Philippines Part 1: Bohol Island - Paradise in Many Forms

I’d like to point out a few things before I get into the blog

1) Every couple of days I would write a mini-blog on the day’s events – thus a lot of this blog was written as it happened. My ex-post notes are in parentheses.

2) These notes have accumulated to nearly 6,000 words – I’ll try to keep your attention and eliminate some unworthy details.

3) Having said that, this is going to be a monster. For both of our sakes, don’t try to start reading this if you can’t spend a solid chunk of time reading it.  It’s really long, has some beautiful pictures, some great stories, but it’s long.  And I worked hard on it, so it’s worth reading in full.

(Click to enlarge)

Hong Kong to Cebu – Thursday, Feb 12

What an fing mess this was to plan, or rather, to not plan.  The two guys I'm traveling with primarily are Josh from USC and Jesse from UCL. I can officially say that after only a day (not even a traveling day) that they are by far the most disorganized people I've met. For someone brought up in the Brian Novick household, this makes my blood boil. And the hardest part is that I'm completely conscious of the fact that everything will work out fine, I'll have a great time, and remember it forever. But man, the extra stress is just not what I'm looking for.

To put it briefly, we booked our HK - Manila roundtrip ticket on Sunday (2/7) night. Then we waited until Wednesday night - yup the day before we fly - to book our connecting flights throughout the week. Ultimately this resulted in too much stress and essentially paying double fares. Oh well, I guess this is why I work every summer - disposable income baby!.

Thursday afternoon, Jesse and Josh were at the mall trying to book hostels - yup nowhere to sleep on the first night. I knew they would be super late to the airport, so I took myself some extra time and went on my own. On my way out of I-house I said a hello-goodbye to Michael (my roommate) arriving back from his 2-week trip to Shanghai and South Korea.  He went to India the next day, and I didn't see him again until Monday night.

Got to the airport and checked-in in a breeze. Surprising, considering it's the biggest holiday weekend in this part of the world (Chinese New Year guys). I got through security with the group at about 8 for our 9:30 flight. Plenty of time to grab some airport dinner - yummy Burger King. I also found out at this point that Jesse and Josh were in a taxi "close" to the airport. Flash forward - they were one of the last few on the plane. This taught me a nice lesson - just do it your own way if everyone is going to end up in the same place - don't sweat the small stuff.

(Very comfortable seating in HK gate)

(No matter where you are AC360 follows)

The flight was completely packed, and for a mere 2 hour flight, quite large. There were at least 300+ people on the plane and they even served a meal. Contrary to what I've been told about Asian airlines, they seem to be pretty full service, though a bit small in the knee area. Also they don't have the personal vents - this, sitting next to a large Filipino woman on an 80 degree humid night wasn't ideal to say the least. On the flight I started reading my recent acquisition, which is Paul Krugman's updated version of The Return of Depression Economics. An update because the original was written after the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. What I’ve gathered so far: the human race is incapable of learning from its past. This makes me pretty worried for our future as a people. Otherwise, 30 pages in, it is typical excellent Krugman writing and I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't like to read dry, terse economic analysis but wants to get a good understanding of where we are and where we came from as a world economy. Also, this is the first physical book I've read since the summer, and I think I've changed my mind to believe that there will never be a replacement for the feeling of a book - the newspaper will be replaced - but books, I don't think so.

In the Philippines, it seems that if you don't check bags (like myself), you could effectively bring anything into the country –guns, animals, small children and the like. Too bad I left my cocaine at home; I could've made a killing!  But if you do check bags, they vigilantly check you baggage claim stub at least three times - there must be a serious theft problem.

(Josh and Jesse, breezing through customs)

(Duty Supervisor? - Door locked, not on duty)

While waiting for a shuttle to the domestic terminal (next flight at 4am), I met an American from Ohio who had come here to get married.  I congratulated him, but noted the absence of a woman next to him.  His answer: “Yeah, she’s back in [someplace], and it’ll be another 18 months till she gets her visa. I’m not a happy camper.” I would learn quickly that Americans (or other foreigners for that matter) who come here often leave with a Filipino wife.

My next friend was a policeman who frightened us away from taking a taxi to the terminal. All the Filipinos look about 10 years younger than they are. Case in point, this man was 35 (see pic).  He loves the NBA – Dwayne Wade, Patrick Ewing and Lebron – his favorite players. We talked a lot about the government, and how corrupt it has been for so long.

