My lunar break trip started out with me booking our flights to the wrong island in the Philippines and Anna booking a five person hostel for the two of us (thank you travel insurance for fixing those problems). The trip ended with the realization that you cannot always make a non-touristy place fun for tourists but you can try your hardest (and we did). Lucky for us, we spent most of the trip in Boracay, the number one party island in Asia and a major tourist destination. Typhoon season held off for us and we spent our days trying out new water activities and sunbathing and our nights at pub crawls or sipping tropical drinks on the sand. We made new friends from Shenzen (a city just a train ride away from Hong Kong) and a new friend, Barang, who managed to track us down on the beach twelve times in three days. Barang tried to sell us everything from sunset cruises to DVDs to tattoos and she was very good at her job (but we are even better at staying on budget). We learned that anything and everything in the Boracay can be bargained for, including transportation and alcohol. The last day of our trip we spent back in Kalibo, a little town with a beautiful eco-park...and that's about it. It was fascinating (and a little sad) to see the Filipino culture. There is much more poverty in the Philippines than I had imagined. While I must say that Malaysia still holds my heart, this was a wonderful trip full of exciting adventures and many new "firsts" for me including:
- Riding a tricycle: Tricycles are the main form of transportation in our area of the Philippines and they were EVERYWHERE. A tricycle is a motorcycle (two wheels) with a cart (one wheel) attached on the side. I saw tricycles with at least ten people on them-hanging out of the sides or sitting on the motorcycle with the driver. There are no stop signs, stop lights or any form of traffic control in Boracay or Kalibo. The tricycles and motorcycles weave together in a scary yet effective way that Taynah best described as "organized chaos."
- Flying Fish: Flying fish is REALLY extreme tubing, for anyone who hasn't heard of it. A speed boat pulls an inflatable fish over waves, lifting it completely in the air at what feels like a 90 degree angle (but it's probably more like 45 degrees). You sit on the fish and hold on to handles as you get thrown around over the waves. If it sounds terrifyingly fun, then you have the right idea. I haven't screamed that much or laughed that hard in awhile. Just for the record, I only fell off once. We aren't positive that flying fish is even legal in the USA and we did basically sign our lives away before doing it, but it was so worth it.
- Parasailing: Parasailing is actually much more relaxing than it looks and a necessity after our crazy flying fish experience. The parachute pulled us right off the deck of the boat into the air, and dipped us in the water on the way back down. It was a bit nauseating after awhile but the view of Boracay was breathtakingly beautiful and indescribable.
- Getting a massage: There's a first and a last time for everything. If you want a massage PLEASE go to the Philippines. It will probably be cheaper to buy the plane ticket and massage than just a normal massage in America! Massage stands lined White Beach (the main beach) in Boracay. There were massage beds lying under open tents and you just crawl in for a wonderful massage. I paid $350 pesos ($7.92 USD) for a full hour body massage. It was the best $8 I have ever spent, and I imagine my massage was just as wonderful as any American massage.
- Island hopping: I have never had islands to hop before so this was so cool. We scored a cheap boat meant for eight people but we were the only three in line when the boat took off so we got our own private island hopping tour on the water, which was nice since the three of us got to move at our own pace.
- Cliff jumping: We went to a cute little island, Magic Island, on our island hopping tour. It took me about a half an hour and two small cliffs (7 and 9 meters) for me to finally convince myself to jump off the biggest cliff of 10 meters (32 feet).
- Snorkeling/fish feeding: This was another thing that happened on the island hopping tour. It was INCREDIBLE. Philippine ocean water is crystal clear. We stopped between a few islands and got out with our snorkels and life jackets. We fed the fish bread and watched them swarm our hands to eat it. It was a little nerve-wracking at first to have a giant school of fish swim over to you to nibble at your hand but I eventually got used to it. It was a truly remarkable experience and I only swam down too deep in my snorkel once and got a mouthful of ocean water.
- Silent disco: Our second night in Boracay we went on the Boracay Pub Crawl, the number one tourist attraction in Boracay. It was AWESOME. There were about 100 attendees, most being international or domestic tourists. The staff behind the pub crawl really focused on meeting new friends (this is where we met our friends from Shenzen). We played games in between bars, danced and took tons of pictures. The pub crawl ended at a silent disco where we were all given headphones playing the bar music. It was hilarious to take off the headphones during the chorus of a song and listen to everyone screaming the lyrics. The people walking loved it as well...
While I have some really beautiful pictures of the islands and sunsets, this picture shows just one of the awesome experiences I had in the Philippines (parasailing). This trip would not have been even close to as great as it was without these two friends of mine. Even Kalibo wasn't totally terrible with them by my side. We had such an amazing time making hilarious and unforgettable memories and I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends.