rice, yellow melon and bananas. The pork chop was really good. I really enjoyed the yellow melon also. I am not sure if that was its official name. It tasted and looked pretty much like watermelon except it was yellow.

The next place was Secret Beach. There was a cave we swam through and when we got to the other side there was a small beach. People were snorkeling but there wasn’t much to see, just a bunch of rocks. I mostly just waded and relaxed on the beach. It was beautiful though because when you were in the beach you were surrounded by the rocks.

In the cave to get to Secret Beach

The next stop was Mantiloc Shrine. It was basically an abandoned church. We didn’t learn much about it, but we could walk around inside the church and it was very weird. There were rooms with old beds in them, kind of like a dorm. Some rooms had decorations all over. The place looked fairly new and it looked like whoever left here left in a hurry. We thought this was our last stop on the tour.

Then we made the final stop, Helicopter Island. I cut my toe on a rock here when I jumped out of the boat. It seemed pretty bad but I snorkeled anyway. When we were snorkeling one of the guys on our tour was just stepping on the coral and you could hear it all breaking. This was very sad. It was very disappointing that the tour guides didn’t convey to people how important it is to not touch and especially not to step on the coral. All around us on Tour C there was dead coral.

Here’s what my toe looked like at the end of the day…

Once we got back to Stunning Vistas we got cleaned up and headed into town by tricycle. I don’t think I have talked about the tricycles yet, they are basically motorcycles with a little cab hooked to the side. Usually 2-3 passengers can fit in a tricycle. It is kind of like a cab that travels short distances. We ate at a grille and I decided to take a try at a cheeseburger. Bad idea, it was really really horrible. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meat. Don had fried pork chop with rice and then we shared a dish called pork menudo. It was really good, it had potatoes and carrots with it. Then we walked around the town a bit and took a tricycle back.

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Travels to El Nido, Palawan.

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Today we woke up very early like 3 am to catch our flight to Palawan. Luckily we also went to bed very early last night so it really didn’t effect us. Our flight left Manila at 630 am.

When we got to the airport it was so crowded! The line wasn’t moving at all. I was sure we were going to miss our flight. But all of the sudden the line started moving pretty fast and of course our flight was a little delayed. I’ve never had a flight going or coming from the Philippine Islands be on time. For this trip we took Philippine Airlines. We usually take Cebu Airlines. I don’t remember much of Cebu…but I think they might be a little better than Philippine Airlines. For one, the seats are super small on Philippine Airlines. There was hardly any room between the seats!

Once we landed in Puerto Princesa, Palawan we looked for our shuttle with Day Tripper to take us to Stunning Vistas Beach Resort. We couldn’t find them anywhere! I was concerned because our flight was a little late so maybe we had missed them. So we went to the travel office and they contacted Stunnning Vistas and they said our van had broken down so they had arranged for someone else to pick us up.

Fort Wally was the company that picked us up. When we got in the van we were the only ones and I thought that was how it was going to be….I was wrong. They took us to their office and told us that the next shuttle was around 9. It was about 8 so that was okay. But then it turned into 10 then 11. They kept telling us they wanted to find more people. It was very annoying. Around 1030 another couple came up. Later we would learn their names, Yan and Alex, a couple from Germany. They were also staying at Stunning Vistas. So then it was around 1120 and finally they started loading up the van. We had acquired a filipino man and woman also. So it looked good, looked like it would be six of us. They loaded our luggage in the back of the van and we were all sitting pretty comfortably. There was still one row that was empty. Then another couple came up and joined the van. So now me, Don, Yan, Alex, 2 filipinos, a French woman and a man from Denmark. We all got in the van and were still sitting pretty comfortably and we had started on our 5 hour journey to El Nido.

