Paradise islands and terminal fees
So I had a flight from Siem Reap at 10.30pm and Hanna was leaving the next morning towards South of Cambodia. I took a tuk tuk to the airport which was 5 dollars for a 25 minute ride. Got there too early and had to wair for a while. Two hours prior departure I started queuing and when I finally go to the check-in counter, the lady told me that she cannot let me pass as I do not have an onward ticket from the Philippines. I tried everything but she wouldn’t budge. So along with a few other dumb tourists I had to queue for the only laptop at the whole airport to buy a ticket to somewhere for some date. The airport didn’t have a wi-fi naturally. I ended up buying a ticket to Singapore on the 16th of February as it was the cheapest one. Oh and they didn’t take a credit card to I had to run to the only ATM at the airport and queue for that as well. I was in a bit of a rush after paying for the ticket as my flight was leaving on 30min and I was still on the wrong side. I asked the official at the security if he would let me skip the queue as otherwise I’ll miss my flight. He smiled and said yes, if I give him my fake Ray-Bans. Gotta love corruption…wait what?
The flight to Manila went alright but upon arriving, I had to switch terminals as my connecting flight to Cebu left from another one. There was a free shuttle bus between the terminals but naturally it didn’t run during the night when I would’ve needed it. So taxi it is. In the next plane I forgot my Kindle in the small pocket of the seat in front of me soo the whole transfer from Cambodia to the Philippines didn’t go exactly as I had planned. So in Cebu I just got a taxi to my hostel and took a long nap as I hadn’t slept during the night. I was going to meet my friends Jenny and Anna (with whom I’ll be spending the next ten days or so) a bit later in the evening so in the meantime I went exploring around Cebu on foot. Cebu is really poor. It is quite a big city with like 3-4 million people, I’m not actually sure! There’s a lot of beggars on the street and children asking for money. Also the buildings are a bit run-down. Everywhere it’s quite dirty and the overall look of the city is not really pretty. Met up with Jenny and Anna around six and went to have to dinner to a japanese place. We also went to their hostel to grab their stuff as they will move in the same place as me because it’s better and cheaper! The hostel is owned by a couple with a few kids and their relatives are helping around there as well. They’re really welcoming, there’s a small breakfast included, a roof terrace and they even drive you around if you need to go somewhere (for a fee of course). Cebu Guest Inn, check it out if you’re ever in Cebu.
Next morning woke up around 4.45am –..–. We were going to see some whalesharks and go snorkling with them. We had to take a bus to the south of the island. The bus ride would take like 3-4 hours, give or take so we needed to leave early. We got a ride from the hostel to the South bus terminal and got tickets which were like a few euros. Scenery along the ride was really pretty with the sea on your left all the time but as the bus was air-conditioned, it was really cold! Got to the place and the snorkling thingy cost a thousand pesos (like 19e). It was a really cool experience as I’ve never done that kind of stuff. I also accidentally kicked one because it swam from behind me and I didn’t see it coming. It scared the shit out of me. We had some lunch at the place and afterwards got motorides to a nearby waterfalls which is called Tumalog falls. Nicest waterfalls I’ve ever seen! Hung out at the falls for a while and headed back to the main road and luckily there was just a bus going back to Cebu! The transportation took us like 8 hours altogether but it was definitely worth it.
At the waterfalls
Next morning Sini joined our little posse and we decided to take a ferry to another island called Bohol. The ferry left from the port of Cebu and you had to pay a terminal fee of 25 pesos to enter the actual terminal after you had bought tickets. Ferry took maybe like an hour and a half until it reached Tagbilaran, which would work as our headquarters. We are planning to visit a Tarsier sanctuary, Chocolate Hills, see come countryside and hit up an activity park! The went quickly with the transportation and planning our next moves. The next morning we got a bus to go to the Chocolate Hills, which is basically in the middle of nowhere with just one road and jungles around you. The scenery was really great but unfortunately it started raining to I didn’t wanna get my camera wet and my iPhone just does not take good photos so below is a stoles photo from Google but you’ll get the point of the Chocolate Hills! Some say that the hills have formed out of heart-broken giants’ tears. Could be true!
Tears of a giant
Next stop from the hills was to get ourselves to Danao activity park which is a part of the Philippine’s eco-tourism. I can see why it’s eco-tourism, nobody can find it! No signs anywhere and no public transportation going there hahahaha. So from the hills we took the next bus going towards our direction, the closest village where we could reach the place. I don’t remember the name of the village anymore but it was small. We had grown hungry already so we stopped at the one and only place which served food. Had some rice, noodles, veggies and meat. Also something really strange which tasted really fishy. Anna ordered it and she took a bite and almost vomited. I found is just a bit bland. Not in anyway delicious but it didn’t make me want to vomit either hahaha. Here’s a picture of it if somebody recognizes! 
We hired two guys from the village to drive us to the activity park. It was like 20km away on a really bumpy and rocky road but the views along it were nice. You couldn’t get any more country then these views were! The reason why we wanted to go the park was that it had “The Plunge”, a 75 metre free fall which we wanted to try. There was also a really long zipline over a nice gorge and river. The zipline was like 200 meters high and 600 meters long so definitely worth a try! When we finally got there, we found out that no freefall is available at this time, which put us down a bit as that was the main reason. However, we settled for the zipline which was also really cool. Never been on a zipline with just cables holding you while you’re flying over a gorge. It was exhilirating! For a fraction of a second I had a thought that what if this were to break and send me to my death but it didn’t! It would have been great to take some photos while ziplining but I didn’t trust my hands that much as to not drop the phone or the camera so no photos from there! But here’s a few retards;
Getting ready for the zipline!
