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Published: October 12th 2010
Wow.
I have been meaning to update for ages, and now, yet again,so much has happened, so many islands have passed and i have alot to write about hehe.
Well, last time i wrote we were on Bantayan Island. A lovely beautiful island but not an awful lot to do apart from sitting on the beach and being stared at ha.
We stayed in Santa fe,which was around a 25min habal habalride away from Bantayan centre (which is basically a motorcycle with an extension on the back that fits up to 10 people..to see this in action is truly remarkable..and very intimate..its literal translation is 'pigs copulating' after the level of intimacy.)
The centre is where the nearest atm was located, so we'd have to take a 40 min journey just to withdraw money ha..this is by no means a complaint but a rather amusing trait to the island.
We decided our next move and got a pump boat from Bantayan port to the next visyan island - Negros. The 3 hour journey was quite an education, we waited forever to board the precarious looking boat,walking down a very narrow and slippery plank with our huge backpacks and hand luggage(with my lack of balance this wasnt the greatest of experiences.)Never the less, we got on,dead chickens, cockroaches and all and tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible for the journey ahead. Neither jimi or i are very tall, which i am incredibly thankful for because even for us leg room in most instances on our travels has been a bit of an issue but this boat took it to another level.
When we arrived in Negros,we took a tricycle to the bus station and got a bus to the capital- Bacalod a few hours away. The main attraction to Negros is Demaugate,in the very south, which is famous for surfing and the partying..because of where we entered negros, we were too far north to make the journey there without back tracking.
We stayed in a really nice hotel which was probably a bit out of our price range but as with most things on the Philippines, internet resources were nil so we went with the only thing we could find.
The next day, we visited Mumbakal national park. We climbed a 7 waterfall challenge up a mountain..we only made it to the 6th but with the steep 'steps' and jungle temperature i think we did pretty well!our guide pretty much skipped up the mountain and i felt a bit of a fool struggling..but we didnt feel too bad when we eventually met some people on the way down that sympathized.
We walked a in the tree canopy, strapped in with carabina clips and a very fetching bum harness. And saw hundreds of fruit bats which would periodically stir and like a domino effect they'd all start flying around - some were the size of eagels it was incredible.
The park is based on a near a volcano so the smell of sulpher was at times gagging. But this did mean they had a natural hot springs, so jimi and i decided to be brave and have a dip.
Naturally, we got laughed at by the locals for being so white, and also (more likely) the way we were gingerly getting into the excruciatingly hot water. We eventually made it into our necks but couldnt bring ourselves to swim around. The feeling afterwards was amazing though, we felt so relaxed and my body from all the travelling and lugging my stupidly heavy bag around was suitabley relieved.
I would like to point out at this point, that i in fact have probably half the clothes jimi has but for some reason my silly bag has a ridiculously heavy frame - so even when the main part is empty its still a struggle to lift :O
After seeing what there was to see around Bacaolod,without straying too far from the port we got a short but very rough boat to the next island, Panay. Getting to the port, our bags were 'sniffed' by the most reluctant, over weight dog ive ever seen. To start with, it was a struggle to wake the beast to sniff our bags in the first place, and when it did wake up..it just stood there looking at us while the police man embarrassingly tried to encourage it to look like it could do any use in stopping the trafficking of drugs by bouncing a tennis ball around our bags. It brought me much amusement and i couldnt help but giggle..which in retrospect i hope didnt make the policeman feel inadequate with his silly dog.
We had booked accommodation for the capital,Iloilio on the internet. The Ong Bun pension house which looked very nice and with the cheapest price. After getting out of a taxi who just drove us around in circles for 15mins and then tried to charge us extra as though we hadnt realised what he'd been doing walked up the stairs to what was going to be the worst room we've had on our trip so far. When we got to reception, they said they hadnt got our booking (even though i showed them the email) they then said they only had one room they could give us. I asked to see it- after getting the distinct impression we weren't going to be having the nicest stay and it was ok, if not baking hot. But when i returned downstairs from doing a kym and aggie inspection jimi said they'd offered us an air con room so we just said yes.
Room mightve been an understatement. (see pictures) after staying an hour and realizing there was no way in hell i could use the loo or shower and the onset of a black out which cut off our aircon anyway ,i went downstairs to begin a persistent half hour negotiation with the receptionist that said we could check out but she couldnt give us our money back. I stayed very calm and but demanded that she come up to see our room for herself and tell me she would stay in there. She eventually gave in and got a porter to come up and see the room. Which was done by torch light because our floor had no electricity. She eventually gave in and we swfitly left to book into another budget pension house that actually saw sanitation as a basic requirement to a room.
The next day we got the Filippino equivalent to a mega bus to our next destination, the much talked about, the place where stories of constant partying and bright white beaches originate.
The journey was 6 hours but we'd smugly prepared supplies the day before and soon enough had arrived in Boracay. The place ive been most excited about coming too after leaving Alona.
We checked into Ocean Breeze Inn, where they sat us down and gave us orange juice and spoke about our journey before showing us to our gorgeous room. We immediately took a walk on the infamous white beach but unfortunately had missed the sunset and it was getting dark. This didnt hinder our excitement though, with rows and rows of restaurants serving everything you could imagine. And weirdly of all, WHITE PEOPLE. The most we've seen in our entire trip. It was really strange and we realized we were now the ones staring with curiosity.
Boracay certainly is party town, we haven't ventured far from the beach yet because there is still so much to discover there. We indulged in buying some decent snorkeling sets and go swimming most days..the best way to cool off. Jimi has tried teaching me to dive down but its a skill i have yet to master without coming up gasping like ive been drowned.
We'd like to go parasailing and there are tonnes of other stuff to do. Ive decided im not interested in Diving.. after snorkeling and being terrified if i get too deep and it gets too dark i dont think diving would be for me. Vast expands of sea in the dark..probably my worst nightmare.
The people we are staying with are so nice and we've shared a bottle of rum with them a few nights enjoying music. They are teaching me and jimi to cook filipino food and after ive entered this we are off to the wet market to buy some fish to BBQ for dinner tonight.
The other night, there was a beach party club launch. Opened at 5pm and there was free San Miguel until 10pm. FREE. Not even an entry fee. Where else in the world would there be a party for partys sake with actual free beer no strings attached apart from being horrendously sick in your bathroom later on in the night?
Wonderful.
We are planning on staying here now until our flight to Vietnam on the 22nd oct.Its everything we've wanted to get from the Philippines and more and theres still so much to discover.
We are getting into the swing of things now..looking forward to Vietnam and getting into the eastern culture.
^_^
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Auntie Helen
non-member comment
wonderful
Thanks for up dating the blog Abi, all looks wonderful, pleased your enjoying it all. We are just about packed for Thailand, will be thinking of you as you change planes in Bankok ready for Vietnam. Just think when we return you will be nearer the Joe than anyone. Lots of love. Helen and Steve