Ubud - Waterfalls, rice paddies and temples with new friends

After a small week on Bali with the feeling that I hadn’t seen any of the island or of the people, we headed Maxime and I to Ubud. Ubud is located right in the center of the island and his most known for its temples and its surrounding nature and volcanos.

Max and I are avid fans of Tennis and he is probably one of the most emotionally engaged fan I have ever met in my entire life… This became especially true when we arrived in Ubud, exactly during the Federer - Wawrinka semi final of the Australian open. Being Swiss, Max was proudly watching the match, supporting the incredible comeback of Roger into the highest spheres of the world of tennis. With Federer winning and Nadal on its way to the final, we were set for a nerve wracking match on Sunday afternoon! Since I am a massive Rafa supporter, the match was intense on court and off court in our local bar in Ubud. Max’s love for Roger, hate for Rafa and swearing during the final cannot possibly be matched and I was very happy for him that the outcome came his (and Roger's) way otherwise we were in for a moody, borderline sad few days… Anyway :) you have to give it to Roger thought. I don’t remember him turning things around like that in the 5th set being 3-1 down to win the match outplaying Nadal, aggressing him with raw class scoring some points that can only leave you wondering how long this guy is going to be able to pull out that kind of magic.

Of course our stay there were not limited to being in bars watching sports… far from it!

Our first full day there was probably the fullest I had so far during my holiday. We rented some scooters and went on to discover Ubud’s surroundings. We dragged a few new friends in our adventure: Sophie from London, Libby from Barcelona, and Sarah H. from Atlanta. Our small group made the most of the local highlights. In chronologic order we managed to visit Tegenungan waterfall, the hidden canyon Beji Guwang, the waterfall of Kanto Lampo, and the temple of Pura Tirta Empul.

Hidden canyon.

Small waterfall in the canyon.

Kanto Lampo waterfall.

Monster in Pura Tirta Empul

Hot spring in Pura Tirta Empul.

Pura Tirta Empul.  People queueing to be in contact the holly fountains and present offerings to the temple.

Back in Ubud I was dreaming to try again the amazing fried bananas with cheese (!!!) we had on our first diner in Ubud at the infamous Warung Ijo (a warung is a typical local restaurant - usually both good and cheap). Unfortunately for me and for the group it would have to be postponed to the following day since the kitchen had close before we could order dessert.

The next day was equally nice. Good company and my first ever yoga practice. Sarah was kind enough to introduce us to Yoga for an hour private lesson. The experience was great and I can’t wait to show you the timelapse I made out of it (I’ll share it either when back in Europe or when I find a good enough internet connection). 

Yoga!!! It was an amazing experience for me.

We went on to visit the Monkey forrest, a place full of … monkeys quite obviously. I learnt a few things along the way: 

Never Ever stare a monkey in the eyes as the little fella will perceive this as a sign of aggression.

Never touch a monkey… your little buddy can touch you and jump on your shoulder but do not touch it… This is a wild animal and not a pet. We witness an overly enthusiast Chinese tourist that learnt that the hard way.

Be careful with your belongings… Monkeys are smart little fuckers. One reached out to my pocket and managed to get away with my entrance ticket. I observed him helplessly tearing apparently the piece of paper.

These little creature are fantastic to observe. Their social interactions are so close to ours. I loved it.

Angry little monkey that just jumped off me trying to steal from my pocket.

Playful monkeys.

Daddy wants to play to.

That one did succeed to take my entrance out of my pocket. Happily tearing it appart.

We have faced few other species of local fauna: lizards of all size (from a few centimetres to more than half a meter), an emerald green snake, a lot of ducks (a local delicatessen), and countless colourful birds during our time walking around Ubud and its rice paddies. What a lovely photogenic place this is!

Scenic walk in Ubub.

Trail in the northern part of Ubud.

Our 5 units group decided to head East towards Lombok to go to the Gili Islands, an archipelago of 3 islands. Gili T (trawangan) will be our first stop.

Happy days!

Wandering in the streets of Ubud.
Libby, Sophie, Justin, Chad and Sarah :)

Sea, Surf and Sun (sometimes...) in Bali's wave heaven of Kuta and Canggu.

Here I am, the final country on my trip: Indonesia.

I had very little expectations whatsoever before coming as the only information I had on Bali was a few "it was awesome" from some friends that had travelled here and the memories of the movie Eat, Pray, Love I watched ages ago. The little I expected was a relaxing and spiritual atmosphere you get in the kind of places where there are waves to surf and temples to pray in.

