From El Nido, I made my way by overnight boat to Coron. There are a few ways to travel between El Nido and Coron, but the cheapest is the night cargo ship, and seeing as I was at the end of my trip and on a budget, I chose this. I was with a few others from El Nido who were also heading the same way, so we boarded, found our cots and settled in. This was at about 11pm, and at 5am, we actually left the port. What can I say, it was going to be another long, hot boat ride, but it was going to be my last long, hot boat ride for a while, so I embraced it.
After arriving, we made our way to a guesthouse that was situated closer to town and closer to the dive shops, and minutes after dropping my bag and heading out to sit on the upstairs balcony, I looked down and saw Flo walking across a bridge in the distance. I called out to him and ran down to meet him. We had talked about meeting up here, but we’d both had sporadic internet connections and I wasn’t sure if he’d been able to get a flight or not. Fortunately, he had and we had run into each other. Unfortunately, Marty, my other Frenchie had ventured North to the rice paddies for treking, so we were minus one.
Still, Guillaume, who I had met in El Nido was also with us in Coron, and I couldn’t wait to introduce him to Flo. We headed out for dinner locally and had a blast catching up on the last few weeks and sharing our past adventures with Guillaume. We adopted Guillaume for the rest of our time in Coron. We arranged some awesome wreck diving, spent the days on the water and spent the evenings at a local grill that we couldn’t get enough of.
It was about this time that I wanted to hit pause. My time in Coron was slipping away. Soon it would be time to head back to Manila to begin the journey home. I was envious of those around me who were just starting out, and those who still had months left on their journeys. It was all beginning to sink in that this chapter was coming to a close. Still, I had been adamant about not slipping into “home” mode and had truly milked everyday of my time in the Philippines for all it was worth.
On one of my last nights in Coron, Flo and I ventured out to buy a decent bottle of wine. His parents had recently flown over from France to meet him for some diving and they had brought him some foie gras. We decided to pop open some vino, and have one of our traditional happy hours, complete with appetizers. Not too long after, Guillaume showed up with a bottle of Matador Brandy. It was his last night, so we bid farewell and I told him I hoped to see him at Friendly’s Guesthouse in Manila in 2 days time.
Two mornings later, I was saying a final goodbye to Flo and making my way to the airport to fly back to Manila. Getting on this flight was more upsetting than the entire journey home because it was the beginning of the end. Everyone else was staying on in Coron and venturing off to the next port of call. I had to part with the group and make my way. It was really sinking in now that this was the end of my journey.
