NOTE: I originally wrote this as one post, but we had a lot of stories from the Philippines and it turned into one very long post–almost 9,000 words to be exact. Also, I’ve been stalling on publishing this. I originally drafted these stories in April. Yes. April. I’ve stalled big time. So I hope you find these stories funny, relevant and entertaining. Enjoy!

Although we are chasing mild weather for most of the trip, we knew we couldn’t keep away from snow for a whole year. It doesn’t take a lot of convincing to commit to a snowboarding trip to Japan in February with our friends Sandra and Michaela (you might remember them from the cameo they made in Iceland).

I start planning when we’re in Vietnam, and at that time we need to be in Tokyo in about a month and a half. Since we have location and date flexibility, I research the cost of flights from a variety of cities in Southeast Asia to Tokyo. The cheapest flight I find is from Cebu City, Philippines, arriving the same day as the gals.

The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, making it the most difficult country we have to navigate so far. It requires in-depth research about how to get from one place to another and advance planning and booking of flights and ferries. Here’s what we came up with:

Manila, Palawan, Boracay, Bohol: Part 1

• Siem Reap, Cambodia – Manila, Philippines: Plane
  • The cheapest flights we could find are on New Years Day, so we arrive late to Manila and spend one night in the city and hit up some coffee shops before heading straight back to the airport to leave the next morning
• Manila – Palawan Islands (Puerto Princessa & El Nido): Plane, Bus
  • We fly from Manila to Puerto Princessa, Palawan. After one night there in a sketchy-ass pink bedroom, we’ll take a four-hour bus to El Nido.
• El Nido – Island of Coron: Ferry
  • Both of these islands are known for great snorkeling and have some of the most incredible landscapes in the entire world. As most of you know, we didn’t finish our scuba cert so we’re sticking to surface sports.
• Island of Coron – Boracay Island: Plane or Ferry
  • Boracay is regularly dons the title of best beach on the planet. It’s also a backpacker party island.
• Boracay Island – Cebu Island – Bohol Island: Plane, Ferry
  • This leg of our trip is for jungle-ing, canyoneering, and adventuring.

Siquijor, Moalboal, Malapascua, Cebu City: Part 2

• Bohol Island – Siquijor Island: Ferry
  • Siquijor is known around the Philippines to be an island of mystery and witchcraft.
• Siquijor Island – Cebu Island (Moalboal): Ferry, Ferry, Bus
  • Moalboal is home to a very famous sardine run and is regularly listed as a can’t miss when visiting the Philippines
• Moalboal – Malapascua Island: Bus, Taxi, Bus, Ferry
  • Malapascua is a total wild card. I wanted something super remote and authentic and Malapascua meets the criteria.
• Malapascua Island – Cebu City: Ferry, Taxi
  • We’ll spend one night in Cebu City before leaving for Tokyo the next morning
• Cebu City – Tokyo: Plane
  • The grand finale that takes us to see our friends!!

Palawan

Puerto Princessa

After a one-night stopover in Manila, we take a domestic flight straight to one of the most beautiful regions in the world: Palawan.

Puerto Princessa is really the only major city you can fly into to visit the Palawn islands. We stayed here only one night on our way to El Nido. The most exciting/horrific thing that happens in our night here is finding a spider in our tiny guest room that Stephen couldn’t catch. You can probably imagine how I slept that night. Hint: I didn’t. Also we’re used to stray dogs at this point, but as soon as we got here I got a really terrible feeling about the stray dogs in this town. So I told Stephen to watch out.

El Nido

El Nido is the most popular jumping-off point to explore the Palawan Islands. To get to El Nido from Puerto Princessa, we take a bus four hours north along the coast.

Our well-laid plans hit a snag

On our first morning in El Nido (January 4) we have breakfast at a local coffee shop. I overhear the couple sitting on the poufs next to us talking about the ferry service to Coron. In my research, I learned that the waters between El Nido and Coron were notoriously volatile so its best to wait to purchase your tickets only a few days in advance to make sure the weather is in your favor.

I ask the couple if they have a recommendation for the best agent to purchase ferry tickets from, they tell us that they’ve actually been stuck in El Nido for almost five days due to a storm that happened on New Year’s Day. All ferries to Coron are canceled for a few days and those who already had tickets are first priority.

On top of all this, one of the two ferries total ferries that regularly make the voyage was broken down and had been in the “should be up tomorrow or the day after” status for about two weeks. This is a problem for us because we’ve already reserved non-refundable guest rooms in Coron. Missing this ferry would also throw off all of the reservations and planning I had made for the next month.