From the airport, I decided to stay a few days in Kuta just a stones throw away of the airport. This is a surfer's town: you surf during the day and you party at night. My hostel; the Funky Monkey was located in a very small street in between the beach and the main road of the city. The swimming pool was really much appreciated and the constant flow of people made it entertaining: I was always with different people sharing travel experiences and tips while having loads of free pancakes offered by the hostel.

Kuta at sunset. One of the only pictures I took in 3 days.

While this is not exactly what I was expecting, I was lucky enough to meet and hang out with amazing people. I am going to mention here couple of guys I was lucky enough to meet: Sahel an inspiring broker from London with Afghan decent and Maxime a tennis addict from Switzerland.

I spend the first 3 days surfing and partying with both before Maxime and I headed north towards Canggu (pronounced Chan-Gu) while Sahel moved with one of his friends towards the center of Bali to more mystical lands.

Beach in Canggu with perfect wave for my low level.

Canggu is much quieter even if the parties there can get insanely wild. The day basically follows the rhythm of the waves. Max and I stayed 4 nights in another great hostel (with pool and again great company). Sharing our dorm, a funny dutch guy that happened to be my neighbour when I was living in Hilversum (!!!) and Charly a Belgian citizen. The world got even smaller for our small crew when Charly and I were speaking about music.

Charly loves acid, a kind of music I have close to no knowledge of.... The only information I know about Acid is that it is very popular in Belgium and there is quite a large audience in Antwerpen and Brugges. This I know from my friend and ex-colleague Luca... Luca is a DJ known in the industry as Acidolido. Well, Acidolido happens to be Charly's favorite artist! 

Mind. Blown. Instant friends just like with Max and Sahel before.

We spent time hanging out and got to meet Sean and Chelsea, a lovely couple teaching English in China, discovering the area and the infinite party options dancing on the beach until the early hours of the morning.

The pretty poison bar in Canggu with its skatepark in the middle of it!

A week has gone by in south Bali in a blink. Time flies when you are having fun. To be honest I did not do much besides surfing and meeting people (mostly around a Bintang, the local beer). But this is what travelling is all about, isn't it? 

I saw yesterday a brilliant post card that sum up perfectly my mood these days. It said:

Never blame anyone in Your Life

Bad people give you Experience

Worst people give you a Lesson

Good people give you Happiness

&

Best people give you Memories.

I am so lucky to be piling up so many memories. It is going to be hard to keep them all in my heart.

I was so busy having fun and relaxing I took very little pictures... I managed to find 3 okish ones to illustrate this post.

I will take so many more in Ubud, where Max and I are heading next. Stay tuned!

Kuala Lumpur (again) and Singapore for a couple of days!

Philippines has been something, that the least to say.

The people, their kindness, the beaches, the underwater world, the island, the parties...

After saying goodbye to Ronnie, I found myself in another airport on my way back to KL.

In the airport I got to speak to a Malaysian that happens to have twin boys. I guess the world do connect people based on commun characteristics, you just have to find out what it is.

In Kuala Lumpur I managed to visit one of the highlights I did not have time to see the first time around: Batu's Cave.

Batu's cave is this massive stairway to a big... cave.

The site is accessible by train and welcomes you with a massive golden statue.

That day was pouring rain, which makes the whole experience unbelievable: I had the site almost on my own and the rain gave a very chaotic and dramatic note.

After the visit I went to the bus station to head to Singapore, a 6 to 12 hours ride from KL (depending on traffic). My first bus got cancelled, the second one was delayed 1 hour. I left at 11pm.

I arrived in the city state very early morning. I had made an appointment to meet my friend Florian at 8 am and I was happy to have a walk in the empty city at sunrise, wandering through the business district and chinatown on my way to the cafe we were set to meet.

It was amazingly nice to meet Flo and Jackie, get to spend time with them and get some priceless advice on what to do in the city.

Tradition meets modernism in Chinatown.

For the first time since the half marathon in Cebu I went for a run. Even if Singapore is such a humid city, this is so nice to run around the bay and this amazing skyline.

Besides spending much of my time next to Flo's apartment in Chinatown and eating Chinese food in the food court (230+ food stalls to choose from - including a Michelin star restaurant where you can have a meal for around 2 euros... no jokes!!!) I went on to visit the ArtScience Museum.

