The long trek home

Although our flight from El Nido wasn’t until 11.55, the schedule for boat departures from Miniloc Island meant that we had to be up at 5.15 to catch the 6.00 boat. The next one wasn’t until 10.00 which would have been cutting it too fine.

The boat ride was quite quick and, being a larger boat, less splashy than on our arrival. There was a lovely sunrise sky over the islands around the bay.

El Nido

At the jetty we were transferred to a minibus for the short drive to the tiny airport. At the security screening by the entrance we were told we couldn’t check in until 9.55. With almost no space or seating in that area this could have been a problem, but as it turned out we were instead allowed to do so immediately. The resort had provided us with a voucher giving us access to a comfortable lounge where we were welcomed with an offer of coffee and water. We were carrying some sandwiches provided by the resort so with the drinks we were able to enjoy a decent breakfast.

It was a long wait but having access to that lounge definitely made it more tolerable. At one point we heard our names called to come to the check-in desk, where we were allocated new seats further back in the plane ‘to balance the weight'.

Main departure area

We boarded on time, seen off by the friendly staff in the lounge. It was another small prop plane like the one we’d flown in to El Nido. I had a great view of some of the islands in the sea below.

The one and a half hour flight passed quite quickly and coming in to land in Manila I took more photos of the coast and approach.

Manila

Our bags had been marked as priority as we had a connection to make so were among the first to appear on the conveyor belt. We were soon exiting the airport to be met by the rep from Blue Horizons with whom we had booked a transfer to the International Airport. To get there from the Domestic Terminal it is necessary to exit the airport and drive a couple of miles on Manila’s busy roads. Our friendly driver recognised us, as it was he who had taken us to the airport from the City Garden Hotel for our flight to Bohol a week ago. We had a nice chat about our time in the Philippines and the usual comparison that people like to make between the temperature here in Manila (36 degrees today) and in London (15 degrees, warm for early March!)

He dropped us off at the terminal for Etihad flights and we went to the bag drop. There we learned that we had no option but to check our bags straight through to London as our layover in Abu Dhabi was ‘only 14’ hours. However we had booked a hotel for that layover in order to get a decent night’s sleep. As we'd packed all sorts of items necessary for that stay (toiletries, clean underwear, warm jacket for arrival) we had to hurriedly open the cases and fish things out. Luckily we had a useful tote bag that we'd been given at the Bohol Beach Club which we could use for these essentials. It also, of course, meant taking a lot of toiletries in liquid form through security, which is a hassle we try to avoid!

Anyway, once we were through into the departure lounge we found plenty of seating and a good choice of places to eat. We used up our remaining pesos on lunch (tuna sandwiches) and I bought some Filipino snacks as gifts for family. We then had a bit of a wait before boarding as I’d had to build enough slack into the schedule to allow for potential delays to our flight from El Nido. The airport had free WiFi, which helped pass the time.

We boarded and took off on time. It was dark by now and we could see from the bright lights below just how far Manila sprawls. It was too dark for photos and in any case it was Chris’s turn for the window seat.

A meal was served soon after take-off – a dull coleslaw-like salad with no dressing, quite good vegetable pasta and OK orange mousse.

Some flights seem to pass more quickly than others; this was not one of those flights. On the contrary, time really dragged. About an hour or so before landing we were served a snack – a flabby and weirdly flavoured pastry with an unidentifiable filling! I’d expected better from Etihad.

The good news was that we landed about 45 minutes early, soon after 11.30 pm local time (3.30 am Filipino time). As we were returning to the UAE on a still-valid visa we were able to use the e-gates and with no baggage to collect we were soon exiting the airport. I'd read references online to being able to walk to the Premier Inn from the terminal but there were no signs and the several people we asked kept pointing us towards the shuttle bus stop. With the shuttles running just hourly we were aware we'd probably just missed one so in the end we settled on splurging on a taxi. It proved the right decision as it was some distance to the hotel and we could clearly not have walked.

Once there check-in was swift and friendly, and we were in our room by 1.00 am and in bed very soon after – almost exactly 24 hours after getting up on Miniloc Island!

The final leg

Despite being up for 24 hours yesterday I didn’t sleep especially well, or long enough! We were both awake by around seven so decided to take advantage of the included breakfast. We might have been in Abu Dhabi rather than the UK but apart from a few small differences (sign indicating the direction of Mecca in our bedroom, provision of separate men's and ladies' prayer rooms) this was much as we would expect from a Premier Inn at home – comfortable bed, reasonably spacious room, pleasant if unexciting decor. And the same was true of the buffet breakfast which added hummus and olives to the usual offerings of cereal, bacon, eggs, hash browns, pastries etc. We had a relaxed meal before returning to our room to sort our bags and make use of the WiFi to send a few messages.

We checked out mid-morning and this time were able to make use of the free shuttle. We were at the airport in good time and with no luggage to drop off were quite quickly through security. There was plenty of time for a coffee before going to our gate. As we’d discovered last time, the gate areas at this airport are well thought-out with plenty of comfortable seating. But we were glad to finally board the plane. However, we had to wait a while before take-off as one of the toilets wasn’t flushing properly and they had to call an engineer. Luckily they managed to fix it as we weren’t keen on the idea that we might all have to disembark and wait for another plane (or planes!) to be found.

Compared to yesterday’s flight this one seemed to pass more easily despite being only an hour shorter. The meal was decent (braised lamb and a chocolate mousse), I found an OK film to watch (This where I leave you) and otherwise amused myself with some online activity (WiFi cost just $9.99) and reading.

We landed on time and having not seen our luggage since checking in at Manila airport more than 24 hours ago, were glad to see it appear on the carousel. And as always, we were equally glad to be living so close to Heathrow and to be arriving home within an hour or so of landing.