The Philippines

Day 9 – Tour A

Gold Star Day. I woke up about 6 am and arranged a tour with Emil (from Hadafe’s) to take us island hopping.  Call Emil at 09209815699.
Here are some basics if you are heading to El Nido for the snorkling trips
There are 4 main tours that everyone offers they are Tours A, B, C, or D. A and C offer snorkeling, B is mostly shore and caves and D I think is a half day tour. Most tour prices include lunch- which was fresh, local and amazing and normally includes snorkel gear. But best if you at least bring your own snorkel. And earplugs – bring LOTS of earplugs for the Philippines – we couldn’t find them ANYWHERE to buy.

Today we chose Tour A and our first stop took us to Small Lagoon on Miniloc Island which was really cool. We swam in found a couple really cool caves and headed back to the boat. Wish we took the waterproof camera in that one. Next was Big Lagoon, also on Miniloc Island which we just took the boat around in and didn’t swim on. Also really pretty. After that we headed to Entalula Island were Emil and Elby cooked an incredible lunch of squid, crab and fish, with salad, fruit and rice. We had the beach to ourselves. After lunch headed to Shimizu Island where we docked in the water and snorkeled some more. Emil took us around and we saw a lobster, more starfish, some big fish, really cool heart like coral that was bright orange with purple veins, big rose like/flower like coral, and watched Emil pick up jellyfish and throw them away so we wouldn’t get stung. It was some really great snorkeling. After that we actually headed to Snake Island (which I think is part of tour B) and headed up a small hill to a cool lookout. Snake Island gets it’s name because of the long sandbar that looks like a snake tail. It was pretty cool. One more stop at 7 Commandos (Buena Suerte) which is very near to El Nido for one last snorkel. This tour was a full day from about 9am-4pm. There was a total of eight of us on the boat.

That night Chris and I had dinner at the Alternative Café and had two really great meals – I had Banana Heart Curry and Chris had chicken Adobo. It was a really cool restaurant – no shoes upstairs and you could sit in a “birds nest” overlooking the ocean. Great vibe, good food – will totally go back. It was nice to have a night to ourselves and Chris had an awesome massage as well.

Day 10 Tour C

Today we started out with breakfast at Hadafe’s. It was great – eggs, toast, fruit and tea sitting out admiring our view. We met up with Emil to do tour C today at 9am. Slightly different – same idea of tour a but different stops. It was a great tour but we were a bit “toured out” after having spent the last 4 or 5 days on small, loud boats. The highlights of this tour was hidden beach which was our first stop, secret beach where we had to swim through a small opening and ended up in a circular area with a small beach – really cool. After that we went around Matinloc Island and had lunch, (chicken instead of crab today) and snorkeled at a place with a  giant drop off wall.  We headed over towards heliopter island but Survivor Swenden was being filmed so had to do a different stop for more snorkeling and then to a pretty beach not far from El Nido. Got home about 5pm, showered and then headed to The Alternative for dinner again.

Day 28 Bike rides on Bantayan

Chris and I were both craving a bit of outdoor exercise and found a place to rent them for about 30p an hour and booked two hours. For not caring for Bantayan Island we did enjoy our bike ride. We rode through the villages, seeing massive cows, pigs being butchered on the side of the road and of course the kids playing and on the streets. We saw 4 kids on one bicycle, an entire school of children turned and yelled “hello” to us as we rode past. It was pretty cool. We aren’t sure exactly how far up we rode but got a nice view of Virgin island.

Big cow, village on Bantayan

Virgin Island on the left

Four kids on a bike

Guys butchering a pig in their yard

Day 29 – Travel from Bantayan>Cebu City>Manila>Singapore

This was probably one of our worst days traveling –not horrible but just long, exhausting and unfair.

We’ve gotten used to being overcharged and get that most of the people are “brokers” for their friend/cousin/brother/neighboy. I just felt that Cebu was the place that we felt the most ripped off, starting from our boat trip to Malapascau, to our “island hopping” and then the upcoming taxi ride to Cebu City.

Our day was mapped out and every hour had something filling it.

6:00am wake up and go for a bike ride, followed by breakfast

8:45 Leave hotel for ferry. We kept getting hounded by one of the guys that hangs around the Blue Marlin Hotel (either Jerry or Roy) to book a taxi to take us to Cebu airport – his friend/cousin/brother Rumel has a taxi, blah blah, blah. We never commited to him but I took his number just in case.

9:00 Buy ferry ticket and try to wiggle around porters. It wasn’t as bad and didn’t have to wrestle our bags out of anyones hands this time. Check in to boat (170 per person) then pay terminal fee (10p per person) then pay some other fee to drive up next to the boat – 5p per person, have correct change if possible. The boat is a giant shipping ferry with space for 2-3 cars plus a big rig on the boat and two levels of plastic benches – nothing fancy but it got the job done. With the rougher than normal seas it was a loud and jerky crossing. We were supposed to leave at 9:30 but didn’t actually pull out till 9:42 and then because of the seas it took until about 11:10 to arrive. As long as we are in a taxi by 11:30 we should be golden to make it to the airport 2 hours in advance.