The building is amazing! It is shaped like a hand open to the sky or a blooming lotus and composed of 3 levels hosting the 3 different exhibits:

- A Space oriented exhibit that takes you back to the race to space between USSR and USA.

- A very complete M.C. Escher expo where you can almost find more of his work that in his museum in The Netherlands

- An entire study / reflexion on where Arts meets Science. This part was very interactive and recreative.

This museum is more than a must to do in Singapore. I had so much fun and inspiration. That Crystal Universe is a thing of ultimate beauty.

The bay with Marina Sands on the right and the ArtScience Museum in the back.

It eventually reflected my entire stay in Singapore. Meeting incredibly nice and talented people (Flo knows how to surrender himself with this kind of human being). I am glad I had these 3 days and couldn't be more thankful to both Jackie and Flo for sharing their lives with me during my stays. 

Puerto Princesa and Back in Manila - Last couple of Days in the Philippines

Puerto Princesa is the door to that paradise that is Palawan. You often enter the island by its airport and you leave by this airport. And like a door the (almost) only point of it is to go through it. In that sense Puerto Princesa feels pretty much like door to me. No much to do or see in that small city. After 4 days in El Nido it takes a LOT to amaze oneself and Jeroen and I are at this point only looking forward to head back to Manila.

A nice cathedral, a WWII memorial, a nice (and empty) river side walk are among the things we saw in our hours spent there. Let’s not forget the mall here. We spent lunch time and I shopped in that local mall… This is probably the most Filipino experience we have. It seems like they love malls.

Another Filipino experience for me was to play some basketball with local kids (thanks for that amazing photo of live action Jeroen!). It was real nice to play with locals and I was probably happier than they were. We played 2x2 for a short time. It took just seconds before I was sweating like a pig while these kids looked fresh, as if it was not 30 degrees but 15 and there were having a walk in the park. Basketball is the national sport and I am glad I had that moment for myself.

Playing some hoops with local kids. Thanks Jeroen for the awesome picture.

We returned to Manila that night where we shared a succulent diner and drinks with Ronnie. Across the road we found ourselves dragged into the Ring Side, a place where we were to witness midget wrestling, midget boxing and midget dancing. Curiosity is bad but you have to sometimes feed it. This is all I am going to say about that business. I will rather encourage you to go see it for yourself and make yourself your own opinion. I preferred the bar we went to next - the rooftop bar of the Z Hostel.

After a few drinks it was the sad moment when I part ways with Jeroen and Andres.

They would both return to Switzerland.

Here is a picture of my Swiss gang in Chocolate Hills. Travelling will not be exactly the same without you guys. I am very thankful having your company for this time.

For now I will follow my adventure alone! 

My last day in Manila was cultural as I went on to discover the Intramuros part of Manila and mostly the Fort Santiago. This is a pivotal place in the history of the Philippines as it witness the execution of José Rizal a key person in the fight for this country's independence.

Dr Rizal is here portrayed in his cell the day he was executed.

A path of golden foot print pave his last walk toward his death by the Spanish colons. 

Paying tribute to this hero was a nice way to say good bye to this amazing country and the best host there possibly is over there: Ronnie. Thank you buddy, hopefully I can be as much of a good host when you visit Europe next time around.

Palawan - Discovering El Nido

I was not really inspired to find yet another title with bragging adjectifs qualifying the infinite beauty of a place. Palawan is - likewise Boracay - another regular member of rankings such as “Top 5 most beautiful islands in the world”.

While I can now say I have been in Palawan and stay on this island, the 4 days I had there and the very limited places I have seen have to be put in perspective. It was yet again the experience of a lifetime and I feel lucky to having wandered the beaches around El Nido.

El Nido is probably the most known corner of this island (in the North-West part) and it is naturally there that we headed from Puerto Princesa, where our flight from Cebu landed. I have been regularly writing about long commutes - that one was nowhere different from the others. Although there are “only” around 250 kilometres from Puerto to El Nido it took more than 5 hours to get there despite the driver of our van slaloming comfortably between the Jeepneys, the motorbikes and the tricycles overpopulating the roads. Thankfully our pension was on the side of the main road 3 kilometres from the village of El Nido and we where dropped of there already late at night.

We couldn’t see much from the hotel room and sleep was most needed when we arrived. We would get our reward from all the commuting when we woke up by discovering the view.

