(We didnt stay in a villa, we stayed in a hostel..)
Sitting on a bus back to Manila after a great month holdayz in the Phillipines. Defo one of our favourite Asian countries... Perhaps because its a bit less Asian than the others?! The people are extremely friendly, have fantastic English and don't have that 'I'm about to scam you' air about them as much! Also their star football player is Phil Younghsband so for the first time ever we were met as celebrities rather than "what kind of a name is that?!"
Typhoon season is not an ideal time to visit the Philippines, as we discovered in week #1 when it just didn't stop raining and the outlook for our wonderful trip on paradise beaches was looking dismal! One day in Maolbaol, the weather seemed to be clear so we got a scooter and went to a lovely waterfall....then the water started falling out of the sky so much you couldn't see in front of you so we ended up having fried chicken watching the local team play basketball in some random village hall for the afternoon.
Luckily it stopped raining and we got our paradise...just in time for Lottie's visit! Off we trotted down the coast of Cebu and Wimbledon final night it seemed not one place in the village of Boljoon would serve food let alone have cable. About to give up and go back to the ridiculously priced hostel fried rice, we spotted a few westerners (and a tv!) through a window crack of a run down looking place and asked how we can get in. Someone had to get someone to wake up someone to let us in and the whole family were brought into action to feed us all. Just when it was one set all, we were told to leave as they wanted to go to bed. Walking back up the hill, we hear chants of "Andy, Andy", which was strange as Andy had left an hour previously because he was tired and couldn't see the TV anyway. Lowandbehold he was in a little wooden shack drinking rum singing kareoke with the locals. Naturally we join in and consume many bottles of ridiculously cheap rum (the rum is cheaper than coke here!) and take over the kareoke with our new Dublin friends whilst roaring out awful renditions of 'Hey Jude'.
The following evening, further down the coast, Jo and Lottie go for a run after sunset. While deciding which way to go, a young local chap asks if we are going jogging and can he come too. So he joins us the whole way...in his flip flops! He comes back later to show us the food market for BBQ fish and (probably) dog and then he comes with us at 5:30am to go and see the whale sharks, loving all the street cred hanging with the backpackers! Whale sharks were amazing-and massive! While trying to take some pictures underwater on Jo's phone, it started playing the Beatles and we couldn't get it to stop which got a good laugh out of the Koreans on our boat!
After a bit of eenie meanie minie mo we decided to go to siquijour island which involved quite a few buses and boats and trikes to get to, considering we could see it from Oslob. How and ever we made it and rented ourselves the finest scooters you ever did see. Pink for Lottie, Yellow for Jo and Purple for Andy. Accidentally did a 74k lap of the island whilst looking for lunch but had a great few days exploring, going to a 'healing festival' with witches to cure you and going down caves and swimming in waterfalls. A Scottish and English couple arrived on the second night and after searching for a bar with people in it in low season, we had a much better night with a few bottles of rum playing drinking games on the beach!
The overnight ferry we got back to Cebu was hilarious. 200+ bunk beds on each deck pushed together in fours. They had a little shop to get your beer and after a couple of games of cards we all settled down for bed... After the prayers over the loudspeaker to bless our voyage, not sure if it was reassuring or worrying?!
Away we flew to Boracay-paradise...if you were there 20 years ago. 'Johnson's' aka Asian tourists everywhere taking selfies ruin the view somewhat. Met a great group of people and we were the best 12 friends or so that anyone could ever have. Much pool playing, various ball games, banana boating, sail boating, go karting and other organised fun activities. Let's not forget the free dumplings/pasta night at the hostel with happy hour which inevitably ends messily with sand wrestling/best animal impersonations/sexy dance contest/tattoos/ tattoos done by friends you met a few days before and Mr Belly! And in Will's case a hospital visit, losing all your clothes, and then losing your wallet and its entire contents the next night.
Ten days and maybe four or five missed flights later (mostly deliberately) everyone made it out. Sad goodbyes with Lottie who has gone down under with her proper job in Perth, but at least we overcame the milestone of getting pedicures before she left!
A flight back to Manila and then (on Jo's insistence not to spend any more time in Manila) off we went again on a jeepney (elaborately decorated old war Jeeps used for public transport at 8pesos a ride and called things like 'Renegade' and 'Bad Boy') followed by a bus and boat to Puerto Galera because Jo's mum got a towel from there 30 years ago so we had to get one too. Had a good couple of days chilling out and having some rums and cards on our porch.
Now it's back to Manila and end of our holliers. Andy flies back tonight and Jo is tomorrow night despite confirming with the eejit loads of times the date he booked!! Back to Ho Chi Minh for now but defo wana come back here again- tis only gorgeous!
*Update; The final night involved refereeing midgit boxing & more karaoke with the previously mentioned amd notoriously irresponsible Will...A day with a very drunk Irish man seding in requests to spin south west radio station and having to ditch the taxi in rush hour and run across several highways to get to the airport in the nick of time! Maybe next time Andy will get the dates right to fly back together!!
