Philippines - New Years!

We arrived back in Puerto Princesa on New Years Eve. We had already booked our accommodation at the Lotus Garden, so we checked in and relaxed for a bit. Sarah and I decided to go for a walk to the market we had been to earlier in the week to grab some last minute souvenirs while Chris took a nap. We came across a spa and decided to get a manicure and pedicure as well. It's New Year's, why not, right?

Matchy matchy!

I asked the staff at Lotus Garden if the city would be doing anything for New Years. We were told the if we went down to the Baywalk near the water there would be a countdown there or we could stay and celebrate with the staff at Lotus Garden. We opted to go to the Baywalk. We all got ready in our room while watching American TV (so bizarre!) and then ate at the restaurant there. We knew that Nate, Chuck and Elliot would be back in Puerto Princesa that night as well, but the Lotus Garden didn't have a great wifi connection so we weren't sure if we would get to meet up with them. 

We took a trike down to the Baywalk and felt a little out of place being (from what we saw) the only foreigners there. They had a huge tree set up, as well as a stage where people were performing. We witnessed a horrible performance of "What did the fox say". They also had a big digital countdown set up and we decided to stick around. We sat along the path next to the water and guess who we spotted? - Nate, Chuck and Elliot! We all grabbed some beer then headed closer to the countdown clock as it was almost time! They were with another couple (whose names escape me) so we hung out with them as well. It was a bit of a weird experience for me to celebrate New Year's without certain friends but it was still a blast. 

As soon as the clock struck midnight, fireworks went off literally above our heads. It was so cool to be that close but also a bit freaky because pieces of the fireworks were falling at our feet! Happy New Year! 

We then sat down for a bit and had some more beer. This was when the guys decided that they would try a Filipino food - Balut, which is chicken egg fetus. Each of them were given an egg and told to crack it open and just swallow and chew. It was disgusting. You could tell it wasn't easy for all of them to do, but the Filipino people around us cheered and laughed them on. 

We eventually headed back to the Lotus Garden and headed to bed to get ready for a long day of flying home the next morning. 

Here are some pictures of our room at the Lotus Garden - which I must add, had an outdoor bathroom - so amazing! If I ever live somewhere that is warm all of the time, I must have an outdoor bathroom. Amazing.

The next morning we walked to the airport and got on our first flight. We had a stopover for a couple of hours then took another flight to Cebu. Then took one last final flight to Incheon, Korea. It was a long day of flying but these flights seemed better then the ones going to the Philippines. A few shorter flights verse a 12 (?) hour layover. For one of our flights we were on a propeller plane!

Last leg of the trip

Thankfully we got back into Incheon with enough time to catch the last bus back to Suji (this saved us from taking an expensive cab ride). We were all pretty exhausted, Chuck and I were hungry. So after dropping my things off I headed to his apartment and he made us food and we watched TV. I am lucky to have made so many great friends here. Back to work the next day! 

While this vacation was nothing like I thought it would be, I would not change it for anything. It was filled with so many ridiculous moments and so much fun and laughter. So many moments that I will never forget. I had such a great time with Chris and Sarah and all of the other people we met throughout our adventure. 

 <3

Philippines - Port Barton

Leaving for Port Barton the next morning was exciting as Sarah's brother had stayed at Summer Homes before (where we would also be staying), so we had only heard good things. Before leaving in the morning, we made sure to take a picture with Rose who claimed she looked haggard, but we insisted she looked great and we got a picture. Our trike driver took us to the bus station, which was just a few roads of big buses all over the place - ordered chaos to them I'm sure. Before we had even had a chance to get out of the trike our bags had already been thrown on top of the bus, so we went with it.

You can see my red backpack on the top of the bus.

Sarah posing with the bus, the guy in the background is from Calgary. 

Because the bus was on a first come first serve basis, we had to get there early which resulted in us waiting for an hour and a half before we were going to leave. Sarah and I scouted for a bathroom in the meantime. A lady directed us behind a little shack where we found a chicken foot and a man singing and having a shower in said bathroom. We decided to keep looking. 

Naturally they jammed packed the bus with as many people and bags of rice as possible. 