We talk to the ferry office directly and sure enough, they are fully booked for three days past the date we’re supposed to leave El Nido. I decide our best bet is to skip the three days we had planned for Coron and spend a couple of extra days in Boracay.

The only way to get from El Nido to Boracay is to fly, so we book a flight. Although we aren’t out a lot of money, I do decide to take advantage of our trip insurance and file a claim for trip interruption. They approve our claim and they reimburse the cost of the rooms we had to cancel in Coron and pay the difference in the cost of travel.

El Nido – Island Tours

El Nido is a stunning little beach town widely considered the gateway to the Palawan Islands – of which there are 1,780. The most common way to explore these islands are through the tours that are run and regulated by the government (in fact, much of the tourism in the entire country is rightly regulated by the government).

Tourists can choose from four different day tours to explore the surrounding islands and islets. Because the tours are managed by the government, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that they are simply called Island Tour A, B, C, and D. We choose to do Island Tour A. It cost us around $30 USD each and includes lunch, snorkeling and stops at three or four lagoons and beaches, depending on the weather.

I want to be a skipper when I grow up

From the moment we left the beach, I am as fascinated with the skills of the boat crew as I am with the stunning coastlines. The crew includes three twenty-something Filipino men. They haul up the anchors in bare feet and move across the length of the boat with an effortlessness only capable of those born into a craft.

Stephen and I engage in small talk and casual conversations with the crew throughout the day. At one point, the captain lifts the left of his shorts to show me a four-inch scar on his thigh where a box jellyfish stung him when he was a boy. He tells me that it’s one of the most common causes of death of children from the island and he was very lucky to survive.

He’s a merman, NBD

As we are preparing to sail to our next destination, the crew works around each other in an easy dance to pull up anchors. Two of them are struggling to free up the anchor at the front of the boat. After exchanging a few words, the third guy makes an attempt before he throws his hands up and says a few more words.

After a few more feeble attempts, one of them grabs a mask and dives into the water. I ask the captain what’s going on, and he says the anchor is stuck, so the guy with the mask has gone down to dislodge it. He surfaces several minutes later and gives the guys a thumbs up. This dude was HOLDING HIS BREATH. Incredulously I ask the captain how deep the water is, and he says it’s about 30 meters. Thirty meters! My jaw dropped. He laughs and says that’s nothing. The free divers from El Nido are the best in the Philippines. His brother is the GOAT and he can remain under for more than seven minutes.

In addition to plenty of beach and boat time, we relaxed into island life, try a variety of the local cuisine, and get to know a few other travelers. Then, after four nights, we leave for the next island on our itinerary – Boracay.

Boracay 

Boracay has long been a well-known party destination for backpackers. The party culture led to extreme over-tourism, which caused ecological damage to one of the most stunning beaches in the world. Many of the hotels had no waste management systems in place, and in some cases, were dumping waste directly into the ocean.

In May 2018, the Philippine government stepped in and said nope, no more. They shut down all tourism to the island for six months and got to work on redesigning and constructing new infrastructure and waste management. They imposed strict regulations on the island’s hotels and restaurants, requiring strict permits and compliance before allowing them to reopen for business.

When we arrive, it has been about two months since tourists have been allowed back on the island. The strict regulations are apparent everywhere, including a requirements to register and show proof of our accommodations before we’re even allowed to board the ferry to the island.

Even with the island open to visitors again, the infrastructure is still in progress. I estimate that maybe one-third of the hotels still aren’t open, and lots of the sidewalks and roads are still completely torn up. That being said, they seem to work quickly and in the seven days we were there, we saw obvious progress. 

There is no doubt this island is 100% touristy, but we do our best to settle into the vibe of the place for the week we’re there. We go for runs on the beach in the morning and enjoy the island food. The pace is slow and relaxed and the people are kind. We both get really good tans, but after our week here is over, we’re ready to keep moving.

I’ll leave you with some photos that give you an idea of how spent our days.

Cebu

This leg takes lots of coordination, as we need to arrive by plane, take a taxi to arrive at the port in time for the last ferry of the day to our next destination – Bohol. Once in Bohol, we need to take a taxi 45 min-1.5 hours to our guesthouse in the southern part of the Island.

Cebu City is large, and the poverty is clear to me right away. In the taxi, we pass stilted shacks built above canals, every inch of which is covered in floating garbage. Wooden planks serve as a precarious walkway between houses and the shore. Shoeless kids kick a soccer ball back and forth amid piles of garbage. It’s difficult to witness.

