The Philippines!

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Sorry it has been a while since I have updated the travel blog but we have had limited internet and then our laptop had an unfortunate run in with a beer and was temporarily out of commission. But we are back in business now so here is what we got up to in the Philippines.

Cebu City

Our flight to Cebu City from Singapore started off with a bit of stress as when we went to check in for our flight they asked us if we had proof of our exit flight from The Philippines.... we did not. So after some frantic running around and fast typing on the laptop we booked our return tickets out of The Philippines and headed off to our gate for our flight. Funny thing is that at no point did anyone ask to see our return tickets. WTF? Whatever!

Once we landed in Cebu City on Cebu Island in The Philippines we took a cab to our hotel. The drive through Cebu City was a bit of a shock. It was a slap in the face with 3rd world poverty at it’s finest. Shanty shacks lined the streets with a mix of dirty half naked children running around with neglected stray dogs, men peeing on the sidewalks and a tangled mess of cars, trucks, bikes and jeepneys all jockeying to gain an inch more of all ready overcrowded road which had no obvious markings of lanes. Coming from the very clean and organized world-class city of Singapore this was a huge shock for us.

Our hotel, which seemed really nice on Travel Advisor, was a disappointment to say the least. It was located in a back alley and boasted its very own well armed guard! After a horrible meal in the restaurant and a crummy nights sleep we booked a new hotel and jumped into a cab faster than you can say “Get me the f*%k outa here!”. We settled into our new hotel, which was located in the business district and was the nicest we have stayed in so far on this trip. I nearly peed my pants when I opened the bathroom door and saw the beautiful glorious bathtub! A bathtub! Sweet baby jeebus it’s a bathtub! Now, those of you who have traveled around S.E. Asia will understand why this is such a big deal. In most places you are lucky to get a working hot and cold shower that is usually located right next to the toilet and has a water pressure equivalent to a dog peeing on you. And the hot water always costs more if it’s even available. So any hoo, needless to say I was a happy camper to be staying in this hotel. I am not lying when I say that Geoffrey and I did not leave our hotel for 4 straight days! We didn’t step one single foot outside until we left to go to Bohol Island. The most exercise we got was going up and down in the elevator to the restaurant to feast on the 5 star gourmet buffet. We ate everything from traditional Philippino dishes to made to order pastas, sushi to cheesecake and prime rib to Caesar salad! We spent our days lounging around watching movies and taking bubble baths. It was all very decadent and such a treat after traveling through 3 countries on a backpacker’s budget. And it still only cost us $55 Canadian a night!

Bohol Island

We left Cebu City for Bohol Island with 2 of our Swedish friends, Carina and Markus, who we met back up with after separating in Thailand. We spent 3 days on Bohol at a quaint little resort named Isla Hayahaya. We booked one of their package deals which was 2 nights accommodation, all your meals, a snorkeling trip and a full day of touring around the island for only 6000 pesos which is about $136 Canadian. The full day tour included seeing the famous Chocolate Hills, lunch on a riverboat, visiting a tarsiers sanctuary (which are the world’s 2nd smallest primates), a tour of the oldest church in The Philippines, climbing down into an underground cave (oh sweet jeebus!) and finally witnessing the largest python snake in Bohol which was a 6 year old female named Samantha who was 22 feet long, 38 inches wide and weighed almost 500 pounds!

The Chocolate Hills are a series of large rolling hills that look like giant Hershey kisses that have been randomly dropped onto an other wise flat landscape. Not the most exciting thing to see but it was kinda cool.

During the float down the river we stopped to enjoy a show put on by a group of local singers and dancers. They had such happy voices and did some traditional stick dancing which was really cool to see.

The visit to the tarsier sanctuary was the reason we went to Bohol Island in the first place. They are the cutest little primates with huge eyes and are a so small they would fit in the palm of your hand. They are an endangered species and we are so lucky to have been able to see them in their natural habitat. The sanctuary is built so that they can actually come and go from the protected area but as they are territorial animals they generally stay in the same trees. And even though I really wanted to hold one I was very happy to see that they weren’t in cages and were left to live as naturally as possible. They are very docile little guys so once the guide pointed them out in the trees we were able to get close enough to take some great pictures.

The tour of the oldest church was really great too. It was built in the 1500s and is still used to hold masses and weddings. The ceilings boasted beautiful frescos and there was a peaceful hush within the walls of the ancient church.

The climb down into the cave was not my most favorite thing we did that but it was still pretty cool and I am proud of myself for doing it. My overwhelming claustrophobia didn’t get the best of me and I actually managed to go all the way into the cave and even took pictures. There is a small pool of water that you can swim in at the end of the cave but there was no way in hell I was going in but it was still cool to see. The cave was discovered in the 1500’s by a farmer who was tilling his land and during WW2 people lived in the cave and there are some cool charcoal drawings on the walls from that time.

