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Well we won't bore you all with the details of our journey from KK to Boracay via a one night stay in Manila.
Finally, we are onto our second country, the Philippines! The Philippines is the second largest archipelago in the world with 7107 islands. Helen was surprised to read this fact, she certainly knew nothing about the Philippines and was eager to learn all there is about this fascinating archipelago!
However, there is a lot to say about Manila itself. It's safe to say the roads are chaotic going into Manila. Nobody sticks to their lanes, there's a lot of under and over taking! Manila is very Americanised with its Taco Bells, Dairy Queens, Wendy's and numerous fast-food outlets! Plus millions of 7 elevens!! How do Filipinos stay so slim!? We did however make friends with another traveller from Manchester, who is on a hit and miss trip all over Asia celebrating her Masters degree. We will meet up with her in Boracay!
Helen did not feel safe at all in Manila, We stayed in Ermita where the streets were dirty, a lot of Filipinos bothered us, our hostel was slap right bang in the middle of the red light district and our hostel, Chill Out Guesthouse was just OK. A big adjustment from Sensi Backpackers in KK, when we return to Manila again after Boracay I think we will have to swallow our pride and spend a bit more money on a hotel! Yes, a hotel! Stuff the budget!!!
Through the night, Helen had a restless night and found that the other members of our dorm were bringing back Filipino girls young enough to be their daughters. Ermita, Manila certainly is a very seedy place! It is here where you can see a great divide between the rich and the poor, on one side of the freeway you have a posh Marina with million pounds worth of yachts and on the other side you see families living on the streets!
One positive thing does come out of being in the Philippines, the Filipinos are much friendlier and miles easier to lipread than the Malaysians.
Fast forwarding to our arrival at Boracay...With a very old edition of the Lonely planet which turned out to be useless! We were met at Kalibo airport by Ian who is an employee of Boyet (Reys cousin!). We travelled together to Boracay and he was the nicest man you could meet giving us tips and advice on what to do in Boracay. (A big thanks to Boyet for arranging this!)
Boracay according to our 'trusty' Lonely Planet is like an ambitious and beautiful pageant winner unwilling to relinquish her crown! Boracay certainly lives up to it's name, while it is touristy the beach is absolutely beautiful, White and soft! You certainly are spoilt for choice here in Boracay, theres loads of activities, bars and restaurants to choose from!
We found a cheap hostel for 225 pesos each per night (approx £3.50) called Trafalgar Cottages and we were surprised that it was clean, tidy, and the owner was very nice. (or at least we thought so until we saw his notes saying that 'they struggle to hear' - well of course we do, we're bl**dy Deaf!). Our location was good as we were in the middle of E Mall and Talipapa Market, less than 3 minute walk to White Beach!
Our first night was spent walking the entire length of White Beach (4k long) and back where we indulged in Chicken Adobo (thanks Rey for introducing us to this yummy dish, although it wasn't as good as yours!) There were loads of stalls, stores, bars, entertainment along the pathway parallel to White beach which kept us entertained. We also used this opportunity to interrogate the dive centres re. which dive sites were worth doing, what fish we would see etc - they must think Deaf people are picky!!
Sunday was spent sorting out our backpacks, laundry, a little bit of online research and chilling out on the beach reading/swimming. Nick even went for a run!! We have lost count of how many locals approached us to try and get us to spend money on tours, boat trips etc! Nick loved every opportunity to haggle only to turn them away! The evening was spent catching up with Jessica, the manucian we met on the bus from Clark-Manila.
As I (Helen) write Typhoon Nesat is nearby, it is unclear as to whether Boracay lays in it's path. White Beach was deserted as there was no beach, the waves had come right up to the path, Boracay felt deserted and everywhere was barricaded. The effect on the weather was horrendous, gale force winds, heavy rainfall and waves suitable for a pro surfing competition! We were glad to hear that we had left Manila in time as flooding and deaths occurred there, however we are not looking forwards to returning for one night on Saturday!
Monday was spent wandering around deciding what to do with ourselves as it certainly didn't feed safe to do some sailing or watersports with the 20ft waves (slight exaggeration perhaps but they were massive). We parked our arses in a sports bar so Nick could watch the Wales Vs Namibia game and Helen could catch up on some emails. Helen then went for a pampering session in the local beauty salon, needless to say England could learn some tips. A leg wax here also includes a foot bath and a massage! All for a measly 650 pesos (£10), She certainly felt spoilt!