After that, a moto ride to the ‘biggest’ town closest to catch a bus and surprisingly it arrived just as we arrived too! Little did we know, the bus took like 5 hours to get back to Tagbilaran while other buses would have been faster from different places. Well, what can you do!
In the evening we were planning our next move as we wanted to go to this island called Palawan as it supposedly one of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines. However, we did not seem to find reasonably prices flights or ferries there so after a few hours (and a few beers) of arguing and wondering, we took flights from Tagbilaran to Kalibo which is on an island called Panay. There our destination is Boracay island, which is just next to Caticlan, Panay. So arrival to Kalibo, a minivan ride to Caticlan, a ferry from Caticlan to Boracay and our day is over hahhha. Also, more terminal fees. At Tagbilaran there was like a 100 peso terminal fee and when we took the ferry we had to pay 100 pesos again in addition to an environmental tax 75 pesos. Come on! But we finally reached Boracay and our guesthouse there. Then we spent the next couple of days in Boracay. It is a really small paradise island with beautiful beaches, a small mountain and clear water. Activities include, diving, snorkling, sailing, helmet diving, getting drunk, eating, hiking etc. So basically a nice place to spend a week or so. Only problem was that it is getting more and more touristy. The beach ‘promenade’ (like 4km) was filled with Korean and Western tourists. But still, a paradise! We went out partying, took a sailboat on the sea to watch the sunset, bathed in the sun and chilled out.
Sunset
As nothing good lasts forever, I caught some bacteria again! The night before we were supposed to start our journey to Palawan, I got like 39.5 fever again and shivering attacks. So I figured I’d rather stay in Boracay for a few days more to get the fever off. I tried to urge the girls to just go ahead with the plans as they have limited vacation days and I don’t. They decided to stay at least for one night more with me so I wouldn’t die alone. The shivers, nausea, fever and a bit of diarrhea again continued throughout the day so I went to a clinic again. This time they spoke English and I was able to explain my symptoms myself. They took a blood and a urine test to determine what I had and surprise, surprise, some kind of bacterial infection. No idea what. So they gave me antibiotics for a week and some other medicine. Hopefully it stays away this time. Next day the girls left onwards to Palawan with a ferry and I stayed in Boracay for one more night until I left to Cebu to catch a flight to Singapore. I arrived to Cebu around noon on a Sunday and went just strolling around and the city and hanging out at the malls. Didn’t have the strength to do anything else as I wasn’t up to my full health yet. Next day went to see a movie alone! Jupiter Ascending, not the best flick to see but I spent like two and a half hours so that’s good. Had some delicious cheese popcorn, my god! My flight left at 7.55pm and I was at the airport quite early, getting ready for trouble ahead as I was flying again with Cebu Pacific. So no surprises there, the lady at the check-in didn’t want to let me pass because I did not have on onward ticket. This time I was arguing with her and made her call the manager. The manager apparently just told her to let me pass as the call lasted for about 30 seconds. Also had to pay an outstanding amount of 900 pesos for my luggage as I hadn’t booked it when I bought the ticket. I tried buying it as an add-on the day before but of course, the Cebu Pacific website did not work. Almost forgot, paid another terminal fee! This time 750 pesos. WHAT THE FUCK. Seriously, 750 pesos just to exit the country? Luckily I just had 800 pesos, otherwise I would have needed to go find an ATM and withdraw some more. I had planned to have some dinner at the airport because I figured Cebu-Mactan being the second biggest airport in the Philippines, it would have some good choices for food. WRONG. Like two possible options. I wanted to have some a beef teriyaki rice bowl which was the cheapest but the waitress told that they don’t have that one, nor do they have any other rice bowls. He went on and suggested a meal which was triple the price of the rice bowl. So settled for a crappy ham and cheese sandwich instead. Which, by the way cost more than the rice bowl would’ve! To top the evening off, my flight was delayed for like two hours. These all are little things but when you’re tired and frustrated with nothing going right, even the small things accumulate and make you mad hhahahaa.
After being in Southeast Asia for awhile it was refreshing to arrive to a place where everything works properly and people don’t try to scam you. I took a shuttle bus from the airport in Singapore to my hostel and it cost my 9 Singapore dollars (5e). Took me right in front of the door. I would’ve taken a train but as my Cebu flight was late for like 2 hours, there were no metros running anymore. The next few days I spent exploring Singapore, going to the zooo and the night safari in addition to hanging out in Chinatown and Little India, I was also trying to plan my next move. I wanted to fly to Yangon, Myanmar and I actually bought the ticket before I realised that I would need a visa there and you cannot get a visa on arrival like in other Southeast Asian countries. Soo I was a bit freaked out about wasting my money on the ticket and not getting the visa in a day and a half. It was also the Chinese new year and embassies and most of the travel agencies were closed of course. I found one though, through tripadvisor and they get you a visa approval letter which you show at the immigration and then they stamp you a visa. So I contacted them and it took a few hours for me to get the letter. Good service! So with a plane ticket and a visa approval letter, I was good to go! Myanmar, I’m coming! My plan here is to spend a few days in Yangon, then catch a nightbus to Mandalay, do a day trip to Bagan to see some temples and do some hiking. Have to see how my plans work out hhahaha.
Peace out from Yangon!
-Jani
