SWIMMING

Getting sun burnt for the first time!

PATUNGAN BEACH

One of my favourite sports has always been swimming although I'm not really a confident swimmer in very deep waters. Whilst I was in the Philippines I got to visit my uncles and aunties that I don't get to see very often, even when I am home in the Philippines. One of them is my Aunt Liezel and she lives in Batangas which is about a two or three hour drive from Laguna, which is where I am from. Whenever we left to visit her we would always go at around 4 or 5 am just to beat the traffic because the traffic in the Philippines is nothing like the traffic here.

Our first destination was Patungan Beach. I had never swam in the sea before and I was really surprised at how salty the water was. It felt like drinking a glass of water that was mixed with a whole bottle of salt. The waves were stronger on the edge rather than when you go in and the water was cloudy at the start but the deeper you went the bluer it became but I didn't go that far because I can't stay in deep waters. We got to the beach at around 7 and swam in it all morning. The reason we went so early was so that we wouldn't be swimming in the scorching heat but as you can see from the subheading I was silly and forgot to put sunblock on my shoulders. I've never been burnt before so I wasn't all that bothered about sunblock and so I payed the price. By the end of that day my shoulders became this red colour and for about a week onward my shoulder bag became my hand bag.  I had lots of fun and I think I became a little bit more confident in deeper water. It was nice to see all my family but the adventure didn't stop there. After the beach and after eating, my cousins wanted to go to Talon Falls, I don't go to the Philippines that often so I was definitely going. We took a tricycle (not the kids one if you're wondering) from the beach up to this bridge and from there we had to walk through the forest for about 20 minutes to get to Talon Falls. The excitement began once you heard the crashing of water and when we got there the first thing you'll notice is how clear the water is and also how cold it was even though the weather was around 35 degrees. It wasn't a heavy waterfall and people were sliding down it, I wanted to slide down it myself but the water was deep at the end of the water fall and the push of the water would push me down to much. We took lots of pictures, above and below the water and we were all shivering at the end. It was amazing to swim in the sea and at the waterfall and I hope to go back there whenever I go back to the Philippines. And for those out there wondering, no wellies were lost. ;)