Of course it is impossible to compare one location to another, one island in Thailand in the Caribbean or in Polynesia to its filipino cousin’s without loosing any kind of objectivity. It is definitely a matter of taste and often depends of one’s experience in a given corner of the planet. My experience in El Nido together with the great time I had there made it very special… And man that view!

And the greatest part is that it is at least as beautiful under the over than on (is)land.

I won't say much more about El Nido besides that it was the first time since The Challenge in Ko Pha Ngan (22nd of December) that I was going in the water (more than the time of a shower obviously). Jeroen and Andres enjoyed the wonderful big blue world for  a few dives and I join them on the boat to snorkel in the same areas. 

I spend to much time in the water that I got burnt real bad on the back... This is the risk you are less expose to when diving... or wearing sun proof clothes or sun protection.

Here are some pictures I took with the GoPro. No filters or adjustments made only cropping and rotating the pictures :D Amazing time that was.

I got to swim 10 minutes with this buddy.

Coral and fishes. Zoom in to see the little blue ones in the Coral.

The Table Coral, one of my favorite underwater picture.

Angry Nemo coming at me, protecting his little one.

Sunset in Las Cabanas Beach.

Cebu - the oldest city in the Philippines

Jeroen and Andres were supposedly getting to Cebu on the 8th… However the second typhoon of our time in the Philippines is capricious and have them stocked in Panglao. Not a single boat is authorised to leave the pier.

I spent the entire day of the 8th resting. The muscle in my legs are starting to hurt due to the awkward movement I had to endure not to stress too much my left ankle.

Since my friends will be arriving in Cebu the 9th in the afternoon only, I am taking my time to explore what is of interest in the area. They are finally free to come over and arriving late in the afternoon the same day.

In the meantime I manage to witness the early moments of the biggest festival of the year: Sinulog. This is a week long of celebration of the baby Jesus ended in epic partying fashion the week end of the 14th and 15th of January. While this is making it impossible for me to visit the Basilic, it is nice to observe what is going on. Thousands and Thousands of locals are standing outside to watch on flat screen the Mass going on inside the Catholic edifice.

That left me with 2 other highlights I had planned to visit:
- The Magellan’s cross.
- The Fort San Pedro.

Inside the fort of San Pedro.

Magellan's Cross.

The city is pleasant and a bit more human size than overwhelming Manila. Our last morning, full of motivation we wanted to go to a view point and visit the Taoist temple next by... Unfortunately the rain decided otherwise. The typhoon is giving us its last tears and we prefer a warm coffee than risking a pneumonia.

Palawan is our next destination for which we needed to take a taxi to the airport (1h in the trafic and now heavy rain) and board for an hour flight... hopefully for more sun.

Cebu - Running the half marathon!!!

I collectedly race number and my singlet at the last possible moment, on the 7th at 6pm after yet again countless hours in public transportation from Panglao to Cebu.

The race starts at 4am the following morning. Thank god I did not subscribed for the full marathon that kick off at an early 3am. After a diner at the local fast food chain Jolibee I head back to the hotel for an early night. I have decided to give it a shot.

When I woke up at 3am, I am not so sure anymore of the feasibility of my objective. It is impossible to put on my socks without feeling pain in my still recovering ankle. I decided not to put any and head towards the start line.

The atmosphere is electric between the oppressive humidity and the energy of the large crowd. I am so excited. I am not sure yet I will be able to run - I have not worn shoes for almost 3 weeks and have not run for exactly as much. The finishing window for the half marathon is 4 hours which basically means I can walk the entire race and get to the finish line getting my finisher medal and kit. The start is very typical of such an event: I walk the first few hundred meters with the back of the pack evaluating the elasticity and response of my ankle. I have almost not solicited it for the last 20 days. When the runners are starting to spread around the route I eventually start to run. Running is a very big word though. I am more limping than anything. But I am happy and it feels good.
I would take it very easy throughout the all 21.1 km, taking time at the numerous water point to rehydrate myself. The humidity is quite hard to cope with and water or gatorade is very much appreciated.

2 hours and 13 minutes after starting, I was back to the initial point crossing the finish line. It is very hard for me to describe my feeling at that point of time. Even though this is far from being my first race or the longest one I have participated in (I have a couple marathons under my belt and numerous runs with my brother that were much longer that this one) I simply am overwhelmed. I have come a very long way since Xmas and my stay in the hospital.

