It's More Fun in the Philippines: Part II

Boracay, boys and girls. Don't you forget it.

 There's just something so cool about being on an island. Especially a GOOORGEOUS island. And let me tell you, Southeast Asia does not disappoint when it comes to GOOORGEOUS tropical islands. Especially the Philippines!

Just flying into Boracay from Cebu was a real treat in just how many stunning, individual islands the Philippines consists of -- a total of 7,107 to be exact.

Boarding the plane. That's me in the yellow shirt. Can't ya tell?

Gooorgeous, just goooorgeous, I tell ya.

Part I of my Philippines trip in April was on the islands of Cebu and Bohol. Those were some fantastic experiences. But to get the full experience -- and in under a week no less -- required a trip to one of the top rated beaches in the WORLD: Boracay.

"Boracay" literally means "powder" in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines. Taking a few steps on the beach brings this meaning home very quickly. I've actually never felt sand so fine in my life. Boracay has the best sand I've ever seen or felt.

Okay Tyler, enough with the silly sand stuff already.

My flight left from Cebu and flew into a small town called Caticlan, which is just a ferry ride away from Boracay. I was on the island within 45 minutes.

A good friend of mine named Gio joined me for the few days I was there. He's a Filipino but he had been working in Singapore for a few years. Now he's actually moved to Hawaii to live and work (yes, I'm jealous).

Gio had been to Boracay dozens of times so was the perfect companion for the trip.

Both the upside and downside of Boracay is that the beach is very commercialized. The upside is great restaurants, nightlife, all the amenities, you name it. The downside...? Well it's obvious: noisy, lots of people. They do, however, keep that beach pristine. You'd be hard pressed to find loose garbage around.

Tourist lane, as I'd call it.

So commercialized it's come to this. Oy vey!

But I can't knock the nightlife. There are some great places to both relax and party in the after hours.

The next morning, Gio and I went on an excursion around the water. We rented an outrigger with a small crew and moseyed our way around much of the island, stopping a few times for some nice snorkeling. We actually ended up snorkeling with a yacht full of Koreans repetitively playing "Gangnam Style" -- I kid you not (they are proud of their Gangnam, dammit!)

 

Let's see...that's Pe-- ahh crap, I forgot their names.

Right before the hammerhead got 'im.

After that, we drove some dune buggies up to the tallest point on the island. I wouldn't recommend the dune buggy course unless you want to be chewing dirt for an hour (or participate in a serious Olympic nose-picking tournament).

Pre-dirt-chewing.

The top of Boracay was beautiful. You can see over the whole island and some of the others nearby.

Ooooh! Don't hate the player, hate the camera!

It's the green bandana that gets the ladies.

These are the wheels we SHOULD have taken.

We made our way back to the beach where we ate the self-proclaimed "Biggest Burgers on Boracay" while the sun was setting. Lordy lord, that was one beautiful sunset. I don't know if it gets much better than that, folks.

Does your jealously cup runneth over?

Yes, you may copy this as your desktop background.

 

That night was filled with dancing and fine merry making. I ended up meeting a great group of Aussies and hanging out with a whole group of Filipinos taking a little vacay from Manila. 

The next day I took a flight back to Cebu, where I then connected to Manila and was back home in Bangkok (sounds funny to say "back home", but it's true!) in just a few hours.

Overall, my Philippines trip was truly fantastic. Sadly, it was too short lived. There are so many great places to explore, islands to visit and wonderful, hospitable people to meet. In only my brief trip, I can tell you with confidence that: 

- Filipinos are some of the most friendly, hospitable people you'll ever meet. 

- There's an overabundance of freedom and adventure if you go looking for it. 

- You must spend more than 5 days there!

And lastly, of course...

- It's more fun in the Philippines :))

Needless to say, I will be returning in short order. No definitive dates yet, but the country is a short 3 hour flight from Bangkok with a very easy entry-on-arrival tourist visa. Oh -- and they still like Americans!

Until next time. Thanks for reading :)