From El Nido to White Beach Resort, Port Barton

After recovering from the full moon party, it was time to hop on a boat for our first island hopping tour. 

I admit being on a boat after only two hours sleep wasn't the most appealing idea however as soon as the fresh sea breeze hit me, I was feeling refreshed. We first stopped at a beautiful lagoon area to explore the area on a kayak.

I was quite impressed with Vicki and my kayaking skills - we were in sync rather well. After exploring the area for a bit, we decided to ditch the kayak and swim from the boat over to a little beach where the rest of the group were. It was a good opportunity for me to practice my open water swimming ahead of my triathlon in July.

After boarding the boat again, I enjoyed a refreshing coconut water. If only they could keep the coconuts in the fridge! I still remember the first time (in Brazil) realising that fresh coconuts are green and not the furry brown type.

Next we stopped at a beautiful beach to enjoy an amazing BBQ lunch. The food is so fresh. Fresh fish, octopus, lovely salad and of course freshly cooked rice. All washed down with a cool San Miguel light.

We did three island hopping tours in total (two in El Nido and one in Port Parton). All very similar but each one so enjoyable. The islands are all so beautiful. Idyllic locations in the middle of the sea. Unspoilt usually by people living on the island, some had a few hotels and others simply had nothing.

I loved being out on the boats. Watching each island zip past as we sailed along.

After leaving El Nido (and no more crazy parties!) we headed to Port Barton. This was our 'remote' island resort. When we first pulled up to the resort, I thought it must be a mistake. It looked far to posh for a tour group to stay at however we were here...

White Beach Annex was simply paradise. As we all got out of the vans, you could see the excitement on everyone's face - we had arrived in beach heaven.

The resort has only eight rooms, all allocated to our group. There was a small area for the restaurant, bar and reception all in one. Hammocks strung from the palm trees dotted across the resort, the white sandy beach stretch along for at least one km and the stunning pergola looked out over the crystal clear sea.

I spent the afternoon dozing in the hammock followed by joining some lovely Israeli ladies on the beach practicing yoga. I was very impressed with some of the guys joining in too (Marco had such good upper body strength!).

In the evening we took the boat over to the main resort area for dinner. We headed off for a drink before dinner. The six of us managed to get a table on the beach watching the sun set (and also watching James get taken out by a pack of dogs!). After our group dinner we took the boat back to the resort. Some people were lucky enough to see a swordfish.

For our last evening in paradise, we decided to have dinner at the resort instead of heading over to the main area again. It was nice knowing we were staying in the resort and everyone had the chance to go and do their own thing if they wanted to.

I spent the evening chatting, watching the bonfire and drinking beer. This is something I don't do at home. I'm always too busy to simply sit back and relax so for me it was the perfect evening. We decided about mid night to go for a swim, my second ever time swimming in the sea at night (this time without some creepy man keeping an eye on me - thanks dad!).

Although there were jelly fish in the sea, that didn't both us. Maybe it was the beer that was making us brave/stupid or we simply didn't care, either way it was so nice swimming and looking up at the moon and stars.

Thanks to one of the guys in the group, I did what every girl dreams about, I did the lift from Dirty Dancing (Twice!). Yes us girls are that simple. All we want is for a man to be able to lift us above his head and hold us there!

After our last night in paradise, it was time to board the van for the four hour drive to the airport to head back to Manila for our last night. The trip has been amazing so it was sad it was coming to an end however we still had time for one more crazy night...

Full moon party Philippines style

I woke up after our night out feeling rather fresh... it turned out I felt fresh because I was still drunk!

After a quick FaceTime to mum and daddy to show off the lovely views from the breakfast restaurant, it was time to jump in the van for our long journey to El Nido.





I started off feeling fresh as a daisy whilst some of the group were feeling a little delicate, boy how that quickly. Thankfully Vicki had something that guarantees no hang over... she should become a politician (that's all I'm saying). In fairness, the ginger tablet did help me feel a little more settled,  eventually.


On the long journey to El Nido, we stopped off to explore the underwater caves of Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The incredible cave and river system is one of the UNESCO New7Wonders of Nature.



After a short (and rather choppy) boat trip, we arrived onto an island where this incredible ecological system is found. We had to wait some time before our group was called to the boat to explore the caves.




During our wait time it was lovely to simply paddle in the crystal clear waters. There were lots of little fishy swimming about. I loved the quiet moments of simply standing still and taking the beauty in.



When we were called to the little canoe style boat we were fitted with our hard hat and audio device to listen to how the caves were discovered. Upon entering the caves, there were swarms of bats. The audio said to ensure your mouth is firmly closed in case one gives you a little present.





