There's something about El Nido that just lures me. Maybe it's the ocean, the sky or the people. This municipality has been my reason to return to Palawan for my birthday week. I've been here last February and I wanted to be back as soon as possible. Part of me hesitated for a bit, is it wise to visit a place twice? Turns out it was, and I had the best time here, again.
These are my stories from El Nido, the second municipality in my Palawan trip.
Day 3 of my Tri-Municipality trip started so early. I had to leave my stay at 5AM so I’m awake at 3AM. It’s alright for me since my workdays start at the same time. There were other tourists with the same time schedule who were leaving for El Nido as well. I was in a private transfer that only lasted around 15 minutes of travel. As I alluded to in my Coron blog, I should have rented a trike instead of this private transfer. That’s a note for my future self and to other travellers reading this blog: if your accommodation or stay is near Coron port, opt to having the trike instead of having a private transfer.
Oh gosh, and I was in a state of panic when the lights turned off at around 3:30AM. I thought, I’m only staying for a couple of hours, why did they have to turn off my electricity? During my first day in this stay, my water wasn’t turned on. It was so unfortunate because I was ready to shower after my hot springs visit. Turns out, it has yet to be turned on. I had to ask the staff about it and they eventually fix it. I thought it was the same thing, that since I’m leaving in the morning, they have turned the electricity off already. But no, there was a brownout and every room was affected; I thought I was being singled out.
Also, the night before this travel, a staff from Mackey’s Hidden Inn handed me the ferry ticket. This ferry ticket was arranged by my travel agency, too. No ticket, no ferry ride was the policy. I think they don’t accept walk-ins as well since most of the time, the ferry will be fully booked right at that day. So it’s better to have it arranged early on.
Sunrise at Coron Ferry dock
I was so sleepy and had waited to be onboarded before dozing off at my seat. I prepared so many entertainment, mostly Drag Race Philippines videos, to keep me awake in this supposed-to-be 6-hr ferry ride. I was told that it’s going to take that long to arrive to El Nido. Again, I only had a couple of hours of sleep, so I chose to continue sleeping while on the ferry. It felt like it wasn’t moving at first because I had felt it was still, then when I regained consciousness, the ferry boat was moving so fast!
Also, I didn’t have anything to eat that morning. It was sad because I still have one free breakfast at Mackey’s, but breakfast was served at 6AM. So I was just hungry all throughout the ferry ride.
I think they blasted the aircon eventually because after I keep dozing, I felt it was too cold. There was even a foreign tourist who was wearing a tank top that was anxiously looking for the crew and asking for a blanket or cover-up because it was just too cold inside.
There were snacks being sold, like cup noodles, but I doubt I can even eat since I was placed at the far-edge window corner of the ferry. I hate to be moving for my seatmates. Plus, they were Filipinos. Filipinos are notoriously easily annoyed with just movements like that. It’s quite shameful to say that but it’s the truth. My seatmates are sadly talking about the foreigners near us and it’s annoying because it just screams envy all over. I just kept to myself all throughout the ride because I hate to engage with such negativity.
The 6-hr boat ride turned out to be almost 4hrs only. By 10AM, we’re already at El Nido!
Ferry arrives at El Nido town.
It was such a surreal moment for me to back here. I’m just excited at incredibly relieved that the ferry ride went well. I was quite nervous that this might be the time where I will get dizzy, but no. My body and mind were cooperating well in this trip. I packed so many Bonamines to this trip and every one of them did a great job.
It was also great that my next accommodation, Mananquil Travel Lodge, was near the El Nido Port. I just walked there since Google Maps says it was only a 5-min walk. But with a luggage that overpacked, it took longer than that.
| Day 3 | Arrival at El Nido via ferry, Canopy Walk |
|---|---|
| Day 4 | Tour B |
| Day 5 | Free day at El Nido / Transfer to Port Barton |
Mananquil Travel Lodge façade
Of course I will utilize this full-length mirror! This was my Canopy Walk fit.
Canopy Walk time slots.
This was my room! I’m telling you, it was the loveliest room I’ve ever stayed in all my travels so far. It’s well thought-of and even has a great view outside.
Store façade of Canopy Walk