El Nido
Things to do in El Nido
- Islandhopping tours:
- Tour A: 7th Commando, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Big Lagoon, Small Langoon
The highlights on this Tour were the beautiful Beach & snorkeling at 7th Commando and renting a kayak in the Small Lagoon! (regular Price: 1.200 Pesos) - Tour B: Snake Island, Cathedral Cave, Cudugnon Cave, Pinagbuyutan Island, Entalula Island (regular Price: 1.300 Pesos)
- Tour C:
Matinloc Shrine, Secret Beach, Helicopter Island, Hidden Beach, Talisay Beach
(regular Price: 1.400 Pesos) - Tour D:
Pasandigan Beach, Cadlao Lagoon, Paradise Island, Ipil Beach, Bukal Beach
(regular Price: 1.200 Pesos) - The regular prices for the tours include 200 pesos environmental fee, which you have to pay once and than you can use this for 10 days.
The day we did Tour A, something didn’t work out with our environment permission, so we didn’t pay for it. Our price for tour A was 700 pesos.
- Tour A: 7th Commando, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Big Lagoon, Small Langoon
- Explore the beaches around:
- las Cabanas is about 8 minutes by tricycle away and the sunsets are amazing. It is also a good spot to go snorkelling!
- Nacpan Beach:
This is a little further away, about 45 minutes by Tricycle. This is one of my favourite beaches I have ever been to!
- Rent a Kayak:
- Go scuba diving:
Palawan is a great place to go scuba diving and exploring the underwater would. It is a little more expensive than in Thailand or a few other places in Asia, but it is just great there.
Prices are about:
2 dives 2.500-3.000 pesos
3 dives 3.000 – 3.500 pesos
Accommodation in El Nido
- Tandikan beach cottages:
For sure not the best, but one of the cheapest accommodations in El Nido with beach view. 900 pesos per night and coffee in the morning is included. - Rover’s Pension:
This Pension has very nice rooms with Air Con and a nice bathroom. - Entalula beach: A really nice room with a perfect beach view.
Restaurants in El Nido
- Trattoria altrov’é
Very good Italian restaurant, which serves huge pizzas and the best mango shake in town!
We love the Pepperoni Pizza, which we shared a few times. - The Art Cafe
One of the most popular cafes/bars in El Nido, with a nice beach view. - Squidos
This is a little place which serves good food. I Love the Spaghetti with seafood, but we also went there a few times for breakfast. Try the Mango Shake too.
Why You Should Never Book A Guided Tour
After 5 weeks of traveling South East Asia we wanted to do our first guided tour to The Underground River in Palawan. This is a one day tour and includes lunch. The price is 1.541 pesos, which is about 30€ each. We were four people, so 120€ all together, which we thought it was a little expensive, but we decided to go anyway.
We were picked up at our accommodation (bamboo nest) at 8.00 am and picked a few others up at their hotels.
Then we drove one hour in direction to The Underground River and stoped at one of their shops. I am sure that this was a stop to make us buy food and drinks, and they tried to sell stuff for the the trip. There was a sign posted, telling you that you need drinks, a hat, a flashlight, sunscreen, mosquito repellent, and a few more things, which you can (what a surprise!) buy in their little shop!
We picked up our tour guide there, who started to sell shit, as soon as he took place in the minivan. He told us about caveing, ziplining and other options.
After 30 more minutes we stoped at the Urging Rock Adventures, where we finally realized that this is a complete tourist trap!
They showed us a little movie of people doing the cave tour and the ziplining and having sooo much fun.
But of course you have to pay extra for all of that. And no you can not do only the ziplining, you have to go through the cave first.
All the others who don't what to pay more money to the tour company, which was trying to up sell us, should wait there for one hour. At the urging rock adventures are a massage salon and a little food stand, where they tried to squeeze more money out of tourists.
