Philippines: 'Paradise on earth'

Hi guys!

The Philippines, where to begin. This archipelago has seven thousand six hundred and forty-one islands and is nine times larger than our country. Here you had to travel by plane or ferry.

The adventure started in Phnom Penh! When I wanted to check in to Manila, that nice (not) lady at the counter told me that she didn't want to check me in because I didn't have a return ticket to leave the Philippines. With a slight pressure of stress, I sat down and booked a flight via my hotspot. The best part of it all was, when I was back at the counter, they didn't even ask.

So if you get that question I suggest you just say you have a return ticket within the time you need to leave the country.

With a two hour delay I arrived in Manila around 5:30 in the morning. I had to walk to catch my next flight to El Nido. I missed the shuttle to the other airport. There I took a taxi, who took advantage of my lack of sleep. If you take a taxi, agree on a price well in advance. so you don't get fooled by those men. Despite the overpriced ride, I still missed my flight. Because that nice (not) miss from behind the counter didn't want to check me in... Even though I still had forty-five minutes before takeoff. Anyway, I didn't feel like arguing. Three hours of waiting then!

From the hustle and bustle of Manila to the cozy El Nido airport: what a difference! Imagine: one runway, one room, a few staff members who manually put our luggages in the arrival hall. It felt like I traveled back in time. A world of difference from Zaventem, but so authentic and charming!

This was an experience in itself.

After a long journey I finally arrived at my hotel. Of course I didn't go to sleep. I like to be in the rhythm of the country right away. So I rented a moped and went on a quest for a nice coffee of course at Hama Coffe El Nido. That night I crawled into bed exhausted.

Mmmm, how wonderfully I slept in my hotel . Even though it was a bit remote, I could really enjoy the peace. After a few hours of lazing by the pool, I went exploring with the moped. I wanted to visit a waterfall and go for a walk. Via Google Maps I kept coming across travel agencies or guides. There was no official entrance anywhere. Never on this trip had I paid a guide to accompany me on a walk. Well, I didn't do it then either.

It was wonderful to tour around that wild beautiful yet untouched jungle and through the small villages. Blissfully quiet, sometimes I didn't meet anyone and so I could also stop where I wanted and see the real local life. In the coming days I planned a few beach visits. 'Nacpan Beach': this four kilometer long snow-white beach with its apple-blue sea-green water surrounded by its beautiful green nature and its thousands of palm trees was worth it. After three to four hundred meters I walked there alone, not even bars or resorts to be seen. Wow, had I ended up in a piece of no man's land in the middle of a tourist paradise '?!

On the way back I got my scooter stuck in the sand. I had to really pull it out of the sand. It just fell on the mirror. I had made a mess and then thought 'oh no, the people at the hotel are going to charge you a lot!' Luckily I came across a (sort of) garage a hundred meters further. My salvation, this cost me two euros twenty. Haha, they had put a completely different mirror there. For once I decided to keep this to myself. Nobody had noticed. After a while of traveling in Asia, you get used to the tricks, right?

'Lio Beach', this dazzling beach is located near the airport. The road to it was already spectacular. From the long pier I had a beautiful view of this piece of lush nature. Small propeller planes took off or landed almost right above my head. And actually that had something special. This was a nice place to stay with its white beach, bright blue sea and nice beach bars.

'Dula beach', this beach is 'same same but different'.

The Palawan Islands are known as the most beautiful in the world. This had given me a push to take the adventure on the boat from El Nido to Coron with 'Tao Philippines'. Yolo, right?!

Wow, and this was not just any expedition. This authentic wooden boat took us through the unbelievably beautiful tropical paradise. Our boat the 'Aurora Dos' hopped with us along uninhabited islands, on some islands only a few fishing families lived. On one of them we slept in bamboo huts where only a mattress, sheets and a pillow were present. In the evening our bed was made and a mosquito net was put up. Everything was so well organised. Showering was not a luxury, but hey you can wash yourself, you live in a bikini, what more do you want?! We often had no network on our smartphones. How nice it was to be unreachable for a while.

