After what felt like just a nap for me we had arrived in Coron! While I was in a mini coma Olly had been chatting to a guy who turned out to be a Videographer for Five Guys. He was interested in Olly’s drone photos which he was editing at the time. I woke up and interrupted their bromance. We headed to our hotel and checked in to Divine Castle Inn. Surprisingly there were huge photos of Disney Land castle everywhere..it was very odd!
Olly and I walked to a restaurant to grab a snack but the staff were so rude to us we left. I hate how British we are when it comes to manners. If someone doesn’t have basic manners then I need to let them know that they are the same level as a cave man. I can’t help it..
Anyway.. we headed into the tiny town of Coron to explore and grab a coffee at a highly rated caf. It was the first time in so long me and Olly had proper coffee! It tasted so strong just because we are used to coffee flavoured water which the Filipino people call coffee. We booked a tour for the next day as we wanted to jump into exploring and taking photos. We bumped into Ali, Mo and Patricia ( drone wars from El Nido) and we all decided to go and grab some dinner.
The warning we should have listened to
Mo and Ali warned us the food was rubbish but we ordered differently to them so we assumed we would be fine. I tried a chicken dish I had never tried before because I am Queen Fussy eater and I stick to what I know. Olly is always trying to push me to try different things. We are so similar that normally we order the same thing or I get jealous of what he’s got so I trusted his judgement and ordered this chicken dish.
Island Hopping
The next day we were waiting at our hotel for the trip to pick us up but after an hour we assumed they had forgotten. Our hotel receptionist had called the company and sure enough they had forgotten us, not only that but they walked in and picked up 4 other people and didn’t acknowledge us sitting there. When we eventually got to the boat, Ali, Mo and Patricia were nowhere to be seen and we had to run through two different boats to get to ours. We had made everyone late and It was awkward as hell! We sat down, confused and trying not to make eye contact with the rest of the boat. Once we got enough courage to look around, Olly noticed his mate from the ferry, the Five Guys..guy?
We stopped off at the first location which was the Twin Lagoon which was a lot of swimming. The guides were adamant on wearing life jackets which was confusing as this was the first sign of health and safety we had experienced the whole time in the Philippines. This lake was beautiful but after some awkward swimming and pushing, me and Olly decided swimming with life jackets was not only ridiculous but we looked pathetic.
Swimming in Life Jackets
Do you know how hard it is to get from point A to B when your back is perfectly straight and floating? No, nor did we so we took them off and pushed them in front of us. This was also our first time flying the drone off of a boat which sent my anxiety levels through the roof. I am a great at helping Olly now, he has taught me how to get the controller set up and the phone. Other than shouting at people to move because did I mention that nobody seems to have manner here? If the drone is landing, chances are its going to hit you if you stand in the way taking a selfie. I can say from experience when the drone hits you, it bloody hurts!
Five Guys guy had given us his email to send him all the drone photos of course and we learnt that the reason they are so strict with the life jackets is because two tourists died last year, drunk, freediving or something. They hit their head and drown or so the rumour goes.
We stopped at some more incredible snorkelling spots and some lakes. The first lake was hell, naturally it had 500 steps up and down to reach. Which I didn’t moan about once. I did managed to refuse to go any further and made Olly walk on without me. After 2 minutes of sitting there on my own with lots of Chinese tourists staring at me, I picked my pride up and ran down to find him. This was a fresh water lake so we had to wear life jackets. This made it hard to find him as it was a sea of Orange. The water was the clearest I have ever seen and because it is fresh water, you do tend to sink which was fun.
Barracuda Lake
We also stopped at Barracuda Lake which was out of this world. This lake was perfectly still, perfectly clear and perfectly refreshing. Olly was blown away at how deep this lake was and you could see the whole way to the bottom. It was mad how you can’t see this deep in the sea but yet here you can see everything, catfish and all! After a hell of alot of swimming, climbing and moaning we headed back and were exhausted! We managed to find the energy to meet up with Mo, Ali and Patricia for some amazing dinner at the sea front. We had some drinks and headed home.
Lake Kayangan from above
That night turned into hell. If you have read all of this page you will know that Olly made me try a new dish a day before. This turned into a bad idea as I have now got food poisoning. I have never had food poisoning before as I am a fussy eater. That is the one pro of being fussy is that you don’t get ill from food! The next two days I was trapped in bed with nowhere to go, nothing to do other than to watch Netflix. Poor Olly was going out getting me all kinds of medicine and when I thought I was hungry he went to get me food which turned into another bad idea.
We booked a fancy hotel for our last few days in Coron. This was the perfect place to be ill as it had a pool and HUGE room and was so peaceful.
My not so baby cousin
The next day my bébé cousin had arrived and wanted to do a boat trip with us. Olly pumped me full of pills and we headed out to find a boat. We managed to get a private boat and choose all of our lunch which was really nice. This was the first time I have ever hung out with my cousin, how crazy is that. We have never been in a room together without our dads being there either. It was nice to gossip about our Dads finally. We had a really nice day chilling and swimming and taking lots of photos. I even had started to feel better, still not eating but not in pain.
The next day we invited my cousin and her friend, also called Olivia, to our hotel. All of us chilled by the pool all day and caught up some more. I had started to feel worse again and relaxing done me some good.
Asia Grand View Hotel
A few days later we took a ferry to Manila, a 15 hour journey in what looks like hell. I can only describe it as the prison Bridget Jones goes to in Thailand. Air con sleeping quarters had sold out so we were in the very local, very open air accommodation. It was boiling and it was awful. Olly pumped me full of pills again so I wouldn’t feel too bad but there was no happiness on this ship of doom. We did meet some lovely Americans on this ferry. They heard I wasn’t well and found me to give me some crackers which was so nice of them. I hadn’t eaten for 5 days at this point and it was just what I needed to survive the night.
Coron from above!
Next stop Manila for the last leg of our journey in the Philippines. We have booked an apartment in a residence building as they have a pool and gym we can use. After all being in Manila isn’t particularly fun. Theres not much to do here and we just want to relax incase I am still ill.
Lake Kayangan
Olly once again has proved to be the best boyfriend in the world. Putting up with me in general is a hard gig, but been there at my worst and hasn’t battered an eyelid. I am the unluckiest person in the world, that’s a fact. But the fact I have him makes me extremely lucky. I don’t know many people who would do as much as he does. I will be forever grateful to have him in my life. He even let me watch 6 hours of Greys Anatomy while I was ill.
Next stop, back to Manila to catch our flight to Sydney Australia!
I bet you’ll miss the Philippines when you’re in the snow!