One girl who came with us wanted to use her GoPro for the ziplining, but she was not allowed to us it on the zip line because they have a professional photographer who takes photos for an additional fee. Or she could have paid another 100 pesos to use her own one!
For the 120€ we could have booked a taxi driver for the whole day, who is honest and not tricky and would have taken us to the underground river and an amazing beach in the afternoon!
The Price is about 750 pesos each if you do it on your own and you save a lot of Money, nerves and time :)
The Underground River is amazing and definately worth a visit!
Please do yourself the favour and don't be a tourist, be a traveler!
Do individual explorings instead of making the rich people even richer.
Why I Quit My Job To Travel The World
Back home in Germany I had a very good job as a Online Marketing Manager, but to travel the world was always in my mind. And to be honest, I love my Job and i want to be in the online branche forever.
The last years I spent my vacations in Thailand, Cambodia, Bali and i did a Cruise Ship Tour from New York to Bermuda, Bahamas, Miami and a few more citys on the east coast back to NY.
This is my World Map on the wall back home in Germany, where I pin my flags in the citys I have been to. But it is not up to date anymore ;-)
But it was never enough for me to go only once a year to a special place in the World. I Love to travel to foreign countries, discover amazing destinations, talk to locals and go on adventures.
Some photos of my last travels:
Bikini Time at the Church Bay Beach, Bermudas
Pyramides in Cairo, Egypt
Skybar in New York, USA
Beach Swing on the Island Koh Tao, Thailand
Getting a henna tattoo at Kuta Beach in Bali, Indonesia
Taking Photos on the Cruise Ship AIDA
Elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Thanks to Mum and Dad, who introduced me to traveling when I was little and took me on vacations to Turkey, Croatia, Italy, England, ..
Every time I came back from a nice holiday trip and had to work again, I got so sad and I thought this can not be everything in life: work from Monday till Friday, have two days off and 25 vacation days a year.
How can I travel to all these amazing places, which are on my bucket list, like Philippines, South Africa, Argentina, California, the Caymans, ...?
Then I met Jeremy on my trip to Thailand last year and he shares the passion for traveling with me.
So one rainy day in the cold German winter we had the idea of the travel blog and started it a few days later to share our storys and inspire other open minded people.
Our blog is born ;-)
AND WE DECIDED TO TRAVEL THE WORLD 
In the blogging process we got a lot of travel ideas, like the Croatian road trip, which we did in May and the Europe Road Trip (Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain) with my convertible car and of course the south east Asia trip, what we are doing at the moment
It was a very hard decision to quit my save job, pass on a fix income and say goodbye to Family and Friends for awhile.
Unfortunately I could not do a sabbatical year at work, which would have given me more security, but when the world is your home, you can get a job anywhere!
It was a very good decision and I feel so free and relaxed, have a lot of positive energy and love my life far away from home. I am young now and this is the best time in my life to life abroad!
Of course there were moments, in which I was afraid and had doubts about my travel the world plan, but I always asked to myself: "what is the worst, that could happen?"
And there is an answer for every question:
- I would not enjoy traveling or miss home:
- --> I could book a flight ticket home every day and go back home.
- Back home I would not find a job right away:
- --> I could always stay with my parents or friends for a few weeks/month till I find a new job.
- I would run out of money:
- --> I could fly home and apply for jobs
So you will always be ok and where there is a will, there is a way!
So be brave and go for what you want and what makes you happy. You live only once! At the end you will regret only the things you didn't do in life!
Do what you love, do it often and always travel with an open mind!
I painted this one year ago and everything is so true!
Love,
Ina
P.S.: If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me in the comments below or send me an email to ina@openmindtravelers.com
The L Resort Krabi - The best Hotel in Krabi
The L Resort Krabi at the beautiful Ao Nang Beach is amazing. It is in the middle of the main beach promenade and the location could not be better, you have everything you need around: the beach right in front of the Hotel, opportunities to go shopping and buy souvenirs, go out to eat or have drinks or enjoy a traditional massage.
