El Nido Hideaways
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!
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.
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.
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.
Comments