When we finally started to move, it was short lived. We drove a bit down the road just to stop for another half hour for no apparent reason. It was getting really warm and sticky on the bus. We ended up meeting a lot of people on the bus, there were people from France, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Britain and America. The American guy lives in the Philippines and he was super helpful in directing us to Summer Homes when we finally arrived in Port Barton which was super nice. 

One of the most notable things about this bus ride was that along the way we picked up and dropped off people BUT we also picked up a goat! The poor goat got strapped onto the bus somehow and well we never saw it again but I'm sure it arrived in Port Barton with us ... I hope. 

After you turn off the main road, the bus has to drive down a long muddy road. Normally this road would be okay this time of year as it's not their raining season, but it had rained the night before so it was pretty awful. There were several deep muddy spots but the bus got threw them. At one point we were told to get off the bus cause it wouldn't be able to make it through. To us, this meant that we were getting off and walking the rest of the way. Shortly after we realized the bus just needed to lose some weight to get through the mud patch. I lost my sandal along the way and walked in the mud barefoot. 

We got back on the bus and kept going... Until the bus began to intensely rock back and forth and we got stuck! Back off the bus we get. 

Sarah and I with the crooked bus in the background.

Stuck!

Obviously this was anticipated as the bus was equipped with bags of sand which were quickly poured over the mud. The guys also spent time finding rocks to place by the tires to help get some traction. Neither of these things worked. We even all played tug-of-war with the bus to no avail. During the time, a few trucks drove by, not willing to stop to help which was frustrating. Eventually a bus came up behind ours and couldn't get passed so they had to wait until our bus got unstuck in order to keep going as well. At this point we debated walking the rest of the way but learned we were still about 15km out. Some people hitched rides with passing motorbikes. Eventually a third truck came by and had the decency to stop and help out. After a few attempts, the truck was able to pull the bus out of the mud and everyone cheered. It was truly a moment of bonding. This whole ordeal took about an hour and a half, so we were happy to get going again. We did have to stop and get out a few more times but the bus had no problem at those points. It was a little bit scary when we were crossing the sketchiest "bridge" over a cliff and the bus stalled! 

We finally arrived in Port Barton! So the bus ride that was supposed to take 3 hours, ended up taking about 6.5 hours. (Which is the same amount of time to get to El Nido which we decided to not do because we didn't want to be in transit for that long, in the end it wouldn't of made a difference!)

We were very excited to be on the beach and quickly got settled in our room and jumped into the water to get rid of the mud that was everywhere. We were greeted with ice tea's on the beach which was a nice touch too! I have to mention how cheap out accommodations were here, especially for the type of place that it was. It was roughly $10 a night for each of us! So cheap! 

That night we ate delicious food, then hung out at the bar having drinks and playing cards. We quickly made friends with two of the workers there, Elmer and Gary and they joined in playing cards which was fun. Afterwards us girls took a walk along the beach and headed in the for night after a long day of travelling. Unlike our stay at Emerald Bay, Port Barton only had electricity at certain times during the day (I believe it was 6pm to midnight). As well, our room only allowed for ice cold showers and we did not have AC. We also soon found that everything in Port Barton stays moist. We hung our clothes outside and they were still damp in the morning! We also had a gecko friend in our room for the entire stay. 

The next day we decided to do another island hopping tour. This time it was a little more private. We rented a boat for just the three of us and had two boat men bring us anywhere we wanted to go. (I must mention the breakfast that morning was wonderful and the eggs weren't cooked in butter - so happy!) Our boat driver's name was Dungdong and the boat owner was Nimrod and the boat's name was Summer Journey. Our first stop was in the middle of the ocean for snorkelling. Although I have been snorkelling before, for some reason I still get overcome with anxiety when I first get into the water and breathe through the tube underwater. Once I got my self in check it was a blast. Sarah has a funny fear of being in the open ocean and the idea of sharks so although we did come into the water she also spent some time learning to fish with Dungdong. 

I was awesome and smashed my knee against some coral - my knee is still trying to heal from that. 

We stayed there for quite some time. There were so many fish in the water and if I could be a mermaid, I would jump on that without hesitation. I love being in the water and I love being around fish! 

After snorkelling, we went to Exotic Island where we laid in the sun, and snorkelled some more while our boatmen made us a delicious lunch! We had chicken, rice, bananas and a tomato/cucumber salad.