Jeremy and me stayed in the L Suite and we had such a great time. There is a large bedroom with the best bed I've ever slept in Thailand! The L Resort Krabi is a really cozy and lovely hotel, which we can highly recommend to everybody!
The L Resort Krabi - The Place To Be
In the living room was a sofa and a chair to relax and watch tv. A second flat screen was in the bed room.
The bathroom had a huge rainshower and a bathtube as well. Everything was perfectly clean and prepared very nice for us!
And the best: you have a perfect view of the ocean from the living and the bed room. We really love this place!
With love for detail The L Resort Krabi provides everything you could wish for in the room:
In the bathroom they have a comb, a nail file, a shaving kit, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner and body lotion and more ready for you. In the living room of The L Resort Krabi is a coffee maker, a mini bar with snacks and you get 2 bottles of water for free every day.
They also provide a docking station for your iPad to listen to your own music in your hotel room. Isn't that great?
You can also spend time in the outdoor pool with a refreshing waterfall or relaxing in the Jacuzzi.
At the moment The L Resort is doing some constructions to improve their bungalows to a modern style and eco-conscious rooms. * update: We just saw pictures of The L Resort after finishing the constructions and it looks awesome! We need to go back soon!!!
You can find further information on www.thelresort.com.
For requests or questions you can send an Email to grm@thelresort.com
If you are going to Krabi beach I highly recommend The L Resort, it is the place to be :)
Enjoy your time in Thailand!
Find and book your accommodation here!
18 Days After My Scooter Accident
On 22nd of September i had a Scooter accident 30km east of Chiang Mai on our way to the highest mountain in Thailand.I feel much better by now, but I still have to take care of my foot and knee because my wounds are still not really closed.
The first few days after the accident I had very bad dreams about what happened. I could be dead, I lost my helmet while I fall, but my head, face or backbone is fine.
I was so lucky and I guess a had a guardian angel.
I am so glad, that nothing really bad happened and nothing is broken.
But I am still afraid of riding on the back of a scooter. I did it twice now, but I didn't feel good.
The roads here in Thailand are not the best, but the Thai people drive their scooter with so much confidence and actually I know that I am pretty save.
After the accident we spent one Week in Chiang Mai, and i Could not Leave our Hostel often. I had a very hard Time to walk or bend my knee.
Jeremy took good care of me and cleaned my wounds a few times a day with h2o2 and betadine, which helped a lot because it is antispectic and also drys it out a little.
After one week in Chiang Mai I felt better and we drove to Pai by bus, because Pai is such a good place to recover.
It was an about 3 hours ride on a windy road, but absolutely worth it.
We had a nice little bungalow in a cute garden for only 5€ a night.
The location was perfect, because it was 1 minute away from one of the Main Streets by the night market.
We really loved to eat at the night market and it was a good training for my foot and knee to walk a little every day!
We went back to Chiang Mai and took a flight to the south of a Thailand.
Now we are on the beautiful island of Koh Tao, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the sound of the ocean.
Yesterday I thought it is a good idea to go in the ocean, because the salt water can help the wounds to heal. At first I went in the sea only with my feet and that felt so good and it did not burn on the wound at all.
So a few hours later we bought snorkeling equipment and I went in the sea completely.
My scab on my foot fell of and the new skin looks really good and I feel so much better.
My knee will take a few more days, it looks still a little deep, but I am happy that I am making progress so fast and I can walk almost normal already.
Thanks everybody for your support!
Things to Do in Thailand: I Love Night Markets
One of My favorite things to do in Thailand is going to the night markets.
I really love the amazing atmosphere, the friendly locals and the delicious food in the streets of Thailand.
Let my show you one of the best in Thailand: Pai night market
I love to walk through the streets and fill my tummy with the Thai food and yummy fruit shakes. And everything is so cheap!
Delicious BBQ beef, pork, chicken and fish skewers
These chicken skewers are soooo good
In Germany you pay more for one single passion fruit than here for the whole fresh made fruit shake.
My favorite shake: passion fruit mixed with mango!
One fruit shake a day, keeps the doctor away :)
Here are the prices you pay for food, Drinks, etc.:
Chicken/pork skewer: 5 baht (0,13€)
Plain rice: 5 baht (0,13€)
5 Dumplings: 20 baht (0,50€)
Seafood skewer: 40-80 baht (1-2€)
Thai Pancake with Nutella and banana: 30 baht (0,75€)
Fruit shake: 30 baht (0,75€)
T-Shirts: 100 baht (2,50€)
1h Thai Massage: 150 baht (3,75€)
I dont want to tell you to much, just go and enjoy!!!
To which Night markets have you been so far?
Let me know your favorite Night markets in the comments below!
I Want To Be A Dive Master
My day started out pretty typical considering I'm in Pai. I woke up around 10:30, which would make it the 3rd day in a row that I missed breakfast at the guesthouse. Im renting out a small garden bungalow in Pai for the week where the owner serves free coffee and fresh fruit in the mornings but I haven't been up early enough to try it. It's all good though, I was in the mood for a big meal anyway. So I decided to grab lunch at the Pai Cafe. I grabbed a seat on the patio and checked out the menu. Most of the food that is served here is Western, what I mean by that is it ain't your typical rice and noodle joint. Don't get me wrong, I love rice and noodles but after being in Thailand a few weeks I needed a change in my diet. It was perfect because the Pai Cafe serves burgers, pasta, sandwiches, nachos, you name it.
I ordered myself a coconut before finally deciding on the Chicken Avocado Burger. Coming from California I am pretty loyal to my California Avos and I rarely like to step out of my "Avo Comfort Zone" due to some bad exeriences at places like Yankee Stadium (whatever you do don't add the guac on your nachos) and others but I figured I'd give it a go with trying some Thai grown avocados.
While I was waiting for my order I noticed trucks driving up to the cafe every couple of minutes. They were dropping different things every time. First it was tomatos and lettuce, another time the truck dropped off some meat. The final delivery that I saw was a huge sack of fresh green avocados. I was thinking to myself, "this dude just came in his tiny truck and dropped off the ingredients to my lunch." By the time I saw all of this I was dying to get my order.
When it finally came I was so impressed. The burger was huge. There was a good piece of chicken on the burger and good amount of avocado on the side for me to add. "It comes with fries?" I wasn't expecting that but my order came with freshly made french fries. Today was shaping up to be an other great day in Pai.
After lunch I took a walk down the Pai square and noticed a little massage parlor advertising a 1 hour Thai massage for 150 baht (about $4 US) so I decided to stop in. "Sawadi ka" I heard as I approached the entrance. 'Sawadi ka' is the phrase a female uses to greet others (for men it's 'Sawadi kap'). The Thai language is so difficult but try to learn some and use it, it will earn a couple of extra points when interacting with the locals. I laid down on the massage mat and the nice lady began to work her magic. I don't know what it is but I do some of my best thinking when I'm getting a massage. I know I'm supposed to relax but I sometimes I can't stop my mind from wandering off.
While the nice lady proceeded to make prezil out of my extremities I started to think about what I wanted my next step to be. It's been a year since I quit my job to travel the world and so far I have had the time of my life. One thing I learned throughout my journey is that it's not so much about where you go, it's about who you become that truly makes the journey special. It feels like I've been on this race around the world trying to collect flags to put on my map and I want to change gears for a bit. I want to settle some place and get really good at something. By the end of the hour I had made up my mind. I finally decided what I want to do next. I want to become a Dive Master.
I earned my PADI Open Water Diver Certificate last year on my trip to Koh Phi Phi and from then I knew I wanted to continue further and what better time to start than now? And what better place to train than Koh Tao?
I booked my flight and ferry for the 6th of October that will take me from Chiang Mai, in the north of thailand, to the beautiful, sunny island of Koh Tao.
