El Nido's Version of PARADISE

El Nido, Palawan was one of my dream place to travel. I never thought that this dream will ever come true until my chinese friend Harry, bought a deal from metrodeal.com, a package tour 3months ago. He bought the deal for Php11,998.00 good for 2 persons. Package tour included airfare Manila-Puerto Princesa City-Manila, accommodation for 3days and 2nights with daily breakfast for 2 and tour fee.

What I hate about purchasing in a site like metrodeal, the travel agency (specifically the one offered the El Nido Trip) is that schedules are ALWAYS subject to "availability". Harry bought the deal last week of June 2013, and we requested any weekends of July but the travel agency told me that all weekends of July are fully-booked. She said August, but after a minute she again said "fully booked" for the whole month of August. And she gave me first week of September. I think they were looking for "SALE" for our airfare. So we agreed to September 7-9 (no choice, I can't go during weekdays, so with my friend).

Unfortunately, Harry was transferred to Hong Kong for his job on the second week of July. So i will be the one to use the vouchers he bought. I was thinking of whom to share my voucher with (since i am single.. hoho). My younger sister just passed the Nursing board exam so i asked her to join me as "my gift" to her. And of course she was very excited. First time to travel, and yes, first time to ride a plane.

In front of our Room at La Casa Teresa

I also asked my bestfriend Lala to join us, we will just share with her our room and she agreed. September 7 we took the first flight going to Puerto Princesa City. We left Manila at around 7:30am and we arrived in PPC at around 8:30am, Lala's flight will be at around 1:30pm the same day. We were waiting for the van that will transfer us from PPC to El Nido as i already arranged transfer through our host resort. The driver came a bit late as he expected our arrival to be at around 9:00 in the morning. We saw our driver as he was holding a bond paper with my name written on it. He then lead us to his lexus van and told us that we will fetch another passenger than proceed to the terminal to wait for some passengers then we will leave for El Nido. The driver gave us seating arrangement and we were at the third row. 2 foreigners from England at the first row, and a local girl at the second row. And after waiting for 15 minutes at the terminal, we left with just 5 of us. The driver said September is off season so there are only few passengers going to El Nido.

Four ways to get through El Nido:
1. Direct Flight going to El Nido (They said PAL is already operating in El Nido, haven't checked it though)
2. Private Plane (If you're rich, take it)
3. Bus (no more RORO, license has been cancelled because of an accident. But there are other bus companies. 7 hours travel from Puerto Princesa) Fare is Php438.00 each.

4. Van transfer (5 hours and 30 minutes from Puerto Princesa). Fare is Php700.00 each.

Walk to the Boat's "Parking"

If you will stay more than 3days in El Nido, I would advise you to take bus instead of van. But if your time is limited, van is okay. What i don't like about vans is there is not much space for my legs. I am blessed with long legs (i assume? hehe), and it was difficult for me to travel with my legs very uncomfortable for the 5 and a half hours of travel. Plus the road from Taytay to El Nido is as bumpy as ever. I can't even lean my head and sleep. And bus is more spacious.

We reached El Nido at around 3:30 in the afternoon. The driver dropped us in front of La Casa Teresa Resort which is 5 minutes away from the town of El Nido. The resort is okay. The room assigned to us was very nice because it was located in beachfront.

We felt very tired so my sister and i fell asleep until 6 in the evening. She was awake earlier than that and even catch the sunset (and i didn't!). We took shower and we asked the hotel assistant to help us find a tricycle going to the town. The tricycle costs Php30.00/person.

The town was really small. We didn't notice the small path leading to the seaside because the driver did not tell us that there are many restaurants on the seaside. After just roaming around town, we decided to go home and wait for Lala.

Lala arrived at around 2:30am. The three of us shared in one bed. Woke up at around 6:00am and it was raining. Breakfast was served at around 7, daing, fried rice, egg plus coffee.

We prepared our things and waited for our tour boat to arrive. At around 9:00am the boat came and the tour guide fetch us and instructed us to walk from the shore to the boat that is located maybe 250meters away. My sister was very afraid because we don't know how to swim. But the guide told us that the water is just knee-level. Hehe.

Small Lagoon

We paid Php200.00 for the Eco-tourism fee. Another Php200.00 for the snorkel. We were 14 passengers in our Tour A group. All from Manila and 2 of them are senior citizen and they are sisters too. Our first destination was the Small Lagoon. I only took pictures outside the lagoon because I don't have a water-proofed camera and i cannot bring my phone as I don't have a waterproof case.

Big Lagoon

Shimizu Rocks!

Small lagoon was not small at all. You need to literally swim to go inside. (Since i don't know how to swim, I don't know why I never thought of renting a Kayak. Genius!) If you are like me or my sister who are non-swimmer, i would suggest to rent a Kayak so you can enjoy the view inside the small lagoon. The water is very very very very clear. (Yes, to the highest level). My sister just stayed at the boat with the 2 senior ladies. She said she wanted to try going down but she don't want to stress me if she will get afraid and will ask me to carry her instead. (If that happened i will never ask her to join me again. hehe)

Our next destination was the Big Lagoon. Yes it was big that we are not allowed to go down the boat. Big lagoon, maybe because we have a big chance to get drowned if we insist to go down the boat.

