Stumbling My Way Through Life One Glass of Wine at a Time

Stumbling My Way Through Life One Glass of Wine at a Time
Showing posts with label Siargao Accommodation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Siargao Accommodation. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

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. 




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Thursday, February 5, 2015

My Flights are Booked and Paid For!!!

Hi everyone!

I've got some really big news for all of you. 

Many of you have been reading my blog for months, if not years and putting up with my countless posts based on travel. 
I have one of the worst cases of wanderlust known to man and over the past year I haven't been able to pursue it. 
Backpacking and camping my way through Europe in 2013 left me penniless! I've been working my butt off ever since, saving away as much as possible at the end of each month. 
What I saved went directly into my travel account and now I can finally say that all of this hard work has paid off!!

Yesterday I booked and paid for my flights to the Philippines and to Bali!!!!!!!

My first big stop after a twelve-ish hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, is Hong Kong. There are no direct flights from South Africa to the Philippines or Bali so you have to catch a connecting flight from another country.
I was lucky enough to book my connecting flight to Cebu, Philippines from Hong Kong! Never, ever, EVER has Hong Kong crossed my mind as a place that I have wanted to see. Not because I don't like the sound of it - but because I never really looked into how amazing it was over there.
Since knowing that it is a part of my travels, I have been researching a fair bit and now to say that I'm excited to experience Hong Kong is an understatement!
I will have an entire day to explore Hong Kong before my journey to the Philippines continues and although I am still researching, I have absolutely NO idea what I am going to get up to while I'm there. I guess there's only one way to find out!
After some Hong Kong-ish adventures with just me and my suitcase, it will be time to board my connecting flight to Cebu!

I've booked myself into this gorgeous resort on an island in the Philippines where they offer surfing packages. The package that I've chosen includes accommodation (your choice between a standard air-conditioned room which is the most expensive, a cottage equipped with a fan or a basic backpackers room). 

I'll be staying in a dreamy thatch-roofed, air-conditioned home like this during the course of my stay:



The package also includes airport transfers, breakfast every morning, daily surf lessons, transport to  the breathtaking surf spots, all surfing equipment, an hour and a half massage, island hopping tours, wifi and more!




The best part is that it is all so affordable! The Philippines and Bali are so cheap for us South African's which doesn't come often I must say! The Rand exchange rate is usually a pretty painful ordeal so I am really stoked to have stumbled across this... although I owe SO much thanks to Chris over at his amazing travel blog: BackPacker Banter and his gorgeous lady-pie, Tara who also has one of the best travel blogs I've ever read: Where Is Tara?
Without them, I'd never have found this package! I'd probably still be sitting behind my desk at work, picking irritably at my nails and trying desperately to make deals with 'The Man Upstairs,' to somehow help me get out of my rut! A tit for tat sort of thing.




After the Philippines I'll be shooting off to finally live my dream of becoming a beach-bum and water baby in Indonesia. I'll be baking away in the sun, attaching a leash to my ankle and paddling out on a surfboard into the crystal clear ocean. I'll be sipping away at fresh coconut milk straight from the shell and popping meaty crayfish into my mouth in between snorkeling over the coral. I'll be island hopping and soaking up the Balinese sun until I am bronzed and blissed out with happiness.

Travelling alone to South East Asia where I know no one and where the language sounds like gibberish to me is nothing short of daunting... but this is what I have been craving. This is what I have been working so hard towards... and now it is all coming together. 

Do you have any exciting travel plans coming up over 2015? 

Are there any countries that you are dying to explore and saving up for?

I'd love to hear all about your travel dreams in the comments below. 
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