So here we go ….
Okay I take it back, I should worry about details…
So, I fly to Manila and then to El Nido – it’s boring but fine. I only wish that I’d thought about food. Oh well.
Anyway, I know I want to stay at Tony’s guesthouse… But apparently it doesn’t have a website. So, I’m a bit sceptical but I have details for 3 others as a back up… Look at me planning ahead 🙂
How cute is this airport…
And unusual to have this kind of chilled out vibe when travelling… Oh how quaint and lovely… I’m in some sort of paradise!
This is exactly where I should be right now! Okay now to find the place to stay… If Oprah was here she’s hi fiving me.
I’m blown away just by how beautiful it all feels
So I ride the tricycle to Rico’s guesthouse cause no one knows of this Tony’s place and feel so excited and inspired by the airport of all places… This place is going to be incredible I think to myself.
I arrive and it’s a small little strip with places everywhere. I pop into Rico’s which is totally cute and right on the beach. I go in and she tells me no rooms till tomorrow, hmm this is a minor problem. She tells me to leave my backpack and try along the beach.
I do, but everyone tells me no, no, no. Hmm, wasn’t expecting this. I go back to Rico’s and she let’s me use the internet and I chill and have a beer (I mean hell I’m on holiday right).
Seems I can go to some expensive resorts but it’s going to cost a fortune to get there as they are far away, I need to come back here to meet my friends anyway.
An older guy joins me let’s call him the Americanised Australian, he tells me he had the same problem and his friend stays here and he stays somewhere else, he’s had to move 3 times. Damn.
So the Americanised Australian tries to get me a room at his place, but no luck… Eh, well he wishes me well and says join his friends down the beach later. I’m on my own again.
Okay, time to go for another walk… No luck. Okay, shit is getting annoying. I find a bar and drink beer instead.
A Lone Austrian is chatting with the lady behind the bar about not being able to find a girl. I smile to myself and think shit, I nearly forgot I need a room. I search the net, find a place – go see them and they tell me no. My argument of the internet says you do is useless.
Eh, back to the bar. So it’s a tiny bar and my ‘things’ I left to save my seat have been moved next to Lone Austrian guy… Here we go…
“Oh they took your seat, but you can sit here” she says and smiles a little too sweetly. Ah, whatever.. I small talk a little, at least it takes my mind off having nowhere to sleep and the fact that some airport food is not agreeing with my body.
Finally the bar lady offers me her dishwasher boy to take me around to find rooms, the ‘last resort’ places. We walk around for ages in the dark (it feels safe and bustling not dark and creepy though) and I’m mentally planning how to stay awake all night.
I’m aware I have stuff all over the place, well okay just at Rico’s and the bar.. Ah shit Sarah, this was dumb even for you.
But finally, success…
Hotel: you mind shared bathroom?
Me: no, can I pay now
Hotel: you wanna see the room first?
Me: no, I’ll take it
Hotel: but it has shared bathroom
Me: take my money here
Hotel: okay, but come back in 1 hour I need to clean okay
So, back to the bar and my friendly bar lady and Lone Austrian – I ordered a pizza, it was huge. I eat what I think it acceptable to eat in public, but in my heart I know that when I’m finally in my dingy room I will gorge myself a little more…
Finally, in my room about 8.30pm I sit on the bed and then decide maybe my backpacking days are over and that I should stick to resorts and health spas in then future.
At this point it’s just good to have a place to sleep.
So, this is where I ended up…
Shit ain’t so pretty and cute anymore haha.
I munch a piece of pizza and hear a dog barking, I open the door and see someone’s kitchen and a little dog tied up… Naw, poor guy… I give him a slice. We can eat our troubles away together.
I go for a massage to pass the time and then decide I just wanna sleep early. The barking dog makes me feel a little sad, but I drift off reasonably easily.
However, I wake up and suddenly find this whole thing rather comical and humbling … And look forward to getting back to Rico’s!
I wake up do some yoga in my room (who needs Bikram when I have this hot box hotel room). I sit and wait for my egg, rice and hot dog breakfast and watch people do the accommodation scramble… Do you have room? No, no, no.
Okay, fingers crossed ‘my’ room is safe at Rico’s like they promised me!
Okay. So apparently El Nido is having a come back… Here I am at Rico’s
Sarah Does Shanghai 