I collect my finisher package consisting of a medal, a finisher shirt and couple of other goodies. It is not even 6:30 in the morning and definitely time to go back to sleep.

The final result is quite astonishing to me: 2h13m06s for a ranking of 215 out 1598 runners taking part of the half marathon. Would I have been normally fit and ran the time I had set myself, I might have finished in the top 30… but with ifs you can change the world and I am happy enough to be a finisher and to have pushed myself to compete. I’ll break my PB in the near future for sure!

A well deserved selfie :)

Bohol - Discovery nature and local wildlife

On the 6th of January, Jeroen Andres Delphine and I took on a private tour to go on the main island of the area: Bohol. The schedule ranges from hiking up the Chocolate hills to feeding monkeys.

Our first stop takes us to a Tarsier sanctuary. The tarsier is a very small animal that mostly lives at night. Its main peculiarity is mohave eyes 150 times bigger than its brain. It feels like the little buddy can see through you when staring at you.

A Tarsier.

Bohol is a rather large island located in the center of the archipelago and it takes us quite a ride to head toward the main attraction of the day: The Chocolate Hills.

Before getting there however we find ourselves hoping on a cruise buffet ship on the local river. The ride is beautiful and we get a glimpse at the local culture. Autochtones are bamboo dancing while we stuff ourselves with delicatessen from the region.

We got back to our car to get to the very center of the island and finally get to the infamous Chocolate hills. these hills get their name from the browny color of the burn grass in the end of dry season. Nothing remotely brown for us. The place is as green as it gets. The area is enjoying more than 1200 of these perfect domes that look more like camel backs than pill of chocolate to me.

A few of the hundreds of "chocolate hills".

It is already the middle of the afternoon and a few more stops are schedule. Chronologically we went:
- monkey feeding
- posing with pythons
- photographing some rise plantations
We skipped the butterfly park and preferred having a ice coffee in the city close to our resort.

My new friend is very curious with the GoPro.

I look rather relax. Let's be clear... I am not.

We were back to Panglao right after sunset.
Time for me to head to the local hospital for a great great piece of news: I would get ride of all my dressing and be freed from that daily time consuming activity.

I am truly stoked by the relative freedom and increased confort I am feeling all of a sudden.

The next day I decide to go back to Cebu to collect my race package for the Cebu half marathon taking place on the 8th of Jan for which I have registered for couple of months ago.
I will decided at the last moment if it is reasonable for me to actually run the event or take it easy discovering the city.

Alona beach - little gem on Panglao island and its little rural medical center.

The experience of our previous day did took Jeroen and I quite some energy and we both decided to take it easy and enjoy the resort the following day on January 4th.
But before anything, it was time for me to discover yet another hospital. After querying the reception, it turns out there is just one hospital on the island located in Panglao city. We got there Jeroen and I riding a tricycle (basically a motorbike customised with a passenger cabin where you can fit 2 persons of small size - great fun to ride!) to the infamous Rural Medical Center, located right next to the Firefighter brigade.

My little rural hospital in the background.

The hospital was packed and it took me a few seconds to locate the reception. I explain my case to which the receptionist point out to what I believed was a corridor. After correcting me, she was pointing a very old iron chair lying in the middle of all these local people waiting. Was she offering me a seat? No no… This was where I would be attended, my wounds cleaned and my dressings changed!

This is normally a process that can be a bit painful and I have so far appreciated the relative privacy of a curtain at least or of a room at best. The nurse is going to take out the old dressing (the compress is ALWAYS stuck in the wounds making it painful), clean the wound with Bettadine, apply some anti bacterial cream and put back a new dressing… all this in front of maybe 50 locals that are looking at me like an alien at first.
But because sharing is caring - and everybody else seemed to be waiting for something (an appointment? a consultation?) or someone (the local doctor? a patient?) - they all looked at me with a lot of compassion as if they wanted to share and take away a bit of the pain I was feeling.
Not a single person complained about me “jumping” the queue (were there a queue?) even if it look like they have all been waiting for a moment already. It took me only 20 minutes from the time I entered to the time I left the place.
I was moved by the experience. This is unbelievably heartwarming to see the relief in the eyes and the smile on the faces of people you don’t know after the nurse was done with me.These people are so kind and so human.