(My new friend - does he look 35 to you?)

After about an hour we decided to do another round of asking for the shuttle and found out that it would be upstairs. I have to say, at this point and this hour, I was skeptical of everyone. Especially after our policeman discouraged me from taking metered taxis because they were dangerous for tourists.

(Patiently waiting outside Int'l Terminal)

Upstairs at departures we met two guys who were just coming home after 11 months work on a tanker (not oil, but not sure what it was). Now, he was going home to Cebu for three months before heading out on a new contract. He too was going to Cebu so he helped us identify the shuttle and do the appropriate things. He also corroborated the officer’s notion of metered cabs. Needless to say, a bit neurotic, Josh was sufficiently freaked out. At around 2 we made it onto the shuttle, full of a group of about 10 Islamic women and a couple children. I've been told that the Muslims live on the Mindanao island (in the south) the poorest area of the country with about 65-75% living in poverty. Thus, it was astounding to hear them speak good English, but I suppose it is in fact one of the two official languages (and Tagalog, some combination of Spanish and a tribal mix)

We arrived at the domestic terminal to find out that we were too early to check in and that the ticket counter employees were walking in the airport at the same time as us. In the meantime, Alex, Kent, Kaitlyn and Toni arrived with McDonalds in hand (I forgot to introduce Toni earlier – he is Alex’s friend from his home school, also on exchange in HK, and one of the nicest people I’ve ever met). Apparently, while Philippines Airlines provided a full meal on our 2-hour flight, Hong Kong Express was no-frills. The taxi across the busy street cost them about 300 pesos (note the lack of meter), the equivalent of what we've paid for a night's hotel stay. It seemed clear now that there was some serious corruption towards foreigners by the taxi drivers. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, the 300p = $6, split between four people means nothing, but as I’ve learned in my travels it is essential to lose that frame of mind and compare within the currency.

(Kent was "guarding" the bags as they went to McD's)

We sat on the floor for a while waiting to check in and then after a few minutes waiting in line, were breezing through security. One random moment walking to the gate was that there were some shops still open at 3am, one of which was a gelato / pizza shop. Well obviously 3am is a perfect time for gelato and, after tasting, went with a healthy scoop of mango. Oh boy do I love mango!

The flight was pretty miserable for me even though I was in the exit row, constantly slipping between conscious, sleep and delirium. After getting off the flight at 5:00, we got our stuff together and found an oddly-placed group of soft cushy seats next to the baggage claim.  Two-hour semi-nap later and it was sunrise, ready to start (or continue) the day.

(Nothing like a 5:45 arrival)

We spent a bit of time looking for the correct taxis; apparently the yellow ones were more expensive than the white ones (why you might choose a yellow one is still beyond me). That's when I understood the institutionality of the taxi corruption. As an officer pointed us to a cab, he handed me a small slip of paper and said that if anything went wrong I should fill it out and send it in. I stuffed it in my pocket without looking. Then, in the cab to the ferry I uncrumpled it and saw a checklist of things that could go wrong and then phone numbers for the correct police to call. A bit creepy but also made me feel a good deal safer about the circumstances.

(Finally got ourselves a white one)

(Political posters are everywhere, even though the politics is highly corrupt)

(My favorite is "arrogant driver")

The ferry ticket cost us 800p roundtrip.  But then, we had to pay the terminal fee of about 75 per person, each way.

(Now a bit on terminal fees.  What are they? A good question – I’m still not sure.  It seems like an unnecessary addition onto any form of transportation you might buy.  These ranged from small (25p) for a ferry, to ridiculous at some the airports (200p and 750p).  Why they didn’t build it into the price is just senseless).

(Anti-corruption campaign)

We met a guy, also named Toni, on the ferry to Bohol, an island just off the coast of Cebu city. He grew up there, moved to NY and NJ and has a wife still living there. Of course, he now has a 19-yr old girlfriend. I'm not sure whether to applaud this or not (After the whole of my experience in the Phils, definitely not applauding – these young girls are shady, and the older guys even shadier). Speaking of which, the average Filipino woman is very small but also beautiful on average. It's quite amazing to see how it can differentiate between over just a thousand miles away in China where it’s certainly not the case.   He told us some interesting life stories about growing up in Cebu, showing us the factory he first worked at when he was 16 (along the water), and some advice for our stay in Bohol.

