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Published: December 15th 2009
With only three days of planning we headed off to the Philippines, quite unprepared for what lay ahead. To date travelling around South East Asia has been so easy so we figured the Philippines would be no different but unfortunately we couldn't have been more wrong. Our adventure began when we left Kuala Lumpur to catch an overnight bus to Singapore. Little did we know that this was the beginning of a thirty-six hour journey involving trains, planes and side cars of motorbikes!
Singapore was so easy to get around, even at four a.m. and after two short train rides, a bus and a flight, we arrived in the Philippines. We had read forums and government warnings about the real risk to tourists of kidnapping here and had been advised that the best ways of minimising these risks was to travel with tour groups and avoid public transport wherever possible.
With that in mind we were a little concerned to find that the only way to get from the airport to where we wanted to go was by public bus! After a very interesting first bus ride, we switched to an even more bizarre second, and five hours later arrived at
the pier only to discover that we'd missed the last ferry! Left with no other option we reluctantly got into the sidecar of a fisherman's motorbike and were taken to what we were told was the only hotel in the town.
Where we were dropped was not the type of place we would normally stay in (the rooms were rented out at an hourly rate) and we were not its’ usual clientele. Both of us were seriously sleep deprived, needed somewhere to rest our tired heads and didn't seem to be left with any other options. We slept with one eye open that night and were happy to catch the first ferry out of there the following morning.
Eventually arriving to the island of Mindoro, we were greeted with fabulous sights. The water was that perfect turquoise green colour that just shouts out at you to jump in and the island looked so green and clean, with cafes, restaurants and guesthouses dotted along the waterfront. This was the Philippines we had been searching for.
Mindoro apparently offers some of the best dive sites in Asia and with that in mind we went in search of a dive shop. As it
turned out, we spent most of our time here underwater, exploring wrecks and drift diving. It was incredible. The water was so clear and the dive sites were much more challenging than anything we'd done before. Up on dry land the town wasn't as fabulous as it had first appeared. There wasn't much more to it than "girlie bars" and I was the only female tourist to be seen. The atmosphere was very similar to Phuket. So, ten dives later we headed on to our next destination.
Planning on taking a trip down the underground river in Palawan, an island further south than Mindora, we started asking around and looking for information online as to how we could get there. As it turned out, we'd have to make that long and tiring journey back up to Manila and from there take a ten-hour ferry down to Palawan. Travelling around the Philippines was proving tougher and tougher with every trip and the thoughts of three days in cars, vans and boats was enough to change our itinerary. Borocay became the new destination. This time we anticipated the difficulties that we may encounter and prepared ourselves mentally before taking off.
Again unable
to find any travel agencies to book with, we roughed it in the back of a pick-up truck, changed into a minivan and then onto a ferry. We arrived into the port at 1am and again, with no hotels around, we slept on a bench at the pier and caught the first boat to Borocay the following morning.
This island was a little paradise. The white sandy beaches were almost empty and seemed to go on for miles. The seafront was lined with cafes, restaurants and bars and at night, live bands played on the beach. The days we spent here were brilliant. The island was hosting the Miss Earth Contest so all of the contestants were out and about, there were parties on the beach and the atmosphere around town was electric.
Around the same time, Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino boxer, was fighting a big title match. Almost everything stopped during this fight, crowds gathered in bars and cafes and around any house window that they could peep through to catch a glimpse of the action. When he won, the celebrations were huge and they continued for days, with the match being replayed constantly. It was a great time
to be in Borocay and we loved every minute.
Our last night in the Philippines was spent in Manila. A guesthouse had been recommended to us by other travellers so we headed straight there. We were a little surprised to find that it was protected by large gates and a twenty four hour armed guard, who warned us to be careful of thieves and pickpockets - that we'd be better off not bringing a bag out with us at all. We soon learned that the crime rate in the city was very high and so too was the security. We were frisked going into the shopping centre and the cinema and the underneath of cars were checked with mirrors for anything suspicious. We couldn't get over the amount of homeless people sleeping rough on the streets with their children, it was heartbreaking. Manila was the first place that we didn't feel safe since we've been away.
So all in all, although the Philippines was difficult to travel around and the atmosphere in some places wasn’t the best, the amazing diving and beautiful beaches more than made up for it.
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Violet Ui Dhulaing
non-member comment
glad I didn\
Hi Mebs and Paulo, you are certainly getting fabulous experience even if they are a bit scarey at times!!!! Caoimhe is all set for the re union in Brisbane- our Christmas dinner was very enjoyable even though our chat with you on skype was a little rushed. lots of jlove mam