Bohol

Bohol isn’t known for beautiful beaches, but instead is popular for its diverse landscape and unique attractions. We stay in the southern part of the island near Panglao Beach and rent a motorbike from our guesthouse to spend a couple of days exploring the island.

Driving a motorbike is still pretty new to us, but thankfully the traffic on Bohol is pretty mellow and the highways are in excellent shape. It takes us a few miles to get comfortable but once we (Stephen, because he drove) got the hang of it, we’re cruising.

Our first stop on our bike tour is a tarsier sanctuary. I’ll take this time to make a plug for ethical animal tourism. In Bohol, there are two tarsier sanctuaries: Philippines Tarsier Sanctuary and Loboc Tarsier Conservation Center.

After doing my research, in find that Loboc is privately owned and there are reports that it doesn’t respect ethical animal practice, doesn’t regulate visitors, and entertains tourists by the bus load. Philippines Tarsier Sanctuary is an actual non-profit organization that has strong support from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Tourism with a true focus on education and conservation, so this is where we choose to spend our money.

Tarsiers: tiny, angry and suicidal

Here are some interesting facts about these funny little monkeys:

Tarsiers are considered the world’s smallest primate. Tarsiers are extremely endangered and due to the destruction of their habitat, human interference, pet trade, and outside predators, it’s very difficult for them to survive in the wild. They have odd feeding habits and are the only primate that is entirely carnivorous. They mostly eat insects, but they will sometimes eat birds, snakes, lizards, and bats. 

Their behavioral habits are also very strange. They’re nocturnal, territorial, independent, and suicidal. Yep, that’s right. If there is too much noise, light, or general annoyance, they will kill themselves.

At the sanctuary, the tarsiers live in a large, semi-wild enclosure. In order to see them, we’re directed to silently walk down a path through a heavily wooded area. We round the first corner and see a uniformed guide posted up beside a tree. As we approach, the guide gestures for us to keep silent and then points to a tiny creature perched on a tree.

There he is. The tiny tarsier.

The guides help to respectfully and safely get a photo of the tarsiers so the visitors are never too close to bother the animals.

Chocolate Hills

Our next stop on our bike tour is the Chocolate Hills. Because of the time of year we were there, they were more like the green hills. These unique landscapes are hundreds of mounds that turn brown in the dry season and look like Hershey’s kisses. It was pretty cool to see the sudden emergence of such a unique landscape in the middle of an island and the journey to get there was through beautiful jungles, forests and rice fields.

On our way back from the Chocolate Hills, I take the reins of the bike for the first time. I wobble through a turn down a dirt road en route to what Google Maps tells us might be an eco restaurant. As I navigate through the rural jungle roads and we approach the dot, it becomes very clear there is no restaurant anywhere in the area. I pull off on a side road to park and to regroup.

A group of kids is playing basketball (kids LOVE BASKETBALL in the Philippines. Nearly every block has some sort of basketball hoop) and they stop to stare. Several stray dogs approach us as we remove our helmets and look around for a sign for a restaurant. A strong karaoke sesh is happening in the shack across from the basketball court, and a man emerges and stumbles toward us.

With the biggest smile on his face, he approaches our bike and shakes our hands. He’s very obviously drunk (from what I gather through some events that unfold later this day, many Filipinos celebrate Sto. Niño Month throughout the month of January, and this is why we meet several drunk people this day). After a few moments of back and forth and absolutely no comprehension from either side, we smile, get back on our bike, wave goodbye to the kids and make our way back to the main highway.

We feed monkeys

A few kilometers down the road, there’s a sign for a wildlife sanctuary. We follow a winding road through rural housing and fields. At least once, we meet a group of teenage kids on the road. They wave and yell at us –

“Where are you going??”

“To see the monkeys!” I say.

We finally arrive at the visitor center and park our bike. We’re the only people there and after purchasing some peanuts, the ranger walks us the few kilometers into the forest. The forest opens up to an empty meadow, but I don’t see any monkeys.

The guide then lets out a booming yell, “GOOOOOOEEEYYYY. GOOOOEEEEYYYY.”

After a few more calls, groups of macaque monkeys slowly emerge from the jungle into the clearing. They are shy but eager for treats. The run up, snatch the peanuts from our open palms and scurry a safe distance away before shoving them into their cheeks. I ask a million questions about these monkeys and the guide happily obliges. She’s a local and has lived near the forested sanctuary for her entire life.