(Toni's first job on the pier)

(Filipino flag - really cool burst shot feature on my camera - 10 shots/2sec)

(It was windy, my hair is not normally like that)

(Toni (21) and Toni (75) )

(So long Cebu, hello Bohol)

Bohol – Friday Feb 13

Two hours later we arrived in Bohol at the port called Tagbilaran. We were immediately swarmed by guides (read: van drivers) who were offering the same sightseeing tours around the island. We had done some bargaining and gotten the price down to about 2500 pesos ($50) for all 7 people plus some infinitesimal entrance fees. We agreed with one of the drivers who got us in his van. Only about ten meters out of the pier we discovered that we had not fully communicated that we wanted to do the tour the following morning. (We had made these arrangements with other drivers but had forgotten to mention it to this guy. They come to the port everyday and line up to get the easiest customers).  This man, Jorge, was furious.  He had gotten the best spot and was now visibly annoyed that we weren't taking the tour today. We had told him to take us to our hotel, a 10 minute drive but he bought we would leave after. Either way, things worked out in our favor.

(Port of Bohol in Tagbilaran)

We arrived at the Vest Pension Hotel around 11:30am, and were lucky enough that they had an extra room for the three extra of us. The other four had already reserved at this place. We changed and got in a different van with a new driver who would take us around that day for about 175p  = $3.5 a person. I should note that the exchange rate is about 46 pesos for a dollar; an easier conversion of 50 can be safely applied.

First stop was an isolated beach on Panglao Island, about thirty minutes from the Vest.  To say that his beach was the most beautiful, paradise-like, stunning beach I've ever imagined, let alone seen, would be a gross understatement. The sheer joy on my face was overwhelming. It was, simply put, perfect. 85 and sunny and sweaty, we immediately took a quick swim in the sapphire blue water. This beach KILLS Thailand’s.

We had some fresh-ish BBQ for lunch, chased down with a liter of Philippine's finest San Miguel Red Horse, a beer brand we see frequently in HK, except this version was larger and at about 7% instead of the usual 4-5% in HK or 2-3% in the US. We had a great afternoon chilling on the beach catching some rays, listening to some music and doing some reading. I smile just writing this.

(Rice and BBQ pork and sausage (?) skewer)

(First of many mangos - they taste better than they look)

(Red Horse = 7% San Miguel beer, in a liter bottle. Win)

(View from our rented bungalow for the day)

(Alex and Jesse)

(Pinch yourself, it's real)

(Definitely the scariest part of the trip for me was bringing my camera into the ocean for these)

(Prepping for a great sunset)

Towards 4pm, Josh, Toni, Kaitlyn and I took a stroll down the beach to subsequently catch the sunset. It is nice to travel with two other photo-philes, each sporting an SLR more impressive than mine. This makes the pace a lot easier as we wander around to take pictures. 

(It also confirmed for me that one of my first paychecks would be buying an SLR.  I love my camera that I’m using a lot, but man, the difference is huge!)

(Cool reflection)

(Toni and Kaitlyn, having a good time)

(Toni really liked fresh coconuts)

The sunset was stunning, even with the minor cloud cover on the horizon, plus I figured out how to appropriately utilize exposure on my camera, which I think made a marked difference in the outcomes.

(Exhibit A)

(Exhibit B: The Money Shot)

(BBQ on the beach)

One last jump in the ocean and then off with our driver, also Toni, to get some dinner.  The interesting part, that I felt bad about, was that he waited for us all day.  But, this is the custom, and who I am to flout someone else’s tradition – we were happy to have the set ride.

We had dinner at an authentic Filipino place on the side of the road and shared some good food – squid, beef brisket that tasted like my grandma’s, and some fried rice. The beer was cheaper than water. (As my good friend Ben Wishnick commented later to me: “Any time you’re in a country where the beer is cheaper than the water, you find a way to stay for a long time” – so right!)

(Yummy local restaurant)

The Island Tour with Jorge

After we woke up early and had some breakfast, we packed up our stuff and got in the van with Jorge for our day-tour.  The first stop was a statue of some sort. (I still have no explanation, and couldn’t get close enough to the statue because there were too many Asian tourists crowding the thing).

