Boracay

Day 1 – Spiders, Dwarves & Bar Crawl (Not Necessarily in that order!)

We had been advised to get an early boat to Boracay to avoid the rush, so another early start and a quick cup of coffee before jumping on another tricycle to go to the bus station.

When we got to the bus station we had to buy our tickets and then wait patiently for the minibus to fill up with passengers, which took about ½ hour, before it would set off.  It was then about another hour or so before we got to the boat port.

Once there we had to buy our tickets, a terminal ticket, a conservation ticket and a boat ticket, each of which you had to buy separately from three kiosk windows right next to each other (someone really should do a time & motion study in the Philippines).  We then headed to the terminal building and Shell entered a door and was promptly kicked out for using wrong door!! It turns out that she waltz in the back door without going through all the security scans. A few whistles were blown and a rather red faced Shelley was politely but firmly escorted out by the arm.

We then entered the building through the right door and were pointed in the direction for the quay where a medium sized banka (outrigger) was waiting. I was slightly concerned when I was told to put our luggage on the top of the boat without it being secured.  Again we had to wait until the boat was filled with walk on passengers and then we were on our way.

The boat trip was only about half an hour and conditions were good, so that meant our bags made it and we had some clothes to wear at the other end.  Once disembarked we tried to negotiate a tricycle to our accommodation but the price seemed too high and he wasn’t budging, but after milling round a while and trying to get alternative transport we had to give in and go with the asking price (about a fiver!).

We then set off for the Spider House, which was to be our accommodation for the next couple of nights and after around ½ an hour on the Tricycle passing though the main drag of Boracay we were then deposited at the top of a lane which led down to Diniwid Beach.  We humped our luggage down the path and across the beach (very nice beech) to a path that hugged the cliff face, then around the path and through a small cave which was the entrance to the Spider House.

 

Arriving at reception too early to check into our rooms we left out luggage there and went downstairs into the bar/restaurant/sunbathing area, which was fantastic, all bamboo, suspended about 5 metres above the sea and a pontoon about ten metres out to sea.  There were also spots in the bar where you could just jump off into the sea.  So we spent an hour there with a couple of beers whilst we waited for our room.

The rooms were all dotted up on the cliff face and our and this time all three of us were sharing (don’t worry they did have more than one bed in the room – its not a Jersey thing!!) and we were shown to one of the top rooms which was pretty much up a ladder staircase (could be tricky later in the evening!!).  The room was possibley one of the best we have stayed in on our travels for character, all bamboo with spider web patterns and very hippy furnishings with three nice big beds on split levels.  The best though was the veranda which opened up directly onto the ocean and had two bamboo recliners on it.

 

Once unpacked and having assisted Daryll set up his mosquito net (trusty camping pegs coming in handy again) we headed back to the bar area to get some food.  The beers and the food there were quite expensive and in Daryll’s case a pizza took nearly an hour and a half to arriveAfter a few hours of relaxing there we all decided it was time to check out the main beach with the plan also including visiting the famous Hobbit House.  So we headed off around Diniwid beach and through a small gap in the cliff edge which took us to White Beach, which as suggested had white sand.

The beach must stretch for about 4-5 miles longs and with the blistering heat we managed to walk about ½ a mile, briefly stopping to enquire about either a fishing or diving trip in the next couple of  days (the people running were having difficulties tracking down the boat skipper for fishing so we said we would come back), before having to stop to find a watering hole where we stayed for a couple of beers to cool down.

 

We then headed of for another mile down the beach and stopped at another bar for a beer (you can see where this is heading).

Another short walk and we found ourselves in a bar called NiNiNoo’s and after a draft beer we got involved in their two for one happy hour cocktails, each having two!!  The owner, a very affable South African then introduced himself to us and was the hostest with the mostest as he plied us with a free beer and some Jagermeister shots (apparently what he considers to be the house wine!!), so you could see why his bar was so busy!

A few hours later and we carried on, Daryll desperate to get to the Hobbit House, but stopped briefly in  a Dutch bar where we met a guy called Martin from Norway who was holidaying by himself.  We had a beer and chatted to him for a while and he decided he would like to join us to our destination.

Leaving the bar we all ploughed into a tricycle and headed for a bar area where the Hobbit Tavern was said to be, as we wander through Shell suddenly stopped and said I think we’ve found when she took one look at the waiting staff.

The Hobbit Tavern is a bar where all the staff are dwarves and earlier in the day we were joking about how funny and surreal that was going to be.  However when we sat down and got our beers it all felt a bit wrong although the staff seemed to be enjoying themselves, but it did not stop us having a couple of beers, looking sheepishly at each other and then asking for the obligatory photo opportunities, the best being of Daryll getting beaten up by a small fellow as below!

 

Now feeling a bit worse for wear we thought it was time for some food and after trudging around for a bit we found a Indian Restaurant (When in the Philippines and all that..) so we decided to eat there, Martin still in tow, and to be fair it was quite good (I think!).

