Ok... so thankfully, the trip to el Nido (arranged by Dan) was far more pleasant than the trip the previous day. This time, I travelled by van and, even though the weather was worsening, the trip was far and away more pleasant - and of course, I moved at a much more rapid pace. In the van with me were other tourists - all european, all very very kind. It wasn't long before we arrived (approx 4 hours) and I sighed with relief... I had made it to my destination ahead of the storm! I roamed the streets for awhile, taking in the sights and getting lost on more than one occasion but found a decent, but inexpensive hotel. It was a nice place, in town. There was not much to do though, since the rain was pouring from the sky. As night fell, the rain briefly stopped and I made my way to dinner where I grabbed some curry. As I was sitting I got to talking with a German guy who was solo as well and who was really quite friendly.... amazingly so, I might add. In fact, I will say that nearly without fail, everyone I had run across was awesomely cool... German, Russian, Aussie, New Zealander, Italian, and French. So, as we ended dinner, he asked me what my plans were. Having none, he invited me to join him as he was planning on meeting with some other friends at a bar in town. Sure, why not?!Here is a picture of the place he took me to:
Ah, so my Peace Corps experience was finally coming full circle in divine order! That is, the cultural experience of my first tour (the Caribbean island of Antigua) was meshing with my second experience.. the Philippines - here in el Nido! This "Rasta Bar" is an exceptionally cool destination, located as it is, at the end of the earth! You find all manner of people here, mostly those seeking adventure, nearly all with interesting stories to tell.. the kind of place you might brush with celebrity and vagabond alike. In short, radically hip!! It wasn't long before I fell in with a great 'barkada' (Tagalog for 'group of friends'). Each person of this group of 8 (not including my German friend), as best I could tell, had been traveling solo around the world for the past 15 months - even though, there seemed to be 4 couples - I recall there was a couple from Portugal, one gal was from Prague, someone was from Budapest.... all over. Anyway, while one went to say, New Zealand for a few months, the other went to Amsterdam, one to Madagascar, while the other went to South Korea... like that. They all worked with an international organization that promotes environmental education, and I believe they work to promote school programs. Every now and again, they would meet together as a group... couples reforming... and have a few weeks of fun before heading out again.... independently. I swear.... the experience they described sounded intoxicating in itself!! Talk about living with a capital L!
After all this traveling, they could not have been more kind... and soon we were all laughing and playing some card game I had never played before.... the live Rasta music jammed... the beer flowed.... it was so much fun! I really felt like a rock star.. I have to admit! Here is the view looking the other way from the Rasta Bar. Yes, the water was that close!:
So... somewhere this first night, as we were playing cards and laughing, who should appear but the FRENCH group whom I had first seen on the bus heading to Port Barton. Well, what I didnt mention in my last post was that in PB, as I was sharing happy hour with Dan and his fam, this group arrived at Cassandra's Cottages looking for a place to stay. I got a chance then to meet Damion, Anneleu, and Alexandra. They seemed like great people but were having trouble finding a place to lay their heads. Anyway... here they show up again at the Rasta Bar... and I quickly introduced them to my other group of friends..... well, this was turning into quite the party, huh!??
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