Philippines 2013: 8 - Palawan to Boracay, Philippines

Monday, May 13, 2013

We left the hotel for the airport on the 7 AM shuttle. With Cebu Pacific Airlines there were no hassles, no charges and friendly staff. Good to their word, Southeastern travel had arrange bulkhead row seats for us and the flight arrived ahead of schedule. This airline is head and shoulders above PAL.

We were met by a good guide and driver for a look at Cebu city, which with 1,500,000 people is the second biggest in the Philippines. Cebu province is 90% Catholic and 5% Muslim. 20% of the population is Chinese, many of whom are Catholic. Magellan arrived here in 1521, and was killed while attacking neighbouring Bohal.

We were driven to upscale Beverly Hills, developed by an American right after WWII, to visit the beautifully done Philippines Taoist Temple. It was constructed by wealthy Chinese in 1967 and has been expanding and improving ever since. Back in the city we stopped to explore the oldest house, built of hardwood in 1675 and still in pretty good shape. Small Fort San Pedro was built by the Spaniards in 1565, before Cebu became a city in 1571. We visited the huge Basilica of Santo Nino, where there are thousands of holders for candles they sell on the spot. Employees were collecting giant bags of wax from spent candles for reforming and reselling.

A fabulous seafood lunch was served at the Lighthouse Restaurant. We passed a number of polling stations while driving around - the election is today - everything was calm and orderly with people treating it as a celebration, holding up their ink dyed fingers to show they voted.

On our way to the Maribago Bluewater Hotel on Mactan Island, the same island where the the airport is located, our guide told us that there are an amazing 8 flights a day between Cebu and Seoul in South Korea, their largest source of tourists. The hotel is superb - thanks to a gift from Chi at Bestway we had a room on the beach just steps from the sea, and from a great bar on the pier. After a long swim we did serious damage to the bar's mohito inventory.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

We were very reluctant to leave with our 7:30 pickup for Bohol, preferring to enjoy our bit of paradise on the beach. The sea portion was by fast ferry to Tacbilaran (Pop 92,000), on the island of Bohol. The ferry didn't arrive until after noon. These are not ferries where one can wander around; it is more like being in a plane where you stay put in your row of seats.

A good guide took us to the site where Magellan was killed and the 16thcentury Baclayon Church. Lunch was on a catamaran platform with tables, chairs and a very mediocre buffet consumed while cruising up the Loboc River, stopping at a community where children sang & danced in return for donations to help support the area. There were two entertainers on board, and a tip to pay them was pretty much compulsory - a crew member came to each table with a basket and stayed there until he received a donation.

Bohal is a very religious Catholic area. Even tricycles are required by law to have religious slogans on the back. The main city was not made official until 1946.

We were interested to see Tarsiers in a reserve where they are in a fairly natural habitat. There are only about 1,000 of this smallest of primates left in the wild. Being a scorching hot afternoon they were all curled up in the fetal position sound asleep, so all we saw were tiny bundles of fur about 5 inches long on tree branchs. When awake they have huge eyes, which they cannot move. To see to the side they have to turn their head.

Another long drive took us to the "chocolate hills", which is an area of rounded hills that look like huge ice cream scoops. Apparently in dry season they are brown, thus the name, but as it has been raining they were green - we didn't even bother with a photo.

By the time we got back to the ferry, were picked up in Cebu and returned to the hotel it was about 9:15 PM and the wharf restaurant was just closing, however we were able to get drinks and snacks before turning in. With today's travel time the tour was definitely not worthwhile - we'd have had a far better day on our beach, or on a tour to the south of the island where if you don't see whale sharks they give you the money back.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The hotel shuttle took us to the airport for our flight to Caticlan on a Philippine Air Lines (PAL) Dash 8. Catilclan, in Aklan, is the closest airport for the small island of Boracay. It was the same thing, charges for everything. The only thing different is they didn't serve the half glass of warm water in flight - it wasn't missed.

There was an interesting article in the newspaper about a man running for congress calling one of the check in employees at PAL a "menopausal bitch" when she rudely refused to give him a seat beside his young son. The employees union charged him with slander. His defense was based on dictionary definitions of menopausal and bitch, which the court accepted and dismissed the case. The union protested, but the ruling was upheld. I suspect the judges have had dealings with PAL and were secretly cheering - although the young guys who checked us in this morning were great. A woman I dealt with when paying the charges fit the description, though.

Security at Philippine airports is inconsistent. We have now had 9 domestic flights. At 3 airports we had to remove shoes, at 1 my belt had to go, and all of them permitted bottles or cans of water, pop or beer.

A shuttle drove us from the airport to the port where we boarded a shabby, worn ferry to the Island of Boracay. We were the only people on the boat not from Korea. A van picked us up for a slow drive to the Astoria Hotel, located at the end of the 5 km main street, most of which is lined with businesses on both sides. The going is slow, as there is room for only two vehicles, and if a tricycle or van stops to let people on or off it is necessary to find a break in oncoming traffic to get around it.

When we saw the hotel we were pretty let down - the small, open air reception area had only two chairs which were occupied, so we stood for a long time in baking heat while they made up another room for us. The one we had assigned was incorrect again. The hotel has a motel like feel to it, with a narrow pool between rows of rooms and a restaurant facing the beach. The room to which we were finally moved was good, though. We have no organized tours today or tomorrow, a welcome relief.

After settling in we walked down the sandy footpath that serves as the main pedestrian thoroughfare between bars, restaurants, hotels, shops and the palm lined beach. A steady flow of people are on the move and there is music everywhere - it is a fun place. On the ocean side many restaurants have tables or lounge chairs where drinks only are permitted during the day, but food is OK in the evening. We had a delicious light lunch at one of the restaurants before walking back to the hotel on the road. By then we were hot and sweaty, so we swam before having drinks on the beach in front of our hotel. At night we went for a pub crawl, taking advantage of the 2 for 1 happy hour specials. The beach itself really is one of the worlds finest, with brilliant white sand.