Philippines Island upon Island upon stunning Island
Time difference +8 Hours
Exchange rate £1 = Philippines Peso 67
Average Temp 30+
Cost of a beer £ 1.50
We were both really excited about finally visiting the
Philippines after all we had read and heard about it and we weren’t to be found
wanting! The first thing you notice is how very different it is to the rest of Asia,
it almost feels like you are somewhere in South America. No doubt helped by the
influence the US has had on the country. English is generally good,’ they call
out ‘hey Jo’ as you ride by (to Glenn, not Shell!) their buses (Jeepneys) are
made out of reclaimed US vehicles left over from the war, as are their versions
of the Tuk Tuk, a side saddle version of the typical Asian standard and
decorated to the hilt with pictures of movie stars, named after wives, girlfriends,
lovers and bloody brilliant!.
The beer is generally Red Horse which gets you off your face
very quickly, makes you do and say things you regret and gives you a killer hangover, or San Miguel, always served with hygienic
little hats on the lids made out of serviettes. Food is okay, nothing to write
home about…you never hear people saying they went to a great Filipino
restaurant at the weekend back home do you?
However the scenery, unspoilt beaches, lagoons, waterfalls, etc is
absolutely stunning!
Our very first impression of the Philippines was when we
landed in Manilla, tired, robbed (of our extortionate return air fair (see prev
blog) and then being immediately ripped off by the security/taxi rank to be
taken to a rundown hotel in the middle of the Bronx!. The best decision we made
in Manilla was to stay in the hotel. Unfortunately poverty, street kids and
desperation means that the big city’s are not the safest areas to spend your time
in. However the other islands absolutely are!
Our second impression was landing in Palawan airport, I wasn’t
sure if the plane had taken a detour and we had ended up in Hawaii!, a little
homemade dinky airport with wooden signs, pretty Filipino girls singing and
offering you leighs (that’s Leighs as in the flowered garland variety!) as you
disembarked from the plane, stunning!. Palawan however is set to become the new
tourist destination, its currently largely untouched but the level of
investment in infrastructure and building means it will soon be a very
different place so go visit soon!
For me, the Philippines easily trumps Thailand, it still has
its own catholic culture, unspoilt and usually deserted beaches, stunning
backdrops, amazing marine life and can be difficult to get around which adds
excitement to your adventure (hotel booking apps don’t exist outside of the
larger islands so you put your trust in the hands of an out of date lonely
planted, a friendly local who will
usually direct you to a lodging somewhere, it usually works out, usually!). It’s
a shame however that in their quest to get more tourism it seems that they are
trying to become like Thailand, particularly in Palawan where we were asked on
a number of occasions on how their food, hospitality, lodgings compared.
It was also the first country we used up our entire 30 day
visa on but it was still no way near enough!. With over 7000 islands and 30
days all we could do was get a glimpse of what it has to offer. Some memorable
moments for us include:
1.
Releasing baby turtles back to the wild in
Binucot beach, very special as it was unplanned, something the locals were doing
and we were allowed to join in. I hope mine survived!
2.
Meeting up with Daz and spending the first 2
weeks of our trip with him and having some mad crazy and unforgettable times!
3.
Glenn’s face when the taxi driver explained that
he had to back the car right up to the ATM in Manila due to ‘unfriendly people’
and slamming the locks on as soon as we got back in!.
4.
My face when another taxi took us through the
seedy back streets in Cebu City and I thought we were driving into an ambush
(never look at the foreign and commonwealth website, its worse than a Stephen
King novel!)
5.
Daryls face when he had his pic taken in the
Hobbit Tavern in Boracay!.
6.
Rachels face when she saw the beach hut she
would be living in for the next 2 days!
7.
Chartering a speedboat with Daz, Rach, Glenn and
touring the best bits off El Nido. The first glimpse of the lagoons were breath
taking!
8.
Dive bombing the Koreans
9.
Romblom Islands in general, incredibly friendly,
unspoilt and beautiful!.
10.
That moment when you’ve just been for a swim,
then put you mask on, go back in and can see the minefield of porcupines which
you myracoulsly managed to previously avoid – A down side of their remote
beaches, but one you can adapt too!
11.
Being invited to Easter celebrations with a local
family and joining in with the Karaoke, Filipino style!
12.
The hospitality of Mingong and her husband,
taking us for a tour of the island on her only day off.
13.
Whale Shark!, Whale Shark Whale Shark
14.
That moment when you are 12ft underwater as a
novice diver and see blood in your mask!
15.
Our own private sunset party (speaker &
booze inc) on a pontoon in Tablas… private till some free divers appeared from
nowhere that is!.
16.
Jellyfish sting!
17.
Deserted beach after beach after beach!.
18.
Our long journey home on a knackered bike, pitch
black, dust and no back light!
Top Tips
1.
Avoid big cities if you can, get in and out
quickly. Otherwise its safe!, lots of female travellers
2.
Although its costly, If you can take a flight
rather than a ferry on longer hall or overnights then do it!. Their safety standards are still under
question with ferries sinking in very recent years and terrorism on the rise
again (mainly in the south). Spend the extra few quid if you have it but don’t
let it put you off going!... Some guy we met who travelled a lot purchased a
tyre inner ring as a substitute life jacket, he’s now invested in a more
conventional fold away life jacket for his travels J
3.
Avoid Boracay if you are limited on time, or
don’t want to party your socks off. It sucks you in!, we spent far too long
there coz we couldn’t work out where we were going next (possibly due to the
fog of Red Horse beer!), reminded me of Phuket!.
4.
Go to the Philippines and go soon!, for all of
the reasons listed above.
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