Siargao - The Philippines (Entry 4)

Siargao

Day 4 - 1st July:

This was the best day on the island yet. It started with a 5am surf at Cloud 9.
The waves were staggeringly perfect, the water warm, the vibe phenomenal.

Even though I'm the furthest thing from a morning person, you can't help but be stoked when you're awake at 5am on a hot and humid tropical paradise, the suns already out and crisping your shoulders and nose, there's a handful of travellers and locals combined all trying to score the waves and cheering each other on.

After the surf I treated myself to a delicious cappuccino and an Asian spicy fried rice breakfast with an egg on top at Kermit resort.

When Georgie, Harry and Ellie woke up they had a quick bite to eat and we all got ready for a day trip to Sohoton Cove.

Things you need to know about your trip to Sohoton Cove:

• It takes about 1.5 hours to get there by a really loud engined boat (travel expense: 5000 pesos)
• While they do have snacks available there (the most incredible chocolate I've ever tasted / crisps etc) it's best to pack yourself a light lunch. We ordered sandwiches from Kermit Resort. 
• The boat ride can be a bit choppy depending on the weather so if you suffer from sea sickness then it's best to pop a pill beforehand.
• For the girls: Just a tip... wear your hair in a tight bun. I tried to plait mine loosely and it didn't last long at all. My hair was flying every where and knotting up - a headband isn't a bad idea either.
• For the girls: Don't bother wearing a stitch of makeup - it's going to come off. The boat ride splashes water onto the boat and onto you - plus you'll be going swimming and jumping off caves into the aqua blue water anyway so save the makeup for another time. 
• There's a fee you need to pay when you get there (and they don't accept cards). It depends on how many people you are but it's a couple of hundred pesos for the day at the cove. This will cover the boat trip you'll take with tour guides when you get there, a guided cave tour where you get to climb up to the top and jump into the water down below - petrifying but so worth it!!! It also covers your kayak ride, one kayak per person, to go and see the jellyfish sanctuary. The jellyfish don't sting so you're welcome to gently touch them.
• There are souvenirs there, from keychains to fridge magnets. They're all very touristy but if I'd had the bucks I'd definitely have gotten something to remember my trip there. My favourite was a little fish keychain going for 80 pesos. Everything ranges in price though so bring a little extra for that if you want. 

It was a really amazing day trip and well worth the long ride there. If you ever find yourself on this incredible island then the Sohoton Cove is definitely something you can't miss out on.

When we got back we were all knackered, sipping sleepily on Happy Hour mango daiquiri cocktails, slurping up some amazing Kermit pasta and discussing our plans for the evening.
I could have easily gone straight to bed at 7pm. It had been a full day of activities - but the others were quite keen to go and check out the nightlife again so after a 20minute nap I joined them at Buddha.

Buddha is a bar you just have to go to if you're in Siargao! It's got live acoustic music, karaoke, giant jenga, swinging hammocks and tons of travellers flock there to enjoy the chilled out vibe.

Buddha - a great bar with live music in Siargao

We left at about midnight - bumping into my surf instructors brother on our way out. He asked us how we were getting home and we told him we have one motorbike. There were four of us so he offered to take two of us home to be safe. 

Our motorbike wouldn't start, the battery was dead so it was really lucky that we'd bumped into Eloy's brother. 

Instantly we had tons of offers from his friends, all offering to help lift us back home. 

(You never really know if they expect a tip afterwards or not. Some do. Like when I was in the airport in Cebu trying to catch my connecting flight to Siargao, someone offered to push my trolley and show me where to go even though I didn't really need help. 

They can be a bit pushy. 

Anyway, so he got me all the way to my gate and then said he accepts tips. I told him I had nothing which was the truth and he said he could take me to an ATM. Little did I know the ATM was ALL THE WAY out of the airport again... it worked out for the best because there really aren't many ATM's on the island (the closest to me right now is in Dapa which is a 20 minute bike ride away). So after drawing some pesos I had to go all the way through check-in and bag scans again!

Still - I wish people would help you out of the goodness of their heart. This guy in Cebu even told me how much to give him!!! I didn't even tip my massage therapist in the hotel that much! Cheeky bugger... It did teach me to be a lot firmer with them again in the future though.) 