Me at the rural medical center of Pamglao

Jeroen and I left the Rural hospital and walked towards Panglao beach located a kilometre away. No much happening here for us tourist. No beach, just a large central square with a church, a school and a basketball court (basketball islands down the national sport and 1 person out of 2 wears a basketball jersey, either of a local or an NBA star).
We hoped back to the more touristy Alona beach for lunch.

The beach is beautiful, much less crowded that Boracay but still offering plenty of option for our hunger.
We sat down randomly and ordered. What a better place that a beach and a fisherman’s town to have fish, I was thinking. turned out they did not have fish!!! Nor mango that was supposed to be used for the shake I ordered. I changed to vegetarian option, it will be steak night at the Resort and I did not wanted to stuff myself before that.

The rest of the day outside eating was a succession of siestas and time reading.
We enjoyed our nice piece of beef for diner and Jeroen decided to go for couple of dive the next day. I would be waiting on another friend arriving from Zurich the 5th.

These days and since it is unfortunately not possible for me to go in the water, I dedicate myself to resting and making sure I recover quickly. How sad would it be if while spending 3 weeks in the Philippines I cannot go even once in the crystal clear water of its seas or a swimming pool.

From one paradise to another - Trying out each and every transportation system in the Philippines

TL;DR
Took us 12 hours to go from Boracay to Alona Beach using every possible mean of transportation the country has to offer. In order we rode: Taxi, boat, bus, plane, taxi, ferry, uber. Funny and tiring experience.

Now, for the longer version of the trip.

Leaving Boracay meant couple of things to us: 
- firstly we would leave the craziness of the island heading to a much quieter place.
- secondly we were in for another long day in the amazing networks of transports of the Philippines (there are just so many options to go from one place to another). 

On the 3rd day of the year and after our light (free) breakfast at the hostel (Instant coffee, ice tea, 1 egg served scrambled, 2 toasts and a tiny bit of jam and butter that are not enough to cover one of the toast) we took a minivan to the pier, a small ferry to Catitlan and a bus to the airport.
3 hours later we discovered the madness of this local airport. The queue outside Kalibo airport was a solid 200m. We have  heard by now stories from countless travellers that had their flights rescheduled, cancelled rerouted at the last minute (it turned out that our coming flight from Cebu to Palawan was reschedule by one day…). Thankfully my crutches are acting like a magic pass and we easily skipped the queue (the advantages of being a Passenger With Disabilities).

Leaving Boracay on a tiny boat.

Our plan was foggy when we boarded... Not very reassuring. 

Arriving in Cebu international airport. we had to find out how to get to Alona beach, located around 60km Southwest on Panglao island. Jeroen got the information right before exciting the airport at one of the tourist information desk. We would need to get to Cebu passenger pier, hope on a ferry and take a taxi to the Resort.
The taxi we got at the airport took us to the pier through Cebu, the oldest city of the Philippines. We will be getting there the 7th or the 8th of January, where I will or will not run the city’s half marathon - that should be decided last minute.

And we were in for yet another ferry. The terminal is MUCH bigger than in Boracay where it only takes 10 minutes for a boat to make the small ride across the sea. The experience of taking a larger ferry in the Philippines is quite procedural and structured as you need to:
- buy a ticket (at the local office or at the counter located outside the passenger terminal, most probably on the internet as well)
- pay terminal fee to get access to the boarding gate
- check in for your ferry
- wait at your gate
- board the ferry
The experience is exactly like in an airport, no more no less.

The ferry ride was 2 hours and it was already night time outside when we got to Tagbilaran city on an island called Bohol. Outside the small harbour it is chaos. Exiting the passenger terminal we had a dozen of tricycle, taxi or minivan drivers offering their services to get us to our final destination for the day.

Jeroen give me the lead to choose from the many possibilities.
We quickly found ourselves in a large SUV (uber!?) with 2 Norwegian travellers going in the same direction. After dropping them off, we finally arrived at our resort: the Bohol Subside Resort.
I think we were both very happy to have a private twin room for us and could rest after diner at the resort bar.

Bohol Sunside Resort. Great choice Jeroen :)

Boracay - New Year's eve on one of the world most beautiful island

On December 30th and after my wounds cleaning ritual, we headed to the domestic terminal of Manila's airport. The place is "funny", looks like a bus station at best and is a little chaos. Local airlines are still suffering from cancellations around Christmas due to a typhoon that hit the archipelago. We have been VERY lucky with Jeroen that our flight had no impact because of this, well that flight at least.