Shipping ferry from Bantayan to tip of Cebu

11:20 Off the boat. Look at that! Rumel has found us and tells us that he can get us a taxi for only 1500p!  We explain we have a plane to catch and need to be at the airport (2 hours away) by 1:50pm. We pay Rumel who somehow decided that the cab is now 2000, I didn’t argue but should have – why 2000 when before it was 1500, and then the nerve to ask for a tip. Rumel says the taxi is just 5 min away. We wait. Don’t worry, it’s just a couple minutes. We wait. Finally after 15 minutes – here’s a taxi. It’s 11:35am, no big deal, just five minutes behind schedule, except that now we find out first the cab driver needs to grab some food for lunch. Ok, but please, make it fast. So we sit in the cab and wait. 11:45, 11:50 – ok, come on dude, 11:55 – seriously? Where IS he? I get out and track down a different porter, because of course the guy we paid to get us the cab in the first place is no where to be seen. The second porter texts the cabbie and he comes from his lunch and gets in the cab. We are frustrated and worried we are going to be late. We finally pull out of there just after noon. I did get a little chuckle, while waiting for the cab I couldn’t help but notice that American Idol was on the front page of the local newspaper.

American Idol front page in Cebu

On our ride to the airport we apologize to the cabbie for our stressed out attitude and our driver starts asking how much we paid for the ride and I hesitantly said 2000. Next thing you know I am hearing how bad this Rumel guy is and that he is only paying the cabbie 1000 (about $24US) for the two hour journey. The gas alone would cost that. What do we do? Is this a big scam that they pull together so we feel bad and give him a big tip? It  makes me mad that not only is the guy ripping us off but also the cab driver. It really put a bad taste in my mouth and made me glad I never have to go back there. We were told from our cab driver that these “brokers” keep the cab drivers out of the area where the customers get off the ferry so the only way they get a fare is through this mafia system where the broker keeps a 50% commission. The cabbie explained how if he were to drive his car into this area the guys would have slashed his tires or broken the windows. It made me sick to know I was a part of it but what am I supposed to do?

We made it to the airport, tipped the cabbie and checked in for our flight to Manila, and paid our Cebu terminal fee of 200p.

We got to Manila probably about 5pm, got our bags, changed some money, and then found out where we had to go Terminal 1 to check in for our JetStar flight. To get to Terminal one we had to take a shuttle ride, 20p that ran every 15-20 min. We barely got on the first one that came – once again, crammed in the back with all the luggage. We had no idea that Manila’s airport was so spread out and the difference between Terminal 1 and the terminal we arrived in was a 20-25 minute shuttle ride literally through busy city streets. It’s a good thing we had a 4 hour layover in Manila’s airport.

A long day of ferries, taxis and waiting in line

Once at the right terminal, we mistakenly waited in the wrong line for about 20 minutes. We finally got successfully checked in, had to pay yet another terminal fee, this time of 750p, and then finally boarded our flight to Singapore. Money is flying out of our pockets just for this terminal transfer and flight change!

We finally arrived at our hotel in Singapore in the middle of the night. It was a long, long day of travel.

Day 25 – Off to Bantayan

On our last full day on Malapascau we met a couple, Sylvia and Philip who was going to travel by private boat to Bantayan where they lived in Atop-Atop. We stopped at Virgin Island for a quick swim and continued on. It was a fine ride, saw a sea snake and some skimming fish – pretty cool. Very loud boat – earplugs!!!

Boat to Bantayan from Malapascau

We got to Sylvia and Philip house and they explained that they would make us lunch and then drive us to Bantayan town which was about 20 minutes away. Sylvia’s sister, neice and brother in law live on the property and basically served us. Lunch was bitter greens, banana salad with chicken, fish soup, leftover pizza, rice and dried fish, followed by tea/coffee and chocolate. They offered to let us stay there, and as nice as the house was, we were ready to be on our way.

Lunch of dried fish

Philipe and Sylvia's house in Bantayan

The only ATM on Banatyan was in Bantayan Town we got a ride with Sylvia’s brother in law there and then caught a jeepny/scooter to Santa Fe. It was a scooter but it had a mini jeepney on the back that would easily hold 6-8 people. I wonder how long the little motorcycles last carrying WAY more weight then they probably should be. Philipe recommended the Blue Marlin Hotel and we took his advice and checked in.

Our mini jeepney - attached to a motor bike

I wanted to check out some other places I had heard about so we hired a pedicab and went to Tickity Boo (porters recommended it to us), Beach Placid (heard about it on a blog) Yooneek (saw it on bumper stickers) and all had pluses and minuses and seriously considered moving but after seeing them all we decided we had it pretty good, comfortable beach, there was a lightning storm coming in and we enjoyed watching that and were treated a pretty cool rainbow. After that we found a restaurant to eat at – Blue Ice, I had the sizzling pork which was really good. We also met a solo traveler, Karen from England, and we made plans to meet up with her the next day.

