Philippines Trip...Part One

On Saturday night I got on a big jetplane to leave for my first ever out-of-country vacation that wasn't a road trip!

The plane ride was uneventful, which is always welcome when it comes to air travel :) I sat nextt to a couple from Vancouver...small world, then switched planes in Manila, where I got out and wandered around until I realized that the airport area of that city really didn't have much to offer.

I landed in Caticlan at around 7 a.m. on Sunday and almost immediately the skies opened up and hammered us with a wicked monsoon downpour.

I took a 3-wheeled motorcycle taxi to the boat terminal and headed for Boracay Island. These 3 wheeled motorbikes are everywhere and they're truly frightening. Compared to these guys, the drivers back in Korea are a bunch of considerate, sleepy motorists. Also...anyone with a 125cc motorcycle will yell at you offering you 'taxi' rides.

Once on Boracay, I decided to ignore the rain and, unlike everyone else, opted to walk, instead of taking a three-wheeled taxi. I don't get people who travel halfway around the world only to hop into a taxi and get dropped off in an air-conditioned, all amenities included hotel room. So...I bought a gorgeous flower-print umbrella and walked for an hour or so through gorgeous lush tropical forests and countless little homes and stores. My first impression of the Philippines was that it was a gorgeous, but very poor country.

Then I got to the tourist part of Boracay and started looking for a place to spend the night. Since it's monsoon / typhoon season, prices are down and usually negotiable. The average motel room goes for the equivalent of $25 with an air conditioner or $20 without. But...I wanted something cheaper and a little less usual than a motel room...so I found a guy who runs a dive shop / hostel...for $9.50 a night, I got myself a wicked little non-air conditioned room a few paces from the ocean! I can hear the waves crash on the shore all night long.

My room

 The view from my living room:

 A few paces away:

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.....I wrote a huge blog entry and I just lost almost all of it...I'm on a shared computer and the rest of the residents are getting impatient...sigh...check out my Flickr for more photos. See you soon!!!

T