This is a new journey for me and I haven't figured it all out yet but I'm excited to start something completely different from what I'm used to.
If you have any advice or tips for someone wanting to become a Dive Master please comment below. Thanks for the support and I will update you all soon.
Jeremy
Do what you love,
Do it often,
And always travel with an open mind.
Muay Thai Boxing in Chiang Mai
Muay Thai Boxing is very traditional in Thailand and you can see fights for example in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, etc.It is also called "the art of eight limbs", because the fighters can use their 2 hands, 2 arms, 2 knees and 2 legs to attack the enemy.
We saw a fight in Chiang Mai. The ticket price was 400 baht (10€) which includes a welcome drink, which was a little vodka+juice shot.
The event started at 9 pm and they had 7 fights this evening.
Sometimes they have international fights, where you can see German, Canadian, French, etc people fighting too.
Unfortunately not the evening we went.
Every fight can be up to 5 rounds and one round is 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the fighters weight.
At first very young boys were fighting and one kid has been knocked out in round number 1. That was very crazy to see and at the beginning I was so shocked that they have fun hitting and hurting their opponents. But they know how to do it and how to protect theirselves.
The next fights took a little longer but no one made it to round 5. But in one fight the guy felt down the barrier of the boxing ring and that was very scary to see, because we were not sure if he is ok or hurt. A few seconds later he could get up by his own and was able to walk!
Fight 5 was a girl fight, which was the best. The two girls were very concentrated and focused. It was a fight in which the opponents were quite equal strong, but at the end the taller girl got the other girl on the ground. She was very dizzy when she tried to stand up again. But 2 minutes after the fight I saw her typing on her phone, so I am sure she was fine again :)
After there was a funny fight with 4 people in the ring with covered eyes weaving around and trying to hit somebody.
The last fight was the main fight, which was definitely not the best, but it took 5 rounds.
Finally I can recommend to go and watch one Muay Thai boxing fight if you get the opportunity!
This is one of many things you can do in thailand!
Have you ever been to a Thai boxing fight? What experience did you make? What else can you recommend for Thailand?
Let me know in the commends below.
Renting A Scooter In Thailand- The Worst Day Of My Life
After one Day in the busy City Bangkok we had a Flight to Chiang Mai for 28€ per Person.There are buses and Trains too, which take about 12 to 16 Hours, and i thought the flight is much easier and not too expensive.
So After we arrived in Chiang Mai, we checked in at julies guesthouse, met a few People (many Germans), went out for a good Massage at friend Thai Massage and had a good evening at the Night market. That was an amazing day :)
We planed a Trip by scooters with 3 German Girls to the highest Mountain in Thailand for the Next Day.
So we woke up early to met the Girls for breakfast.
Jeremy knew a good Place to Rent scooters for only 100 Baht a Day and everybody got a Scooter for two days so we could camp in the Mountains for one night.
With our cool scooters we drove around the City of Chiang Mai to get used to it, but after 3 minutes the Police stoped us for a drivers licence control.
Of Course they could not understand the German Language and one of the girls showed her id card because she forgot the drivers licence in the Hostel. So we were fine and didn't have to pay...
After 15 minutes of Drive one of the Girls fell off the scooter, but fortunately she was fine.
We drove out of the City in direktion Mountains and the Street had a Little more curves.
Half way to the Mountains the scooter line was a gravel road and i guess i was on the break and the gas at the same time and then everything happened so quick: I lost controll and I fell off my scooter and woke up behind the guardrail.
I didn't know how bad it was, so i got up, asked one of the girls who were raiding behind me and stoped after my accident, to help me back over the guardrail.
Then I looked at me:
My knee looked very bad, there was a scary big hole in it and it started bleeding. There were a few other scratches on my foot, elbow, but nothing bad like my left knee. But I did not really feel the painting at this Moment.