Day 26 – Sick Day

Both Chris and Karen weren’t feeling well so we took a pretty chill day. We checked out Ogtong Cave Resort. Cost was 100p to get in and we took a 20p/each pedicab ride. It had a pool, a small cave, pretty bay, little cave and that was about it.

Taken from Ogdon Cave resort. See the shark?

Chris in a tricycle

We still have 2 1/2 weeks scheduled for the Philippines and Typhoon Songda is scheduled to hit exactly where we were planning on going. We started debating on if we should go somewhere else in the Philippines, stick to our original plan or just head to a completely different country.

Day 20 Travel to Malapascau

The day after our adventure tour we had a LONG day of travel to get us from Panglao to the ferry (600p, 30min) for a 9:30 ferry ride (550each) to get us back to Cebu. Once in Cebu we had a taxi take us the 2 or so hours to get from Cebu to Maya (2500p). Our driver stopped about ½ way for the cheapest lunch we have had so far – 130p for three of us to eat – even had some vegetables!

We were really glad we bypassed Cebu. Neither one of us are fans of city life and what we saw just solidified our desire to stay far away. Loud, dirty and crowded. Smack dab in the middle of the city we saw naked kids bathing in the street/gutters. Nothing like seeing how other people live to help you appreciate what you have.

We arrived at Maya port and was greeted by a boat captain explaining that the ferry would go when there are 26 passengers or we could pay 1500p and go immediately. We were the only white people there, the rest of the passengers were all Filipinos. We decided to wait a bit and then “miraculously” there were 15 people ready to go and now we could go for just 1000p. Oh, and of course the 100p to get us and our luggage to the boat. I guess that is cheaper baggage costs than the airlines. We jumped on board and were given the center most seats, “first class”. Chris and I wouldn’t be surprised if we were the only ones who actually paid a fare.

Ridin' VIP style

We felt a little bit scammed but were tired from the 8 hours of travel so far  just wanted to get there. Plus, when you really look at it, 1000p is about $24US.  It’s not that we mind paying, we would just prefer that the price is the price.

When we arrived and had some porters take our luggage without us really asking and then carry it to meet our friends, and then of course ask for money. Our friends had sorted out a cottage for us on Malapascau at White Sands, it the best cottage we have stayed in so far. 09058615616 is the number if you want to stay. We paid 1000, had a nice view of the bay, an upstairs, nice bathroom where everything worked and a big porch. The only thing that wasn’t good was there was loud music on Bounty Beach the two nights we stayed. A big turnoff from the entire place actually as you could hear it from any accomodations near by. Again, bring earplugs! Seriously – we never found a place to buy them.

Our favorite cottage so far

Malapascau was nice, a dive resort island at the northern tip of Cebu. It doesn’t have any cars, some motorbikes if I remember correctly. We also went to Bantayan and Malapascau wins hands down.

Day 19 – Chocolate Hills and Bohol Tour

As we are becoming more and more aware things work differently here than they do where we are from. Everytime you walk on the beach you get hounded by guys on the wanting to take you on tours. Depending on where you are you start thinking your name might actually be “taxi”, “dolphin watch”, “island hopping” or when you are on Bohol “chocolate hills.”  We finally organized one with a guy on the beach for 2500p. He basically called us a taxi and was our “guide”. The taxi cost probably 2000 and our “guide” was 500. We didn’t really need a “guide” – as we basically just got driven from place to place and honestly our taxi driver was more of a guide than our “guide” was. Similar to our van ride from El Nido to PP we felt a bit duped. If you jumped in any taxi you could have easily said – take me on the chocolate hills tour. Our “guide” took a few pictures for us.

The chocolate hills are one of those “must do’s” while on Bohol, so being the good tourists that we are we went got it done. There are a handful of sights you’ll see on your tour. We skipped a few of them. We are fast tourists. We skipped the blood compact and the church. We drove through the man made forest which was pretty and then headed to the chocolate hills. I thought they were pretty but wouldn’t make a special drive out to see them again. After that it started raining so we got wet at the butterfly place (the Bellagio’s was better) and the bamboo bridge (pretty cool). Everything costs extra money – 10p for the bridge, 50 or so for the hills, 50p for the butterflies, etc.

It was finally lunch time and we headed to Lobuc River for our river cruise and lunch. It was touristic. Is that a word? It is now. We loaded onto a boat with a bunch of other tourists, ate a pretty decent buffet lunch and then cruised up the river on this big barge. It was… pleasant. We stopped at another pontoon to watch some children singing and dancing (give a donation) which was the ultimate in cheese (but I guess also some culture as they were doing some native dances) and continued our cruise up to a “waterfall” which was pretty much a class 5 rapid. Chris and I laughed most of the trip at the cheesiness of it all. After the cruise we went to check out the tarsiers. I didn’t want to pay to see a small primate in a cage and our driver took us to the sanctuary (50p) and we saw 4.

If you can’t stand doing touristy things skip the chocolate hills tour and river cruise. This was not a highlight of our trip. If you don’t have a ton of time in the Philippines there are probably better ways to spend your days.