Siargao - The Philippines (Entry 3)

Siargao

Day 3 - 30th June:

After last nights party which you can read about in my previous post HERE I'm feeling a bit rough.

I was supposed to go surfing at 5am... that didn't happen. I completely overslept. Whoops. I think 5am was a bit unrealistic anyway. I'm the worst morning person - especially after a night out!! But I'll attempt it again tomorrow. 

Not surfing this morning meant I had a pretty lazy morning chilling around the Kermit Resort. 

My arms were covered in a heat rash and the reef was still stuck in my foot.

Relaxing and nursing my rum induced hangover wasn't bad though because the sun peaked out from behind the clouds for the first time since I arrived and I was able to find a lovely sun lounger on the Kermit grounds where I lay and soaked up the sun and read my book. 

I never thought I'd be so excited to put suncream on!! :)

When the others from the party last night all woke up we decided to rent some bikes and explore Siargao Island. There was supposed to be a local market close by that we wanted to check out. We thought it would sell touristy things like shell necklaces, clothing and other souvenirs but after finding it we realised it was really nothing more than a fruit and vegetable market. The only other market we heard about was in Dapa which was roughly a 20 minute drive and that we learned was more of a fish market so we gave it a skip and walked along the pier instead.

The Philippine locals love to stare and giggle at you. They talk about you amongst themselves as your walking past and they often compliment you and tell you how beautiful you are.

Some tourists find it a bit creepy but the locals think it's completely normal to stare at you. They're curious about you.

Our two favourite locals we two little school girls who walked with us all the way along the pier, naughty cackling giggles erupting from them every few seconds as they skipped and hopped along. 

Harry, Ellie, Georgie and I wondered through the dirt roads close to the market and found a handful of quaint shops selling anything from plants, fruits, fuel, snacks, all sorts of different types of rice. Some shops were so quirky, dangling upside down umbrella's at the front of their shop. Every little detail made the little town too cute. 

My other surf session was scheduled for 2pm so we made our way back to the resort and Harry and I got ready to go to Cloud 9 to take on the waves. 

I have never seen waves as perfect as the ones in Siargao. Even on a small day, there are barrels to be scored and tons of people out in the water having the time of their life. Everyone is so happy - I just love it! 

I didn't bring my Go Pro with today because water got trapped inside the casing when I was rinsing it out so it's got rice inside it right now to try and soak up the moisture. I was too afraid to put the camera in it just in case water damaged it. 

The surf today was harder than the last two days - not just because of the hangover. Although the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day, the wind was crazy. It made the current and the waves unforgiving and really difficult to paddle in - plus the rock in my foot was aching like hell so I was finding it really difficult. 

I did manage to catch the best wave I've had since coming here though!

I've been taking in everything my instructor's been telling me and trying really hard to improve and it's definitely paying off. I'm slowly getting there - Luke, the South African I met last night, was out in the water and said that he was really impressed and that I was 'owning' the waves. Smile.

We stayed out in the water for nearly two hours - then had to get out because there was a yoga class scheduled for 16h30 that I wanted to go to.

Eloy, my surf instructor, raced me home on the bike to shower and change before the class situated in the Cloud 9 tower. When we got to where the class was supposed to be no one was there so after waiting it out for a couple of minutes we decided to re-plan the afternoon and decided to take a couple of beers up the mountain on the bike to watch the sunset.

When the sun had set Eloy took me back to Kermit and I ordered a stir-fry for dinner before heading to bed before 8pm. It had been a full, amazing day and I was once again going to go to bed with a huge smile plastered across my face. 

Feeling so liberated and free - just like my old self. It's so good to be back out traveling and experiencing the world again. This is what I live for.