Despite that, I can definitely say that over the past four days on the island I have completely fallen in love. I've fallen in love with the Philippines people, I've fallen in love with Siargao Island, I've fallen in love with Kermit Surf Resort and I've fallen in love with the people I've met along the way. My trip would have been completely different if the other travellers I've met hadn't been here - so I'll be forever grateful to those who have included me in their plans instead of me having to enjoy Siargao by myself. 

Siargao - The Philippines (Entry 1)

Siargao

Night 1:

I finally arrived! Touching down onto Siargao Island was such a relief after the flight being cancelled the day before and having to find my own way for a night. 

I should have started this post saying, I finally arrived and I'm alive!!! I could have kissed the ground when I got out of the airport transfer car and to Kermit Surf Resort. For a chilled out Island, they drive like crazy! The hooter is their favourite thing, I'm convinced. There's stray dogs wondering the roads, balls swaying to and frow if not the swollen nipples drooping down to the floor. Kids seem to think the road is their playground - in fact, everyone does. Be it on bicycles, scooters, tuk-tuks or foot, there's always something to dodge on those windy little lanes. 

Arriving at Kermit I was shown to my room, equipped with full airconditioning, before enjoying this Asian style breakfast of fried rice with an egg on top. It was divine! 

One of the guys that work their sat me and a couple of other new guests down at a bamboo table and told us more about the resort. I was then told I had my first surf scheduled for 1pm so I squeezed a nap into my schedule for a couple of hours (jetlag still mucking my system around a bit). 

The Kermit beds are wonderful.  They are also constructed from bamboo which adds such a rustic touch to the resort. When I saw the blanket I was a bit thrown back because it was a really thin little sheet and I'm one on those people that like to snuggle with a big blanket - but after my first nap I totally understand why they give you a sheet instead of a full thick duvet. It's SO humid - if you had more you'd be crazy. 

By the time my first surf arrived I joined my instructor and we chose at my board, a rash vest and started to wax the board up. The board had a Go Pro mount stuck on it already which was great, so I scurried back to my gorgeous thatch-roofed room and grabbed my Go Pro. 

My instructor and I took a motorbike down to Quicksilver and Cloud 9 surf areas, the surfboards stashed on the one side safely. 

It's El Nino in the Philippines at the moment which means the climates change sporadically. This meant that instead of being the driest season in Siargao which it normally is, it was pouring with ran like they've never seen before. The roads were completely flooded. 

Luckily the rain stopped as we trudged up to the Cloud 9 Tower and jumped into the water and onto our surfboards. 

The surf lesson was great!!! I really did get assigned such a wonderful instructor who watched me closely and gave me the best surfing advice I've ever received. He pointed out all of my mistakes and helped me so much for way over an hour. The water was deliciously warm and full of surfers from all levels of surfing and from all parts of the world. 

Philippines people are a bunch you just can't help but fall in love with. They are so so so so so friendly and welcoming and helpful. 

Once I finally said 'Enough!' (all the paddling destroyed my shoulders. It's something I really need to work on improving. I've never been a strong paddler!) my instructor and I made our way back to the Cloud 9 tower where I'll be doing yoga tomorrow morning. We stacked the surfboards back onto the side of the motorbike and went to a quaint little shop across from the beach where my instructors brother works. They invited me for a light lunch that I didn't need to pay for - it was spicy noodles, grilled fish, steamed beans and carrots... it was just amazing! I felt so healthy and revitalised when we finally hopped back onto the bike and drove through the puddles back to Kermit. 

Kermit's food has a pretty impressive reputation... it's honestly one of the (many) reasons I was looking forward to coming here. 

Well - I can safely say that my first meal did not disappoint!

I ordered the Tortellini al Pomodoro:

It was incredible - like everything has been so far. 

It's still a bit lonely here - everyone else has people to eat dinner with and relax with and I haven't really met anyone yet which is hard. I'm not great at just going up to people and chatting. It takes me a while to warm up to people. I don't even know where to start... so for now I'm just getting aquatinted with their happy hour white wine and vibey old school music. 

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.