Suddenly the van pulled over. We were at another van company’s office. There were people standing outside the van and they did not look happy. We could see 4 people clearly. Then we were told that they were moving all of our luggage to the roof and putting a waterproof cover over so we could make room for 4 new passengers! I was not happy and neither were these 4 other passengers. The van was going to packed! The 4 passengers and the drivers argued for awhile. We then learned there were about 15 of these people looking for a van and they were splitting up. One of the girls said she didn’t want to be cramped like
that. So the guy that had started unloading all the luggage so he could put it on the roof started putting it back in the van. One of the drivers told the girls they wouldn’t be able to make it to El Nido today. So then somehow it worked out we acquired 3 of these new passengers and the rest (like a group of 7) got in the other van.

So up on the roof our luggage went! It did not seem safe. But off we went. The 3 new passengers were from Uruguay  They were on a college graduation trip.  They were all accountants. The guy told us it was tradition in his school for the graduates to take a trip.  He said some people go for about 3-4 months but he is probably doing 7 months. 7 months vacation! I couldn’t believe it! They had already been traveling for some time! We learned Yan and Alex from Germany had booked with Stunning Vistas about a week ago; they had about 3-4 weeks left of travel and hadn’t really planned it out they were just booking as they went. Denmark and France seemed very spontaneous since they had just up and decided they would come to El Nido. They had been in Manila the past few days and they were headed to El Nido with us and they hadn’t booked a room yet. I couldn’t believe it! These people were just living and not by a schedule. I feel like in America we only have so long for vacation and everything is pretty much planned out. I want a 7 month vacation!

So we thought we were pretty much on our way when the van pulled over again. The driver got and talked to someone at a store. Then we he tried to turn around so he backed up and we heard a loud noise. The back tire had gotten stuck in a rut alongside the road. We had to get out and help push the van out! What kind of road trip was this going to be?! What else could happen!?

The driver drove like a maniac. The road was so curvy and he would take it top speed. He would pass other cars with no regard if an oncoming car was in the way. It was scary. And my stomach was not handling it either. I started feeling carsick. Sometimes on the ride I felt we might not make it out alive. I had really never experienced such a crazy driver. About 2 hours into the ride we pulled over at a restaurant. It was kind of like a buffet. We got some adobo and rice. I took some Dramamine for the carsickness.
Here’s a picture of the pitstop.

The rest of the ride was really no better. I would try to look out the window but I felt like my head was spinning. The driver was always tailgating someone or passing someone with another car coming right at us. Finally around 6 we made it to El Nido. We should have been there around 2. The driver went into town though and didn’t drop us off at our hotel. When we got there we told him he was supposed to take us to Stunning Vistas. Yan and Alex also needed to be dropped off there. So eventually he did.

When we arrived at Stunning Vistas all I wanted to do was go in the room and relax. They made us welcoming drinks and we sat by the beach for a few minutes. We made it in time just as it was getting dark. Here’s our first glimpse of El Nido, Palawan.

Then we went to get our room key. We had booked a standard room but were told due to construction they had upgraded us to a deluxe room for tonight and we would be moved to the standard the next day. The deluxe room was okay. It looked kind of old. The TV didn’t work,but the bathroom was better than what we had at the airport hotel. The room also had a fridge. I am a little scared to see what a downgrade will look like tomorrow!

After we got settled in a bit we went to get some food at the hotel’s restaurant. Yan and Alex were there and they asked if we wanted to eat together. They were very nice and we had some good conversation. Good thing because the food took well over an hour! It was amazingly slow. So we vowed not to eat at our hotel for dinner again.

Bloggings, Travel

First Real Day

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Today we were up pretty early like 7 am. The time change was messing with us. It also didn’t help that there was a rooster constantly crowing. It’s even crowing as I write this. The hotel room is really small but after thinking about it, this is why I booked this place. It was very close to the airport and was cheap. I didn’t expect a luxury hotel, but I guess I just hoped it would be a bit bigger. But I am feeling better about it now. It serves its purpose and we leave here tomorrow very early. I also realized after arriving here that Trip Advisor didn’t show most of the hotels near the airport…booking stuff was hard from the US.

