Malapascua - paradise island

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The first thing we did when we arrived in Cebu City after a pretty long and stressfull travel from Denmark was to catch a bus to the northern city of Maya on Cebu Island, it took about four hours, and I had hoped for some sleep after the long flight, but in the Phillippines the locals are very proud of their cocks (read roosters) - that they use for their traditional cock fights - which means that they carry them with them inside the bus where they occasionally pet them. So everytime we almost went to sleep they would wake us up.

The bustrip was very beautiful and full of new experiences and impressions, especially to Stefanie who had never travelled in South East Asia before and felt that special atmosphere I had been missing for so long. For me it was also something very new and different, but it did remind me of Thailand where I have been 5 or 6 times with my dear family already. Only it seems poorer and less developed.

We had to find a boat to the island called Malapascua where my father and his friend had found a little cottage for us, they had been bicycling around the Phillippines for quite some time at that point. The last passenger boat had already left, but we found a boat that had to sail to the island with bottled water. We had to wait for some time, but they only wanted 100 pesos to take us there, which is about 2 euros.

We finally went out on one of the two boats and we where almost halfway there when the boat broke down. The guys who sailed the boat had no light so I gave them my headlight and after some time they had fixed it. However the other boat had also broken down and because of this, we had to go back and find the - which was quite complicated without any light out there. Finally we found them and helped them fix their boat and we could sail to Malapascua.

Because of all the trouble we got the trip for free - these people are absolutely turning out to be very friendly and humble. My father and his friend Claus where waiting for us and showed us the way to our hut, which was very primitive but also super cosy. They had bought chicken and rice for us, and even though it was already cold because of our delay we ate everything since we had not had a real meal in quite some time.

We went fast asleep that night.

The next morning we had slept for many hours, even though the roosters had been up early crowing and the local people had made quite some noise when getting up early to go to work.

We went to the local restaurent Ging Ging with my father were we had some delicious breakfast for almost no money. Claus had already been up for hours cycling around like the true travel maniac he is. We went for a walk and found the name of one of my friends from Denmark on a sign in a bar for proudly winning a beer contest - the world really is small.

The island was very beautiful and we were both stunned with the clear waters and white sand. We stayed on the beach and swam a bit, it had all white sand, beautiful turquiose water and palm trees everywhere. All of the sudden we could see some black clouds and as they got nearer we could see the rain in one straight line very clearly. We found shelter at a restaurent and the rain was crazy but it did not last long.

Back at the resort we met Claus who had been out on a long walk. We went for a walk into the jungle where the local people lived, which was quite different from anything i have ever seen. Many of them had roosters for the cock fights and they walked around with them on their arms petting them. They seem to love them so much but then later they let them fight till death.

We went to find some sim cards for our phones and ended up in a small shack where a local woman sold us some, she was selling a lot of strange things e.g. bones in glasswear.

Then we saw a local basketball game, many of the men placed bets on who would win, although we were almost the only audience and they all played in flip-flops, some only wearing one, it seemed to be a very important game to them and they were all very into it.

We had a shower which was pretty much just a bucket with water, and since there was no real mirror we didnt have to think about what we looked like - what a relief. We went back to Ging Gings for some dinner. We had some very cheap and good food, then we went to a internet café at the end of a hill where some local boys where playing counter strike. Not many tourists at this little island. Afterwards we went to a floating bar in the middle of the water. After the floating bar, Claus who is a big fan of karaoke found the only karaoke bar on the island, of course there where only local people here. He has surely been at too many karaoke bars at the Phillipines, since he knew a Phillippino song. Stefanie and I still beat his ass when we scored 100 out of 100 points for singing Vengaboys 'Boom boom boom' so he could go to bed dissapointed that night.

The next day we slept from 12 and woke up at 6 in the morning - day rythm is different here for sure. After some breakfast we went looking for a boat that could take us out snorkelling. We saw an old ship wreck, which was not anything too special, but afterwards we snorkled at Coral Garden which was amazing! Many fish and beautiful corals. We also snorkled at a mini island where we among other things saw a posinous sea snake. This place was by far the best one.

Since it was our first day in real sunlight and we still where white from the Danish winter, we where red like lobsters after snorkling all day in the sun - maybe not the best idea but it was very worth it. We went to a bar which was empty, except for the 15-20 girls bartenders who only had three customers to serve that night, so we decided to go to bed early. We went to Ging Gings again, but since it was one of the only restaurants at the island it was pretty busy and we had to wait for a long time.

We went for a walk all around the island, which normally takes about 4 hours, but since dad had chosen to leave his sense of direction at home, it took a bit longer, and I ended up getting us back on track. It was very hot and we were almost dying when we climbed the last rocks to get to the end of the island. To our luck there was a restaurant at the other side and we could finally get some cold water. After this we swam at the beach which we had all to our selves and it was just as beautiful here. We went to the far end where there is water on both sides and it was stuninngly beautiful.

We found our way home easily this time and hurried to get some food. Claus joined us later (he had been eating everything from the local ladiess pots, which pretty much stands out in the sun all day and did not appeal to the rest of us. We went to the karaoke bar and Claus was very happy since he finally had luck forcing me and Stefanie to sing on our own.

The day after we took a boat back to Maya on Cebu Island, which was quite troublesome since dad and Claus had to bring their bicycles - but as always the sweet Phillipones make everything possible. At Maya we had to say goodbye, and we caught a bus to Cebu City with no space for our legs at all - but definitely another interesting experience as always.

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