Fish Feeding at Shimizu Island

Shimizu Rocks

Then next was the Shimizu Island. According to the locals there, it was named after a Japanese scuba diver who died near the island due to insufficient supply of oxygen. Our tour guide, the boat driver and another assistant prepared our lunch courtesy of our hotels. Liempo, grilled fish, and salad as our lunch. We also went snorkeling and fish feeding in Shimizu Island.

Secret Lagoon

After taking pictures and snorkeling, we moved to our next destination. The secret lagoon. Secret because you need to literally fit yourself to a small entrance of the lagoon to see what's inside. This is the only place where the water is not salty, it's fresh water. This is also where you will find the rock formation of a crocodile and the last supper. Unfortunately, i did not have a picture of it.

Then we moved to our final destination, the Seven Commando Island. It was named after the seven US marine ship trapped in that island during the second world war. We stayed here for 2 hours. Sand is very fine and white. This is where you can play volleyball. Swim and drink fresh buko. After the tour we gave Php100.00 tip to the tour guide.

After our tour we went back to our hotel, took shower and fell asleep. We woke up dinner time and we went back to the town. This time, the driver told us that there are many restaurants beside the sea that we can choose of. We walked at the seaside and restaurants are everywhere. You can hear and feel the waves near you. We had dinner and some beer. There are many foreigners at that time. Maybe 70% of the tourists are foreigners. Chinese, English, American, Canadian, Korean, etc.

Seven Commando Island

We left El Nido at around 8:30 in the morning, stopped over for lunch. and arrived PPC at around 2 in the afternoon. We went to the "tiangge" where we bought our pasalubong.

Seven Commando Island

CONCLUSION: After my El Nido trip, I now realized why many countries are claiming some of our Islands. The Philippines is indeed a very blessed country with our natural resources. So Harry, please tell your country, IT IS OUR ISLAND! Haha :p

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El Nido travel tips:

Only one tour/day. One tour with at least four islands. There are four tours to go around beautiful places in El Nido. Tour A, B, C and D.

Tour A - Lagoons and Beaches: 700/pax 
Big Lagoon
Small Lagoon
Shimizu Island
Seven Commando Island

Tour B - Caves and Coves - Php800.00/pax

Tour C - Hidden Beaches and Shrines Php900.00/pax

Tour D - Island Beaches - Php700.00/pax

Bring the following:
a pillow neck. It is very long travel plus the bumpy roads that you can't lean your head without hurting yourself.

Food and water - sometimes you will eat late because of the travel

Fully charged Mobile Phone and MP3 player. Electricity in El Nido runs from 2pm-6:am only.

Underwater Camera

Sunblock (Please don't ever forget this)

 bag - you might walk from your hotel to the boat "parking area"

Cash during the tour (for food and drinks, tip to the tour guide)

A journey to Mt. Pico De Loro

Mr. Google and other blogs told me that Mt. Pico De Loro is 664 MASL. They said it was an easy climb. (3/9). But please be reminded that the assault to the summit is a serious matter. Rocks are slippery (make sure you wear something appropriate. I was amazed by this girl who wore flip flops and a denim short shorts. I was like, Seriously???)

March 29,2013. We planned to climb Mt. Pico De Loro on a Maundy Thursday, but I was working ‘til late Wednesday night, so I asked my friends if we could move it to next day, Good Friday instead. Luckily, they agreed. I invited my 2 college friends, Lala and Vibeli (My first time to see Vibel again after graduation, almost 4yrs after), Lala’s “friend” MJ and my high school friend Julio (my first time to meet again after 10 long years).

With Julio aka "Angel"

5am Friday, Vibel, Julio and myself waited for Lala and her friend(?) along EDSA Baclaran as we agreed to be there by 5am to catch with other hikers since its our first time to climb that mountain and we don’t have a real mountaineer in our group. But then, she’s late. She’s late.. Super late. HAHA

We took the bus going to Naic Cavite. And we hired 2 tricycles (Php300 per trike) going to Pico De Loro DENR outpost. At the DENR outpost, we paid 20pesos as registration fee. And we started our long journey.

I was that prepared for this hike because I exercise everyday. That thought made me feel worried about my other friends. Lala need to go the office the next day. But since our motto is “pag ginusto mo, panindigan mo”, I just ignored it. (Now, i feel like i was a victim of hazing hehe)

Thank God, Julio went with us, he was full of energy the whole day.  He always joke around. (The reason why I love gays! They are happy to be with!)

We started the trek at around 9:05am. I read some blog about hiking Mt. Pico De Loro and they said that it was an easy climb. Yes it is, FOR THE FIRST 1.5 HOURS! The next 1.5 hours was really challenging! There are rocks (dry but slippery) that we need to climb. Big rocks! It took us almost 3 hours to reach the campsite (including taking photos during our rest time hehe). Whenever someone is passing us by, they always say “30 minutes na lang Ma’am/Sir”.  And it feels like they don’t want us to give up. (We will never give up anyway).  The trees, cold wind, and the breathtaking scene along the road made us forget that we are tired.

