Made it back to Boracay for the Easter Week, but now it was so busy! Holy Week is the main holiday in the Philippines and the Island was packed with local visitors from Manila, Cebu, Illoilo in fact from everywhere! Had real problem finding anywhere to stay as everything was fully booked, but a nice local lady let us have her room in her guesthouse and she moved in to her basement! Stayed in Angol area which was still fairly relaxed but the rest of the beach was packed! Still weather was awesome, nightlife was amazing and just great to be [View Full Entry]

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Decided to travel from Manila back to Boracay for Easter Week, not a very clever idea as this is the busiest week of the year for Boracay!, managed to get a flight to Kalibo and stayed a few days. Famed for its Ati Atihan festival the town was very quiet. Went to visit the Mangrove Sanctuary just outside of the town which was nice but unbelievably hot! [View Full Entry]

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Was in Manila meeting my friend Pelle and needed an escape! Nearest "beach resort" is Puerto Galera in Mindoro, so hopped on a bus to Batangas and Banca over to Sabang. Sabang has a reputation for two main activities diving and nightlife, but it cant seem to decide which one has priority! So here you can have both! Had been before and dived here and the diving is very good but this time just needed rest! Before I had stayed at the quiet end of Sabang so this time I decided to stay in the middle of town and relax. Not [View Full Entry]

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I had heard so much about Boracay I just had to visit! Some people had said it was awful, some that it is paradise! So I was intrigued to say the least. Boracay is I guess the number one tourist destination in the Philippines, famed for its white sand beach. So I flew from Cebu to Caticlan in Panay, tricycle to the ferry port, ferry across to Boracay then tricycle to the beach! Easy! All the bad things I had heard were not true: no hawkers bothering you on the beach, they have thier own little zones to work from; no [View Full Entry]

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Spent a few days on Mactan Island, not my favourite place so far in the Philippines! Very expensive beach resorts which are isolated from any contact with local people. At least the weather was good! about the only thing which was! [View Full Entry]

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The weather in Cebu was getting so much better, I decided it was time to go diving. Travelled over to Ormoc in Leyte then south to Padre Burgos. The diving was fantastic, especially at Panoan, amazing soft corals and fish everywhere! Limasawa Island was also excellent. So good to be out of the City and wake up to the sound of lapping waves outside the window! Really liked Southern Leyte and so good to go diving again! Whilst I was there I tried to think of a better dive than Rios Wall at Panoan that I have seen elsewhere in the [View Full Entry]

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Had a few spare days so decided to go and see Twin Lakes and Casaroro Falls. Trip up to Twin Lakes was longer than I expected and a bit of a rough road but worth the effort. Only me there!! Casaroro Falls was easy, to Valencia then follow the road up to Falls, again only me there! Very relaxing escape from Dumaguete!!! [View Full Entry]

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Went on an amazing road trip with two friends from Dumaguete, Pelle and his girlfriend Rose. Hired a moped and off we went south from Dumaguete. Soon realised that my moped was totally knackered and might not make the next 20 kilometers let alone the 200 to Sipalay. So we stopped off in Siaton and found a local motorbike shop to fix it. 5 kilometers down the road I realised it was exactly the same! They hadnt done anything! Just taken the money! No big deal. We spent one day getting to Bayawan and spent a night there. Really liked this [View Full Entry]

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Wanted to go somewhere I had never been to in the Philippines and decided on Mindanao. Flew down to Cagayan de Oro and the first thing I noticed was how green Mindanao is and how happy the people are! Even after recent heavy flooding here people were still full of smiles. Bahala Na is alive and well in Mindanao. I liked CDO, not too big, nice hotels, nice people. Then travelled to Camiguin, Jeepney to Agora, bus to Balingoan, ferry to Benoni, Jeepney to Mambajao, tricycle to Yumbing, easy! Found great little resort and hired a motorbike from a local guy [View Full Entry]

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Had a day spare in Manila so thought I would explore and see if I could find any quiet relaxing places to escape the traffic, polution, noise and general mayhem! So it can be done, there are nice relaxing places in downtown Manila! Spend a nice relaxing day like this, then your ready to hit the bars! No pics from there though! [View Full Entry]

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