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 :)

Last day in Thailand!

December 25th and December 26th

I finally got out of the hospital.

My only concern besides recovery is making it on time in Bangkok to grab my flight for the Philippines... this flight is schedule on the 27th at 9:35am.

I decided to take the last ferry of the day in Ko Pha Ngan... a night ferry leaving at 10pm. This was a bit of a crazy experience... No seats, just 2 rows of really bad mattresses. The trip to Surat Thani would take 7 hours more or less. It was for me a very scary experience because of the very little number of passengers, the risk of infections (I was out of the hospital just for 2 hours and the boat looked like it was straight out of the Pirates of the Caribbean after a battle...) and the fact that this was probably the worst looking boat I had ever seen.

The night ferry. Is there AirCo? Off course not! 

The night ferry from the inside... 2 rows of minimalist beds. A few fans to cool the air.

It was the price to pay in order to spend a few hours in Bangkok and catch up with my cousin there.

In Surat Thani, I had no real other choice of transportation than the bus. It turned out to be a 12 hours ride... I eventually made it to Bangkok at 7pm.

It was already time for me to go back to a medical center in order to have my wounds cleaned...

Easier said than done. In total it took me a few hours to find an hospital and have what would become a daily activity for the next 10 days done...

By 10pm I was finally on my way to spend time with Quentin my cousin from France!!!

It was so good after being stock in an hospital to see a familiar face and catch up.

We spoke all night long, discussing about our lives outside France.

The following morning, it was time for both of us to grab our flights. Quentin would go to Cambodia, I would go to Manilla in the Philippines where Jeroen (my ex roomate in the Netherlands) would join me for a 3 weeks tour of the country!

***** WARNING *****

Graphic content coming!!!

If you do not like to see wounds, do not look at what follows... This is a picture I took in the hospital in Bangkok where I got the first wounds cleaning and dressing out of the island.

It was not so painful and looks worst than it actually is.

The "short commute" from Krabi to Ko Pha Ngan

Another day of commute. 

This 20th of December was funny making the "short" trip from Krabi to Ko Pha Ngan island in the bay of Thailand (269km only...).

One of the main reason I choose this island over Ko Samui I that there is something to this island I really want to experience: The Challenge (dedicated post to come). I randomly discovered this when I was checking where to go and what to do... This was Ze key differentiator!

I first got pick up by a mini van from the hostel in Krabi Town.

The taxi got us to the head office of a travel agency where half a dozen mini vans arrived. While waiting an hour or so, groups would be made depending the destination. Pink for Ko Pha Ngan and yellow for Samui. We would then board the same bus to Donsak in the Surat Thani region en route to the ferry. After waiting for another hour, we would finally board the boat. First stop Ko Samui for 30 minutes then Ko Pha Ngan where we would be taking taxi to the different part of the island where everybody would be dropped of at their hotel. I would make it for diner arriving at 7:30. And would found the company of a cute little cat in my empty restaurant.

The total commute was as short as the distance between the 2 locations - 8 hours and thirty minutes.

No picture today - no time at all I guess :P


UPDATE:
I have found a cute picture of my diner companion I wanted to share with you :) sorry for the poor quality I was a bit shaky and in low light. The cat jumped on my lap spontaneously and left when I was done. Nice little diner buddy.

Pad Thai - Cat flavor.

Bye Bye Malaysia - Hello Thailand

Another day, another adventure could be an alternative title to this one.

After 2 nights in Langkawi, I had made my choice to leave Malaysia and head to Thailand. It was a hard decision as the place is a little paradise with plenty of entertainment around and a very laid back feel in general. This is an island after all. I should be back here, maybe... I will be in Malaysia again in February anyway, on my way back to Europe. Future will tell. For now I was set for another long journey towards Krabi.

Bye Langkawi.

A taxi picked me up at 7:20am at the hotel. One last stop en route to the ferry terminal as we were picking up another person. And I would be travelling all day with Lee. He is travelling solo just as I am and heading to Phuket (that would add at least 3 hours compare to my already long journey... can't even imagine how happy he was to finally get there).

Anyway, we got to the ferry terminal by 8am, had a coffee, waited a little at Malaysian immigration, embarked at 8:45, left at 9, arrived in Tammalang at 10:30, passed through Thai immigration, took a songthaew to the local bus station, arrived right on time for our bus at 11am and left...

Because we would travel during the day and it was hot and sunny outside we did not suffer so much from extreme cold that is usually ruling Thai buses... The drivers in South East Asia are hardcore fan of air conditioning, and it is common to have polar temperature in these rolling things.

I arrived in Krabi bus station in the middle of the afternoon and said goodbye to Lee - one advise he gave me could impact tremendously my travels in the next weeks... more on this soon :) - Where was I exactly, I had no clue. Where would I spend the night, I had no clue. One sure thing, we were NOT in Krabi town... I went for the easy was and took a taxi to the center where I would have much more chance to find an accommodation for the night. Finding a place took me very little time... After 15 minutes walking around, I had a winner. The place looked clean, very close to the markets - the fresh food market and the night market - and cheap.

Perfect combination.

I was finally ready for what I had patiently waited since February: a Pad Thai in Thailand!

And the best place to find one was at the night market.

Going through the shacks on my quest, something I did not expect at all happened at 6pm sharp. A loud Thai music was blasting in every direction and EVERYBODY stopped whatever activity they where doing. At first I wanted to laugh out loud then I realised it was probably the national anthem and stayed quiet. Google confirmed that it was indeed the national anthem and that it was played twice a day at 8am and 6pm. Not being aware of this at first, I thought a second I was taking part in the world largest Mannequin Challenge... It was that intense!

Night Market Krabi seconds before National anthem being played.

And around the corner it was... The Pad Thai Shack! A special one as the recipe was upgraded to a egg wrapped pad thai. It was absolutely delicious.

This is how it's done. That simple.

As I like to say in Thailand: one pad thai a day keeps the grumpy face away. 

Pad Thai egg wrapped.