(At least we got a picture eventually)

(No matter where you go, they vend - here, the typical pearl layout)

Then a church, which was, pretty plain and run down looking. We walked around inside for a little while, but not too much special too see, especially without any sort of information.

Then we saw the tarsiers. These are the smallest monkeys on the planet, and are nocturnal. Googling them will produce some frightening pictures, but when we saw them in the day, they looked pretty cute.

(Makes my head look bigger than Howie's)

(Sleep tight, don't fall out the bed!)

(Jorge and his red "Escapade" - actual name of van)

Then to the man made forest. Apparently, this was made due to some awful agricultural practices, and everything in the forest was planted at some point.  Pretty cool, and a beautiful area to walk in.

(Kent's first encounter with what would be many millipedes)

(Really well camouflaged)

The next stop was the chocolate hills. Again, we get out, Jorge stays. Pretty amazing geographic spot. Chocolate because in the dry season they turn brown. We climbed 200 steps up one of the hills to see the view.

(The German family who took this picture, we ended up seeing at both Nuts Huts and Alona)

(This was just standing kind of randomly, I liked it)

(Sweet, again with the burst shot)

(The start of my obsession with flower photos)

(If they had it in my size, I would've gotten it. In retrospect, would've been a cool gift, so I got it for all of you!...look, but don't touch)

(Side of the road for lunch)

(Not sure this was made to support westerners)

One of the most striking parts of the trip was talking with Jorge in the car.  We were speaking about his job, his family and whatnot, along with where we were all from and what we were doing here.  Then, someone asked him where he would go, if he could go anywhere – a pretty standard question…right? He was completely stumped. Jorge couldn't understand leaving Bohol let alone Cebu or the Philippines to travel. We had to assure him that he would have any amount of money, and then he could travel.  He still couldn’t come up with something.  I could barely fathom how isolated and small their lives are compared to ours.  Their lives begin and end in the same place, without thinking twice. I am too lucky and privileged.  How is it that we live in this same world, but can have such remarkably different concepts of the world?

Last stop was the hanging bridge. There was this crazy guy at the other end of the bridge who shreds coconuts with his teeth. Toni and I had swapped cameras to take pictures of each other on the bridge, so I hope to get a hold of his photos soon – the guy was insane.  The bridge is made of bamboo, and you could tell that someone had to have fallen off in the past.

As a last stop, Jorge was kind enough to drop us off outside of Nuts Huts, the hostel/resort we would be staying at for the next two days. A kilometer walk on a dirt road in sandals is worse than you think. A good amount of complaining from Josh, who had a backpack and a medium-sized roller which didn't roll, ensued.

Nuts Huts – February 13-15 – Bohol jungle

Down about 100 steps and we arrived. The place is run by a Belgian couple for 12 years. It is absolutely idyllic. There is a main hut where they serve food, people hang out and relax. Then, another 100 steps down is the lineup of cabins, suites and what are essentially elevated camp bunks. We populated 7 of 10 in our bunk, which consisted of beds and a door with a washroom next store. This was my first encounter with the non-flushing toilet in the Philippines, which deserves some explanation.  At first I was confused, but then realized how cool it was.  Basically, there is always a small amount of water in the bowl.  To “flush” you fill a pail with water and scoop some into the bowl.  The bowl keeps a constant amount in, so you basically have to replace the water “+” in the bowl with fresh water.  Great way to conserve.

(Main area, complete with hammocks and delicious food)

We swam in the river for a while (where I realized how out of shape I really am), chatted and relaxed in some hammocks until dinner. Their food system is ideal for me.  You order in advance, and then they let you know when it’s on the table – that’s my kind of service! What a life. Simply the most perfect situation ever. How did I luck out with my genes to live this insanely good life???

I won’t go into what I had for dinner, which was good, but the time here is reserved for the desert.  Enter: banana fritters, with ice cream and chocolate sauce. You can only imagine how happy I was eating this.

(Banana fritters = life)

The interesting thing about Nuts Huts was that you pay for everything at the end - a little disorienting, but definitely a good business move. (Stay tuned to find out how we fared with this system :) )

Started drinking and playing some card games with a mom and son (Tim) from Britain, a man from Cebu and a woman from South America. Tim is on a round the world biking trip for 15 months. The recession came at the right time, he says – giving him a good reason to quit his job and do what he wanted to do.

