Barhopping at El Nido!

Last May 2019, I, along with some of my lab mates and thesis adviser, attended a conference at Puerto Princesa, Palawan. AND SINCE we were already at Palawan, why not end our trip with a bang, right?! Immediately the morning after the conference, we rented a van to travel down to El Nido and what a way to start off our relaxation but to get shit drunk at one of Philippines' paradise!

 

First to choose the booze, first to get buzz!

The travel from Puerto Princesa to El Nido takes about 5 hours consisting of well paved road and the not so much. Since we rented a van, thank god for our adviser hehe, we luckily arrived at El Nido quite early. Still, there are public transports, vans and buses, which travels this route, I think the fare is around PHP 600-700 per way, but expect that vans are pricier so if you're on budget, better to take the bus instead. About halfway to El Nido, we did a quick stop over to stretch out our limbs and to grab a quick bite then continued our travel and eventually arrived at El Nido at around lunch time.

Once you get there it will be like you've been transported to another place! After your view of the mountains and lots of trees and faraway beaches, you'll be greeted by the towering and unmistakably rocks of El Nido!

Because of the differences of our budget, we booked in 3 different hotels, in our case, a hostel. Our thesis adviser, along with his family booked at one of the fancier hotels at the edge of the beach at El Nido - complete with swimming pool! Another group booked at a more budget hotel near their place. BUT FOR US MERE MASTERS GRAD STUDENTS, we opted to stay at a hostel worth PHP 500 per night since we thought that we just needed a place to keep our bags safe and a bed to rest and sleep.

For the three of us (Kenneth, Lexie, and I), we only have 2 days and 1 night to stay cause of our budget so after dropping off our bags and showering all too quickly, we headed out to take a look around the beauty El Nido offers and grabbing a late lunch.

El Nido babies (from left to right: Kenneth, ME!, Ate Eli, (center) Lexie, Abby)

At around 5PM, the five of us decided on doing bar hopping which we started off at Rooftop Bar & Tapas!

The location of this bar is not something to look forward cause it's smack in the middlenof the busy business street. You really won't be seeing anything else beside other roofs even though it's a rooftop bar. Their interior design is still cool though! You have to take your shoes off by the entrance if you'll be visiting here. I ordered 2 frozen margaritas (cause it was bottomless) and we stayed there probably for about an hour :) after that, we went out again and proceeded to Sava Beach Bar!

SWEAR I'M NOT YET DRUNK HAHAHA

This is one of the more popular bars in El Nido cause it was right in front of the beach! We took the seats at their balcony cause it was the only one available and because of the view hehe. Don't worry, the service is still the same cause they have dedicated servers here. It was also here that we got to try shisha for the first time! You have got to order at the first floor though and they'll be the one to bring it to your table.

After Sava, we headed next to The Pangolin which is at the heart of El Nido. We all agreed that this was our favorite bar because of how great and chill their interior was. We mostly did people watching here cause we were seated at the balcony.

 MAYBEEEEE~ I was a bit drunk here HAHA

For our last stop, we decided on going to the Pub Grill Restaurant cause for that particularly night, the party was scheduled at that place. When we arrived, it was a bit overwhelming for us cause of the blasting music and the sheer number of people. But we trudged on BUT decided to stay at their rooftop where it was quieter HAHA.

Last stop for the night!

Since we didn't want to shell out more money after visiting 4 bars (we ordered cocktails instead of beers cause there's certainly san mig here in Manila - a glass usually cost around PHP180-300 and up, the cheapest we got was around PHP180 for a glass of jacoke), we decided on buying beer bottles instead and stayed at our friends' hotel room for the rest of the night. At around midnight, the three of us decided to head back to our hostel since we still have to wake up early the next day for our tour!

Next post will be less about alcohol and more about the beauty of El Nido itself hehe, 'till then!