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.