We arrived in the town of El Nido after a seven hour boat journey. I was surprised at how beautiful the little beach was that we docked at and how small it was. We had heard it was touristy but there were no big hotels and everywhere was seemingly quiet. The first night Amy and I stayed two kilometres outside of El Nido. As it was Holy Week a lot of guesthouses were booked up. Mina grande guesthouse was very small (only three rooms), on the beach and very quiet.
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| View from Mina grande |
The next day we moved to a hostel in El Nido town, a hostel called bamboo billabong which is owned by a pretty crazy Ozzie guy called Rick, in his fifties with dreads and nipple piercings. He had a strange sense of humour but was very adamant that beer needing to be cold and had a well stocked fridge full of ice cold beer. Shine, a younger Filipino lady, maybe around my age also worked there as well and she was probably the most sarcastic person I have ever met. We had a good laugh with her, she was always complaining that we asked her too many questions. As I was pretty limited with movement and on heavy painkillers I resided to the beach for two days with Faye and some other friends while the others went on some island tours. The main beach in el nido during the day is surprisingly quiet with everyone leaving to explore the island or out on boat trips. The water was stunningly clear with just some local kids playing in the water and a few other tourists scattered along the beach.
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| Sunset of El Nido |
El Nido was also decent enough for food, as it was a bit touristy it had plenty of restaurants and bars.p it overall the traditional Filipino is a bit tasteless. We discovered a little vegetarian/vegan stand down the road from the hostel which we all got food from the first night. After chatting to the guy who worked there we found out he used to be a sous chef in a vegetarian restaurant in the capital of Manila and he was hoping to extend his business, he also told us he hadn't had a day off in four years! We were surprised that he stayed open all Easter weekend. The burgers were amazing and we went back a few more times after that. Whilst in El Nido we also tried some of the street food including (disappointing) steamed buns and BBQ'd chorizo. Later in the day there would be loads of kids walking up and down the beach and the streets selling balot (the part developed duck embryo). I still have not been tempted to try this local delicacy.
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| El Nido beach |
Port Barton
After good Friday we took a bus (private bus) to Port Barton, a small fishing village that seems very new to tourism. We had wanted to take the cheaper option of the public buses but Shine told us there weren't any as it was Easter weekend (I don't think this was true as we passed many busses on the way). The private bus cost about $12. Sally and Dan also came with Amy and I.
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| Port Barton sunset |
The bus only took about four hours. We found a little guesthouse a block from the beach and got two private rooms for 200 each a night ($4) in divinagracia. It was owned by a lovely local man (john), his wife Julie and cousin Laura. John was great for local information and also informed us that the village only has electricity from 5pm - 12am daily (something we had read about before). After we left our things in our rooms we wandered down the beach. There were various locals selling boat tours but never in a pushy manner. A local man called Jeremy stopped to talk to us asking us what our plans were for our time in Port Barton, we assumed he was selling a boat tour but chatted to him for a while. He told us where good places to eat, the good beaches and bars were. As we said goodbye and thanked him we realised he wasn't trying to sell anything and was just being friendly, a common trait of the lovely Filipino people. An hour before sunset and like typical backpackers, found a little reggae beach bar (recommended by Jeremy) with happy hour for a few drinks. Rum and mixers....a crazy $1 for two!! We watched the sunset enjoying our rums and a French couple Paulina and Max who we had met in El Nido came to join us. After indulging in the rums, the six of us went in search of some local food. We found a small, cheap restaurant called Alexis with local dishes. Amy and I shared traditional pork adobe (marinated pork in soy sauce and garlic served with rice) and spicy native vegetables. Each dish cost about $2!
The next day, Easter Sunday I was determined to try and do some exercise having had limited movements for the last few days due to the arm situation so I got up early before it got too hot and went for a run along the beach. It was a lovely morning with fishermen selling fish off their boats and a few people up for Sunday mass in the quiet village. After breakfast of avocado on crackers, pineapple and coffee, Amy and I decided to take a walk about 3km south of Port Barton to a beach called 'White Beach'. We wandered down port barton beach and surprisingly with the help of a random dog leading us along little paths and behind mangrove forests and a coconut farm we found white beach and begrudgingly paid 25PHP (50c) entrance through white beach resort to get to the beach (it's the principal)! Anyway it was definitely worth it, the beach was beautiful with...surprise surprise, pristine white sand and the characteristic turquoise clear sea, with coconut trees lining the sand and providing some much needed shade in the heat! We chilled out on the beach for a few hours having to take dips in the sea to cool down. We were joined that afternoon by an u welcome thunder storm causing the beach to abandoned. We took shelter until it passed and walked back into Port Barton along a windy dirt road, through the jungle and a small Village, admiring the countryside.
Later that night we all went for dinner and found a nice restaurant with a BBQ and fresh whole fish. You could choose your fish and they cooked it on the spot for you. I had a local fish called Lupa lupa with rice and eggplant salad for only $4. The fish was good, a white fish and a bit meatier than cod.
Amy and I took a bus from regretfully said goodbye to Port Barton to go to Puerto Princessa for a night before our flight to Cebu. We didn't really explore Puerto Princessa and instead took advantage of the air conditioned room and wifi which we had been without for a while. We DID however find the cheapest beer on my trip so far....a litre of red horse for 70PHP (about $1.50). Apparently the locals say it's called red horse beer because the next morning after drinking it you feel like you've been kicked by a horse! Our hostel 'your space' seemed to be located in the fast food district and we found it impossible to find apples (random craving) on the night we arrived. However after walking for an hour looking for somewhere for lunch the day we were leaving, we found an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Imas where we indulged in a Mexican salad and Thai tofu salad as well as a coco peanut shake (sooooo good) and a mango banana shake. After our good food fix we took a tricycle to the airport which cost about a dollar each as the airport is quite Central and small.
Next Stop: Cebu city, Cebu island
Stayed: Divinagracia in Port Barton, $4 each a night for private room.
Our space pensione, $5 for air conditioned dorm
Food/drink: Red horse, San Miguel beer. Tanduay rum (crazily cheap). Alexis local restaurant in Port Barton for adobo for $2. BBQ restaurant in Port Barton - local Lupa Lula BBQ fish with rice and eggplant salad - $4. Imas vegetarian restaurant in Puerto Princessa dishes from $2-4!
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