The time I went to heaven and back- El Nido, Philippines

This is a story I share at every opportunity and now that I have joined the steemit family your about to hear it.

For the last year or so I have been travelling around Europe and Asia while doing voluntary work in a few hospitals. Now I havn't travelled the globe by any means but i've travelled a fair part of it. By far one of the most breathtaking places I have ever layed eyes on; a place where the shades of blue in the water change every few minutes, a place where crystal clear water meets the golden sands of its many islands... the beautiful El Nido in the Philippines.

3 flights, 2 of which were delayed on top of a 6 hour bus ride-about 30 hours in total to finally reach my destination and boy was it worth it. Here are a few snaps from my trip.

The beautiful archipelago of El Nido

There are 4 main tours that are offered tours A-D, I highly recommend tours A and C which were my personal favourite, the small lagoon is truly mesmerising and there are plenty of amazing snorkelling opportunities.

Kayaking in the small logoon

One of the best things about this trip was that it was not overpopulated with tourists compared to the island hopping tour I did in the Philippines where you cant see the sand past 5 metres because of the shear number of people; in el nido our group of 6 had the whole islands to ourselves at times! so make sure you go sooner rather than later.

The time we had the entire island to oursleves + shades of blue and gold

The crazy rock structures that you cant literally stare at all day.

Although there is much to see on the tours one of the most humbling things I saw was how incredible the locals were. Considering most of these people live in poverty they always have a beautiful smile to grace you with. Nobody on the tours would as much as dare to ask for a tip and these guys make pennies! A truly humbling experience and a constant reminder that true happiness lays not in wealth but in the love of our surroundings.