April 8,

I awoke around 0700. Jeff was already awake of course. We readied and went to our place’s restaurant for breakfast. I had the omelet with the veggies & cheese, toast with butter & jam, and coffee. Jeff had hot chocolate and the corned beef with scrambled eggs and garlic rice. Jeff unfortunately had a small set back from his gallstone we think. So we finished breakfast and hung out at our place for close proximity to the bathroom. The plans we had in mind will have to wait for another visit.

Around 1100, Jeff felt better so we went out on the scooter just here in town. We went to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, there seemed to be a service going on so we stopped across the street at Plaza Cuartel, a military base in WWII where almost 150 American POW were burned to death by Japanese soldiers on Dec. 14, 1944. Their remains were taken to America and interred in a common grave at Jefferson National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO, 1952. Then we went back to the Cathedral as the service let out. It was a graduation commencement, so we just looked in and left, going back to our place.

We talked with Jeff’s sister and will catch up with mine next week. Our WiFi connection in our hut is not the greatest, as the router is at the restaurant. But we were able to connect which is always a good thing. Jeff was feeling better, so we went to lunch at a Vietnamese place close by – we walked. The place is called Tuy Hoa, simply Noodle Hauz. We both had a toasted bread & a Pho – mine was Special Chicken Noodle; Jeff’s Special Beef Stew Noodles. I had a Coke and Jeff had a water. We were also given a small amount of mint, bean sprouts, and a Calamansi each. It cost 400 PHP, which is $6.94.

A couple of hours later we returned our scooter to the local rental place.

Then back Jeff rested and I blogged. I was a bit behind – a lot to catch up on. Then we watched some YouTube. Supper was the left over half of a baguette from lunch and Nutella. A laid back day. I squared away our tab for our meals and our transport we booked for tomorrow morning.

     April 9, Transition Day

Up and about by 0700. We packed, I blogged, and Jeff read. He saw the news of the volcano explosion here in the Philippines and told me about it. Just as we were discussing it, my sister texted me to check on us! I let her know we were alright and we are a ways from it. We then readied and checked out of our Blue Lagoon “villa” by 1000.

Our transportation was scheduled to arrive between 1000 and 1100. We waited – it arrived at 1045… Hurry to wait. It’s a minivan with seating for eleven people other than the driver. There were three others plus the driver and an assistant on board already. We made a stop after just five minutes to drop off a package. Then in another five minutes we stopped again at a gas station, but not for gas. After thirty minutes, another couple joined us. Then we moved 100 feet, maybe, and picked up a single guy – that stop only took a couple of minutes. At 1130, we are on our way?…The answer would be no. At 1140, we pulled into another gas station. It was actually for gas this time. Jeff said it. “You’ve got to be kidding me. We just sat at a gas station for 30 minutes!” The gas was 3500 PHP($60.92) for 56.91 L // 61.50 PHP/ L. Jeff said it was 15 gallons worth. Left at 1140… and we stopped again, picked up two big boxes and a last passenger with her luggage. A lot of sorting had to be done to get all stuff back in. We lost the second guy, so just have the driver. We took off at 1200.

At 1210, we finally made it out of town. At 1230, we stopped and picked up two more people. Where we stopped was just after the cutoff we took to get to the underground river and cave… So we are on new road. We started back up at 1240. The van was completely full now!! Eleven people. At 1335, we stopped again to let off two people, resuming at 1342. This trip is so mickey mouse, and not direct like we thought. We are still hugging the eastern coast. At 1350 we hit rain, and at 1400 we broke out one of our snacks. 1405 we pulled off at Femssan Restaurant for a rest stop/break, of course. It was still raining. The restaurant had a yellow python-type snake! It was in a glass enclosure… But still!!! It was near the restrooms. Maybe they think it’s incentive to donate money to use the bathroom… Ha Ha! We all loaded up and hit the road again at 1430.

At 1440, it stopped raining and the road has turned into the central part of the island. It seems more hilly, mountainous terrain, with way more jungle and only along the road are there small plots of carved out farmland with small shack houses and shops. At 1530, we picked up a man, back up to nine passengers. As soon as the door closed you could smell the alcohol… and within ten minutes he threw up in the step well. The road is very windy, but still. We came to a more flat part of the island with some larger rice fields.

At 1540, another pit stop and package drop off. The driver cleaned up the step well where the guy threw up. 1555 we were moving again – supposedly it will be an hour more. Then I saw the sign for our destination… Welcome to El Nido, Philippines! The driver let us off at our place, Alfa Lodge. It 1645… exactly six hours from when we were picked up. We did not think this would have been the case.

We checked in, unloaded, walked one minute to the beach, and found a restaurant to eat supper and watched the sunset. It was a great one—been a long time! We ate at Last Frontier Restaurant having a Gazpacho Soup; a Grilled Mackerel fillet topped with Mango Salsa and side of Garlic Rice; and Adobo Sa Gata- a Filipino dish with Braised Chicken simmered in coconut milk, oyster sauce, onions, bay leaf, garlic, red pepper, and green chillies (whole, thankfully – they were spicy). The whole meal was super fine. We also had two for one cocktails: El Nido Sunshine, and Rum Salabat. The sunset played out lasting almost until we finished. We even saw bats. What a welcome to El Nido.