Arrival in Apulit

We were supposed to have a 6 hr wait in Manila airport.  We are now used to long hours of transit so this wasn’t a daunting thought.  (After all, 5 years ago while trying to get to Greece, we spent 14 hours in Gatwick terminal 3 waiting for what we thought was possibly a non-existent airline to take us to Kefalonia.  It was where Taran had his first experience of i-pads as we found seats located next to Dixons.  He sampled every display model in the shop)

I do always wonder though what sort of airport, bus shelter, boat dock etc it will be and how we will pass the time.  But we always have Racing Demon, Exploding Kittens or a few games of Hearts to fall back on and there is always catching up to do with our diaries or blog.  However, what an unexpected surprise when our flight was delayed from Cambodia so in Manila we had no wait at all and instead found ourselves rushing for our next flight with ten minutes to go. 

We are now in the Philippines and on our way to Apulit Island located in the Taytay bay.  On the transit bus to our next hotel I was thinking about my first impressions of the place and the landscape, what was immediately different here from Cambodia and from Thailand.  The dusty roads were the same, the small family run shops lining them, chaotically planned towns with many, many mopeds criss-crossing everywhere, palm trees standing tall above.  And not forgetting the heat – but it did seem slightly cooler than Cambodia but that means 33 or 34.  But maybe here it seemed a bit more gentle or maybe I was just very tired.

**Readers warning – this next section could cause a severe episode of jealousy if read while not sitting in paradise.

This hotel choice was my treat to myself for my birthday and to K and T.  Tripadvisor had given it the thumbs up and the pictures made it look like a tropical snorkelling and diving paradise.  It is an eco hotel dedicated to preserving the marine environment around it on its very own island.   The price was more than I have ever paid for any hotel so I had decided not to be regretful if it turned out to be a huge over priced mistake.

But hurray – it wasn’t! 

So here I am now while Kelty and Taran are diving, writing this blog and this is my mesmerising view.  Arriving on a boat yesterday as we approached we saw a row of idyllic stilted bungalows set against the rocks in a pristine cove with a backdrop of sheer limestone cliffs, surrounded by crystal bright clear blue water, just as I had seen in the photos.  And one of them was going to be ours for the next three days. 

We were exhausted from 24 hrs of travelling and little sleep but this wasn’t a place to sleep.  We had beautiful clear turquoise water to snorkel around in, cliffs to jump from, islands to kayak around, sunsets to gaze at, mango shakes to drink and so many fish to see.   Happy Birthday to me!  54 and how lucky I am to be here and with my lovely, wonderful travel companions on this incredible adventure