I admit it was interesting to see the rock formations and seeing the natural beauty however at this point I was feeling rather delicate and sleepy. I kept nodding off but startling myself awake as I thought I was going to fall sideways off of the boat.




Back on dry land and it was time to head back into the van for the remainder of our long journey to El Nido. The roads are your typical bumpy and plenty of curves roads,  I actually quite like this as it's rustic and adds to the charm of a journey. Although I prefer those journeys when you don't have a steaming hangover.


We stopped off at sunset to an incredible look out point. The colours in the sky were so vibrant and breath-taking. It was one of the highlights of the day for me.





We had a nice group dinner on the beach. They set up a nice long table for us all and it was so smoothing hearing the sea lapping on the beach whilst eating delicious shrimps (although we were mislead and it definitely wasn't enough for two people!).


After the previous night, I had all the best intentions of having an early night. Some of the group from the previous night were sensible and went back to the hotel but I decided to stay out with some others. I honestly was only going to stay for one cocktail on the beach but we then somehow managed to find ourselves in a tuk tuk heading to another part of the island for a Full Moon party.


When we got to the beach, it wasn't that busy at all! There seemed to be more bars further along the beach so we headed over to where more people were. The music was pretty mixed but as the night went on, it started to get busier.



At midnight they set alight a cool sign in the sea. I didn't realise how mesmerising fire was so it was great to see it alight. Next up came the fire dancers. I saw some amazing guys in Thailand but these guys were even better!!





One of the problem I had was the fact there was one ladies toilet for maybe 100 girls. The queue was insane but as always I got chatting to some lovely ladies from Paraguay. They explained they were a college trip of 150 people travelling around Asia for six months. I wasn't jealous at all!!

After far too many light beers (only 105 calories) and several vodka and sprits (only about £1.50) it was time to think about heading back. We managed to lose some of the people that came with us (I think it was something I said!) but it was me and the guys who stayed out.


On the way back I managed to find a tree to go upside down on. That will definitely explain how I grazed my knee. It was slightly alarming that later in the trip, we were told to avoid walking under trees as poisonous snakes live in them. Once again alcohol braveness prevails.



I really enjoyed the party on the beach. I haven't been to a proper beach party before so I'm glad I got to experience it with some awesome people, it's just a shame that some of the dream team wasn't there with us.

Strip clubs, open prisons and too many long island ice teas

I met the tour group for the first time on Saturday night. I'm always quite anxious first meeting a group and usually first experiences are right, that was 100% correct this time!


I got talking to the lovely Cat, Tom and Vicki - this was our little group. After a bit of a ropey dinner (chicken, rice and mayonnaise?) we headed to the only local place that sold beer - the local strip club/brothel.


Yes you heard that right! Out of a group of 15 only seven of us, plus our lovely tour guide, went to the strip club. The sign outside the club had pictures of the various rooms (Butterfly room anyone?) and the best slogan ever "So clean, so good". That became our little slogan for the trip (and our What's App group name).


Baring in mind it was only about 8.30pm, the club was pretty quiet. Once we paid the entrance fee (I think it was 300 pesos so about £5) we were ushered into a dingy private room with... karaoke. I know, this evening just gets better!


Albert (our guide) was an amazing singer and he was singing his heart out whilst the girls were like Meer cats peering out of the window to check the ladies (or were they...?) out. This crazy experience came to an end about 10:00pm as we were up early the next day for an early flight.


The next morning we took a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Our first stop was to the Iwahig Penal Colony. This is an open community prison. Having read a few reviews about here, I was looking forward to chatting to some of the inmates and understanding their stories more however we only stopped at the gift shop (do all prisons have a gift shop?) so that was disappointing.


Next on the list was a wander around Baker's Hill. The smells here were incredible! It was an odd mix of a park with lovely views, statues and various animals alongside the bakeries. We tried some traditional heavy cakes which were a little odd for my taste.


After lunch we transferred to our hotel, Ipil Suites Puerto Princesa. The pool was incredibly inviting and we all headed straight there to cool down. After a few hours relaxing and chatting to the others in the group, I decided to go do a HIIT workout. I was excited to see the hotel had a gym but really it was just a room with two very old treadmills and a weights bench (with no weights).





The evening saw us have our first full group meal. It was pretty chaotic but it was good to chat to some of the others a bit more. Vicki, Cat and I enjoyed some lovely strawberry daiquiri's at dinner and decided to carry on the evening at another bar.


Again not everyone came out but we continues with a handful of us and the tour guides. The bar was pretty quiet to start with but it soon picked up. An amazing local band was playing some pretty cool songs and after the first long island ice tea, it was time to dance.