We arrived in Kalibo just 30 minutes after schedule. Thanks to our smart move during the flight to buy a transfer from the airport to Boracay directly, we had nothing to worry about from Kalibo to the Hostel.

After a 2 hours bus ride (for only 40km ...), a small ferry crossing crossing the 1.5km sea between Caticlan and the island and a final 30 minutes mini van transfer we made it to the hostel for diner! 

Since Philippines is not really known for its food (nothing wrong about it, but you can be disappointed at times), we asked the receptionist - a local girl - for suggestions. Her answer came in a blink: "Go to Smoke". Smoke is a very small eatery located in a side street of D-Mall, the shopping center of the islands where a lot of bars / restaurants / handcrafts & souvenirs boutiques can be found. This mall is located in the very center of the island and leads to the main beach: White Beach. We would spend the large majority of our 4 days stays around that area... and NEVER too far away from Smoke.

This local restaurant is hands down the best food experience we have had in the Philippines (so far :D). Creamy oriental chicken, Tofu Salad, Fish soup, Curry chicken... you name it, it is amazingly tasty... and dirt cheap compare to the restaurant located directly on the beach. We would go to have a meal at Smoke at least once a day! 

The "street leading to our favorite restaurant: Smoke.

We made it back to the hostel and had a chat with a few travellers including this 52 years old Canadian (from Québec) that had just decided to change his entire life, sold everything he had to start travelling... and learning English. Very nice and wise person that was.

Soon enough we were already the 31st and it was time to get ready for the party and New Year's eve celebration. On that day, the beach was absolutely packed all day long. Locals preparing the fireworks and tourists making plans for the evening. After diner at Smoke, we went back to the hostel to meet up with Delphine (a swiss girl) and Tim (a Dutch guy) to spend the evening with them. We had decided to have a few cocktails at BomBom while the atmosphere on the island was getting really pumped! By 11, we had agreed to leave the bar, go to the 7/11 (a supermarket chain that can be found all over South East Asia), buy some drinks and find a spot on the beach that was already packed.

Drinks at BomBom to celebrate the end of 2016.

The night was very fun, between drunk tourists and happy locals. It ended around 4am for me after speaking to many people celebrating the first moments of 2017, being happy to be there and say goodbye to 2016.

Boracay has 2 main characteristics:

- there is a massive party scene (NYE was absolutely insane in that sense!!!)

- it is selected years after years among the most beautiful islands in the world (depending who runs the polls) and rightfully so. Check that ranking out for example (not to brag but we are spending holidays on the 3 Philippines islands making the top 5 :D :D :D keep following for more informations about these locations)

January 1st was a lazy day as for most of us I guess. Woke up for breakfast at 9am and went back to bed until 2pm :) It was then just the usual: Smoke for lunch and chilling on the beach. For diner we spiced things up going to a local burger venue for a very tasty double cheese / double beef burger.

We would get back into our adventurous spirit on the 2nd of January where we would go for a boat tour around Boracay. I have been a bit anxious about that one from the beginning. Since I cannot really go in the water (I do not want to have water on my dressings which would just add a bit to my recovering time) it took Jeroen and Brendon (an Aussie) to carry me onto the boat lying 50 meters from the beach in the water (my heroes <3, otherwise I would just have stayed on the beach and the boat would have left without me). The ride was bumpy and the other side of the island turned out to be very windy... and a paradise for kite surfers. We made a 4 stops: 1 snorkeling stop I would not take part on, a second stop on Laurel island, a third stop in a big rock right in front of Laurel island with couple of houses and plate forms to jump from (including a 10m high diving place I would I Love to try out) and finally a 4th stop back on Boracay (but the other side on the Southeast tip of the island for lunch).

That was it for me. It was way too tricky to go on and off the boat... I fell on my back on the ramp from the boat to the island on one of the stop trying no to wet my left leg. No harm thankfully.

Impossible not to speak about my wounds cleaning experience on the island... Pain is the most accurate word for this.The nurses would ever day rub a piece of cotton counting until 10. Not pleasant to be scrached on an open would. Thankfully the number of dressing I am having is quickly reducing and by the time we left Boracay, I just had a small one on the left ankle and another small one on the left elbow.

When waking up on the 3rd, it was already time to leave the little paradise.

Sunset from White Beach.