Wooooow... what a month we've had.
Please accept our apologies for such a late update, we've simply been having too much fun. Not a moment to spare. I don't even know where to begin, there's so much to tell you.
So after our long schlep of a journey to the Philippines, we made our first trip the Puerto Princesa Underground River, one of the 7 new wonders of nature. Somehow again they managed to get both Moo and I into a little paddle boat, and shift us into the caves. We concluded that nature is amazing sometimes, but what we love more is the way people interpret what was there - formations that had been likened to St Paul's Cathedral and vegetables and mermaids.
Bats!
We were keen to move on and get some beach time ASAP so we boarded a bus to Port Barton, which we can officially say is our favourite place from our 3 months of travel so far. A sleepy town with a gorgeous white sand beach and cheap, chilled out bars and restaurants, not to mention super friendly locals. We spent our first few nights at Port Barton Homestay hosted by the lovely Leizel who took us out for dinner and very competitive card games every night, before moving to a place a bit closer to the beach, because, well, we're fat cows and don't like to walk too much.
Backpacking on the beach
Moo being the lady that she isn't
Din dins on the beach
Making friends
Getting sloshed on rum soaked bananas
We <3 Red Horse!
When you have to cook for yourself after 2 months of being waited upon
The view from our Homestay
Just before we left for El Nido, we were encouraged to go island camping with a few locals that organised it for us. Again, this was one of the highlights of our travels. We loaded the boat with about $10 worth of Tanduay Rum (which equates to 10 bottles) and numerous litros of Red Horse - our new favourite beer - and sailed off into the sun. Oh, FYI, we swam with a turtle on this trip! The snorkelling was amazing, in spite of the HUNDREDS of jellyfish - but don't worry, they didn't sting! My favourite kind of jellyfish. We were accompanied by two Filipinos who were on holiday to celebrate a birthday, so naturally we spent the night drinking, dancing around FIRES!! (inside joke, sorry.) and taking late night dips in the ocean.
Catching dinner
BBQ
KC's Birthday Cake
Soo good
Waking up with the sunrise
Sailing out on the calmest water i've seen
The crew
Our private island
She's not a morning person
Topping up my tan
Moo being Moo
FIRE!!!
Eventually we decided to move on to El Nido, because time was precious, and frankly our diet of pumpkin soup and Red Horse beer was getting out of control. So off we went, and were again met with beautiful beaches and chilled reggae bars on the beach. We had heard great things about the island hopping in El Nido, so booked ourselves onto Tour C where we met a lovely bunch of people who we spent the day soaking up paradise with.
When you ask the captain to take a picture of you
That's better (I think)
Swimming back to the boat
Gangsta floating ice cream men
After a drunken time soaking up the beautiful scenery of Palawan, we journeyed back to Princesa to catch a flight to Borocay to meet Ami's sister Alex! We stayed in probably one of the best hostels we've been to so far, a place next to the beach called Friends, where you were greeted with a smile and a free welcome drink, and for the rest of your stay it was guaranteed that they'd remember your name! They hosted regular free pasta nights with live music... could it get any better than that? We took one of the funniest boat trips of our lives one day. The sea was a little rough, and our boat didn't actually have space on board, so we had to sit on the sides. Moo, Ami, Sian and I picked the right side. Ryan drew the short straw.. For about 20 of the 30 minutes we spent on the boat, Ryan was submerged in waves, being dunked in and out as if on some sort of fairground ride, while we looked on in amusement. Sorry Ryan.
Alex demonstrating how to be cool
Lovely ladies
Oh fuck off Roger
It was all fun and games at the start
The safe side
After consuming our body weight in crepes, sandwiches and free pasta, Moo and I decided to venture on to Bohol, where the Chocolate Hills awaited us. We had a great week there, surrounded by nature and lovely locals. Moo was kindly invited to spend an afternoon at the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park with a Filipino family staying at the same place as us, and decided to show off by riding the bike zipline. Crazy bitch. I guess she thought she'd never have the opportunity again, so why not? We spent another day with a Filipino friend drinking coconut wine and playing cards at the foot of the hills, and one day exploring the island with a scooter. Moo was itching to ride one but extremely apprehensive at the same time, so we chose Good Friday to do it as there was absolutely NO-ONE on the roads. After a lesson from the hostel owner, we cautiously set off on our adventure. And we loved it!