I wore a t-shirt the entire day as I got badly burnt a few days before, I wasn't happy about it, but it was the right decision. 

Next we headed to German Island - which Sarah spotted on our way to Exotic Island. This is also where Sarah and I filmed our awesome movie which you can check out on Facebook! While it wasn't great for snorkelling, it was great for being in the sun and napping in hammocks which we did!

We stayed there for hours I'm sure then decided to check out one last island - Paradise Island. While it sounds like it would be amazing, it was probably one of the most awkward moments on our trip. Paradise Island was a tiny island that a family lived on and we were the only tourists. We landed on the island and had a little girl just stare at us forever. Then made friends with eleven year olds when we went swimming in the water. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. 

Paradise Island

When we got back to Summer Homes, we ate and then it started to pour rain. So that night we stayed in our room and I read a book. 

On our last fully day in Port Barton, our new friend Elmer offered to take us to a waterfall during the several hour break he had from working (split shifts). He finished work at 10 so we left from there. We headed through the town and then down the beach until we reach the jungle. My oh my was it muddy in there! Somehow Elmer stayed perfectly free of mud, yet I lost my sandals on several occasions and Sarah and I both were covered in specs of mud! There were signs along the trail that told us to "keep going" - it felt like we would never arrive, but the jungle was pretty. 

Getting to the waterfall was full of laughter and mud. It was so so beautiful when we arrived and I was so glad we decided to make the hour long trek! We also got there at a great time as we were the only ones there until we decided to leave (at which point several groups of foreigners had arrived). So we had the waterfall all to ourselves! 

The three of us beside the waterfall

I was so in love with swimming beside a waterfall. Of course we took a million photos (which you can check out on Facebook) and spent a few hours swimming. There was also a rope attached to the rock face where you could climb up and cliff jump into the water. So of course we did that. BUT the rocks were extremely slippery which made for hilarious videos, especially Chris' and mine as we literally just slipped off the rock instead of jumping - by accident. The videos will be posted eventually on Facebook but they are good ones to watch. 

On the way back, Elmer saw a snake on our path and Sarah freaked out and it was so funny but she was so scared! She literally ran back to me and I held her, then Chris piggybacked her for awhile. So many fears, but we love her for it. I believe Elmer said there are pythons in that jungle, so a legit fear but still humorous. 

For the rest of the afternoon we relaxed. Chris spent more time in the water, Sarah napped in a hammock and I finished reading my book. 

That night Sarah went to bed early, and Chris and I stayed out playing cards, drinking rum with Elmer, Gary and their friends. Their version of a rum and coke is a shot of each. We taught them card games and learned new ones ourselves. At midnight, the electricity went out, so we played by candle light for a while longer until we hit the hay. 

That day we also decided that we didn't want to take the bus back to Puerto Princesa after the adventure it took to get us there in the first place. We looked into our different options which included boating to another place and taking a bus from there. That was a bit pricey, then it was suggested that we could rent motorbikes, and have people ride us down the mud road to the main road then basically hitch hike a ride back from there. Sarah and I convinced Chris of this plan and we were stoked.

While packing the next morning, I found a huge bug in my shirt.

Aside from the waterfall, riding on motorbikes down the mud road was so amazing and freeing. Plus we weren't crammed into a stuffy bus! Elmer and his two friends road us the next morning. I can't even describe the experience other than it makes me want to get my motorcycle license even more than I already wanted to. Chris on the other hand was terrified the entire time, Sarah and I both had conversations with our drivers and I think she was just hoping she would make it alive. She's such a trooper! We had a bit of issues with Elmer's bike at first (loose chain) but sorted it out and we were well on our way. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures, but we did take pictures with them when we got to the junction. Seriously, amazing cultural experience. 

All of us with Elmer

When we got to the junction, literally everyone there helped us flag down buses and vans to get us back to Puerto Princesa (which is the way to get to place to place). We we able to find a van that had room for the three of us and the whole trip back took 3 hours. So amazing compared to the 6.5 it took to get there! 

This brings us to New Years Eve! Which I will save for another post :) Here are a few more random pictures from Port Barton:

The inside of the restaurant 

Heading out to the beach

San Miguel Tree

Summer Homes!

Manger Scene they had set up for Christmas

How gorgeous!!??

<3