We did get to see our view outside the hotel this morning…

Not the nicest view…I think the nicer and safer areas are on the other side of the airport. Although this place seems okay. We were able to explore a little bit this morning. The security at this hotel is nice because they have guards and there is a gate around it. It even has its own convenient store so we don’t have to go out. I feel good about that because outside the gate…isn’t so nice. We took a small walk. So…if you want a little bit above bare minimum stay at the Isabelle Garden Hotel near the airport. The room is nice enough. The bathroom is extremely small. They do give you free breakfast though. And they arrange free airport pick up. The price is almost $30 a night.

Don’s uncle (Tito Rom) and cousin (Regan) visited us this morning and we talked about our plans. Then Don’s dad came with his brother and we went out for lunch. They took us to the Mall of Asia. We went there last time we were here. We were able to exchange some more money and it was nice to get out and walk around. We ate at Max’s Restaurant. It was kind of a mixture of a fast food restaurant and a sit down place. They specialize in fried chicken. They have a number of American dishes combined with Philippine cuisine. Once we were done with lunch we went back to the hotel and we worked on booking another hotel in Los Banos, for when we get back from Palawan.

This evening we just hung out and relaxed. We were tired from traveling and we have a 6:30 am flight tomorrow to go to Palawan. There seemed to be a party going on outside. There were people singing and a DJ. It was really loud. We ordered some pizza from a menu the front desk gave us. The place was called Greenwich Pizza. It wasn’t very good at all. The sauce tasted like ketchup. Ready to see what Palawan will offer us!

Bloggings, Travel

Arrival in Philippines

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We arrived at Incheon Airport (near Seoul) around 4:30 pm. The Korean airport was really nice, so modern and clean looking. We got some food. I had a Subway sandwich and Dr Pepper! Because every time I see Dr Pepper in a foreign country I have to try it. It tasted slightly different, better than the Dr Pepper I had in Greece though.

Our next flight to Manila was at 7:30 pm. This plane was not as big and more cramped. There were hardly any free seats so we had to sit next to someone. This flight was about 4 hours. It felt like 8. We still had tv screens to watch whatever we would like so that was cool. I mostly tried to sleep on this flight but it was impossible. I couldn’t get comfortable. But still…Korean Air way better than Delta…plus this flight was also on time.

We arrived in Manila around 10:30 pm and we got our luggage quickly. Yay, no lost luggage! The process of getting through customs was fast too. It took us forever to find our hotel shuttle connection though. We eventually had to call our hotel because there were so many people and we couldn’t find our guy. We didn’t get to the hotel until around 12:30 am. I was so tired and grumpy. I also wasn’t very impressed with the hotel at the time ahaha.

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Philippines! Flying Day

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Woke up today around 7 to get ready for our 12:45 flight from O’Hare. it was nice having time in the morning before the flight, usually we are always flying so early.

When we got to the airport we checked in with Korean Air. Usually when we fly we take one backpack and a small roller for carry ons but they would only allow us to bring one so we had to check our rollers. This made me so nervous because I hate losing luggage. I’ve had my luggage lost once and ever since then I pack so I will not need to check in a bag. But there was nothing we could do.

The flight from Chicago to Seoul was about 14 hours. It was on time (last time when we flew with Delta to the Philippines every flight was delayed). The flight wasn’t full and we got lucky because the 3rd seat in our section was not taken so we had a lot more room. Compared to Delta Airlines the seats on Korean Air were much more roomy. Every seat had a screen on it to watch movies and play games.

I got some wine and Silver Linings Playbook was the first movie I watched. It was pretty good. Then for lunch they served Bibimbap (Korean dish). For airplane food it was actually pretty good.

After lunch I read some and then checked out the games I could play. Then I watched Life of Pi. I tried sleeping but I don’t think I slept much. The guy in front of me kept opening his window shade to look outside. I didn’t understand why someone would need to look outside so much! Seriously you can’t really see anything! But overall, flying with Korean Air was sooooo much better than flying with Delta.

By the time we only had about 4 hours of flying time left I was ready to be off. It happened like this last time. I got so restless and couldn’t wait to get out!