We reached the first base camp and again we registered and paid Php20.00. There were other hikers there. I bought a white shirt as a souvenir worth Php260.00. After 20 minutes we continued walking to the summit. It was hot but the wind was cold. We took some stop-over and after almost 2 hours of walking from the base camp, we reach the camp site (Second base camp).

View from the Campsite

At the campsite we can already see the summit. We can see other hikers going up and down slowly. So I thought it maybe hard to reach it. But hey, what’s the sense of climbing a mountain if not to reach the summit? After we took pictures Lala and MJ called us for lunch.

This was the funny thing. I brought chocolates, some chips, 2 bottles of sports drink and 2 liters of water. But I forgot to buy us lunch! Good thing was Lala brought rice. And MJ had 1 fried tilapia, rice and 5 boiled eggs. We shared with their food. If not with their “baon” I may not be able to climb the summit. A miracle indeed!

We rested for an hour then we started conquering the summit. Trail to the summit was steep and rocky. It was a serious climb. Lala kept on asking if can we really make it to the top, what if we’ll just stop there, etc. I doubted myself too, if I can make it. The wind was kinda hard. The trail was dusty, dry but slippery, rocky and steep at the same time.

The Summit from the Camp Site

There were few cogon grass and bamboos to hold on to. I was afraid, my legs were shaking and I was praying the whole time. Julio and MJ reached the summit easily, and so with Lala. I and Vibel was still trying and pushing ourselves up. But I was stuck. I stepped the wrong rock, I was hanging to this little grass and I just can’t give a push anymore. I thought I was going to die. I called Julio so he can help me get up and he was coaching me the whole time but hey I was really afraid. I was literally shouting my prayers. Haha. I literally crawled my way up there. I can’t count how many times I shouted “GOD HAVE MERCY!!”

At the Summit of Peak 1!

It was scary and funny at the same time. I even shouted I LEARNED FROM DICK GORDON! I SHOULD LEARN THE HARD WAY! HOW CAN I GET TO MT. APO IF I CAN’T MAKE IT UP HERE! Haha.

Luckily we have Julio. He’s girly and yet he had the strength of a real man. He literally dragged me up, I pushed myself up as hard as I can and there I was 10 meters away from the summit. My legs were shaking so bad that I needed to sit. I reached the summit teary-eyed, I asked my friends if I am really alive or I was just dreaming. But the view took my fears away and I forgot everything. The 360 view from the summit was really amazing. We can see the summit of the rocky Parrot’s Beak (2^nd Peak) but that would be my next mission, not that today. It was hot at the summit. Vibel reached the summit few minutes after I did. So we took pictures. There were 3 other hikers there so we took the chance to have a group picture.

After few minutes we went down. Going down was a little easy as I changed my trail. I chose the left side where there are grasses to hold on to. (Going up, I chose the right side of the trail, no grasses, just rocks, so there, I was stuck!). Julio and MJ went down first so they could coach us where to step. And we were back to campsite. God is really good. We are all safe.

At the Summit! The view took my fears away!

At the Campsite

We went down at around 3:00pm after taking our rest and talked about what happened up there. Going down was really easy and fast.

We spent 2hours, an hour faster than going up. While going down, a snake passed by Julios’s feet. Julio was behind me, I didn’t saw it, but Lala, MJ and Vibel did. They talked about it like there’s no tomorrow. Haha. I just kept quiet because all I was thinking was to reach the DENR outpost, change my dirty clothes, eat and go home. My dust allergy attacked me; red marks are all over my 2 arms. I was sneezing from time to time. Plus it’s getting dark. It was only 4 in the afternoon but it was dark inside the forest and no one bought a flashlight/headlight.

At the base camp, we bought drinks and ate some energy booster and we continued walking. We reached the DENR post at around 5:00pm. I immediately changed my clothes and washed up. We rested for a while and we headed back home.  It was a nice climb. The scene was really spectacular! All worth the body pain i feel right now. I will surely go back there and climb the Peak 2 Summit!

How to get there: Take a bus from EDSA-BACLARAN going to Naic/Ternate Cavite. Saulog or the green mini bus. From Naic, take a tricycle going to DENR outpost (jump off point).

How much I spent:

Bus EDSA-Baclaran to Naic – Php66.00

Trike going to DENR outpost – Php100.00/head (minimum of 3)

DENR outpost Registration Fee – Php20.00

Base Camp registration fee – Php20.00

Pico De Loro Shirt - Php260.00

Trike from DENR to bus terminal – Php100.00

Bus going back to EDSA-Baclaran – Php66.00

Total: Php632.00 (I did not include drinks that we bought. Canned soda worth Php40.00)

What to bring:

At least 2 liters of water

Energy drink (Sports drink like Gatorade)

Chocolates (it will help you give extra energy during walks)

Food (they only sell biscuits and cup noodles at the base camp and the camp site)

Flashlight/Headlight (If you’re on a day hike, start going down before 4pm, forest will get dark at around 5pm)

Basic first aid kit such as Alcohol and bandage.

Extra Clothes

Please click this ALBUM for the complete set of Mt. Pico De Loro adventure photos.