So if you were wondering how we had planned this trip, well I shall let you in on a secret: we kinda didn’t and have been winging it since day one.

As you have learnt in my last blog, everything and anything we plan never goes accordingly to that plan. Something somewhere f**ks up.

We have gotten used to it by now and laugh about it all. So to let you in on our “winging it” fun ways; here is an intro to how we started our trip to the Philippines…

The day before leaving Thailand we needed to book a couple of things first:

» Flights back to Bali at the end of the trip (otherwise we weren’t allowed in the country and not granted a visa)

» A hotel room for our first night Manila (yeap a hotel for that same exact day)

» A flight from Manila to Coron for the following day

» A hotel room for in Coron.

We didn’t manage any of this beforehand so picture this: two girls sitting at the airport waiting to check-in for our first flight of the day to Bangkok.

As we wait to check-in, we are searching for affordable flights. Luckily literally five minutes before check-in, we were able to book flights from Manila to Bali for the last day of our trip in The Philippines.

We felt no rush, no sweat, no worries until the at the check-in desk the flight attendant asked for our returning tickets, that’s the only time we were like: “damn, we nailed it there on the timing..”

If we hadn’t had a returning flight she wouldn’t of let us check-in, let alone fly to our destination 😂.

So we booked that and then made our way to Bangkok.

At Bangkok we had to take a taxi bus to the other airport of Bangkok where our next flight was to Manila.

It was when we were in the bus that I realized we needed to get a taxi from the airport to the hotel we were staying at but for the life of me, i could not remember which hotel we had booked. Yeaaap you guessed it… we forgot to actually book a hotel for that exact night in Manila… Oops 🤷‍♀️

We ourselves were in hysterics about it all so after checking-in and having lunch, we started booking a hotel room for in Manilla. After that we needed to book a hotel room for our time in Coron.

After researching and trying (& failing) to book all the needed nights we realised the time… yeah boarding time was twenty minutes ago and so we found ourselves running to our gate to catch the flight.

We were the last people to board the plane and everyone else had been seated already. Again oops 🤷‍♀️

The plane ride over to Philippines went well, we had good seats and enjoyed a couple of movies.

To at one point, only half hour left to go, I realised that we forgot to reply to the message from the hotel we got from Manilla saying we needed to confirm the booking via email as we had booked it for the same day…. We are definitely doing well here people haha.

After landing and scoring a simcard, we finally replied and made our way to our hotel.

Now Manilla was not as welcoming as we had hoped but we kinda already read that it was not a very friendly city.

During our taxi ride we saw all the bars in front of the windows and high gates with spikes on top. People hanging around on the streets who you most probably did not want to mess with…

After arriving at our hotel we popped our bags upstairs and debated whether walking to the mac donalds or taking a taxi, even though it is only 400 metres from our hotel but having it be nighttime and loads of men (the disgusting and predator kind) hanging about we weren’t too sure on what to do haha.

We decided to walk and ended up walking right behind a big and very tall guy who also was a tourist. He was our big friendly giant and we made it look like we belonged together as a group until we made it to Mac Donalds.

The plus side of this story is that i’m not the biggest fan of Mac but we did have the freshest burger ever and it was HOT!

Anyways after the Mac we still needed to book a hotel room for the following day… long live last minute procrastination!

We booked a few nights in a hostel in Coron and the next morning flew out.

Coron was a way nicer place. A small town, tourists come and go here but its not too touristy and it feels as-if you’re living among all the locals with its market stalls, shops, little cafes and restaurants. The square has a primary school with children of all ages from 4 – 10/12 years in their uniforms. Scattering all about, playing on the playground or clambering into the tricycles.

On our first day in Coron we went to a small beach called Cabu Beach. Now the beach itself was small and dainty but it was the drive over that held all the adventure!

The tricycle took us on bumpy roads in which you nearly fell out or no longer felt your seat as you drove over another bump.

It really was a rollercoaster ride that got our adrenaline pumping.

Our second day we took a “super ultimate” boat tour which took us to the famous beaches and lakes of Coron.

This is where we saw The Philippines undefined beauty, the pictures you see on google images came to life.

The waters glistened, the tree’s swayed and the nature was such a blissful picture no words could properly describe it.

After scorching our skin in the sun, we had become lobsters, we dined in a fabulous Italian Restaurant. The pasta was even better than any I have had at home 🤤

After dinner we set off buying our last needed things such as torches, rash-cards, sunscreen etc. Before embarking on our four day expedition.

Our very own “Expeditie Robinson.”*

Bucket showers, holes in floors for loo’s, tents as sleeping places and a boat taking us from Coron to El Nido.

Back to Basic again we go.

*For my English readers: Expeditie Robinson is. Dutch series which is a survival game like show that has been held in the Philippines as-well. Here is a link for more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expeditie_Robinson.

We set off to the harbour to meet the whole team and clamber onto the boat that will be our transportation for the next couple of days.

The boats here are small in width with their bodies but the frame that balances them are wide. The boats are called: Banca Boats.

Our first day we set off and went about many beaches which really were just like the ones on Google images.

The sand was as soft and fluffy like powdered sugar. The water was so clear it was like looking down through a glass window to the sandy floor.

We sailed around and visited three or four beaches that were each enchanting before making it to our first base camp.

Our first base camp was an inhabited island on a beach with mountains surrounding it.

The tents were sat on top off these high posts, away from the ground.

We enjoyed our first delicious dinner that consisted of fruit, various vegetables, meat dishes and of course Filipino Power: a big bowl of rice.