(And we all thought "Beer na beer" meant something on the Nuts Huts sign)

(Our favorite game - 20 Q's for who's on your head, roundtable)

The main hut was shut down at 10, when they close up shop, so we moved down to the pier where we talked and some did a midnight swim. Called it an early night.

Got to breakfast at 8 and had some delicious homemade bread and eggs and fruit. The mango here is so unbelievably fresh and delicious, that I considered flying a crate home to HK, but found out about the whole customs thing too early.

We got out on our hike at 9.  Hiked all the way up this mountain and then down through some caves. Saw bats and spider scorpions. Our guide, a local named Erwin, had to carry back the dead cat that he had set a trap for earlier that day – yummy, but not really.

(Boat across the river for the hike)

(Views from halfway up)

(Our guide, Erwin.  Is it long hair, or a backpack? You decide)

(Yikes! BATS!)

Our hiking guide was a small guy about 25 but less than 5 feet. He did the whole hike in sandals, without seeming to even sweat.  We on the other hand, panting up the mountain in our sneakers, looked way out of place. The caves were amazing and the walk down was pretty hard considering how hard it was going up. We were all completely drenched in sweat. Made for a really nice jump in the river when we finished.

We got back around 11 and then swam and relaxed up at the main area the rest of the day until Kaitlyn, Toni and I had a massage at 5. And yeah, the one-hour massage is 300p, that's right - the best $6 I'll ever spend.

As expected the massage was excellent. Really great setting in a hut overlooking the river and the hour felt like 3 hours. Time seems to be going slower on vacation than in HK, and I like it. Already I feel like we have done so much and we've only had three full days here. Holy crap.

(Our bunk - they all had funny movie title names except ours)

(On the 100 stairs from the bunks/river to main area)

(Cool logo)

The next morning, Monday, we woke up early again to get packed, eat and pay our bill. Now again, you have to remember that everything was put on a running tab for our group so nobody had any idea how much they owed. Also, we could only pay in cash – no phone lines to accept credit card payments.

So, when we totaled up the bill, only one of us had enough money to cover our personal bills. After much deliberating about the one-hour trek to the nearest ATM, our new British friend Tim told us that he could lend us some money, and that it would be helpful for him because he didn't want to carry around so much USD on his trip. So we borrowed $100 and decided that we would pay him back a little extra for the help.

(And we still came up short by about 25%)

Alona Beach – Feb 15-17

This allowed us to finally pay our bill with enough left over to make the transport to Tagbilaran, the city where we'd catch a bus to Panglao Island for our destination of Alona Beach.  In Tagbilaran we did our errands - ATM, SIM card, ice cream and lunch. All over this city (largest in Bohol, but still not really a city by normal standards) there were lots of campaign flyers. Politics seems to be pretty relevant to them - it is an increasingly corrupt system - and I was lucky enough to talk to a couple Filipinos about it.

(Boat from Nuts Huts to nearby town Loboc)

After lunch we boarded our jeepney (pronounced jipnee) to Alona. A jeepney is basically a small version of a school bus that is pimped-out and you all sit in the back in what amounts to an enclosed truck bed. Throughout, the 45-minute drive to Alona we had between 20 and 35 people crammed in, around, and on top of this jeepney. Literally, there were people on the roof with the bags and hanging in through the front passenger window. This made for pretty uncomfortable conditions for everyone, especially us large westerners, who basically double in size any given Filipino.

(One of the less ridiculous-looking jeepneys)

(Jeepney to Alona. About 25 people in at this point)

(About to pass this jeepney on the wrong side of the road - yup those are people sitting on top, no big deal)

A few steps off of the jeepney in Alona, we were greeted by a local man of about 28 who was about 5-2 (and looked to be about 22). He seemed nice enough helping us get a room large enough for the five of us (Josh and Jesse had left Sunday for an island called Bantayan, we would meet them on Wednesday). He directed us to his uncle’s bungalows where we got an excllent though cramped deal. A queen bed plus three mattress pads covered the entire floor of the room.

It turns out that our friend, Johmung, is a henna artist and fire performer - the only one on the island.  He told us that he figured out this job after  realizing that nobody on the island was doing fire-spinning. Talk about the entrepreneurial spirit! Without ever seeing any performers before, he learned on YouTube – take a look.

