Province of Antique

Up at 4.30am to get the bus for our trip. 12 of us just about managed to fit into the van although it was pretty uncomfortable. I sat at the back and basically tried to sleep for as much of it as possible. It took about 3 1/2 hours so we arrived at Tibiao in Antique at around 8.30am with breakfast waiting for us. Once we had eaten we got changed ready to set off on our tour. To begin we were told we would need to take a motorbike ride and we’re each given a driver to take us, no helmets though as they wanted us to “feel the breeze in our hair” ummmm... We were driven to a ”museum” which was essentially a room with some giant clam pearls in it. Apparently worth lots of money but they don’t need any security guards there because God will protect them! We then were taken to the oldest bakery in the province which uses a proper brick oven. It was from 1953, so not that old to us. Here he bought us some snacks to take on our hike. We then got back on the motorbikes and headed to the foot of the hill where we were doing our hike. We were introduced to our guide Maralyn who was about 60, less than 5 foot tall and does the hike 3 times a day every day. It wasn’t too strenuous a walk, definitely not compared to the one at gigantes. Took about half an hour with some lovely views of rice padis and a few water buffalo here and there. Got to the top and saw the lovely waterfall. We were given time to go swim in the water and take some pictures which was very relaxing.
It was then back on the motorbikes to take us to Calawag mountain resort. Here we were told that our lunch table was waiting for us, in the river! We sat with our feet in the water and were served an incredible platter of pork, chicken, rice, noodles and vegetables which was designed to be shared and eaten using your hands. Such a wonderful experience. We were also serenaded by some locals playing us some songs on guitars which was cute.
Once we had finished eating we got ourselves set up for extreme tubing. Each of us was given a life jacket and helmet and sat in a rubber ring with some netting under it. We also sat on top of an extra life jacket which was mainly there to stop you from scratching your bum on rocks as the water was pretty shallow in parts. We set off down the river with some guides to help us get past tricky parts. There were some sections which were properly white water and it was quite difficult to stay on. I came off once but it was fine and I didn’t hurt myself at all luckily. All in all it was really fun! After tubing there was the option to jump off a rock. I didn’t fancy this so just sat and watched some of the others have a go. We then went back to the mountain resort where there was a “rain swing” and 4 hammocks stacked above one another. Perfect opportunity for some picture taking.
Next was the main event, the hot pots! These are basically basins which they put hot water in and fire under to make it extra hot. They add various leaves and salts to make it a kind of aromatherapy type of thing. We got to chill out in these for quite a while which was super relaxing. I shared one with Emma so we had a good chat while we were there. They also gave us salt scrubs so we could exfoliate!
We then went back to the huts that we were staying in. These were located at the Tibiao fish spa and so while we were there we got unlimited fish spa time! I had some dinner and then made the most of the spa. Opted for the medium sized fish as the big ones were a bit terrifying! After feeling that my feet were properly exfoliated, I headed to bed, absolutely exhausted!Read more