The food seriously was so much better than expected, every meal we kept on getting surprised us, not only because of the taste but also how amazingly our chef cooked for 18 people in a tiny kitchen on a relatively small boat. Mind was constantly blown. 🤯

After dinner we enjoyed each-others company around the bonfire with of course rum & coke.

How else would you travel through Philippines?!

After feeling like Jack Sparrow it was off to bed, ready and excited for our second day of the tour.

We awoke to cockerels waking us up at 5 am… great fun and an hour later to the sun blasting down on our tent, lighting up every inch of the tent. Yaay…

Our first night wasn’t the greatest or longest of sleep (3 hours total due to me constantly needing to wee – the ever downfalls of being a woman – but also because at first it was warm and then freezing to then warm again.)

Off to a tired start we clambered back on the kayak to paddle back to our boat and let the crew take us on another adventure. Yipee!

Today they took us snorkelling at various places but I decided to skip a few as I was knackered and my fear of water was intensifying. So were my sunburns too haha.

But our last stop was to cliff jump 7 metres high. So after having a nap in the shade I was feeling confident in trying it.

I mean, what could go wrong right?! I had been jumping off the boat constantly ever since I first stepped on so I figured (naively) that even with my fear of heights and water that i’d still be fine.

That was until I finally climbed up and looked down…

I let everyone go in front of me, even some people multiple times. I was shaking like a leaf and my eyes were watering from fear. I was a right mess.. no Insta worthy photo’s could be taken with my state 😅

Eventually (literal 30 minutes later… and no i’m not joking, I wish I was tho 🙈) it was time for the boat to leave and so I had no other choice but to jump as climbing down was more dangerous… yaaay….

And so, one of the crewmembers, bless him, asked if I wanted to jump together.

I couldn’t even speak and just held out my shaking hand and we FIN-A-LLY jumped together 🙌

The time I was in the air was so short that I hardly remember it. All I remember is the feeling of letting go (somewhat relaxing and cathartic) and struggling in the water trying to swim back to the surface.

Was I relieved that I did it? To be honest, i’m not so sure because after looking back once the boat was sailing again, I saw that the cliff was not that high at all.. 7 meters sounds higher than it actually is haha so much fuss for nothing but hey I always know i’ll be fine, I just always gotta be dramatic first 💁‍♀️

After the cliff jumping we headed down to our next base camp.

This time we slept in little wooden huts that looked over the sea and sunset.

Again we enjoyed rum & coke, card games, girl talk and lots of laughter.

Our third day of our tour came quicker than expected and we found ourselves swimming and snorkeling from the very first minute of waking up. Might sound fun and all but trust me, swimming in jellyfish invested waters with sharp coral at 07:30 am is not that fun… 🤭

We reached this one place where we snorkelled that had such a strong current that we simply were not moving forward but being pushed back. Feeling helpless, two of the guides let us on the kayak and let us jump off when we reached the coral part of the water and where the current changed direction.

Once we jumped off we got swept away and floated above the coral. It was pretty amazing but still so much of it had died which was a shame but there still were really bright coloured fish and starfish.

After that we again sailed around until we again came to another snorkeling spot. This time we could just jump off the boat and let ourselves drift again with the current.

Feeling like a rubber ducky we drifted along and saw so many colours.

It was peaceful until the coral was in shallow water and it felt like it was going to touch us. In reality there was still at least half a meter between me and the coral but nether the less that shit still scared the patooty out of me!

After freaking out and finally making my way back to the boat we then sailed to our third and final base camp.

Again we stayed in huts along the beach and had the most amazing sunset to spoil our eyes.

After the sunset and many instagram worthy photo taking, it was time for our last supper together which again was heavenly.

We drank together, talked and laughed. Enjoying each-others company for our final night together on our final uninhabited island.

When we woke up it was time to enjoy our very last day of our expedition.

Sadness grew within us all but we were determined to make the absolute most of it, in which we succeeded.

The first part of our trip was a two and a half sail down towards El Nido. Here the blue was so clear and so smooth we actually spotted seven sea turtles swimming near the boat.

Because the water was so clear we could see everything up to a few meters down.

The jellyfish floated about and the plankton lit up the ocean and resembled a starry sky.

We sailed along beaches, excluding the island where “Expeditie Robinson” was filmed in 2005/2006. Now I don’t watch the series so I was not too faffed about that but I will say, that that island was the most stunning of all islands I have seen up until now!

The cliffs soared the sky, the tree’s climbed it’s walls and the water was such a gorgeous blue it looked like heaven on earth.

Again we spotted a turtle and three girls saw the shadow of a sea cow.

After our kayaking and a mini photoshoot we headed off to our final beach stop before finally arriving in El Nido.

Not ready to say a final goodbye we added everyone to a group chat and made plans for dinner together.

Dinner was good and fun but unfortunately our bodies were exhausted and our night had to finally come to an end…

Looking back on these past four days I can officially and gratefully say that I am so so so happy to have had this opportunity to join this group and expedition.

I have had the time of my life, have pushed through boundaries and fears, eaten like a goddess (piglike one might I add 🐽) and laughed until my stomach hurt.

The views I have witnessed will forever be imprinted in my mind and the warmth & joy that this expedition gave will always be felt whenever I reminisce back on it.

The crew were absolute gems who deserve so much thanks and the guys I got to travel with were such good eggs that i’m glad to have met!

Now that i’m in El Nido it is time to relax, pull up and chair and cheers to myself for all of things mentioned the above.

Also plan out what the hell i’m gonna do next… think i’m kinda done with boat trips for now so maybe zip-lining?

Anyhow i’m sure that even though i’m very much winging it through The Philippines, that this country will not let me down.

Until the next adventure peeps.

Lot’s of love,

G.