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| View coming in |
Whenever I meet someone new here, they always ask if I've been to Boracay yet. Well, a few weeks ago my travel pals and I took a trip to Boracay, Philippines!
Boracay is a small island known for some of the best beaches in the world. It's an hour flight from Manila, and we took Cebu Pacific Airlines. Since the runway is so small at the airport, it was a prop plane that took us there. It wasn't so bad :)
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| Eek! |
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| Starting vacation off right! |
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| Restrooms are called Comfort Rooms. Or "CR" for short. |
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Once we landed, there was a short van ride to a guy with a boat (arranged through the hotel) who takes you to the island. It was just a 10 minute ride. I chuckled at the signs on the bathroom doors that were in the small building near the boat landing --->
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| The guy with the boat. |
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| Best travel buddies ever! |
Once we docked on Boracay, then it was about a 7 minute walk across to the other side of the island to the hotel -
The Red Coconut Beach Hotel. The hotel is in a great location, offers great amenities and excellent service. I definitely recommend!
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| Beach front, the hotel is in the background |
The part of the island where the hotel is located is set up by boat stations, Stations 1, 2 and 3. There is a sandy "sidewalk" along the beach that runs the length of the stations and this is where all the hotels, resorts, shopping, restaurants and bars are. You can just walk up and down the strip and be entertained. You'll be approached by lots of Filipinos trying to sell boat rides, souvenirs, sunglasses, hats, jewelry, pool cues (yes, pool cues - wth?!) and massages (which may or may not include a "happy ending"). Late at night is when the ladyboys come out, and they are not shy. Just ask Mikel! Hahaha!
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| Said walkway |
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| Beachside massage, PHP300 I believe? That's about $8 |
That evening we just milled around, stopping at places that looked interesting. It was great to step away from the hum of the nightlife and just sit out on the beach at night, looking at the stars and listening to the ocean. It was bliss.
The next day we went island hopping! It's my new favorite thing - as long as snorkeling is involved. The water is full of life, and one of the small skinny fish come and poke at your fingers! So awesome. Sadly, I didn't have a waterproof camera, but here is a series of pics from the island hopping.
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| Our island hopping guide. I forgot his name! |
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| His cousins, the two looking at the camera are in their early 20s - they look like babies! :) |
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| Manny Pacquiao's beach home, so I'm told. HUGE, and really freakin awesome. |
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| We stopped and had lunch here. Yes lunch! It comes delivered in a basket |
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| ....on a rope, from somewhere up on that cliff! Fun! |
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| Look closely - there are HUGE bats hanging from the tops of the trees! |
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| Bat cave - oooOOOOooo. The water is SUCH a beautiful color. |
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| Best beaches, YES! |
After our island hopping adventure, we "took a rest" (that's what Filipinos call it :) and then set out for some dinner. I chose the restaurant this time and we ate at an Indian place called True Food. We were seated at short tables with big pillows as chairs. The food was great, and the atmosphere was so chill. Awesome!
When dinner was over, we found a big covered area where a band was playing. The band let people from the audience sing with them. This was good and bad... haha! When the band took a break, the fire dancers came out! These are effeminate, flamboyant guys who dance around with fire swinging from little chains. They were quite entertaining and also offered audience participation. As you can see, I didn't care to participate! Darina didn't mind...
There was more bars with live music, more sitting on the beach looking at the stars, watching the moon, etc. The next day we wandered up to Station 1 where we hadn't been yet. Here are some pics from that stroll.
Looking at these again makes me want to go back! I loved Boracay.
