Advertisement
Published: December 15th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Melt and Agnes
The cast of Little Mermaid about to be eaten 1st night on Panglao Island
After snorkeling we were pretty tired and wanted to rest and freshen up. We retired to our rooms and agreed to meet up in the early evening for dinner. We first stopped at the front desk to make arrangements for massages. Alex and Michelle got first dibs, then Christy and I. I wasn't in the mood to have the massage on the beach, so i opted for the room. The beach massage was set up maybe 20 feet from the water with shade provided. I saw some people getting them, and didn't feel like getting massaged around strangers. The massage tables were within feet of one another, so you could possibly have someone's feet pretty close to your face. Sorry, not in my plans.. He he
Meltom and the rest had already decided that we would eat on Alona Beach, because the Sunday dinner at Bohol Beach Club left a lot to be desired. There was some confusion about the "set menu" and if they could order other things on the menu. I still have no idea how it works. Basically, some nights there is a buffet, other nights there is a set
Strolling at BBC
Michelle, Rex, and Lex menu (but I think you can still order) and the rest is order as you wish. Reviews on tripadvisor warn of undesirable menu choices.
I won't get into any details, since I'm trying to be positive, but the massages were late and rushed. There are cheaper places to go, with better massages. It was the first and last massages we got there and we stayed a week. We all gathered at the front lobby and took a van to Alona Beach. We had no choice but to order the van from Bohol Beach Club, and I believe it is an extra 200 pesos or so. Any trip by van to Tagbilaran or Alona Beach from BBC is around 500-700 pesos and it's for a 15-20 minute drive. Yes, welcome to Panglao prices.
It's a nice drive to Alona, nothing special, just the typical empty road passing by a few locals here and there. It's a nice sight seeing the young school kids walking to and fro in their uniforms. It's a welcome change from the same old resort images. On the way there we passed by a large house on an equally large piece of land right off
Priceless
Bohol Bee Farm view the main road. I saw the white-haired old Kano (white guy) walking around enjoying his retirement. I could never retire on that island. There just isn't much to see and his choice of location offered no view of the ocean.
Aside from eating, we were on the lookout for a labandera (laundry service) and scooter rentals. The Alona Beach section begins at a fork on the main road. The right leads to non-beachfront economy accomodations and it's a common sight to see Koreans and Anglos walking back and forth. When you bear left, the concrete road is roughly 2 minutes long (avg speed is 10 MPH) and you'll see signs for various resorts and services. Depending on your driver, you will either get off near the bottom of the concrete road, or be brought right to the beginning of the beach by the Alona Kew Resort. If you've been to either place, it has more to do than Camiguin, but less than Boracay.
There is the standard super slow Internet cafe, souvenir shop, money changer, and dive shops. All of this is beside each other, so no worries. When you reach Alona Kew, if you walk straight ahead
BBC backyard
View of the beach from the veranda from the Superior wing (original section of BBC) there are several low-budget restos on the left beside the beach, and several dive shops and resorts to the right. We walked to the end just to see the options, and returned after a 4 minute walk. Yes, everything is very short.
While the others scanned the souvenirs, Alex and I went to rent some scooters back where we came from. The closest place to rent is a small makeshift dwelling on the left at the middle of the hill (coming from the beach). It was about dusk, but there were still a good group of "standby's" or "tambays", basically guys hanging around. They may look tough, but there were all owners of scooters waiting for customers. One of the biggest guys approached us and the first words I used were with a thick fake Filipino accent. He offered his scooter for something like 600 pesos for 8 hours. This is where the fun begins. Alex and I walked away and he stopped us. "Name a price," he said in Tagalog. Back and forth we went, starting small, then going to the price for one whole day, and finally what we really wanted- 3 days. The funniest thing was that
Christy
My babe relaxing all by ourselves on the beach (disclaimer: this is not at the hotel section) his friends were giving him a hard time, telling him to just accept the deal. This is why I love the Philippines. His buddies were messing with him, while he was trying to keep a straight face and close the deal. We got him to agree at a price, and he allowed us to not even count that night. We did have to deliver it at a certain time or we would pay an additional 100 pesos an hour, which was fine with us. We asked for a second, and his buddy gave us the same deal. The haggling part is fun, since we don't do that in the US, but I understand they have to make a living, so I don't force them to go too low.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 46; dbt: 0.039s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb