Day 143: Northwards to El Nido

All good things must come to an end, and so it was with our time in Modessa Island. Despite the limited facilities and the same 15 menu choices every day, we've had a great time here - probably one of the unexpected highlights of the trip so far. Our next destination was El Nido, a tourist town on the northern tip of Palawan and some 150km from Roxas.

Given that we didn't feel like making a super-early start and catching the 8am boat off the island, we opted for the 1pm boat and spent our morning doing - what else? - snorkelling. Not quite as good visibility this morning for some reason, although the weather was perfect: clear and sunny.

The biggest highlight of the morning was finally spotting one of the black-tipped reef sharks that circle the island. I spotted it from the stairs near the dive shop, in the water about 15 metres behind Shandos. She got some vague footage and pictures of it, but nothing that really turned out. And don't worry it's safe! They aren't aggressive and are very small, only a foot or so in length. The divemaster assured us that they never approach people swimming, they smell you and just swim away. He never sees them while in the water, but sees them all the time from the balcony of his shop.

Glad we finally saw one! One last meal and a fond goodbye to all the staff who we'd gotten to know quite well over the past few days. Even a last pat of the puppy! Boat trip back to the mainland was uneventful, where we jumped straight into a tricycle to the bus station and found a minivan heading for El Nido. Unfortunately it was going to be a one hour wait, but we've had worse. Spent it sitting around watching the local guys bantering - they obviously spend a lot of time there without much to do.

The van turned up and we all piled in. Unfortunately being the gentleman that I am, I was the last one on board and ended up with essentially a box wedged between Shandos and the sliding door. Definitely not the most comfortable seat I've had, and no belt either which made me concerned as the driver was a maniac. Like other trips we've had here, the speed differences between vehicles on the road is massive, and it's only a matter of time before a bunch of tourists get killed in an accident.

Thankfully for us that didn't happen. I managed to hop out when we stopped at a town called Taytay (no relation to Ms Swift that I could tell), and grabbed the prime position - front passenger seat. Though I felt a bit bad, as the girl who was sitting there originally had only hopped out to chat to a friend, and was a bit startled when she opened the door and glared at me. Oh well, possession is nine tenths of the law and she ended up on the "middle seat" - essentially on the console between me and the driver. Not my problem!

Arrived in El Nido around dusk after a very scenic drive through mountainous country, with lots of rice fields around and plenty of peasant farmers relaxing on their day off (Sunday). Would've taken some photos but photos from a moving vehicle always turn out crap, so I didn't bother. Found ourselves a tricycle with no difficulty (he yelled about a microsecond after we opened the doors of the van), but the price was fair and off we went.

Room is nice, on the top floor though it's a busy corner. Wifi access in the lobby only, so I'll get used to that I guess. Not much else to report - we wandered through the town which was like a dirtier version of Boracay, where at least all the tourist bars are on the beach (here they are on the beach but front onto a road). After exploring and filling up with cash we grabbed a burger at a place that looked promising, but Shandos's burrito wasn't good and my burger was disappointing too. Sausage mince patties, urgh. Hoping this place picks up a bit tomorrow by daylight. Enormous downpour after we retired to the room as well, and our ceiling developed a leak but thankfully nowhere near our stuff.Read more