As we talk, we take an alternate path through dense forests and the guide tells us stories of her childhood. When we get back to the visitor building, some of the other guides are pointing high up into the trees. I ask what they see, and they point out two wild lemurs hanging from a high branch. Even though I can barely make them out, it was pretty cool to see them in the wild.

We almost end up in a pickle

We decide to make our way back to our guesthouse, as it will take us a few hours and we don’t want to risk having to drive in the dark. We’re on the road for about 45 minutes before Stephen asks me if I feel the bike making funny movements. I do notice, and we decide to pull off the highway. FLAT TIRE!

Up ahead there is a shack with a sign for snacks and tire air. Lucky us!

It’s not, in fact, a store

I’ve mentioned before that in SE Asia, everything is a store. Every building has a sign for something for sale. Sometimes it’s convenience store type items on a porch, sometimes it’s services, and sometimes it’s homemade food. It hasn’t been uncommon for us to stop at these shack stores to ask for the service, and it either doesn’t exist or not in service. This, unfortunately, is one of those times.

As we pull up, half a dozen guys are sitting on stools outside of the doorway. They’re drinking beer and laughing with one another. There is a table full of food, empty glasses, and glass bottles of clear liquid.

We ask if they can help us, and all six of them immediately get up and gather around the bike. One guy bends down to check out the flat tire. His friend pushes him out of the way and squats to take his place. Another guy stands close to us and asks us where we are from.

“The United States!” he yells, eyes wide. He tells us he loves North Carolina and Michael Jordan. They laugh and joke and distract themselves, but no one reaches for an air hose.

One of the men stands up.

“No no no no, we can’t help you.”

“Oh no, really? Your sign says you have tire services. Are you out of air? Why can’t you help?”

“Well the things is…we’re all….drunk!” he replies. He laughs and shushes his friends as he offers us up three options:

1. Walk 4 km to the nearest town (winding, narrow HILLY road…no shoulder…no.)
2. One person drives the bike with the flat tire to the nearest town, leaving the other behind (no.)
3. Stephen drives the bike, and drunk guy #2 follows him on a second bike with me on the back (no.)

There is a fourth option, and as it approaches, Stephen makes a quick decision and starts to jump up and down waves his hands.

It’s a bus. Welp, we’ll see where this goes!

The crew tells the bus attendant where we should get off, we pay our fare, squeeze into the tiny bench seat next to an old man and settle in to see how this is going to turn out.

UH OH, I have a quick thought as the bus pulls back onto the road and I frantically fumble for my phone to drop a pin in Maps. How the hell would we have found our way back. Good looking out Kristin!

Vulcanizer for the win

Turns out it’s way more than 4 km to town and it’s DEFINITELY not a safe route for someone to be walking. It would have taken us hours. The attendant takes good care of us and tells us when we need to get off. We step off the bus and head down the street in search of a tire shop (which they call a vulcanizer shop).

After asking a few separate people for directions, we find the shop. The owner and his son grab a few tools, a new tire and hop on a bike. They turn and wave for Stephen to join them, which he does. Then they ride three-deep into the sunset. Well technically it wasn’t sunset yet, but it was getting close. While I wait for them to return, I wander over to a food counter and walk around the town.

After about 45 minutes, the shop guys return on their bike and Stephen follows shortly after on ours.

They put a new tube on and send us on our way. We thank them profusely and pay our bill ($1.50ish). And with that, we’re back on the road.

Two pickles in one day

So we’re doing great for the next 45 minutes. Until we realize the tire is flat. Again. This time, the closest town is just one kilometer in our rearview.

Yet another good Samaritan (there are SO many of them in the Philippines) stops and comes to check out our bike. He doesn’t speak much English, but when has that stopped us from hopping on and taking our second three-deep ride of the day to a vulcanizing shop on the outskirts of town?

We learn that the shop belongs to the man’s nephew. It’s full of five or six teenagers. One of them retrieves our bike and they descend on the tire. The best I can understand is that the very kind shop that fixed our tire less than an hour ago did it incorrectly, causing the metal frame to pinch a hole in the tube.

So they fix us up, and with a little more caution and lots of dread, as the sun is definitely setting and we have at least an hour and a half to go, we’re on our way.

Coming soon – The Philippines: Part 2

We visit Siquijor, the island of mystery and witchcraft, jump off cliffs in Moalboal, and make our way to the most secluded place we’ve been so far on our trip.