We booked a dive for Tuesday, but it was cancelled as the Coastguard had closed all the waters and no boats were allowed to leave/arrive at Boracay. Again the weather put a dampener on our plans so we chilled out at our hostel catching up on our reading and researching on our next destination, Singapore. As Boracay was more expensive than we had forecasted we did some supermarket shopping to ensure that we could prepare our own breakfasts, lunches and dinners! We had planned to meet up with Boyet, Reys cousin but his flight from Manila was cancelled!!!
We checked into our 'plush' hotel, Alta Vista De Boracay on Wednesday, Helen had booked 3 nights here for Nicks 30th birthday. While its not the best hotel on the island, we had a loft room which meant we had a lounge and a bedroom upstairs - sort of like a NYC apartment! Nicks verdict on our room was that it's absolutely awesome! It was hard not to appreciate it as we had a proper bed, proper bathroom and kitchenette with a huge flat screen TV!! We better not become too accustomed to this luxury otherwise we will struggle in India. Our afternoon was spent by the pool, taking advantage of the restaurants and free wifi.
We went to the Hobbit House for our dinner, it certainly was a unique experience. The restaurant was decorated as if out of Lord of the Rings and we were served by hobbits (who were also of short stature, not sure of the PC term so not going to call them anything!). As we were staying in a posh hotel the wifi was faster than normal so we spoke to Helen's parents who confirmed that they were closer to booking their holiday to Thailand for Christmas which pleased Helen no end!
We woke at 7am on Thursday as we had booked a dive with Calypso Dive, it was scorching even at 7am so we knew a great day was to be had weather wise. We spent our day at White Beach after a morning dive at Laurel. Both Nick and Helen would rate this site as a 3 star dive, it had all the typical reef fish, nudibranches, scorpion fish etc BUT both of us saw Pygmy sea horses which were so cute (see photos). Helen then got stupidly sunburnt as she underestimated the power of the sun after a few miserable days. The evening was spent with Boyet, Belle and Joy, a spread was laid out and the food was delicious indulging in crab, oysters, prawns etc much to Nicks delight then we had a couple of drinks. Thanks Boyet for taking care of us!
Obviously, all of you will know that Friday marked a very special day....Nicks 30th! We woke up, Helen had to be creative and make a card from the hotels notepad as she could not find a greeting card shop nor has Nick let her out of his sight in the past 5 weeks! We went to Puka Beach which was absolutely gorgeous however we managed to get our hotel towels stolen! A lot of grovelling was needed when we returned back to the hotel, we did lose some of our deposit!! Thanks thieves(!) The afternoon was spent at White Beach where Helen treated Nick to Paraw Sailing which was awesome and watched the sunset!
We found a puffer fish washed up on the beach still alive and Helen tried to be the hero and swam out to sea with it hoping it would swim off but as it was all puffed out with air and not water it floated and the waves kept taking it back to shore. Helen was obviously upset but at the end of the day we gave it a chance and it didn't work out!
Helen treated Nick to a slap up meal at Boracay Steakhouse as Nick was gasping for a proper mans meal, both of us enjoyed our food and we then went to Cocomangas which is a ahem...nightclub. We had several cocktails and the heat of the bar got too much for us so we left at a 'reasonable' time. In Nicks words he had a lovely day and really enjoyed himself, you can't get any better than Boracay.
All in all, Boracay was a great experience. Helen certainly could not get used to being called Ma'am by everyone! The only one regret Helen has about Boracay is that she was not brave enough to try the local delicacy of balut, which is a boiled duck egg containing an embryo (that sometimes has down or feathers). Before travelling, Helen really wanted to open her mind to try local delicacies but to date has not been brave enough!
Nicks final words about Boracay is that we have seen Boracay at both it's best and worst. Boracay is certainly the Ibiza of the Philippines.
We had an uneventful journey back to Manila where we stayed for one night in a no frills hotel, Casa Bocobo which exceeded our expectations. It was clean, the shower was good, it had a tv for Nick to watch the Everton V Liverpool and Fiji V Wales games! But of course, we did not venture out! The following day we went for a walk in the locality through Rizal Park where we saw the damage from Typhoon Nesat which was saddening and loads of street children approached us asking for money or food. One woman, she was about 50-60 even came up to us asking for money but as we continued to walk away she gave Helen a pinch and had a very good grope of Nicks arse! Nick turned around to challenge her but she already had her fist up ready to defend herself. We just laughed at the irony of the whole situation and walked away! They must see us White people and dollar signs pop up in their eyes!
As we are off to Singapore next, we made our way to Angeles City for one night. Angeles is synonymous to the sex industry in the Philippines and is tied to the fortunes of the United States airforce former base in Clark. At this moment in time, Nick is declaring his eternal and undying love for George North so we will end on that note!
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