After another healthy breakfast we packed our stuff (I really had to manhandle my bag to make everything fit, grrr). A van came to pick us up to take us to the bus terminal to take another van to El Nido. Now we have heard a lot of bad things about the 5-6 hour drive to El nido, but we were looking forward to it. Seeing this island is amazing and when one must travel, better make the best of it.
When we got into the first van the front row (the one with legspace) was already take by two Danish girl. After the switch to the other van we quickly owned the first row, together with a Filipino women. The driver was really good… The stories where mostly about drivers driving like crazy bcause they want to do another trip back as well (so 12 hours behind the wheel in one day…)… Well, this driver was calm and we were able to sleep and read in the van… That’s when we weren’t enjoying the stunning scenery.
WE had 3 stops, 1 which was a lunchstop and around 3pm we arrived at the busterminalish area in El Nido. A short tricycle ride brought us to our hotel. We checked in and paid for the 4 nights… and went to our room… Shit, we should have learned! You always always first check the room… our room is like a cubicle/ coffin. There’s a bunkbed, a small table ish thing… and that’s it, then you have just enough space to manouvre. The batheroom is ensuite, but the toiletseat has holes in it (and I don’t mean the one it’s supposed to have). You can’t flush it (which is fine, just use the bucket) and the shower is cold.
I run back down to complain and she gives us another room… which has the exact same size and even more holes in the toilet seat… but there is a mirror so Gen is sold. The airconditioning wasn’t working, but they fixed that too. So now we’re tired and worn out by the trip (don’t ask me why sitting can be so tiring), we miss our motorbike and we’re ready for a cocktail. We walk down the street, take a left and walk for about 30 minutes… then we find a passage to the beach and walk along the beach. The beach is stunning but we miss the little bars and pubs and restaurants, there are only resorts here. Because we were in aircon the whole day we have trouble managing the heat and everything feels like way too much effort.
After walking almost the whole beach we turn around, sit in one of the resort restaurants and order a mojito. The sun is about to set and we experience a stunning amazing gorgous sunset while drinking a cocktail. Our life is good again. I turn to google maps and GPS tells me that we walked out of the little town of El nido and are now on a different beach. We pay for our drinks and take the tricycle to go to the other beach… We basically drive past our hotel and it’s just a 1 minute drive from the beach where we find all the hustle and bustle we have been looking for. We quickly sit down’ order another cocktail and have some food… feellig really really silly.
Two girls with both a university education and quite good navigational skils got lost… but finding the village is so rewarding! After dinner we walk around the little tourist shops and buy 6 liters of water and return to the hotel. While typing this the lights have gone off and on… I just hope they stay online long enough for me to upload the post! I’m glad to be online, even though the Wifi is shitty… The generator is running and so the quiet is gone, but at least I can see what I’m typing.
So yes, after all the travelling we have now arrived at the vacation part of our trip. We will be staying here for 3 days / 4 nights and tomorrow we will start with Tour C, which will include a lot of beautiful beaches. We also consider doing a camping so we get to sleep on a deserted island. Everything seems possible here…except for good Wifi 😉