I'm not sure exactly what time we got back to the hotel but all I do remember was it was a pretty great night! It's been such a long time since I've been out and had such a free night. The ability to drink, dance and have fun was the best start to my holiday.






Little did I know that would be the start of quite a few fun nights out...

Wanderlust in Philippines

What an absolutely incredible time I've had in the Philippines. I always love to travel but this trip couldn't have been more perfect!

I always meet some amazing people whilst travelling, everyone is always so open minded and chilled. I was so lucky to be sharing a room with Vicki. We got along so well and had no troubles at all sharing a room. 

Our group was a mix of Australia's, German, Netherlands, USA and us Brits. I loved so much learning more about Australia and now that's definitely the next trip on my list. 

This trip couldn't have come at a better time for me. I needed to escape my crazy personal life at home and let of some steam - and boy did I do that!

I'll do some more specific posts about the beautiful places we visited but I wanted to do a quick overview of some awesome times and memories made. 

The Philippine is made up of 7,700 islands and even though we did three boat trips, I still only saw a handful of those islands. Each one seemed to be more idyllic than the last. 

I loved the quiet moments I'd have sitting on the boat just simply taking the beauty in. I am so incredibly lucky to have experienced the things I have, I'm so greatful. I guess that's why I feel so guilty when I feel a bit down about the past. I have a lot to be thankful now. 

The holiday included some amazing nights out. We went to a full moon party in El Nido. Whilst it wasn't that busy, I still had such a great night with James and Hugh. Seeing the fire dancers was pretty cool. 

The beach party followed the crazy night before of twerking with the locals and drinking far too many Long Island ice teas (when will I learn?!).

To recovery from the crazy nights, we had some beautiful boat trips discovering the new islands. It's sad but each island we visited was pretty busy with other boat tours. You'd think with 7,700 islands to choose from that they could spread the tours out a bit. 

My favourite trip was the second boat tour. Instead of the whole 15 of us in the group, it was only six of us. It made it much easier to chat to the others and get to know them better (although I definitely missed Vicki, Cat and Tom on that trip).

Here's a picture of us at Secret Beach. After multiple beers.  

That trip followed an evening meal on the beach. I really was looking forward to enjoying a lobster dinner. After a little bit of confusion, my lobster arrived and I tucked in. Sadly fives minutes later, another lobster arrived. I didn't mean to order two lobsters (an expensive mistake) after a lot of sass from a she-man, I finally sent back the other lobster. However, the new nickname 'Four Claws' was already firmly assigned as my nickname. 

Another brilliant moment of the trip was watching the sunset on the beach. Enjoying the views, I took pictures at the best moment. Poor James was taken out by an excited pack of dogs running along the beach. 

Incoming...

It's getting close...

Too late! 

Even typing that I was giggling. Some funny moments have included doggies. I won't share them all though. 

Port Barton was an incredible remote beach resort where there were only eight rooms and they were all for our group. We had an incredible night watching a bone fire, drinking beers and chatting. The night ended with a mid night swim in the sea (undeterred by the jellyfish) and every girls dream of being lifted in the sea just like Dirty dancing (thanks for that Hugh).

The holiday has been filled with so many special moments. Some very funny one liners and others a little more, shall we say, magical. Seeing the sea turtle grazing on the grass at the bottom of the sea was amazing as was looking up at the stars and palm trees whilst hearing the ocean lapping away. 

Travel always opens the mind. I feel like I've genuinely made some wonderful friends. I'll make sure I visit Cat and Tom in Bristol (with Shiloh of course) and 100% I'll go see Vicki in Australia. 

Sadly I'm now sat at the airport on my own feeling rather tired. I'm sure you're supposed to feel rested after a holiday but I don't from this one. However, I've got a 14 hour plane journey that's my time to sleep. 

I wouldn't change anything about this trip. It's been fantastic. It's hard to describe exactly how I feel right now. I wish other people would open their minds to this type of travelling. Some are content with sitting on a beach in Spain for a week. That's fine to relax but you're don't get to see the world and explore what makes other people tick. 

I want to say thank you so much to everyone that's made this trip so special. You're all awesome people! These are the elite team - love you all xx

Next up Manila, Philippines

After far too much confusion about how long the flight was (paperwork said 15 hours, google said 14 and it was actually 13 hours) I've arrived in Manila. 

I'll start of with the flight. If you are lucky enough to win free flights with Philippine Airlines, say no thanks! They were useless!

I won't bore you with the details but from being told at check in to not bother upgrading my ticket to Business Class as it isn't worth the money, I didn't have much hope. 

