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Published: January 30th 2012
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Off again! I promise I'll try and stay up to date with these things this time! My route - Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. I fly back from Beijing on June 12th.
I got into Manila after a long journey from Madrid, the few hours layover in Dubai was a killer. I spent one night at the Manila Airport Hotel literally a stone's throw from Terminal 1 but despite the fact that it can be walked in less than 3 minutes I was still advised to get the free shuttle service offered by the hotel since, according to the wee fella, the area was "unsafe". Welcome to Manila! I've known places that are liked by many and disliked by many but never have I come across a place so universally hated as Manila! I've been making a effort to avoid spending anymore time than absolutely necessary in this place. So not hanging about, on the afternoon of Saturday 14th, I flew off to Cacliclan from where I took the short boat trip over to Boracay Island.
In short Boracay is sort of like Ibiza just with a much much
nicer beach and a hell of a lot more Chinese people. The beach, imaginatively called "White Beach" stretches out for a fair distance and the whole shore is lined with palm trees and the water is warm and calm. It would be paradise if it weren't for the fact that right now, coming into high season, the place is just crawling with tourists. Walking up and down the path that runs parallel to the beach was at times like trying to walk through any English shopping centre during the Boxing Day sales. More trouble than it's worth. And then there's the never-ending sounds of “Massage Sir?” coming after every ten steps you take. After a few days I got fed up with it and instead walked to Main Street and picked up a tricycle taxi to take me where I wanted to go for no more than 10 Pesos (a whopping 20p). The usual destination was "D'Mall", Boracay's main shopping and restaurant area. Like any shopping centre in the world I tried to avoid it as much as possible although I have to say the cheap grub on offer at "Smokes" was worth the trip.
Boracay, like Ibiza, exists
for really only one reason - partying. All along the beach various bars and clubs open up in the evening and extend right onto the beach meaning footwear is fairly optional. Beers were cheap and the rum ridiculously cheap (just about the only cheap things on the island) so getting fairly merry was very easy to do!
In between the rum drinking and sunbathing I was able to do a wee bit of snorkeling. I was staying in a very sociable dorm at "Tree House" Hostel and one day a few of us rented some gear and headed down to the south of the island, way south of Station 3. It was a fun way to pass an afternoon despite the fact that there wasn't a whole lot of marine life on offer. On another day we made the trek up to Ilig Iligan beach on the North Eastern corner of the island. It was worth the trip out there since we practically had the beach to ourselves so it was a nice escape from the crowds at White Beach. On the way back me and one other guy got dropped off before hitting town at the road that
(eventually) leads to the island's view deck where it's possible to get a great panoramic view of the island including Ilig Iligan beach where we'd just been moments before. We were trying to get there in time to watch the sunset and we timed it more or less well. We waited around for an hour or so before watching the sun go down and then made the walk back down the hill to town.
I enjoyed my stay at Boracay. In many ways it was the perfect way to start a long trip. It was just easy and uncomplicated. I didn't need to think, except when deciding whether I should order another beer or not. It would be great to go back in time and visit Boracay ten years ago before the beach front became so developed, or perhaps just return there someday during low-season.
On Saturday 21st I made my way back over to Cacliclan and then picked up a shuttle service to a town called Kalibo about 2 hours east. I'd booked a flight from here back to Manila leaving early on Sunday 22nd. Flying from Kalibo is in general cheaper than flying from Cacliclan - this flight, with Zest Air, set me back just 13 Quid!
My destination was the Island of Palawan to the west and its principal city, Puerto Princesa...
Suerte a todos.
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