El Nido and the beaches of joy. Philippines Spring Festival 2024

From Cebu, El Nido is a short hour and a half flight on a tiny tiny plane. It had propellors and not much else. 

I landed into El Nido very grateful to be back on the ground after a hideously nerve-racking flight but it was all fine. 

My hotel was only a 20 minute tuktuk from the airport as I was staying in the closest area and probably the biggest, not sure, didn't make it too far away from the beach. I really didn't have enough time to actually do much in this trip. It was more of a taster for a future return journey (Spring Festival 2025, already decided) so I wasn't in too much of a panic to see things, especially as I am still in the first part of my long epic trip. 

My hotel had the most amazing view but was a slightly disappointing place in every other respect. It's always a little sad to see nice hotels that use aren't being looked after so well, whole place just felt tired and a little run down. But like I say, look that this view! 

The area around the hotel wasn't big but had a very tourist hotspot feel to it. Lots of pizza and pasta restaurants and a very tasty Thai place. Again, not worried about rushing about, I chilled in bars, cafes and restaurants and read my book. On one occasion, I walked to the other end of the town and sat with a beer, ordered food, then realized I forgot my wallet and had to run back. I offered to leave all sorts with them as a deposit, but the manager thought it was hilarious and said he didn't mind at all. Said I could just come back later if I wanted, but I didn't feel right doing that, went and got my wallet anyway. 

I spent three days thoroughly chilled and relaxed before getting back on the tiny tiny plane to meet Dan in Manilla. Our planes were landing within an hour of each other so in theory meeting up should have been quite simple and easy. Let's see how the universe messes that one up for us.