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At last! the answers to the questions of whats been going on for the last 3 weeks! I swear time is going by faster and faster & it seems like only yesterday i left Hong Kong. Here goes!
Such is the way of the backpacker, the night before leaving Hong Kong I didnt know much about my next destination, the Philippines. It (along with South Korea) were late additions to my itinerary, but both turned out to be tremendous places. I flew in to the capital Manila, and upon arrival changed terminals and booked a ticket to take me directly to Boracay Island. Didnt really know much about the place, but it turned out to be a real blessing.
Boracay's Frendz Resort would be my base for the next 10 days or so, and with one of the best mix of people Ive ever met, we took the island by storm. On my first night, we had dinner on the beach, sitting on comfortable pillows, eating Mongolian bbq and drinking fantastic San Miguel beer. I arrived after sundown so it wasnt really until the next day when I went for a walk to familiarize myself with the area that I saw the amazing "White beach", with its clear blue water, white sands and perfectly proportioned amounts of people sunbathing and enjoying various water activities. This was my first beach in Asia and it was very welcomed indeed.
On that same day, I was offered a seat on rented boat by two people I had met at the airport the previous night, who took me for a cliched "amazing" day of snorkeling (which was so good it was like looking into a screen-saver), a ful seafood lunch prepared for us by the locals on an island away from Boracay called "Crystal Cove" where we climbed down into caves and swam under the island, wide-eyed and excited. Exotic fish around our feet and crabs running across the walls resulted in not a single dull moment. In the evening we went for drinks and the first of 3 times that I would go to the utterly hillarious "fire dancers show", where 5/6 girls where ladieboys, twirling chains with fireballs attached, dancing and singing along to such classicly funny songs like Celine Dions "My Heart Will Go On, and Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas". So much personality, so professional but with good humor. You get the picture.
In the next week or so, every day was an eventful "first" of something. Sure there were days we only layed on the beach and had cocktails, but for me still a relativley new concept. 1hour massages, skim-boarding across the tiny crashing waves, frisbee and reading were everyday "beach day" activities. For the times in Boracay when we didnt just lay around all day, heres some of the highlights:
ATV'ing: Driving the 4-wheelers up to the highest point of the island with a great veiw of the entire stretch of beach, including a stop to an animal sanctuary (saw some huge lizards, BIG bats, monkeys and more exotic birds), and just the thrill of driving in an almost jungle like environment.
Cliff-Jumping!, by far the best day I had in Boracay. For 1200 Philippino peso, we got a boat for 6 hours taking us to another island an hour away, to go....yes, Cliff-Jumping! They had planks for us to jump from starting at maybe 5m, then 7m, 10m, 12m and finally approx. 15m, of which I was the first person to jump and the highest Ive ever jumped from in my life! (not including the 50m bungee in Korea^^) For the 1200p we also got snorkeling gear, a little boat to row around in, a delicious buffet lunch (best one I had in the Philippines) and if that wasnt enough, UNLIMITED drinks! You might think cliff-jumping and unlimited drinks is a bad combo..went surprisinlgy well! Some of the lads certainly were more brave after the 6th rhum & coke:)
Helmet Diving: This was a good one, didnt really know what to expect and when the boat stopped at the location and we saw the 25kg white helmets we'de be using, I was actually more nervous than for the bungee or the 15m cliff jump. Turned out to be, as mentioned, a complete highlight. 4m under the water for about 30 mins, feeding fish with bits of bread, looking like spacemen and not being able to hear anything other than your own thoughts and the echoes of the water splashing against your helmet. Damned good fun.
The Fight: Sunday the 14th, seeing Manny "Pac-Man" Paquiao vs Margarito on PPV has got to be the best boxing story ever. Sitting in a huge air-conditioned room ful of Philippinos, drinking beer, watching their absolut most popular figure and the nation's pride and joy, box, and win his 8th major title was the most electrifying sporting event Ive been to since TNA. The crowd chanting MANNY, MANNY, MANNY! laughing and shouting will surely make this my go-to boxing story for years to come.
Playing pool, going to clubs, eating amazing food, and lying in the sun make up for the rest of my time in Boracay. This was however only the first half of my trip. Part Two!:
The departure day was actually going to be Cliff-Jump day 2, but instead, myself, Jeremy the Swede and Tom the Israeli, spontaniously caught a flight to the second largest city in the Philippines, Cebu. The flight had an astonishing 19 people on it! BEAT THAT ANNYONE! so it felt like a private jet:p. Made our base at Cebu Guesthouse on Mango Avenue and on the next day, leaving most of our luggage behind, we caught a ferry, bus, Philippino jeepney & tricycle to go to the island of Bohol. Here, we did the 2 things worth doing on the island. Numero Uno was visiting the famous "Chocolate Hills" were the photoes will give you the best idea of what they are hehe. Slept one night on the Island at the Lonely Planet recommended "Nuts Huts", 750m down a run down muddy track leading off the main road in complete nomans land. Couldnt see a thing really at night when we arrived and absolutely crashed when I hit the bed, only to wake up the next morning to find myself in the deepest, wildest, greenest jungle I have ever layed eyes on. My hut, completely consistent of bamboo, placed only 7-8m away from a lush river at the bottom of an almost perfectly V shaped valley. Could have probably stayed for more than one night but we had to keep moving.
