Sunset Secrets

There are two sides to this island, I local I just met tells me.

I’m in a place called Boracay-a destination plastered on travel magazines and visited year-round by tourists from the world over. “Take a stroll on the finest white sand beach,” says the headline.

I’ve seen that its beauty is truly beyond description, but I longed to be someplace else. I have been here for 5 days, alone, and wasn’t in the mood for stranger banter and another shot of tequila, maybe two.

There’s a spot you must go to, he says. Not a lot of people know about it, and you’ll have to find it yourself.

What am I supposed to look for exactly?

I only get a lopsided smile for an answer. I head towards the direction he points at, and an hour later, I’m still walking. Where are you? I feel my heart trying to escape my chest. What are your secrets?

The sun is unyielding. The waves fondle the shore, but only for a moment. They draw back but return even more forceful, at times gentler, as my bare feet feel the alternating cold and warmth created by their motion. I walk on.

At last, a person. A dark-skinned child sits cross-legged, clothes drenched. Wide-eyed and preoccupied, she makes a wobbly pile of stones, one sharp grey pebble on top of another. Speaking felt like intruding, so I walk on.

The dusk warns of its arrival. I run forth until my lungs heave in protest. The shoreline slightly thins and curves, and I slow down. I squint and see nothing but the same beach, stretching beyond what my vision can reach.

There is nothing here! Even the echo from my scream eludes me.

I drop to the sand in surrender. For a minute, I hear nothing but my deep, heavy breaths, coming and leaving in slowing syncopation.

I see it now. The sky slowly changes hues, embracing the sea as it unfolds its depths, shrouding the fiery radiance with a shadowy canopy. The light struggles against the looming darkness until it finally drowns.

I’ve seen nothing more profound, and when you find yourself looking, you look to be found.

I get up to leave. It is a long way back and I must start moving.


See this for yourself! Board a flight to Boracay via Caticlan. Tour White Beach for a day or two, then ask local transport providers to take you to Bulabog Beach. Take Kitesurfing lessons in the morning and explore the beach after. Unwind in one of the beachfront resorts, feet up, with a cocktail in hand. At night, search the area for a bar known as Area 51, frequented for its full moon parties.