I’m writing this as I’m fresh out of the Philippines (quite literally, I’m on a flight to Bangkok as I write this), after having spent 2+ weeks here. I didn’t originally plan to come here, but had a break between my time in Indonesia and planned dates in Thailand, so I made the decision last minute to visit. My goal was to get a “sampling” of the Philippine islands, to see if I want to come back again in the future.
I visited 3 parts of the country: Boracay, Cebu and Bohol islands. Boracay is a world famous island, known for its pure-white sand beaches and clear blue water. Cebu island has many waterfalls, hiking trails, coral reefs, whale sharks and sardine fish schools, which attracted me the most. Bohol island is known for its chocolate hills, white sand beaches and tarsier monkeys.
I was originally going to start my journey in Manila, but from reading many blogs and talking to other travelers, I opted to skip it. Instead, I went straight to Boracay island. I was looking for some rest after a busy month in Bali and other parts of Indonesia, so I mainly spent my 3 days on the island relaxing on the beaches.
After Boracay island, I went to Cebu island. The first couple of days I spent time in Cebu City. There wasn’t a ton there to see, but it was interesting to spend time in a metropolitan Filipino city. Upon departing Cebu City, I went to Moalboal on the west coast of the island. The first day I went snorkeling and saw the “sardine wall.” This was a wall of sardine fish in a large school, about 20-30 feet past the shore. Seeing the sight of them all in one place was amazing, especially when they were all swimming together in one line.
I also hiked Mount Osmena, which is the highest point on the island. However, the hike and peak weren’t really anything too special, as it took only 20 minutes or so to summit the hill. What was the highlight was the journey to get to the trailhead from Moalboal, I had to ride on back of a motorcycle 2 hours each way, navigating some rough roads and driving through small villages. It was neat to see everyday life in “small town” Philippines.
The next day I tried canyoneering for the first time. Canyoneering is a mixture of hiking, swimming, and diving (or jumping into water). Not being a big fan of deep water, it was a bit unnerving for me to jump into it. With the tour company I used, they provided life jackets and expert guides for the area, so I felt more content. Plus, navigating through a river canyon, jumping down was sometimes the only way to get out! I jumped out of my comfort zone multiple times that day jumping into multiple parts of the river. There were other times I was pushed backwards into the water and also going down on my back into a small waterfall. Would I do it again? Absolutely! It was a neat experience and I’m so glad I faced my fears to do it. I originally wasn’t going to, but with some friendly encouragement from people in my hostel, I decided to do so. Needless to say, visiting Moalboal was my favorite part of my time in the Philippines.
Upon heading to Bohol island, I caught a cold and to allow myself to heal, I skipped my plans of seeing the chocolate hills, beaches and seeing the tarsiers. I was a bit bummed, but wanted to take the time to feel better for my travels to Thailand.
Observations and Impressions
- Visiting in mid-November, I was surprised to see Christmas decorations everywhere: shopping malls, restaurants, airports, etc.! I guess I shouldn’t be really surprised, as many retailers in the US are now selling Christmas and other holiday decorations as early as October.
- Filipinos enjoy basketball and pool. From people I was talking to, basketball appears to be the sport of choice.
- Navigating around the Philippines was more difficult than I expected. I was surprised by how vast and large some of the islands are. Navigating from island to island can sometimes be as easy as a ferry ride or it can be as complicated as multiple ride combinations (e.g. plane, bus and ferry).
- It’s sometimes laughable (and annoying to us Westerners) how bureaucratic and inefficient processes could be in the Philippines. For example when I was coming on to Boracay island, before jumping on the ferry from the airport to the island, you had to pay an environmental fee, a port fee and a ferry ticket separately. You had to line up with 3 different individuals and pay each person one at a time. It would be so much easier to pay one person who could take fees for all 3 at once, as it is done with many forms of travel tickets in the US. At the same time, I guess that would eliminate 2 other jobs. The Philippines isn’t the only country that has this issue, I noticed similarities when I was in Indonesia as well. To be fair, we have the same issues in the US (example: DMV anyone?), but it seemed to be the constant norm here.
- Most Filipinos I met were very friendly. The top question I was always asked was if I was married and have kids, which made me chuckle a bit each time. When I told them I was traveling solo, they generally had a surprised response. Family is a super big deal here (like Latin America) from what I can gather from talking with the locals.
- Adobo chicken and pork is one of the staple Filipino dishes. It is a type of sauce that is cooked with the meat and served with rice. I tried a few around the country and enjoyed it. Bam-i is another dish that I tried, which is comprised of noodles, shrimp, pork and/or chicken.
Conclusion
I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit the Philippines and to see a little bit of the country. There are so many islands in this country to explore (over 7,700+), so I hope to have the opportunity in the future to visit.