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Cebu to Ilioilo (Panay) and Iloilo to Puerto Princesa (Palwan)...all by ferry!
You are probably thinking why would you get 2 ferries taking a total of nearly 40 hours when you can get such cheap flights nowadays! Little did I know that May Day celebrations meant that the cost of flights went up dramatically and considering i am on a small budget after being away for nearly 8 months i couldn't afford the 8000 pesos that were being quoted. I could have waited in Cebu until 8th May but that was a week and i didn't fancy being holed up in Cebu city so decided to explore other options which there was only one!
I bought a ticket taking me from Cebu to Iloilo on the overnight ferry leaving at 7pm arriving at 8am the next morning. As i would be saving on a nights accommodation i decided that i would get a cabin as it was only 900 pesos which came with ensuite and aircon. I was sharing with a filipino who spoke good English and you could pull a curtain around your bed for extra privacy. The cabin was immaculate with clean sheets and even had a
tv although once you are far out at sea this makes no difference as you cant get signal. As you depart in the evening you only have a couple of hours to entertain yourself before you get ready for bed, your options are to go upstairs onto the open deck and sing karaoke with the locals...as i am on detox and haven't had a drink in 3 weeks this wasn't going to happen. Although i did have a laugh watching them singing in english at the most awful of songs! There was a bbq where you could get cheap fish and chicken which was definitely more appetising than the horrible pot noodles in the shop! So some chicken and rice which i had to eat with my hands due to lack of any form of cutlery i was heading back to have a read before bed. The evening sail went smoothly and we didn't crash thank god as not sure where my life jacket was! The only problem is that you couldn't control the aircon so it was pretty cold but you cant have everything!
After arriving in Iloilo i got a boat straight to Guimaras but those details
will go in a different blog. I stayed for a few days and then headed back to Iloilo city to buy my ticket for the mystery boat to Palawan. First of all the ticket outlet didn't sell the tickets and said she didn't know about his boat and told me to go directly to the shipping line at the port so i jumped in a taxi and headed down there. I was then informed that they don't run boats on Saturdays and Wednesdays and they run them on Mondays and Thursdays and it takes not 12 hours but 36 hours over 2 nights!!! I asked him why it had the wrong information on the website which he said he had no idea about the world wide web!! He then told me there was another ferry down the port that should be going on saturday and to ask them.
This ferry company ticket office comprised of a bloke sitting in the ship at a little desk surrounded by lots of men who were more than happy to have me on their ship! I was told yes there was a ferry tomorrow but only one class and that was economy or
cattle class due to all the animals that were sure to be sleeping next to you! I didn't really have any choice and was even more gutted when he told me it took 26 hours leaving at 8am and arriving at 10am the following day. Reluctantly i bought the 1200 pesos (17 pounds) and they even offered me to stay on the boat that night free of charge...i didn't think so!
So after a comfortable nights sleep in my aircon room and cable tv for just 300 pesos i woke early to get to the port. As soon as i arrived i was stared at by anything that had eyes and i'm sure all the hundreds of cockerels that were being packed on board would have stared also if they could see outside there tiny boxes. I got up to my bed and was overcome with quite a sick feeling as it didn't feel nearly as safe or comfortable as the last ferry and i couldn't see a lifejacket or life boat in site. There were 3 floors and luckily for me i was on the 3rd as it was much cooler there as it had open sides. Each floor has between 50-80 bunk beds secured in plots of 4 with no barrier between you and the person next to you. You had a male and female toilet on each floor which were some of the worst toilets i have ever used in all my times in Asia. There was a tiny little shop that sold nothing that you want to eat and considering i had stupidly not brought anything i knew i was in for a rough ride and would starve!
I managed to get through the first 4 hours by sleeping and then the next 7 hours by reading until we stopped at a place called Cuyo and we had a 3 hour stop and could get off the boat. I was ecstatic as it meant i could get some food although i wasn't feeling too great. Cuyo had a lovely little port village with lots of street sellers and everyone was extremely friendly. After some sort of meat and rice (this is all they eat here i swear they hardly know about vegetables) i took a wander and found a lovely shop owner who invited me to to her daughters house but had to turn down as had to get back to the ferry.
When i got back on board after whistles from the navy ship and once again getting stared at in every direction i was alarmed at how many more people the boat suddenly had and a couple of artic lorries put on the ground floor for extra sinking ability! Now if you haven't heard about Filipino ferry disasters do a google search they are well known for overloading their ferries and subsequently sinking! As i walked back to my bunk there were suddenly camp beds made up in the walkways, hammocks tied up to sides of the walls and about 2 people to each bed. I thought maybe some people had just moved to the top deck as it was cooler but i was wrong each of the 3 floors were the same. I couldn't even look in the lifejacket box as i knew there not enough lifejackets to go round even a 1/4 of the people on the ferry. I tried to put this to the back of my mind and get on with my book. I tried to go to sleep a couple of times but as they don't turn the lights out, some people just don't seem to sleep, kids crying, cockerels cock a doodle dooing and people smoking it wasn't an easy task but eventually i dosed off and woke around 8am with a lot of interruptions.
So after 26 hours on the boat i managed to eat very little, use the toilet only once (this made me gag so much i couldn't face it again) and not drown. I think if you come to the Philippines you have to at least experience economy class on a 24 hour ferry but i must admit i don't think i will be doing again in the very near future. My next ferry journey is Palawan to Manila but that will be in a cabin!
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emma
non-member comment
oh my god
what a ferry ride, u r brave i would never have gone through that. bet u counted your lucky stars when that was over lol. glad your still enjoying yourself. take care xxxx