El Nido, Palawan, Philippines: beaches & drinks & beach drinks

my bff/personal photographer Tom (tam) has been freezing his buns off at the winter olympics but he was able to make a quick smeagle down to join peace play passion :) our destination: El Nido, the Philippines!

this place is a dream. little beach town with an insane limestone cliff backdrop. tricycles everywhere (filipino tuktuks), cute buildings, tons of locals. their huts are interspersed between the tourists buildings right in the town. you drink on the streets and eat dinner with your toes in the sand. i couldn’t ask for much else really!

you can fly directly into El Nido from Manila, but we chose the cheaper route which was flying Manila to Puerto Princesa, then taking the 5 hour (lopsided, uncomfortable seated) minivan to El Nido.so far people in the Philippines are either REALLY nice (the lady who let me sprawl 3 seats across on the airplane) or like lazy/stubborn? like they refuse to help. the airport staff was like “you missed the terminal transfer. you’re too late.” .. i was 3 hours before my flight. i ordered a banana shake, the lady filled the cup halfway, and was like “because you didn’t want water this is all you get.” when i asked for more milk she was like “it is impossible now.” i was like “i bet if you tried REALLLYY HARD you could fill it up!” like they are certainly not bending over backwards to help. also EVERYONE calls you sir/ma’am which i cannot stand. i am not old and i am not formal.the Philippines itself is STUNNING. palm trees everywhere, super lush, unbelievable beaches. stupid pretty. El Nido’s all about the island hopping day tours and stops at literal pieces of paradise. we did tour A, which was amazing blue lagoons that you can kayak through.

i later did tour B which was caves, beaches and a giant sandbar called Snake Island. weirdest people on that tour group. make sure you haggle for the tour prices, they are set at about 300 pesos more than you need to pay!! actually haggle for everything here.Tom and i rented a scooter one day and drove all around the northern tip of El Nido. this place is amazing because its local life is SO REAL and the tourists dont really venture outside of the island tours. the local children shouted and waved at us when we scooted by, there were straw huts and dusty villages, cows EVERYWHERE, rice fields and stunning green landscapes. tam says the thing he’ll remember about this trip was the vivid green colour of the vegetation.

please note if anyone plans on scooting around the northern loop, um, DON’T. the last hour was a bumpy rocky road and our bums were not happy. also the waterfall was a cash grab (they make you hire a guide for the 30 min hike) and meh.tam and i basically just drank on beaches the entire time - local rum the first night, banana daiquiri + vodka shot at Seven Commandos Beach, $1.50 gin the last night. vom but effective. mostly $1 beers for tam. we got street meat at the night market (99% filipinos), visited with the locals, rode in tricycles. i started a dance party on our boat tour, tam basically ate a baby chicken in its egg to be polite lol. oh EVERYONE is trying to sell you stuff here when you are on the beach.

after tom left i switched my ferry ticket so i could stay an extra night, took a nap till 10:30, and forced myself to go out for a drink. had some inspiring life talks about how travel pushes you out of your comfort zone with Gustavo from Uruguay. he is here running a tour group of 65 people. they started in India, then Nepal, Thailand, Bali, now El Nido. guys i never thought i’d say this but i think i need to go to India now?! i think i will hate everything but all the more reason to push myself to do it. he was saying how the people who started their tour in India are so much braver and lower maintenance than the ones who met up in Thailand. i feel that. like bugs don’t creep me out anymore after i woke up with a cockroach on my lips. my accommodation is bare minimum and i don’t even notice. when tom and i first crammed in a tricycle and swerved in traffic on a dusty rode he was like “you’ve changed!” we have travelled together before. he knows i would have not have been kosher with that ride a few years ago.El Nido does not have my heart like Bali (eg. they could work on their live beach music) but i 100% recommend this place to beach lovers. the natural beauty is actually mindblowing.i know how lucky i am to have a friend like tom. every person who knows him wishes they were his bff. he is so funny and says the most random shit and just keeps the joke going way too long. i am grateful he flew down to the philippines to be part of my trip :) he wrote peace play passion in the sand when i thought he was just looking for penis shells. he even surprised me by making me this website. this trip is all me and i love that, but i love even more that i have gotten to share parts of it with the people that i love.

short but sweet! or as tom said, “just short”!