The second day on Bohol, we travelled for one hour sitting on the top of a jeepney going through the Island towards the very much famous "Tarsier Sanctuary" (When riding on the top of the jeepney I had a strong "Wish you could see me now!" feeling:) ). The Tarsier is the smallest primate in the world and looks like something between a monkey and a lemur. It has a rat like tail and is indiginous to pricisley Bohol, Philippines. Went with a guide into an enclosure where his job every morning was to go out and spot the Tarsiers for tourists. FUN!. Pictures are included.
Going back to Cebu, watching Home Alone 3 on the TV and mostly basketball on the TV in the Hostel was the rest of our day. We needed a plan as to what to do for the next 3-4 days before I had to make my way back to Manila. Myself, Tom and an englishman by the name of Ashley, decided on a southern town on Cebu Island, 3 hours away by bus, mostly known for its amazing diving spots named Moalboal. Here we didnt do any diving, but still had an absolut blast. One of funniest places for locals Ive seen around and have fond memories of even the simple things like going to the corner-shop and having breakfast. On the first day in Moalboal, we took a Jeepney to their "White beach" seeing as it had been a good 4 days since we had been in the water. The beach was not as white, or impressive as Boracay, but a delicious mango shake and a refreshing swim still made it a well spent afternoon. The evenings in Moalboal were spent drinking and playing pool.
The second day was the best. Hired a trike for the full day and went to the awesome Kawasan Falls 40mins outside of Moalboal. Swam in the cool freshwater river/lake and played around under the crashing flow of the 'fall. Gorgeous scenery even I couldnt help stopping and taking in for a good long while. After that our driver had offered to take us, and did, to yes.....a Cockfight Arena. We watched two fights, both bloody and grotesque, but still retaining some value of entertainment. Its wrong, but one of those things you just cant seem to take your eyes off! They had a scoreboard, betting and a rucus crowd. The roosters were given sharp blades taped to their tallons and needless to say, it was a violent display, leaving me with no desire to order chicken for the next.....many days. 3rd day we returned to Cebu.
In Cebu, the decision was made that I would instead of flying, take a 24 hour ferry from Cebu City to Manila. Went to see the new Harry Potter on the last night hehe, first cinema in Asia! Enjoyed.
The ferry was an experience for sure. Wont go into much detail but lets just say it would have been a helluva lot nicer to fly. One of those things similar to Hong Kongs "Chungking Mansions", its absolute s***, but fun to say youve done it.
Arrived in Manila, 2 days before my flight to Bangkok. I had heard stories of the nations capital and had absolutely no desire to go out an explore this one. My insitincts were justified as the city proved to be tretchorous, dirty, annoying, dishonest and unhelpful. However, spent most of my time in a lovely hostel and did a spot of shopping in a mall close by. 6 hours were spent to upload the pictures dating back to China on to this blog and many a coca cola later, I was so tired I easily went to sleep untill my flight at 7am in the morning.
Overall thoughts on the Philippines: Boracay was my favourite, reasons being the comraderie, the amazing beach, the relaxed vibe, the parties and the events. I found the people to be overall friendly, but somewhat annoying. You get tired of the feeling that to them you look like a walking talking money-bag. Climate is LUSH and the country itself is pretty great. Ill consider coming back one day for sure, but it would most likely only be with friends to go to Boracay, and there are quite a few destinations and uncharted terretory elsewhere to conquer first:)
Sorry again for the delay ya'll, Ill be better now that im on my 3rd Gap Tour and staying in hotels for the next month. Currently in Siem-Reap, Cambodia and will be doing the next blog after accumulating a few new amazing stories. Peace and love!
Mattis
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SANDER maybe one of youre best blogs bro:)
mattis THANKS BRO! glad you liked it^^ miss me? haha
Malin Fy skamme seg! du støtte opp om grusomheten bare ved å gå på ein hanekamp! Då tror di folkså at turistane suns d e kult å fortsette me d ennå mer! Fysj å fysj! Udenom d veldig bra blogg som din bror sa! :D keep it up! kjekkt å lesa om koss du har d! sjøl sitte eg midt i eksamensdritt å slide meg, å d e passe deprimeranes! drømme meg litt vekk i din blogg då vettu;) Hav fun and take care! love
Fran Great blog post! Now I'm TOTALLY jealous! We're in the snow and icy weather in London now. .. Glad you're having an ace time :-)