Sustenance now on board we headed down the road and soon found ourselves in some club, which turned out to be pretty much a go-go bar with lots of young Pilipino ladies hanging round waiting to be picked up.  We all ordered a beer only for Shell to notice that our bag (the one we all said we would be responsible for) was not with us, so Daryll and I walked back down the road to check with the Indian Restaurant only for us to return not being able to locate it.  Martin, who somehow we hadn’t scared off, volunteered to go and find it only to return saying that it was shut and there was no one there.  So realising we could do nothing about it we had a couple more beers.

Just before we left the club, Daryll who had slowly been getting wound up by the old European letchy perverts (not me I’ll have you know!!), decided to let a 70-80 year old guy who was enjoying a very young girl gyrating around him, know exactly what he thought about him before giving him the middle finger salute before exiting!!

Time to go home methinks, those stairs are going to be tough!!

Day 2 – Daryll’s last night – what to do……

Waking up a bit worse for wear and to a sight Shell and I hadn’t seen or missed for about four months, a hungover nephew just it his boxer shorts, we decided to give the fishing trip a miss (also we had been told it would not be very good unless we went miles out), we opted instead to go for some breakfast and relax around the bar area.

We spent most of the morning just chilling, enjoying the view and going for a swim off of the bar deck  (Glenn & Shell not the miserable looking Daryll). I checked the depth for jumping from the deck and decided that 7 foot wasn’t worth risking my knees for – should I tell Daryll though!!  Myself and Daryll also returning to the room for a lay down at one point whilst Shell tried to catch some rays.

 

Finally clearing our heads around midday we thought we should try and see if we could find the missing bag, so we headed out and got a tricycle back to the main bar area.  We popped into see our short friends in the Hobbit Tavern (being the last place we remembered having it) but they had not seen it or had it handed in, so we headed to the Indian Restaurant who not only had it but had put it in a cellophane bag and had it waiting for us with all the contents intact!

After a couple of celebratory beers and a vow never to lose anything again (Right!!) Daryll stomach was now grumbling and he wanted to go to the fish market where you could buy your own fish that was supposed to be cheap and get it cooked for you in one of the nearby cafes.  The fish market was very impressive with pretty much any fish you could think of, including some stuff I had never seen before, however the prices were equally impressive ane unfortunately at around £30 for a lobster Daryll had to rethink his eating plan!

 

After schlepping down the street for quite a while and Daryll getting very grumpy as he needed food we eventually stumbled on a small café in one of the side streets that seemed to be busy so we decided to eat there.  It was fairly cheap and the food was very reasonable, it was only later we found out that this was one of the local places that was highly recommended on tripadvisor.

Now Daryll was happy again we hit the bars again which included NiNiNoo’s where we had quite a few beers and a few more free Jagermeister shots.  Whilst we were there a female street magician turned up and had cards and coins spinning in thin air and left Daryll with far more foam balls in his hand than were put into it whilst Shell busying herself with getting to know the locals!

 

Quite a few more beers/cocktails/bars later we found ourselves in some sort of techno/club bar with all three of us throwing really outrageous shapes.  However Shell took it to the next level and suddenly had a posse of Korean/Japanese girls? in what looked like wedding outfits dancing with her, she suddenly became the pied piper with these girls copying every move she did (and these were pretty bizarre moves), I think they must have seen her as some sort of western dance guru (I really hope they don’t try these moves back home thinking they are cool!!).  Anyway Shell eventually tired of this game and suddenly took off dancing around the floor like a complete nutter, much to the amusement of Daryll and me!

 

So after an hour or so we left before Shell got sectioned and headed on to a few more bars along the strip and one beach bar with a live band where I seem to remember all of us out singing the band on a Nirvana cover and then at some point we must have returned home.

Day 3 – Daryll goes home

The final time we have to wake to Daryll in his boxers and again we are a bit worse for wear so we decided we would just stay around the hotel bar/restaurant area until Daryll was picked up to go back home.

We spent the most part of the day just chilling, swimming and playing pool, whilst Daryll spent most of the time running backwards and forwards to the toilet and popping Imodium’s (It’s going to be a long 17 hours home for him!!).

 

Daryll was then picked up around 3.00 and it was time to say our goodbyes and also check out and into some more affordable budget accommodation.  

We dragged our luggage back across the beach and picked up a tricycle which took us to the bottom end of white beech, where we were dropped at the edge of the beach and pointed in the general direction of our accommodation for the night.  Again we had to drag our luggage for about 200 metres on the beach until we finally found the turning we needed.  The place we booked was Melinda’s Garden and to be fair it seemed like quite a nice place, bamboo chalets in a nice garden setting, with a veranda with a hammock.

 

Once unpacked we headed back to the beach and found a German Bar that was located right next to the path to our hotel and it happened to be happy hours with draft beer,  so we decided to sit there and take advantage until it stopped being happy hour at 8.00.

Thinking it was time for a change we headed down the far end of the beach to look for a change of scene.  After a short walk we found what we were looking for a ramshackle looking place named The Pirates bar. 