Endless supply of waterfalls
Our big day out
The lovely, quiet country roads
Homemade ginger iced tea <3
I'm gonna miss being so close to these
Fancy going to a beach on an island in the Philippines and finding a castle...
...and then a Cocoa Loco!
Delicious blue flower tea
Getting caught in the middle of a Holy Week street parade
Visiting the Tarsiers <3
The Chocolate Hills
The Bamboo Bridge
Drinking coconut wine as the sunsets beneath the chocolate hills
Our Filipino friend, Anne
We spent our final night at a place called Bohol Coco Farms - Moo obviously chose this one for the name - and met two lovely girls that we went exploring with. We stumbled upon the Bohol Bee Farm, where we were greeted with tasty cocktails and - wait for it - jacuzzis overlooking the ocean! That's not even the best part though. We had REAL. CHOCOLATE. And it was (excuse my language) FUCKING GLORIOUS. Proper, straight up, un-tampered-with dark drinking chocolate. We had such a lovely girly evening, and said our farewells in the morning as we set off for our final night in Manila, where we drank with the hostel owners until the early hours when Ami and Alex arrived from Borocay for our last night all together in the Philippines.
Its always nice to spot your car
And that was it for the Philippines! It was so hard for us to say goodbye after the truly amazing month we'd had, and to be honest, if we hadn't already booked our flights and visas for Vietnam, we would have without a doubt been extending our Filipino visas for another 30 days. Our heart belongs to the Philippines now, and we know that it wont be long before we find an excuse to return.
ANYWAY. It wasn't completely upsetting to be leaving, because a new country awaited us! We arrived bleary eyed at 3am in Hanoi with no idea what to expect from Vietnam, having been so completely absorbed in the Philippines that we neglected to do ANY research. We woke ourselves up in time to catch the free breakfast at our hostel (Moo wasn't about to miss free food, regardless of how tired she was), and sat with some people from our dorm room. Who knew that we'd find travel buddies after a few hours of stepping off the plane? We booked ourselves on a trip to Sapa with a couple called Lina and Yush, and ended up spending the next 10 days with them.
Sapa. Just. Wow.
It was beautiful. Exhausting, and slightly dangerous at times, but completely breathtaking. We not only survived the trekking, but also made it through the biggest thunderstorm Moo and I had ever experienced. At 4am the roof of our homestay finally gave up and let the rain come pouring down on us and our beds! Not ideal, but in some strange way we almost enjoyed it, it made us feel like we'd really survived something.
We returned to Hanoi and went on a street food tour with the owner of our hostel, Hai. This was obviously one of Moo's favourite nights, given that she's such a fatty. Sorry, I mean foodie. Ohhh how she loves food.
Bun Dau
Che Dau Xanh
Beer that tastes like the metal barrel it comes from!
Banh Bao
Banh Cuon
Deep fried sweet potato
When Moo was able to move again, we set off on a 4 day trip around Halong Bay, spending one night on the boat, one on Cat Ba Island and the final night in a bungalow on Monkey Island. Halong bay was certainly magnificent, but we were disappointed to see how dirty the water was. For one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world, we expected something a little cleaner. But a good time was had all the same, and we celebrated Yush's birthday on board the boat with a bottle of Vietnamese red wine - which tasted mysteriously like white wine - and lots of beer.
Birthday cakes on the bus
The Halong Hangover
Not cut out for this trekking
Floating village
Our cute little bungalow
The private beach
Now, as I write, Moo is lounging about the hostel waiting for a bus to pick her up and take her to Phong Nha, a national park about 9 hours from Hanoi. It will be our first overnight sleeper bus experience, and we're very excited... and intrigued. We'll keep you posted, promise it wont be as long between blogs next time!
From One Nutty Moo to Another
X
P.S. Here are some pictures from our Tam Coc day trip.
The foot clamp
Miss you already!