The plane didn't even have TVs on the back of the seats(WTF #firstworldproblems). They do give you a iPad but such limited selection. 

Luckily I managed to sleep most of the way (which is why I couldn't sleep when I tried to last night) and I was chatting to a lovely Filipino lady called Raia. 

I heard all about her Italian/Fipino fiancé and how she's a nurse in a private hospital in Surrey. It was really nice to hear about someone else's life. 

Once landed it took quite some time to collect my luggage and get the yellow taxi (I did my research yellow good, white bad). Once on the road, it was about 8:30pm and the roads were still crazy busy. 

Most Asian city's are all the same. No rules for drivers, multiple people (and chickens) on one moped and lots of traffic lights. I'd never drive here but it's such a buzz to watch these drivers navigate so well. 

The Red Planet Aseana hotel is your basic 3 star hotel. It's clean and thankfully fairly quiet (unlike the prostitues in Vietnam).

After dumping my bag it was time to head out for a late dinner. The hotel recommended I go to Manila Bay Area as there are ample restaurants and it's safe to walk around. 

The area was a social hub with lots of locals gathering to have a chat and share a beer. 

I found a standard western restaurant to ease myself in and thought I'd ordered mini burgers and fries. It was huge! Clearly they don't do small here. 

As I said at the beginning, I didn't sleep so well. I was so tired (and grumpy) by 11:30pm that I went to sleep however I must have been still on UK time (4:30pm) as I couldn't dose off. Finally I did fall asleep but each time I stay in a hotel, I have this nightmare that there's someone coming into my room. It feels so real!

I managed to get some sleep and rose at 7am. I wanted to go for a jog to explore the area. Wrong move... there's nothing close by. I jogged along a very busy road. The fumes were awful and so was the heat. Even at that time in the morning. 

I saw a dog tied up and asleep in the shade. I noticed he had a water bowl but no water. I decided to pour some of my water into the bowl. You know what the little sod did, nearly bite me!! Last time I try to help. 

Manila City is very spread out. I wanted to visit Fort Santiago so I got a taxi to the fort. The journey took about 15 mins and cost me PHP200. That's about £3.25. And that included a 20% tip. 

The fort was very interesting to see. A lot of destruction took place with the wars and a huge earthquake in the 16th century. 

As much as it's good to read and learn, I'm more of a look and take it in type of traveller. It's so peaceful to simple take a seat and watch the World go by. 

As always there are lots of tour guides around these places. I wasn't sure where to go next so after I visited the stunning Manila Cathedral (and walked in on a beautiful wedding) I decided to entrust Rual with my life on his little bicycle tour of Intramurso (meaning inside the walls).

I spent an hour with Rual as he took me to lots of different places and explained the history. He showed me pictures of each President and I asked what he thought of Rodrigo Duterte? He explained he is a good man and he's trying to make the Philippines pure again. 

Whilst I don't agree with his killing of people associated with drugs, I can understand his passion to make his country great again. 

After my lovely tour with Raul (although he did try to charge me double the original quoted price) I decided to go to a nice hotel we passed for lunch. 

The Bayleaf has a penthouse restaurant and bar. The views over the city are incredible. I had a lovely Asian chicken salad (something light after last nights carb overload) and a strange mojito- they just don't seem to know how to make a mojito in these places. 

Something I've noticed about the Filipinos is how friendly they are. Everyone says hi. When I was jogging this morning, everyone said hello and even when I was on my tour everyone says hello. It's nice and it seems quite genuine. 

Just one odd thing I've found is, they want to take selfies with you. It's not just the guys but also the girl. I've literally had a guy jump infront of me to take one (my face will be priceless- classic resting bitch face). If they ask, I do say no thanks. I don't want strangers having pictures of me. 

I'm going to head to the mall now to walk around in some air conditioning place. I love the heat but it's crazy hot. 

I meet the tour group tonight. I really hope everyone is lovely and we all get along. Fellow traveller are usually so laid back so it shouldn't be an issue but there's always an apprehension. 

Here's a couple of standard selfies. I do love the timer function on my phone. 

50 countries by the end of 2017 - Can I do it?

It's new chapter of my life and I'm back with the travel bug. I have decided I would like to get my countries visited list to 50 by the end of 2017 - So can I do it? My heart is saying "hell yes", my mind is saying "It's doable but maybe tough" and my bank balance is scream "Are you crazy women, think of rental property you could buy??".


As ever, my heart seems to be ruling me (which is why I've had so much heartache already!). I've crunched the numbers and it works out that I have ten countries to visit to get to my target.