' Tao Philippines ' builds schools from the proceeds for children who have difficulty getting to another island due to weather conditions. With their own farm, they grow everything themselves. The food was served abundantly, it couldn't be fresher. Mmmmm, enjoy. Every breakfast, lunch, dinner was transformed into a culinary delight, beautifully served and also made atmospheric. Every day we enjoyed a wonderful sunset at the best location of each island where we were served a typical cocktail.

Our group of fourteen was small. According to Ronny, one of the crew members, we got a 'private tour'. Normally the groups are with twenty to thirty people. This made it even more unique for all of us! How lucky I was with this group! Super nice, these were great encounters again.

Oh, how I enjoyed that boat trip! Often I sat at the front of the deck, my feet almost touching the water. Here I had the best view! Mmm, this was wonderful! Juno from the crew spotted a humpback whale. The captain did his best to admire this gigantic animal from close by. In the meantime, a giant manta and a large devil ray swam right next to our boat! Wow, this was magical. Everyone got an instant feeling of happiness and emotion! Our humpback whale had long since disappeared into the depths. Together with Juno I was still sitting in the best spot on the boat. Again there was a very special moment: a school of red/brownish fish that swam in a circle very close to each other and had the shape and appearance of a beautiful, perfectly woven wicker basket! Wow, impressive!

And so I sat a lot in that perfect spot enjoying the purity of our mighty nature!

And to top it all off, we were treated to a special sunrise every morning.

In Coron I recovered from that unique experience with Tao Philippines . Island hopping, I had just done, so I didn't do more than visit this nice authentic town.

Two days later I flew early to Cebu to take the boat to Bohol in the morning. My first day on Bohol I relaxed at the pool of my hotel. There I met a nice French lady. The next morning we each rented a scooter to visit the famous 'Chocolate Hills'. There we saw the wonderful cone-shaped hills as far as the eye could see. These one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six grass green mystical hills are particularly breathtaking and the exact origin is unknown.

On the way back we stopped at the 'Pangas' waterfalls. Man, the ride there was quite a challenge. We trudged through the mud with our scooter. But we got beautiful scenes in return. On our scooter it became clear that Bohol is one of the greenest islands.

'Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area' was worth the stop. Luckily we were able to spot five Tarsiers. This Philippine tarsier with its eight to fifteen centimeters is one of the smallest primates in the world. Oh, they are so cute with their bulging eyes. The Tarsier is unfortunately an endangered species and only lives in Indonesia and Bohol. In Bohol they do everything they can to preserve these little friends.

After that we caught another wonderful sunset at an authentic place where we heard some locals singing. Karaoke, it's a thing in Asia. For us something incomprehensibly funny, for them something enormously enjoyable.

The next day we drove together to Panglao, the peninsula of Bohol. Alona beach: almost completely taken up by a hotel, where you are only allowed to sit on a short stretch of the beach, is not recommended. The only two beach bars that were there were not cozy. On top of that we got a heavy rain shower. Sometimes it can be disappointing! But after rain comes sunshine! At our next spot we enjoyed a delicious cocktail with a beautiful sunset at the sea! During our drive to our hotel we drove past a typical local festival! We danced together with the locals for a short while. Nice, right, we were the only tourists. Both for them and for us it was an unusual experience.

So, there were my days with Valerie, la Française. Unfortunately, I left the next afternoon by boat to Cebu to board the plane to Manila early the next morning.

Manila, I had heard so much about it... Especially that it is unsafe! Well, in some places it probably is. And actually, you should judge for yourself about such things. For me, that city had something. Greenbilt, a shopping center with a mega beautiful city park in the middle, I thought was worth a visit. There I ended up in another Philippines! A world of difference with what I encountered. From local, authentic and poor to rich and hip.

So much for my experience in the Philippines! Again I feel grateful for who I met and for what I was able to admire!!!

Love and kisses, Helena 💖