Philippines
Jun/10/08 12:42 AM
So I just returned from the Philippines this evening after a long day of travel. I must say that Puerto Galera was one of the nicest places that I have ever seen- picture the Caribbean years before anyone discovered it and it became a tourist hub. Also, the people were some of the friendliest I've ever met. Countless people, from our transportation people to our waitress, went out of their way to make sure that we were headed in the right direction, weren't getting ripped off by anybody, and were enjoying our time in the Philippines.
We stayed in the town of Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro, which is about 5 hours outside of the capital city Manila. We slept in a hostel in the city overnight and caught an early jeepney (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of one, but they're like extended Jeeps that are used for transportation there) for a 3 hour ride towards the town of Batangas. From there we took a wooden boat for about an hour and a half through the beautiful islands and cliffs of the Philippines and landed at White Beach. We walked over to the beach next door, which we learned from tripadvisor.com (one of my new favorite websites) was much quieter.
We found a hotel that had been recommended online and rented a thatch hut on the beach for 1000 pesos a night (about $22 USD) that had two small twin beds, a fan, a single lightbuld hanging from the ceiling, and a bathroom with all sorts of critters, including a lizard that seemed to like the shower head (thus, we didn't shower the whole time we were there- eek). Talk about living on the edge! It was an experience, though, and it was definitely a great place to stay. There, we did exactly what I had wanted to do: pretty much nothing. Saturday we laid around on the beach and enjoyed the scenery and the weather (a nice break from ever-rainy Hong Kong). Sunday I slept in til 10:30, which is the latest I've slept this whole trip I believe, and then rented a boat to take us snorkeling off Coral Gardens, which was beautiful. I had never snorkeled off real coral before. After more laying around the beach for the afternoon we ate dinner at our favorite pizza place next door, Tutti Frutti, and packed up to head out the next morning.
Turns out we missed our boat this morning, so a local generously offered to drive us to the boat's next stop about 15 minutes away for a few dollars to cover his gas. Seeing the farms and the life away from the beach was worth missing the boat! And it just goes to show again how great the people were there. Also, Hong Kong likes to claim that it's the city where East meets West and English is spoken widely. But, this just isn't true. Here we were, on a small, far-away island, probably the only Americans for miles and miles, and everyone on the island spoke perfect English. That was a blessing in itself seeing that we were cell-phone and computer-less in case of emergency.
So, the Philippines was great. If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by! Thanks to one of my high school teachers, Mr. Navarette, who is originally from the Philippines and gave us pointers on where to go. And finally, check out the pictures (though they don't do the place justice).
We stayed in the town of Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro, which is about 5 hours outside of the capital city Manila. We slept in a hostel in the city overnight and caught an early jeepney (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of one, but they're like extended Jeeps that are used for transportation there) for a 3 hour ride towards the town of Batangas. From there we took a wooden boat for about an hour and a half through the beautiful islands and cliffs of the Philippines and landed at White Beach. We walked over to the beach next door, which we learned from tripadvisor.com (one of my new favorite websites) was much quieter.
We found a hotel that had been recommended online and rented a thatch hut on the beach for 1000 pesos a night (about $22 USD) that had two small twin beds, a fan, a single lightbuld hanging from the ceiling, and a bathroom with all sorts of critters, including a lizard that seemed to like the shower head (thus, we didn't shower the whole time we were there- eek). Talk about living on the edge! It was an experience, though, and it was definitely a great place to stay. There, we did exactly what I had wanted to do: pretty much nothing. Saturday we laid around on the beach and enjoyed the scenery and the weather (a nice break from ever-rainy Hong Kong). Sunday I slept in til 10:30, which is the latest I've slept this whole trip I believe, and then rented a boat to take us snorkeling off Coral Gardens, which was beautiful. I had never snorkeled off real coral before. After more laying around the beach for the afternoon we ate dinner at our favorite pizza place next door, Tutti Frutti, and packed up to head out the next morning.
Turns out we missed our boat this morning, so a local generously offered to drive us to the boat's next stop about 15 minutes away for a few dollars to cover his gas. Seeing the farms and the life away from the beach was worth missing the boat! And it just goes to show again how great the people were there. Also, Hong Kong likes to claim that it's the city where East meets West and English is spoken widely. But, this just isn't true. Here we were, on a small, far-away island, probably the only Americans for miles and miles, and everyone on the island spoke perfect English. That was a blessing in itself seeing that we were cell-phone and computer-less in case of emergency.
So, the Philippines was great. If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by! Thanks to one of my high school teachers, Mr. Navarette, who is originally from the Philippines and gave us pointers on where to go. And finally, check out the pictures (though they don't do the place justice).
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