Then I had to lay on the ground to not pass out.
Jeremy came and was shocked too. A few Thais were standing around me, one was pouring water over my knee to clean it and the the ambulance came to bring me to the hospital.
Jeremy was driving behind the ambulance and I came to San patong hospital, were the people were so nice and friendly.
They cleaned my wounds. Thanks for the local anesthesia :) and bandaged my elbow, foot and knee.
We went outside but I had to lay down again because otherwise I would passed out.
Jeremy brought me water and food and we were thinking what to do now.
We decided that I would wait for him to take his scooter back to Chiang Mai and he would get my scooter from the spot where the accident happened.
I needed to relax and fortunately I had no pains because of the anesthesia.
Jeremy planed to be back in 1 to 1,5 hours, but time went by and after waiting 2 hours I got so scared and texted him.
After a few more minutes I tried to call him but his phone was out of service.
I was so worried, It was almost dark outside and then sooo happy when I say him coming to the hospital after more than 2,5 hours.
It Took so Long because Jeremy had to find a ride to get My Scooter, after he gave his scooter back and that was very far. At First he had a tuktuk driver, who realized that it was really to far and then he got a truck, who Took him to the Spot where he left my scooter, but the scooter was not there anymore. He talked to a few people and found out that the Police Took My Scooter. So Jeremy had to get to the police station to get the scooter, we were lucky that they did not charge us. He had to put up with a lot this day.
The bandages were a little bloody so we went in the hospital again and the friendly nurses cleaned my wounds again and recommended a close guesthouse for the night.
That was one of the worst days in my life so far.
But at the end I am so happy that nothing really bad happened. My head is ok although i lost my helmet during the fall, nothing is broken and my spinal is fine too.
I just need to have patience now.
We are in Pai at the moment and I have time to recover.
Thank you so much Jeremy for everything you are doing for me!!!
And here are a few horrible photos:
Packing List - how to pack a backpack
We are leaving Germany in a few days and are flying to Kopenhagen and two days later to Thailand. We are going to stay in Asia till the end of December.
So I want to show you today how to pack a suitcase or backpack and give you useful packing tips for your vacation.
I hope my travellist will help you if you don´t know what to pack for your trip. You can also download a Travel Checklist and print it out.
Packing List
Important Dokuments
- Passport, Visa (if needed) and photocopies
- Flight Tickets / E-Tickets
- Hotel reservations
- Credit Cards
- Traveler´s checks
- cash
- drivers license
- Insurance informations
- contact for credit card companies
- medical and vaccinations records
- student card
- diving license
- membership cards (AAA, etc.)
- passport photos
Clothing
- underwear
- shirts
- pants
- shorts
- sweaters
- dresses
- pyjamas
- jacket
- scarf
- belt
- socks
- shoes (sandals, flip flops, sneakers)
- hat
- laundry bag
- watch
- juwelery
personal items
- tooth brush
- tooth paste
- mouthwash
- floss
- soap
- face wash
- shower gel
- hair brush
- hair care products (shampoo, conditioner, gel, etc.)
- deodorant
- lip balm
- nail clippers
- nail polish and remover
- Q-tips
- cosmetics
- parfum
- tampons
- tissues
- shaver
- hairdryer
- glasses
- contact lenses
- sunglasses
- towels
- sleep mask
Beach accessoires
- swim wear
- beach towel
- sunscreen
- after sun lotion
- sunglasses
- sunhat
- beach bag
- dry sack
electronics
- camera
- iPhone
- kindle fire
- kindle paperwhite
- Macbook
- USB drive
- headphones / earbuds
- GoPro
- Selfie stick
- adapters
- chargers
- batteries
- extra memory card
first aid kid / medications
- painkillers
- cold medicine
- allergy pills
- tiger balm
- vitamins
Miscellaneous
- pen
- drinks
- food
- notebook
- detergent
- small wallet
You can download our Open Mind Travelers Packing List now.
ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!