Our first afternoon in Alona was spent relaxing on the beach, which is beautiful but not as picturesque as the previous one on Panglao. It has a busier, more commercial feel to the beach with an extensive lineup of restaurants, bars, hotels and dive shops. We started the bargaining process for our island-hopping trip the next day.

(Hundreds of these boats lined the water for island-hopping tours)

After some more napping and walking along the beach we met Johmung at his relative's restaurant on the beach. The fresh fish that you could select were too pricey so we went for other BBQ items. Solid dinner, including sharing a couple bottles of the Philippines “finest” rum, Tanduay (60p), and Coke (90p) among us made for an excellent night.

(As fresh as it gets)

(Tanduay, Philippines' "finest" rum)

(Kent and our man Johmung)

Another thing that was excellent about this beach were the stars at night. Along with it being a new moon, so not much in the sky, the sky was just super clear. You could see countless stars and what you could definitely identify as the Milky Way galaxy ring. Quite beautiful and awe-inspiring. I wish I could’ve figured out how to use my camera to capture it, but alas, you’ll just have to imagine.

Tuesday we woke up dark and early at 5 to get food and be out on he beach to meet Johmung and the boat he had set up for us. The idea behind this process is that everyone offers the same trip but can differ wildly on what's included. Mask and snorkel? One island or two islands? Separate guide for snorkeling? We had agreed with our friend about what we wanted but were upset to get screwed at the last minute and be asked for more money to cover the masks that had already been agreed on. It's hard to understand the feeling, because of the sheer small quantity of money were talking about, but rather just getting blatantly ripped off. Along with that incident, earlier that morning Kent couldn't find the money we had put in my bag the night before, adding some awkward tension to the mix (We later found it hidden in my camera bag). Either way, we agreed, and got on the boat as the sun was rising against our backs and faces. The boat was about 20-30 feet long and had the typical floating wood things on the sides of the boat. It was operated by the man and a "16-yr old boy" who I would contend was actually no older than 10. See for yourself.

First stop was dolphin watching. We arrived at this random spot in the water where about 40 other boats were lines up and circling to try to find the dolphins. We were able to see two spurts of these dolphins, who like a school of fish, jump in and out of the water - it was really cool to see.

(Helper boy, always sitting in front)

(Dolphins!! they literally came out of nowhere)

Then all the boats dispersed and we headed on our way to the snorkel location, at a coral sanctuary off of some island. They try to get you to pay for a guide to take you snorkeling and told us some weird stories about people getting lost, but we couldn't imagine this happening given how crowded it was and that we were five people.

The snorkeling was actually really beautiful. Of course, I would have much rather been diving, but alas, the wallet always wins. But, when snorkeling I did see a really amazing-looking wall to dive down and I felt a bit of a void.

(Near the snorkel site)

(Ready, set, snorkel!)

(Our driver, and his helper, not his son)

Everyone got a couple scratches and nicks from the coral but nothing bad, overall a successful snorkel trip.

The next stop was the Virgen Island. Seeing it completely justifies its name. It is a picturesque, deserted-looking island with stretches of beach surrounded completely by water. The island was small enough though, that you could be aware of just how small it within the sea. We camped out on the beach for a couple of hours and left around 1.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Paradise, for real this time)

(Last one, but it's worth seeing big - click to enlarge)

On the walk back to the boat we stopped to buy and eat a couple of sea urchins from this vendor. She cut, cracked, extracted and scooped out some slime for us. Pretty crazy and nasty, I didn’t try it.

(Yummy (?) sea urchins)

(Woman doing the scoop thing after she cracked it open)

We enjoyed the ride back to Alona bad got some lunch upon arrival. Then, a nice relaxing period of recovery as we all showered and took survey of our plentiful burns. We just can't figure this whole sunscreen thing out apparently.

(Our 5-person bungalow in Alona)

(So I like flowers, sue me)

Then we went off the main beach strip to get to an Internet cafe and grab a quick couple of beers before dinner. We also were able to book a reservation for our hostel at our next location which we went to on Wednesday, an island off of Cebu called Moal Boal- where we'd meet up again with Josh and Jesse.

We spent the night enjoying ourselves on the beach until we hit the sack around midnight for our once-again early wakeup at 7 to catch a 930 ferry in Tagbilaran.

(Really bad American covers, but fun anyway)

(La luna)

If you made it this far, take a break, but I should have the second half of the trip up soon.

Thanks for reading