The last thing we did that day was go see the largest python snake in Bohol. This in itself would have been ok but it was caged up in a random make shift zoo that some family has put together. Upon entering the compound I quickly realized this and instantly felt sick. Besides the giant snake there were a number of other cages that housed various animals including a Persian cat who would have been a pet for anyone of us at home. There was an American Pitbull who was dubbed a “Fighting Dog” on his sign outside his small 4x3 foot cage. There were a couple of monkeys and some birds as well caged up. The saddest thing was a small macaw monkey with a broken arm who was chained to a bar in between 2 trees. How the hell is this ok? Ugh. Needless to say we were all a bit put out by this and it was a very quiet ride home. If I had know that this was what we were paying for I never would have agreed to it but unfortunately by that time it was too late. Lesson learned.

Our stay at Isla Hayahaya was quite nice. The wife of the British owner was a local Philippino woman and was an amazing cook. She would make us these huge feasts of fresh seafood and other delicious dishes that we could never manage to finish. We didn’t look a menu the whole time we were there as she would just make us whatever she felt like that day and we really enjoyed that. It was like sitting down at the your mom’s table and being fed a great home cooked meal.

Malapascua Island

After 3 days of rest and relaxation we hopped on a ferry and headed back to Cebu Island to head north so we could catch another ferry to Malapascua Island. We hired a taxi to take the 4 of us the 5 hours up island which cost about $100 Canadian dollars and although this was a lot more expensive then the bus it was a much nicer way to travel.

We had to hire a local banka boat to take us over to Malapascua Island which I was a little uncomfortable about as it was getting dark and the sea was a bit rough. A banka is the traditional boat of The Philippines. It is basically a large canoe with one outrigger on either side. Unlike Geoffrey, I haven’t spent a lot of time on boats so I am always a bit nervous when we have to travel this way, which of course is a lot seeing how The Philippines is ALL islands! Any hoo, we made it and have now been on this island for 5 days. Geoff has finally done some diving although it hasn’t been as good as everyone seems to say it is. We hired a boat and some locals (Mike and Felix) took us out for some great snorkeling. It was my 1st real attempt at snorkeling and I really enjoyed it despite my leaky mask and inability to spit properly which is a skill one must have when diving and snorkeling. I am working on it.

We are staying in a bungalow at a dive resort owned by a British guy and an Irish guy. They are pretty cool guys. The beers are cold and the food is fantastic. The place is called the Craic House (pronounced Crack House) which is an Irish word meaning good or fun times. We will be here for a few more days and then we will head back to Cebu Island to fly out of Cebu City to Manila and then off to Japan for the final leg of our trip.

When we decided to come to The Philippines it was a bit of a last minute decision and we really didn’t know what to expect. It is the land of cockfights and karaoke. Every yard here has at least one fighting chicken making a racket, which is only drowned out by the constant singing coming from the huts. Everyone sings here. It is great. As for the cockfighting….well it’s not my cup of tea and I refuse to go see one but they take it very seriously here and don’t seem to see the brutality of it. Oh well. To each his own I guess.

It is hard to read the people of the Philippines at first. The men are very hard working and very helpful….so helpful that at first you are a little leery of them. The women take longer to warm up to you especially if you are a woman but are kind as well. The food is less than spectacular but the portions are generally big. It is not as cheap as we thought it would be either. Perhaps that is because there isn’t a huge tourist industry here yet so they can still charge a bit more for things. Don’t get me wrong – you can still eat for 10 bucks a day and stay in a basic bungalow for about the same but you seem to get less here for your money compared to somewhere like Thailand. The transportation systems are a bit underdeveloped making getting from A to B a bit difficult and sometimes down right scary. And I have got to say that of all the places we have been to in S.E. Asia the roads and driving here are the most terrifying and unbelievably chaotic. There is complete disregard for any traffic laws. There are generally no lines on the roads which seems to mean you can go anywhere you wish and in any direction. They use their horns for everything from indicating lanes changes to warning things (people, other cars, dogs) to get the hell out of the way.

As Malapascua is a small fishing island that is fairly new to tourism there isn’t much to do here. There are no real shops and other than diving or snorkeling there isn’t much to do for activities. I have almost finished my book and have been working on my tan but other than that we haven’t really done much else. Don’t get me wrong, relaxing and taking it easy is what we were looking for so this has been a great stay here. I am however starting to get a bit homesick and am looking forward to heading off to Japan in a few days to complete our trip.

All in all The Philippines have been an enjoyable experience. We found the beautiful white sandy beaches of Malapascua to be just right for the rest and relaxation we were looking for. The beers are cheap and the sun is shining. What more could you ask for? Maybe another book to read….

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