Manic Manila to Beautiful Boracay
Manila to me is a stop-over at best as
only two words came to mind when I arrived “Organised Chaos’! From the moment
you leave the airport you find yourself in what appeared to me to be some sort
of extreme and manic disarray. With the population in Manilla of approx. 11
million people it is no wonder these people looked confused. So have your
ticket booked for the earliest plane out of there to ‘Boracay Island’.
Voted as one of the ‘Top Ten Beaches of The World’.
A good tip
is to make sure you have your accommodation booked and a driver to pick you up
or you could end up anywhere and paying through the nose. So make sure the
driver turns the meter off and negotiate the fee before you get in. You can
usually get anywhere with 400 peso ($9AUD). You might also want to stick to the
Tourist areas here also and watch out for the young pick pocketers!
To get to
the Island of Boracay you can fly in to either
Caticlan or Kalibo airports. It only takes about an hour to Caticlan and one
and a half to Kalibo. The difference between the two ports is my Boyfriend,
Arron, would not get on a small plane with twin propellers. Ha-ha! Apparently
larger aircraft have been known to overshoot the runway. Hmmm… It may have been
slightly quicker in flight but landing in Kalibo leaves you with a 2 hour van
ride back to Caticlan
Harbour. It isn’t a bad
ride really as you drive through the areas less common to tourists.
Once you arrive at the harbour you then purchase a ferry
ticket for about 120 peso ($3) and are then directed over to the next ferry.
Don’t be surprised if you feel like you are in a heard of cattle. It is pretty
much how they organise everything! Manic! Manic! Manic!
Thankfully
it is only a 15 minute ferry ride to one of the most relaxing and beautiful
beaches in the world. Now we are tuk tuked to our resort at Boat Station3 on White Beach
for 50 peso (every ride on the island seemed to be 50 peso).
Walking out
of the resort, amazed at the most gorgeous Beach of white sand and over hanging
palm trees I knew I was finally in heaven! White Beach
is where you can relax and snorkel all day long or drink until the sun comes
up. I managed to do both but I will say that I have never experienced a
hangover as I did here. There are definitely no RSA laws in the Philippines.
The cocktails are supersized and so are the nips- So be warned! You can even
have your rum served in a bucket. Atleast you don’t need to go to the bar all
night but you may need to find the closest toilet.
The days
(after the hangover) were spent sailing and snorkelling around the island. The
water is like glass and if you are lucky you can see the odd Korean tourist or
two walking with underwater helmets on the bottom of the ocean. Very strange…I
prefer snorkels myself. That is just another one of the numerous water
activities they have there.
Now for New
Years Eve. I highly recommend being there for this as it would have to be the
longest display of fireworks one could ever see. As I stood there feeling a
little sentimental with my new found
friends I started to wonder if this was the best place on earth! Maybe too many
‘Tanduay Rums’ there…
After
copious amounts of food and cocktails were consumed, massages taken, manicures,
pedicures and many great new friends made we decided it was time to depart from
all this relaxing under these beautiful sunsets and coconut palms and move on
to Thailand. This Island is definitely one
little hidden treasure that not many Australians are aware of……Maybe they
shouldn’t be…Shhh!
‘Til
Next Time My Feet Hit the Sand!
Mel
Cook
