Hi, I’m back with a new travel update. As announced, we have spent the last few weeks in the Philippines. We had a great time because the 3 weeks we had flew by! We are currently on a plane back to Manila to travel to our next destination tomorrow. More about that later, but for now back to the beginning:
The Big Bang has just happened and we are now waiting for life on Earth. Okay, we don’t really have to go back to the beginning, let’s go back to the beginning of our trip in the Philippines: We flew from Auckland to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. We had heard from several people that there is not much to do here and that it can even be a bit dangerous. So we had already booked a plane ticket to our real first destination: El Nido. We flew in a small plane, with 2 rows of 2 people and real propellers and that was a fun experience. At the airport in El Nido the suitcases were not put on a belt but simply in a room and we even got an umbrella against the sun.
The reason for starting in El Nido was so we could travel with Montana and Johanna! We had already agreed on this a few months ago. Montana is a friend of Samantha’s and she and Johanna had traveled together through various countries in Southeast Asia in the past weeks and we had agreed to travel through the Philippines together! That was very nice because now we had company 😊
Montana and Johanna were waiting for us in El Nido the past few days, so we didn’t stay there too long. We had a nice prospect: a 3-day boat tour from El Nido to Coron. This boat tour was recommended by several people and we had actually only heard good stories.
With 16 people spread over 2 boats we went from island to island, sometimes to snorkel and sometimes to play beach volleyball. It was 3 very nice days! Because you are with the same people every minute of the day, you can get to know everyone quickly. We had the luxury of not sleeping on the boat but in huts on uninhabited islands. And what you expected was what it was like: azure blue water, white beach and that is your view when you wake up. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that! The crew was also great fun, all energetic and they really tried to make it fun. If anyone ever goes to the Philippines, I can definitely recommend this tour 😊
We arrived at Coron after the boat tour and hadn’t actually planned or booked anything yet, so we just did that when we arrived. We booked an 8-person dorm for the 4 of us and were lucky that there was no one in it. So we had the whole room to ourselves 😊
The best thing to do in Coron was a boat tour, but we had just spent 3 days on a boat so we decided to do other things. We watched the sunset from a beautiful point and then went to a natural hot spring, which was also nice. It was Johanna’s last stop because she then went on to another country ☹
So the three of us had to plan where we wanted to go. We decided to fly to Cebu and from there go to Moalboal. That’s easier said than done because getting from Coron to Cebu is quite complicated if you try to plan it 1 day in advance. The direct flight tickets were sold out and so we had to return to El Nido by boat (4 hours) and from there by bus for 5 hours to Puerto Princesa, where the airport was.
For Samantha and me it was switching back to the ‘backpacker life’. We had been living in a Western culture in a camper for the past 14 months, and that is a big difference from an Asian culture with a backpack. Basically everything changed by 180 degrees (not Celsius thankfully). With the camper we always had 2 things: a place to sleep and transportation (and often a flat tire, but that’s besides the point). Of course, those two things immediately disappeared, and as a result we were now dependent on public transport and hostels. So that meant that we had to arrange something every day, and also plan where we wanted to be in the coming days. That was quite a change, I must honestly say. But every disadvantage has its advantage: we also experienced that it was now so easy to meet new people, and we actually enjoyed that! For example, we are still in contact with a few people from the boat tour and we think that is really nice.
In Moalboal we had a nice hostel on the water and we immediately got to know Babet. She slept in our room and had just arrived in the Philippines. We decided the 4 of us were going to travel together next week, so you can see how easy and fast that can be to meet people 😊
Moalboal is known for 2 things: the massive group of sardines swimming in the water (the second largest group in the world) and the canyoneering. We were lucky that our hostel was right next to where the sardines should be in the water. We had seen some really cool photos, but we always assume that it’s never as nice as on the photos. But nothing could be further from the truth! Samantha and I went into the water the next morning around 7 am, which is when most of the animals are most active and you beat the crowds of tourists and we certainly did not regret that. We were the only ones in the water and immediately came across the massive group of sardines! I can write about it, but it’s best to look at the photos:
The next day we went canyoneering. That’s nothing less than jumping off waterfalls and cliffs, and that was a lot of fun. With quite a large group we made our way through the canyon and encountered various natural obstacles. Of course we had several guides with us, and they were also great fun. The biggest jump of the day was from a height of 10 meters and that was quite high I can tell you! When you fall, you have just too long to realize that you are falling, if you know what I mean. But it was a lot of fun!
After Moalboal we went to Bohol, this is an island near the coast of Cebu and is known for having Tarsians. These are very small animals (some as small as your thumb), with large eyes. They look a bit like little aliens. In addition, Bohol is also known for having the Chocolate Hills. Unfortunately, Willy Wonka didn’t make them because they weren’t really made of chocolate. These 2 things are also immortalized on the 200 Peso note in the Philippines!
After Bohol we left for Siargao, this is an island an hour’s flight from Cebu and was recommended by several people. It is known as one of the best surfing spots in the world! Of course we had to test that out too and we just tried to catch some waves, with the emphasis on trying 😉. It was a nice island and we had a good hostel, so most things were within walking distance.
After Siargao we unfortunately had to say goodbye to Montana and Babet. That was a shame because Samantha and I enjoyed traveling around in a group. With new people around you, you come up with new (fun) ideas for things to do and that was a great experience! We will undoubtedly see each other in the future so everything will be fine 😊
Samantha and I had a few more days in the Philippines and headed to our final destination: Malapascua. This is a very good place for diving and the entire island is actually designed for that purpose. It is known for having tresher sharks and these are very rare to see. Tresher sharks have a very long tail that they use, among other things, to hit fish while hunting. They should not be that dangerous for humans (if all goes well). I don’t have a diving certificate so we went to the dive shop for Samantha to arrange for her to go diving. Fortunately, there was still a spot and the nice Dutch owner even offered me to come on the boat for free so that I could go snorkeling. He said that if the water visibility was good, I could probably see the sharks too! That was very nice of him and I didn’t expect it. So the 2 of us went on the boat the next morning and got ready to see some sharks. We were not disappointed because once in the water you immediately saw them swimming around in large numbers. That was cool to see, I must say! They also warned me that there are tiger sharks in the area and that they see things that swim on the water as prey, so as a snorkeler I would fall into that category. If I see one, I have to get out immediately. I’m still not entirely sure if they were kidding me or if they were serious, but the fact is that I have never been so focused (read: scared) haha 😉.
This concluded our trip in the Philippines, and we are now on our way to our next destinations: Malaysia and Singapore! We are both looking forward to that and you will be able to read all about it in the next travel update, see you then! 😊