El Nido Hideaways

El Nido Waterfalls

     El Nido is not only about beaches.  Aside from island hopping, you can do inland tours.  So if you are adventurous enough and love outdoors, don’t miss to trek the falls, hot spring, or cliff climbing.  Many are ignoring this trip but not us.

     The next day, we did the inland tours in order to be different this time.  We started our tour in the morning.  Our guides pick us up in our hotel and went back to El Nido town to get the other tourists as well.  To our surprise, one of my foreign companions knew the tourists who just recently hopped inside the van.  Most of us know each other and we were grouped to other people who are friends of ours.  So the trip turned out to be fun!

El Nido Palawan Philippines
Starting point on the way to falls

     We trekked the falls first.  It was raining and we have to walk up the hill in a muddy and slippery condition and cross the shallow river with a bit strong current.  Good thing our guide has a waterproof bag, so we were able to keep our digital cameras and DSLR safely in his bag. 

     We got lost twice in the jungle and when we went back to where we started, we saw the other tour guide who was about to go up with his tourists.  So we joined their group instead because we don’t want to end up going home without seeing the falls.  Finally, we saw the falls after our third try.

     Tired and hungry from trekking, but the inviting cold clear waters of the falls made my friends to swim for 30 minutes.  Too bad for me, I can’t swim because I have my monthly period during that time.  All I did was watch them having fun.

     After the falls, we looked for somewhere to eat.  But there are no restaurants or eatery within that area, so we just bought our food in a nearby sari-sari store.  We managed to fill our stomach with just instant noodles, bread and soda. 

El Nido Palawan Philippines
Rice paddies on the way to hot spring

     Next, we trekked to hot spring in a different location.  We walked the rice field paddies and as we were close enough, the trek got difficult because the earth was so soft that it can swallow half of your body if you get sucked.  There were times that I need to hold on to some tree branches in order not to slip. 

     At the end of the trail, there we saw the boiling point hot spring.  It was my first time to see something like this. And it amazed me somehow!  I noticed that some part of the earth around are melting but the mangrove trees beside it still managed to survive the heat.

El Nido Palawan Philippines

El Nido Hot Spring
Hot spring

     When we went back to the main road, our guide asked the old lady if we can use her water well to wash the mud from our feet.  Good thing, the old lady was generous enough to let us use their well.  We thanked her and she was happy without expecting something in return.

     Overall experience, it was tiring, but it was fun.  


El Nido Palawan Philippines



Travel Date: October 8, 2012

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