After about 48 hours of traveling I have finally made it to paradise - and it's more amazing than I could have ever imagined. The journey here is a story in itself.
I flew from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines but had a layover in South Korea first. Then after a couple delays, flew from Manila to Puerto Princesa. I was going to take a night bus to my first destination but when my plane landed, I decided I needed a good night's sleep so I went out to find a hotel for the night. I got a taxi from the airport and my driver was just the beginning of my experience with the incredibly friendly and generous Filipino people.
I explained to him that I needed a room for the night near the bus station so I could catch the morning bus. He recommended that I take a van rather than the bus because it's faster and nicer. He then drove me to the van place and helped me book my van for the next morning. Then, he set out to find me a room. We went to one hotel, he told me to wait in the car and he went in and asked for the price. Came back out and told me it's too expensive and said he knows a place to stay. He drove me there, went in again and got the price. Came back, carried my bag for me up to the hotel, and only asked for just over the equivalent of $2 as payment for everything. I gave him twice what he asked because of how helpful he was.
Fast forward about 18 hours, I finally made it to my first destination, El Nido. I got to my hostel, put my stuff down and went to use the wifi to let some people know that I made it here safely. 1 minute after sitting down for the wifi, a young looking local Filipino came and sat next to me. He said he was going surfing and invited me with, so I couldn't say no. I had no other plans. His friends came and picked us up in a pick up truck. I was a little bit nervous about getting in a car with foreign strangers but because of my amazing experience with the locals already, I decided to trust him. And I'm glad I did.
Turns out this guy is a real estate agent who owns a ton of property on this island. The "friends" who were driving us around actually work for him. They drove us to 3 different beaches but because the surf wasn't great, we just swam. The 3rd beach was his own private beach on one of the properties he owns. I got to swim on a gorgeous beach with absolutely nobody else there and got a free tour of part of the island. And all this started within the first 10 minutes of me arriving in this town. This is part of why I love traveling alone - if I had been with a friend, I probably wouldn't have made this new Filipino friend.
We made it back to the hostel safely, and then I made some more new friends at the hostel's BBQ night. Today, I did 3 scuba dives and saw some absolutely amazing marine life. Coral reefs, a massive turtle almost as big as me, and probably a million different kinds of fish. This is the completion of my open water certification, so I am officially certified as an open water scuba diver! ( I started the process in Greece 2 years ago)
I honestly can't believe I've only been in El Nido for 48 hours and have already experienced so much. Tomorrow I'll be going on an island tour to check out some of the smaller islands and beaches around the area. I'm completely in love with this country already, except for the humidity. But the mind blowingly beautiful surroundings make it easy to forget about the heat and humidity.
I flew from San Francisco to Manila, Philippines but had a layover in South Korea first. Then after a couple delays, flew from Manila to Puerto Princesa. I was going to take a night bus to my first destination but when my plane landed, I decided I needed a good night's sleep so I went out to find a hotel for the night. I got a taxi from the airport and my driver was just the beginning of my experience with the incredibly friendly and generous Filipino people.
I explained to him that I needed a room for the night near the bus station so I could catch the morning bus. He recommended that I take a van rather than the bus because it's faster and nicer. He then drove me to the van place and helped me book my van for the next morning. Then, he set out to find me a room. We went to one hotel, he told me to wait in the car and he went in and asked for the price. Came back out and told me it's too expensive and said he knows a place to stay. He drove me there, went in again and got the price. Came back, carried my bag for me up to the hotel, and only asked for just over the equivalent of $2 as payment for everything. I gave him twice what he asked because of how helpful he was.
Fast forward about 18 hours, I finally made it to my first destination, El Nido. I got to my hostel, put my stuff down and went to use the wifi to let some people know that I made it here safely. 1 minute after sitting down for the wifi, a young looking local Filipino came and sat next to me. He said he was going surfing and invited me with, so I couldn't say no. I had no other plans. His friends came and picked us up in a pick up truck. I was a little bit nervous about getting in a car with foreign strangers but because of my amazing experience with the locals already, I decided to trust him. And I'm glad I did.
Turns out this guy is a real estate agent who owns a ton of property on this island. The "friends" who were driving us around actually work for him. They drove us to 3 different beaches but because the surf wasn't great, we just swam. The 3rd beach was his own private beach on one of the properties he owns. I got to swim on a gorgeous beach with absolutely nobody else there and got a free tour of part of the island. And all this started within the first 10 minutes of me arriving in this town. This is part of why I love traveling alone - if I had been with a friend, I probably wouldn't have made this new Filipino friend.
We made it back to the hostel safely, and then I made some more new friends at the hostel's BBQ night. Today, I did 3 scuba dives and saw some absolutely amazing marine life. Coral reefs, a massive turtle almost as big as me, and probably a million different kinds of fish. This is the completion of my open water certification, so I am officially certified as an open water scuba diver! ( I started the process in Greece 2 years ago)
I honestly can't believe I've only been in El Nido for 48 hours and have already experienced so much. Tomorrow I'll be going on an island tour to check out some of the smaller islands and beaches around the area. I'm completely in love with this country already, except for the humidity. But the mind blowingly beautiful surroundings make it easy to forget about the heat and humidity.