Can someone take me back please?

The trip to El Nido is probably the most memorable one for me. 

First, I've been dying to go there since I can remember! I've been seeing tons of people from Instagram and Facebook going for their vacation there and their photos were amazing! It's impossible to not be enticed when you see the shots. 

Second, this is my first trip going on my own. Yes, I was traveling solo when I gone to El Nido. I can't even believe it myself. I booked the trip probably eight months before because, tada, airfare tickets are on sale. When I booked the tickets, my initial thought was I'd probably have someone to drag along with by the time I tell people I'm going. But the cheaper tickets are getting scarce as the trip is getting closer, I just realized I might have to go on my own. To be honest, I was feeling anxious about pushing through this travel. Aside from the fact that I have never been to Palawan, I don't have any companions with me. But then, screw it, it's not everyday I step out of my comfort zone. This trip might be sort of educational one for me. So, I did leave Manila for the heck of it!

Went on Island Hopping on my first day in El Nido. I took tour A among the four or five other choices. Tours A & C are the most famous ones.

Port where the Island Hopping started!

Off to go to paradise :)

Shimizu Island

The tour I joined started off mostly on beaches. First was the Seven Commando, then Shimizu island. The lagoons were on the latter part of the tour.

Secret Lagoon

Small lagoon

Small lagoon where I found this grumpy little fishy!

The last part of the tour was the Big lagoon. I didn't bring my camera along when I went to the lagoon because the boat was parked pretty far from the lagoon. A part of my upper chest was already starting to hurt, I had a muscle strain when I went on the trip. 

Though I didn't have photos from the Big Lagoon, it was probably the memorable one for me. 

I am usually afraid of being on deep waters, and sometimes I don't trust myself on a life vest and snorkel gear. Since it was already approaching dusk, the waves were getting pretty big and on the direction of the lagoon. So swimming away from the lagoon was such a task. Like I said earlier, the boat we had was parked pretty far from the lagoon itself, so it took me roughly fifteen to twenty minutes to swim back. Not having a perfect eyesight serves another difficulty for me as I can't easily locate the boat. The muscle from my chest is starting to hurt pretty badly that I can't make proper strokes and it was making me so tired. And I have such a short breath underwater! I just kept telling myself to continue swimming no matter how long it would take, I really don't want to die yet. My mantra did work, cause here I am today! 

And this is why I think I can never forget the tour of the Big Lagoon. It made me unafraid to swim in deep waters (as long as I have a life vest on :p). In fact, it made me brave all in all. I just have to trust myself and keep pushing. Few lessons that needed to be learned in this life! Hahaha

For the second day, I wasn't so sure what to do. I wasn't really feeling into going into much swimming after the tour a day before. Plus, I don't want my muscle strain to worsen. I'm not coming back to Manila much more injured than I left! So together with a girl I met from the hostel, we decided to hire a tricycle to take us to a bit of hike to the waterfalls and zipline.

Nagkalit-kalit Falls

The view from the zipline

Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hostel after the zipline. Time to cool down from the adrenaline of the past two days in El Nido before going back to Manila. It so happened that it was a full moon, and they usually have full moon parties in the town. The hostel hosted one, as well, so spent the rest of the evening listening to some tunes by local artists.

The two days had been so short for me and I seriously couldn't wait to be back. El Nido is so beautiful and the island girl in me rejoices with the amount of beaches I can go to. I'm definitely coming back and maybe this time, with some friends or family.