We were just going to stay there for one or two but then a live band started to assemble so we decided to stick around to see the band, who were not too bad.  Soon we were singing along with a couple sat at the bar with us (a German scientist and his girlfriend if I remember correctly) and then people were getting up and singing with the band.  Once again it didn’t take much persuasion from Shell for me to get up once again, this time The Rolling Stones ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’ – once again I was not too bad with the chorus it was just the rest of the lyrics that were a problem!!  I think I just about got away with it and headed back to Shell and had a few more beers before heading home for the night.

Day 4 – Shell’s Mum’s Birthday

After a few days of excess with my nephew, Shell and I thought we would take a recovery day and spent most of the day catching up with the blog, reading, lying in the hammock, sleeping and getting bitten by mosquito’s (Shell not Glenn).

 

Later in the afternoon we tried to call Pam to wish her a happy birthday but the internet was not great so Shell only managed to have a few words with her, fortunately Shell had already sorted out a card and flowers for her a few days earlier which she had received so at least she knew we were thinking about her.

After the call we then went to the beach to have a swim and we bumped into Martin (Norway) and so we went for a few drinks with him in the German bar before heading back for an early night.

 

Day 5 – More of the Same

We still didn’t seem to have much energy and this wasn’t helped by two cats who seemed to have taken up residence in the roof of our hut and spend their time scrambling up and down and chasing around over our heads all night.

Again for the early part of the day we just did some blogging and reading, we were also starting to get a bit tired of Boracay and were feeling stuck there as we hadn’t made onwards travel plans.

Later in the afternoon we went down to the beach to cool off in the sea and again we bumped into Martin and after telling him our plans to move on he told us about a travel agent just up the beach, so we thought we would go there to book our travel tickets to our next destination.

We had decided to go to Mindoro as it apparently had some of the best Scuba-Diving in The Philippines so we were enquiring about how to get there and I let Shell get on with this booking whilst I got a Tricycle to the bank to get more cash out.  When I returned she had been advised that there was a much nicer set of islands closer to us called Romblom and that we should consider going there instead, apparently the island is what the Philippines was like 30 years ago.  So after discussing this we decided to take the advice and go there instead. The travel agent didn’t even earn anything out of this, he just told us what boats to take.

After asking around we decided we did not want to take the night boat across to Tablas (first and largest of the Islands) as we had heard too many horror stories about boats sinking for our liking so we though it better to stay one more day and then take a daytime crossing the day after.

We had a couple of beers with Martin in the German bar until around 6ish when he was due to meet up with a couple of friends in The Spider House, Shell asked him if he could ask them if they had found her earrings that she had left there when we stayed there which he said he would.

 

Once Martin left we went back to our accommodation but on the way we checked with the place next door to see if they had a room for the following night as we were getting fed up with the Cat’s, Mosquito’s and the heat (only a fan room), luckily enough they had an A/C room so we booked it for the next night.

In the evening still feeling a little jaded we just went to NiNINoo’s for a bit of western style food and a couple of drinks before going back for another early evening.

Day 6 -  Flights & ATM’s

In the morning we packed and then went to the German bar to get some breakfast hoping by the time we had this we would be able to check into our new lodgings, which we found out we could.  So we checked out of Melinda’s garden and dragged our luggage 50 yards round the corner and into our new room for the night.

Once we had unpacked again (it get very boring packing and unpacking all of the time) we then thought we would go down to the beach for a dip, once again we met Martin on the beach and spent time speaking to him.

 

Later in the day we went back to the travel agent who when we saw him the day before said he would be able to help us with the Bangkok tickets we were forced to buy when we entered the Philippines.  But unfortunately because we had paid in cash we could not get a refund the only thing was to change them to another destination.  We now knew that we wanted to go to Bali next so we asked him to change them to this, however to do this was going to cost us £100 each but we had no option as it was cheaper than booking another flight and meant our original outlay was not completely wasted.

The only problem now was to get our ticket straight away we needed to pay in cash otherwise we would have to wait two days for it which we didn’t want to do as we was both bored with Boracay.  So we parted with pretty much all the cash we had and headed for the ATM again as we learned that there was very few ATM machines in Romblon.

The first Place we went I took was I could out on our main account but this wasn’t much as it was still in a 24 hour day since last time I withdrew cash (£250 limit a day), so Shell had bought another card which we use for miscellaneous bookings, but the card wasn’t accepted in this machine.  So we had to get a Tricycle to another ATM but once again the card was refused.

We was now panicking slightly as we were told there were virtually no ATM’s in the next place we were going so we headed back to our room and Shell just about got through to the card provider on a dodgy skype call to find out if the card had been blocked.  Apparently it hadn’t but we were unable to take cash out on it for some convoluted reason.

Now I had to try and transfer some cash from our main travel savings account to the spare bank account we had set up (but had no money in it), fortunately I was able to do this and it was pretty instantaneous, so we were able to go back to the ATM and take money out on this bank account instead – crisis averted.

After this stress we then went and had a couple of beers before going back for an early night as we had to get up early as we had to catch the boat the next day.