Leaving Moalboal, arriving in El Nido

We were sadly checking out of Blue Orchid today, I could have definitely done another day here at least. We should have really stayed at Pangasama beach for another couple of days because it actually had quite a lot going on and was just a pretty nice place to be. We did however stick around until midday before leaving so we could appreciate out surroundings (and the calm) for a final few hours before heading back to the madness that is Cebu. 

Again traversing the backbreaking approach road to Blue Orchid, we headed back into Moalboal town by trike to the bus station, which is just a load of seats under a canopy. Stocked up with a couple of banana breads we only had to wait 20 minutes or so before a bus turned up and we fortunately managed to get a seat (next to each other thanks to the kindness of a fellow passenger). The journey was again fine and we got to Cebu just in time to catch a taxi before the dreaded rush hour hit. We weren’t dropped off right outside the hotel because the driver didn’t know where it was, and upon finding it we realised why, it’s basically just an apartment in a block of flats. After not raining all day we of course got out of the taxi into heavy rain and so we’re pretty wet by the time we made it there, unfortunate. The hostel itself is fine, very clean and tidy, and we have individual pods with a proper blind at the foot for maximum privacy. 

After snagging up a couple of pizzas for dinner we relaxed in the ‘common area’ of the hostel (four bean bags) when a commotion began to occur at the reception desk. Unfortunately the hotel had an issue with booking.com’s system and were overbooked. A poor English couple, who were actually on the same bus as us into Cebu, were basically stuck without somewhere to stay (it’s a hostel really close to the airport, so everyone staying had an early flight the next day), before Amelia came to their rescue and offered them one of our ‘pods’. The beds were slightly larger than singles so it was fine and comfy enough to fit us both, plus we got half our money back so a good idea all round. 

I don’t think I slept at all though. It was a combination of being slightly uncomfortable, having water still stuck in my ear from snorkelling and very noisy neighbours/guests arriving at 1am which led to my night of disquiet. Our alarm was set for 3am as well. Not a restful night. Cebu airport is a million times better than Manila, but we arrived there slightly sweaty from our 20 minute walk (3am here is still about 25 degrees). Amelia got her insect repellent taken off her at security for some reason, but other than that the airport experience was entirely straightforward, we even got a rather tasty ham and cheese croissant and a slightly less tasty panini. 

The flight between Cebu and Puerto Princesa on Palawan island takes about an hour and a half, so just enough time to sort of fall asleep before being rudely awakened by the landing, which was actually the smoothest landing I’ve ever experienced. Puerto Princesa airport is tiny, with just a baggage reclaim hall before being deposited into the car park. Here we were to get a minivan for the 5-6 hour journey up to El Nido. We followed the crowds out towards a general congregation and, incredibly fortuitously, managed to get the front seats in an otherwise full van. As both of us suffer a bit from motion sickness it was definitely the best seats to get, even though Amelia’s seat wasn’t really a proper seat (the middle one next to the driver). The journey wasn’t as bad as I’d been led to believe by blog posts on the internet, just long, windy and boring, but with some very beautiful scenery wizzing by. Another unfortunate consequence of Amelia’s seat was she was actually too high to see out of the window at all, so a very dull journey for her. 

The final piece of the journey jigsaw was a trike into El Nido itself (because of course the bus terminal isn’t actually in the town), which took less than 10 minutes, before we arrived at Frendz Hostel, our home for the next 3 nights. It’s a really cool hostel, with beautiful rooftop pool and ground floor bar and restaurant. We’re in an 8 bed dorm of which the other couple in here seem very nice, while the others like to party late, which didn’t wake Amelia or I at all last night (writing this a couple of days after) however apparently did annoy the other couple. We’ll see what it’s like tonight, hopefully another good night sleep (fingers crossed).