El Nido by boat... and off to Coron!
The trip starts at 9am and everything is taken care of, including lunch in a small private island. There's no need to set alarms here, we haven't so far managed to wake up after 8am... no matter how late we went to bed or how tired we were.
We gather in the hostel's restaurant and meet an American couple (Kim and Tim) who are also joining us. Turns out that we'll actually be spending some time together as we have even booked the same flight to go to Malaysia... we're having some chat and get interrupted by one local 'inspector' who tells us there's an eco-tourism fee of 200P/each: if you want to check the islands or anything else around it, you have to pay extra!
I am always annoyed by these extra fees but there was really no way around it... so we just pay and go quiet about it! We are then joined by an Australian couple from Sydney and the guy, David, happens to have been born in the Philippines and speaks the local language.
We are taken on a tour to visit many of the islands around El Nido, a true delight to the eyes. Helicopter island (yeah, again Filipinos always name things like that: they look at something and name it according to what it looks like!), the small lagoon where we do some snorkeling and Ly cuts herself, heading later on to the snake island...
Lunch is magnificently prepared by the crew that drove us around. Fresh fish, meat, delicious salad and eggplant make my stomach jump of happiness :) We try to convince the crew to have lunch with us but they quickly deny our request... Although being extremely happy and approachable, the Filipinos are actually incredibly shy. It is also a matter of principle and respect that they don't mix with the tourists and simply mingle with them. The crew leader tells us that the boss will get pissed if he sits and eats with us! Seemingly the rich Filipinos differentiate themselves from the not so lucky ones and you will not see bosses eating at the table with their workers. This does not work with us and we approach the boss and tell him we want the crew to sit and eat with us!
After a long chat (aided by the David's Tagalog and persuasive skills) we manage to get the boss to allow the crew to sit with us. We engage in some talk and at some point as the age: the 2 helpers were 18 and 21 years old, also incredibly shy. They eat a much simpler food than we did (just plain rice and fish) and are even shy to look at us. They will not touch any of the food unless we specifically tell them to try it out...
By the time we are done with lunch, the hour is late and the sunset approaches... but we convince the crew to make one last stop in an island that sells fresh coconuts! Everything is very pure and simple around here, but incredibly stylish and clean if you ask me. The island consists of one small house and a bar, about 10 people spend their day there waiting for tourists to sell them the always fresh coconuts!
We then make our way to land and discover there's another boat that makes the crossing to Coron, at a much friendlier price of 1000P, less than 20 EUR. I am excited about the idea as it would lower the budget and save us one night at the hostel.
At the harbor, we try and ask what time the boat goes: nobody really knows, or at least I can't make myself understood. After some discussion, I manage to understand that it should leave around midnight! We head back to the hostel and start packing and behold... someone knocks at the door and says: the boat is waiting for you, hurry up!!! What?!? It's 10.30PM, this is insane! And how on Earth did they know where I was staying? I guess this is one 'beauty' of small towns... (actually I must say that Filipino schedules are most interesting... they are never late but are hardly ever on time! I don't think we have ever departed late from whatever means of transportation but trust me: if you are going to travel around the Philippines, make sure you are early!!!)
We rush to the harbor, not really properly packed and get on the boat... and this is one interesting story!
There's zero comfort on the boat, not even a place to sit down but about 100 bunk beds laid out next to each other... By beds you should read: wooden boards. The boat has a lower deck where they put dozens of cows and ox, hogs and even some younger goats! I am in awe at the place, about 10 tourists are actually onboard and it promises to be a LONG night!
The stench coming from the lower deck is inviting to breathe through your mouth. The boat is fully packed, some people standing, others smoking next to the 'window'... everything is ready to go! But, of course, it does not go immediately as they told us at the hostel... we waited a good 1 hour before departure!
One hour later, almost everyone is asleep, including Ly who does not seemed at all bothered with the 'bed' nor the bovine smell from the lower decks. I stay up until 3am talking with Tim, find out he's actually a developer and share a bunch of stories from traveling, to work and also the situation lived in Europe these days.
At 3am he gives up and tries to get some sleep while I stick around and keep on reading... I am just unable to get any sleep. The 'bed' is simply to hard for me to fall sleep... if I only had some rum or beer!:)
The sun rises and people start waking up and breakfast is served! Yeah, from the lower deck the bring us some rice and dried fish, along with some boiled egg. By this time I'm starving, and devour the food they have offered. Again the neatness of how they serve meals does not cease to surprise me: the meal is served in a wooden plate, wrapped in a plastic bag that you throw away once you are done eating and the fork is given to you in a bag of plastic, airplane style!
The temperature is rising and we finally see Coron from a distance... we made it!:)
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