Trip to the Philippines part 2 ~El Nido

Disclaimer: Although I have titled this post Trip to the Philippines part 2 ~El Nido there is a bit of Puerto Princesa in here too.

I organized part one of this post by days, but I'm not going to do that in part two. This is partly because the days blended together. I went island hopping everyday during my last three days so I think divided each one up would be redundant. Also, I'm feeling lazy.

On the fourth day of my trip I took a 5am van to El Nido. The van ride was definitely one of my least favorite parts of my trip -tied with sleeping in the  Manila airport on my last night (which involved a makeshift bed made from a damp beach towel and a sarong on the floor in front of a Philippino Victoria's Secret). It should be noted that the bumpy, gravel/dirt/mud path this 7 trip takes is sometimes referred to as 'abortion road'. I'm sure that anyone who's taken it can understand why. Not only was this ride uncomfortably overcrowded, but it was so bumpy I had to brace myself against the seat in front of me so as not to fall into the fat guy seated next to me.

In the end though, the trip was definitely worth it because El Nido is AWESOME! I arrived in the afternoon, checked into my guestroom, had a delicious lunch, and took a much need nap.

The Philippines had been having some rain so I spent the night with my fingers crossed for it to clear up the next day. The friend I met up with had had her island hopping trip cancelled the day before. I was very fortunate to miss most of the bad weather. It rained a bit at the very beginning of my first island hopping trip, but for the most part I spent the next two days snorkeling in good weather.

I can't really describe just how stunning the Philippines is. The beaches are powdery and the water goes from bright green, to sparkly blue, to clear depending on its depth. I saw beautiful fish and colorful corals. My words really don't do it justice, so I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves (although I'm sure my phone camera didn't fully capture it either).

After two jam packed days of island hopping and snorkeling in El Nido, I took another bumpy van ride back to PP. I spent my last day in the Philippines with an island hopping trip in Puerto Princesa's Honda Bay. It was more touristy than El Nido's island, but still beautiful. The touristy thing can have its upsides -I got a $3 massage on the beach! Unfortunately, I forgot my phone on my last day so I didn't get any pictures, but I did manage to borrow a few from my snorkeling buddy Caitlin.

Happy hour at my guest house

Semi-posed snorkeling

 

Lunch! So delicious!

Boat selfie!

Michael Jordan in Honda Bay! He was kind of a dick...

The Philippines was a blast. Just what I needed after a stressful few weeks at work too! It was my first solo travel experience and I couldn't have asked for a better trip! I feel so fortunate to have had the chance to travel like this, and I don't think I ever would have had the opportunity had I not come to Korea. I highly recommend both the Philippines as a travel destination and Korea for teaching abroad!

Until next time!