Sunday, December 23, 2007

Flying by the seat of our pants


Showing off the tickets to the last seats on the last flight of the day.

So we decided to take a trip to the much recommended White Beach of Borocay Island in November 2007. Much recommended as some have raved about their fantastic honeymoon on this beach, and I suppose we were going to be in the neighbourhood anyway.

But of course, we did not book ahead. Of course we would have preferred it that way, but found making travel arrangements to be quite difficult. Our tour agent could not make bookings for us, and neither could we as no one in the Philippines seemed to answer their phones!

Our first hours in Manila, involved taking a 1.5 hour bus ride from Clark (the Air Asia terminal OUTSIDE of Manila), 'wrestling' with local taxi jaga boys, and begging for an internal flight from Manila to Borocay on the same day. We did it, thank goodness!

After the domestic flight, we took a taxi to the ferry to the island, and then a taxi from the ferry point to the hotel which we had NOT booked! Luckily for us, there were a few places which were not so popular (though still a little pricey for what you get) still available just as the sun was setting.

the ferry

Hibiscus in our apartment



Diniwid Beach

We stayed in a small hotel on White Beach on the first and second night, to enjoy the life and bustle on White Beach. Nothing anyone has told us about Borocay would have prepared us for what we experienced, as we found the place to be quite busy and inhabited. There are of course quieter and more expensive parts of White Beach, but instead of forking out small savings, we decided to make migrate to a service apartment on Diniwid Beach on the 3rd, 4th and 5th night. Here we absolutely enjoyed the privacy, and seclusion of Diniwid. For one, there were less vendors trying to see us stuff.

Here we enjoyed a massage on the beach, and just chilling out in the clear blue waters. We made our daily pilgrimage to White Beach ten minutes walk away for groceries and just food. we had grilled seafood, Mexican and local dishes such as the chicken adobo and sinigang.

We did not learn any Filipino words, though lots of people spoke to us in the language having mistaken us for locals.

Here we fell in love with the very relaxed lifestyle, the sound of waves crashing against the rock cliffs, and the art of just simply doing nothing! Anyone want to share in an apartment in Borocay? Check out - http://www.sprboracay.com/ and let us know!