megnmogblog
Tuesday, December 05, 2006

boracay
We left Bongabong at 12:30am on the 3rd December after a few hours sleep, with seven of us piled into the trusty van we've had the use of ~ along with Henry's uncle Honie or cousin Christopher as our drivers and tour guides ~ since arriving in Manila on the 20th. Four of us were going to get on the ferry at the pier in Roxas (an 18km drive) and two people were going to keep the driver company on their 30 minute return trip after dropping us off.

The ferry was scheduled to leave at 2am and to arrive in Cataclan at 6am, but everything runs on Philippino time so I think we left closer to 3am. It is an open-sea ferry and huge, carrying tour buses and cars as well as about 500 passengers, with facilities such as an air-conditioned seating section and an air-conditioned rest area, where they have gym mats that you can get some good rest during the journey. We had our hopes set on sleeping through until the morning in the rest area, but it was already full of tour-bus drivers, families with crying babies, and generally anyone who got there about an hour before we did ~ we've settled quite well into Philippino time, ourselves : ) Instead, we settled on the open-air-conditioning in the economy section on the upper deck right next to the huge diesel exhausts, and in the broken plastic seats ~ automatic recline, at least! We probably got more sleep there than with the crying babies anyway, and our trusty head-scarves and hankerchiefs doubled and trippled as eye-masks, breathing devices and ~ when we went through a thunderstorm and the roof started leaking on us and the wind got really cold ~ as sopping-up and rugging-up garments.

After arriving in Cataclan, we then caught a smaller boat that took us over to the white sands of Boracay (Boracay means 'white beach' in Filipino), and Christopher (Toper) organised some decent accommodation for us all. It's high season here, even though it's rainy season as well, so the prices are apparently 50%-100% higher than usual. We're not staying in anything flash, but it's comfortable, and 100 meters from the water's edge, so we're really happy. You can definitely 'splurge' here, though and stay in one of the beautiful resorts or bungalows on any of the beaches. I don't think it matters what you're paying on accommodation, though, I don't think anyone escapes the touts and vendors every 5 meters .. "boat trip, ma'm", "Rolex, sir", "Sunglasses, ma'm ~ Gucci ma'm .. "

It's hot here, but luckily it hasn't rained since our first arrival and with our bungalow so close to the water we've been in and out of it the past few days. This side of the island is protected from the wind, so the bay is calm and an amazing turquoise colour. The sand is like many exclusive Australian beaches, clean and white, and the water is so clear you can see the bottom even when it's over 6-foot deep and you're easily 200 meters from shore. We have taken up a few of the touted offers and went on a boat trip around the island yesterday, with a snorkel at crocodile island ~ no crocs, though, just colourful tropical fish (The shape of the island looks like a crocodile). Half of the trip around the island was calm and restful, but the eastern side is not protected from the wind and so turned out to be very invigorating as we rose and fell with the waves and got saturated by the spray. After stopping in at an eastern bay we quickly got into the whiskey that Honie and Toper had packed, and this soon calmed the nerves and the nausea so the rest of the trip was back to feeling relaxed even though we were still in the chop.

A couple of days later Hank and I spent a few hours on a sailboat with another couple of snorkel stops, followed by an awesome parasailing experience ~ with a couple of daring speedboat out to the platform and back.

It is very popular with tourists here and many of the sea-side cafes, and restaurants make a real effort to make the area look beautiful, so the beach is clean and some of the palm trees are decorated with colourful strips of material, and at night the tables on the beaches can look really pretty, or take on a tribal 'Survivor' feel, with candles and table-cloths set up. Buffet and all-you-can-eat set-ups are very popular, with lots of fresh seafood and budget-friendly cocktails.

Other than the main beach, we explored the island a bit by tricycle, and were taken out to a popular nightspot by Toper and some of his friends. I think I was one of only two western chicks there, but most of the local ladies and lady-boys (bakla) go there to shake some booty and pick up a visiting man-thing. It was fun to have a dance though … we were drinking illusion-shakers!
We would love to go back again some time as it is one of those beaches usually just seen on postcards and is really affordable, but it is no deserted island ~ at least not when we went there, and I can only see the place developing more as it becomes more known.
On the return trip to Roxas we were working on American time, so we were able to set up camp in the rest area and get some good sleep. We were able to return to Bongabong a bit browner than when we’d left, and a lot more relaxed.

posted by megnmog at 9:30 PM