... and the saga continues ...

 

Leaving a seedy hotel is always easy, so we had no problem getting up and out when the alarm went off. The only concern I had at the airport was the policy for knives with blades longer that twelve inches... but if it is in a checked bag pretty much anything goes. A short wait and the shortest flight I have ever been on (~35 min) and we arrived at the Kalibo “airport” which was nothing more than a glorified shed with a conveyor belt for luggage.

 

Since haggling is the standard practice in the Philippines (if you have time for it) we again knocked a few pesos off of the one and a half hour mini-van ride from Kalibo to Caticlan where the ferry finally took us twenty minutes to Boracay an hour or so after sunset. We took yet ANOTHER form or transportation (a tricycle) to Boat Station #1 where we were on our own to find Frendz resort among the scores of other establishments, and we eventually did after wandering around on the beach just to feel the fine white sand between our toes (keep your sandals on?!?).

 

Again there was much confusion about where everyone was going to stay since only 8 or 10 people had been booked for and the remaining 4-2 weren’t sure where they would stay. I tried to stay out of it (with little success), but eventually retired to the Frendz bar knowing that I had a place since I had booked it! When I got there I met Steve, the owner with whom I had been emailing back and forth, his wife, and a friend of his named Jim. They were a supremely nice lot (read with a thick british or aussie accent) and garnished me with a free welcome drink which I graciously accepted while we chatted about nothing in particular for half an hour or so. Then I made my way to the beach for a group dinner complete with amazingly fresh seafood (Mahi Mahi, shrimp, squid, you name it) at Cafe del Mar where we were literally in the water after the tide came in. We had not even seen it during the day and we were still in shock from the crisp beauty of the place. So a good night of partying wearing nothing but a swim suit and a t-shirt and it was off to bed!

 

The next two days were pretty much surreal and I couldn’t even give the order in which things happened 1) because it didn’t/doesn’t matter and 2) I didn’t see a clock for three days (aside from the ones that scores of locals were trying to sell us). The following is a list of things that did happen to the best of my recollection:

 

- swimming

- night swimming (clothing optional)

- three hour sailboat trip to a snorkeling spot and back. I

  even got to sail to boat! We also encountered a ‘pirate’    

    disguised as a park ranger who tried to collect a

    ‘snorkeling fee’ which I refused to pay.

- if it was not implied before: snorkeling in a reef

- one hour full body massage for $7 USD

- cheap shopping

- haggling the prices even lower

- eating fabulous sea and non-sea food

- sunbathing

- coed water wrestling (clothing optional)

- drinking at the nightclubs (in nothing but swim trunks)

- when even that was too expensive, PHP65 bottles of rum on the

    beach

- wandering around aimlessly

- only worrying about how to avoid sunburn

- other stuff that escapes me at the moment

 

All of the fun and sun did catch up to some of us, luckily I got it on the last day and didn’t miss much. The rest is almost too tragic to write about.

 

21-Feb-07: Up at 5:20 for the reverse trip to Manila. Waiting in Manila for a while for the return trip to HK. There it is. Now go to Boracay before it disappears!!!

 

So the Philippines was a great trip and either we did the trip perfectly (two days hiking, two days lounging) or the Philippines don’t get enough hype (never mind MILF - Moro Islamic Liberation Front)! No one died or even got seriously injured (with the exception of the small boy in Cambulo), we laughed more than we cried, and we sweated more than we laughed (i.e: constantly). I don’t think that any of us would have a problem going back in the future (unless it gets even more touristy), but for our limited stay in South East Asia... there remains much to be discovered!

 

 

Pictures:

 

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