Now, that sounds like a lot however I already have three different countries booked. I'm heading to Oslo, Norway soon with my sister so that will be a new country to explore.


I also have a wonderful trip to the Philippines booked for a few weeks time. I literally cannot wait to get my hiking boots on, roam the mountains and cool off in the incredible turquois seas.


Finally I have Turkey booked in June. Again I get to visit here with my sister (her countries list is racking up too!). Turkey will be more a rest and relaxation holiday but we may see a little bit of the country locally (providing it's safe to do so).


I'm excited for these new adventures. I always love the freedom of travel, the ability to meet new and exciting people and visit stunning countries. I've always loved to explore new places. Dean used to tease me and say my life is lead by one holiday to the next. This was true (however I don't think he meant it as a compliment).


I guess in one way it is an opportunity to escape 'life' for a while but the things you discover when you travel enrich your every day life. One of my favourite travel quotes is by J.R.R Tolkien: "Not all those who wander are lost". For some reason I feel a little bittersweet with this quote. Part of me does "wander" to lose myself from every day life however it shows, this is not a bad thing.


So getting back on track, I now have seven more countries to plan for. I have seen an amazing Caribbean cruise that I'd like to go on in September. It starts off in Puerto Rico and visits U.S Virgin Islands, Curacao (never heard of here before), Aruba and St. Kitts. That'll be five amazing countries!


Some may say I won't have that much time to visit the country in full however I still think it totally counts as visiting :-) That then leaves just two more countries.


With my lack of annual leave, these will need to be weekends away. I used to love flying out from work on a Friday and coming back late Sunday night. I'd like to go to Iceland (not the food shop!) and possible Denmark so both of these would be good for a quick weekend break.


If anyone else has any other suggestions for travel ideas then do let me know.

My Travel Bucket List

After quite a bit of discussion I've finally convinced Marco that travelling is a great idea. He seems to be warming to my idea of why it's so good to broaden your mind but the next steps is where to travel too.

I said ideally I'd like to visit three countries a year. Yes I know that sounds utterly spoilt to some people but travel is my hobby (well one of!) so I like to do it often.

Marco has agreed that I need to limit my travel to 'risky' countries to once per year and the other two times maybe more safe places like Europe (because there hasn't been any issues in France and Belgium lately...!).

No doubt we'll 'debate' those risky countries but I've made a list and I have 42 new countries on my list to visit. Obviously this is over my lifetime but it's so exciting to have a plan of all the countries I'd like to visit.

I thought I'd share my list with you and see if it inspires you to want to visit any of them too. I'll start with what I believe are the 'risky' countries.

1. Cape Verde - Beautiful African beach resort.
2. Gambia - again lovely African beach resort and nature.
3. Madagascar - again because of Africa.
4. India - sadly various issues with crime but so much to see.
5. Israel - middle east (enough said!).
6. Jordan - as above.
7. Russia - again so many beautiful places but it's pretty corrupt in places.
8. Bolivia - high poverty so also high crime rates.
9. Chile - as above.
10. Colombia - as above.
11. Venezuela - as above.
12. Argentina - as above.

I know some of those places won't interest Marco at all so I'm happy to find a well organised tour to visit with. I always feel so comfortable with those tours as the guides are so knowledgeable and experienced.

The rest of my list is equally as exciting but hopefully seen as 'less risky'. Some of these will make amazing long weekend breaks and others require a bit longer to visit. Here the list continues;

13. Mauritius.
14. Morocco (could be argued a little risky).
15. Turkey (also a tad risky depending where).
16. Seychelles.
17. Japan.
18. Maldives.
19. Hungry (I'm starving actually!!).
20. Austria.
21. Croatia.
22. Gibraltar.
23. Iceland.
24. Monaco.
25. Norway.
26. Poland.
27. Montenegro.
28. Sweden.
29. Vatican (and lots more of Italy).
30. Antigua.
31. Aruba.
32. Bermuda.
33. British Virgin Islands.
34. Turks and Caicos.
35. Puerto Rico.
36. Panama (perhaps don't go canoeing).
37. Cayman Islands.
38. The Bahamas.
39. Australia.
40. Cook Islands.
41. Fiji.
42. New Zealand.

A lot of the places I want to visit are faraway shores and would be ideal for when I'm retired. But there are also lots of amazing places I can visit now.

Marco hasn't travelled much at all so it'll be nice going to places like Spain with him and of course seeing far more of Italy.

I find dreaming and 'planning' these holidays is sometimes just as much fun as actually being on holiday.

Here's a few pictures of the incredible places I wish to visit.

Vatican City.

Trolltunga, Norway. 

Columbia. 

Salto Angel, Venezuela.