It was a short flight over from Cebu to Clark at just 1 hour and 10 minutes. We actually arrived late to the hotel which ate into our layover time a little bit too. But after checking in, we changed quickly and arranged to meet downstairs to organise our trip for the next day and maybe grab a bite to eat. I had been recommended by a friend to visit a volcanic spa not far from the hotel. When speaking with the concierge, he told us about the trip which was quite pricey. However, as there were eight of us, it made it a little cheaper and we arranged for the 7am tour the next morning. With it being quite late in the evening now, options were limited for food. So we decided to call it a night, and just grab room service in our rooms before having a good nights rest.

Waking bright and early the next morning, I met the rest of the crew downstairs and we jumped in the bus over to Puning Hotspring and Spa.

We walked into a beautiful open spa setting with so much gorgeous greenery around us. We were a little early, so we had to wait around 5-10 minutes until they were ready for us, so we wandered the grounds whilst we waited.

For some reason, they also had us change into the most hilariously unflattering matching outfits before we could be taken anywhere.

Then we were taken up the mountain side on a 4×4 off roading experience in windowless jeeps. It was a brilliant way to get up the hot springs and also offered gorgeous views along the way.

Then it was time to relax in the 11 different hot spring pools the spa had to offer and the best thing was we had the place entirely to ourselves. Talk about rest and relaxation on a layover. We spent the morning soaking up the sun, chatting in the different heated pools and resting before our flight back to Dubai. What more could a girl want?

After a couple of hours, we went back into the Jeeps for stage two of our day. Our volcanic sand and mud pack treatment. We were all a little unsure of what it was going to entail, but we all went along to what was probably one of the weirdest spa experiences I have encountered…

It began by having us lay down one by one and essentially have someone bury you alive. You were covered from the neck down in hot volcanic sand and then someone would come and walk across your body. It did feel a little nice, but it was also incredibly weird. The sand was actually very heavy and after a few minutes you could feel parts of your body pulsing and you started to really sweat. The treatment is to help with circulation which as crew is something we should definitely try to improve, and they had us laid down for 30 minutes.

When we finally were pulled out of the sand we were very sandy and very sweaty and they brushed off the majority of the sand with a brush before sending us over to some beds to apply masks and scrubs.

Back in the jeeps and still covered in sand, mud and masks it was back to the main station to shower before a buffet lunch. All of us hadn’t eaten yet and had worked up quite an appetite and we ate til we could eat no more before calling it a day back at the hotel.

Not many crew know about this place but I would really recommend it. Yes, it’s a little obscure and not like your standard spa day, but Clark doesn’t have much else to offer other than nightlife, casinos and massages. So if you want to embrace the local cultures definitely take a trip up to Puning Hotsprings. We paid 4350 pesos (£60) each, which for Asia is very expensive but the more crew you are the more discounted it is, and everyone said how much of a fun day they had and thanked me for organising/suggesting. For anyone who wants more details on pricing, this is a quick photo I took of the information sheet!

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