Beautiful Bohol

2 flights later and we are in Bohol just off Panglao Island.
We drop Nikki off to check into her hostel, Full Moon, then it’s off down a few dirt tracks to our hotel, Scent of Green Papaya. As the saying goes, never judge a book by it’s cover. We turn down a bumpy road covered in tatty signs.

A few minutes later we end up in a beautiful place that is to be home for Christmas with Nikki joining for Christmas and Boxing day and are greeted by the smiliest and friendliest customer service team and a really reasonably priced room with all the modern comforts.

We settle in and catch the free tricycle/bus ride provided by the hotel and pick Nikki up on route and in 5 minutes we are at Alona Beach. Beautiful relaxed resort with reasonably priced restaurants and fresh fish on display ready to choose from . You can pretty much walk the beach in 20 minutes. The atmosphere is relaxed and homely and massages on the beach are in abundance, so Nikki and Deb slip off to get a massage and Steve goes off for a wander.

The beach has nice soft sand and the water is warm, there are designated areas for swimmers who don’t fancy having to dodge boats. We spend most of our time on Alona beach and in the pool, well it is Christmas. When things get too hot it’s time to slip into the Buzzz Cafe, with a choice of air conditioned room or covered terrace.

The view is straight on to the beach and the lovely blue sky. Prices on this beach are good and it feels alot more local, apart from the hideous Hennan Resort Hotel that seem to have a monopoly over getting approval to knock down local buildings to build jumbo hotels at all the best beaches in the Philippines.

Christmas eve is spent touring with a private driver and car for £40 for 8 hours, he will take us wherever we want to go.

Off we set and pop in to say hi to our drivers family as he has to drop off a pig for their Christmas dinner. His kids were so cute 😍

1st stop is the Corella Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary, these creatures are just so cute. An endangered species who’s bloodline apparently go back as far as 45 million years. They are nocturnal primates and have a brain that is not as big as one of their eye balls.

If these over sensitive creatures get stressed they commit suicide by banging their tiny head against trees until they fall off the tree and die on the ground. There are various places you can see them but check the place out 1st. Some cage them and place them on trees for visitors. They are territorial and always like to return to the same place to sleep during the day so our guide could spot them easier and mobiles can zoom in to take a picture as they sit fairly low, but remember no flashing, how would you like a flash in the eye if your eyeball was bigger than your brain!

2nd stop was to take a look at the boat trip up Loboc river. Pretty much a 1 hour tourist load you on, give you a buffet lunch and return you back, so we declined as it was more than a fresh fish and prawn meal with drinks whilst sat on the beach watching the sun go down, having been to Costa Rica it was never going to match a boat ride in the jungle canals!

3rd stop is to visit the Chocolate Hills, Nikki hires a quad bike and Deb and Steve opt for an ATV.
The Chocolate Hills are a natural phenomenon of 1268 hills that are made from deposits of coral, so global warming and sea levels rising? How come these are in the middle of the island then..We would love someone to answer this question?
The views are amazing, we did try for sunset but the clouds came along and then the rain appeared so time to return back to the hotel and our poor driver had a 2 hour bike ride in the rain to get home. We couldn’t help but give our driver a super christmas present of 2 days of his wages to help him give his family an even better christmas than they had already planned.  He was so so grateful and really didn’t want to except it until we persuade him.

Then it was Christmas day.

What do you do in the Philippines on Christmas day? Well you start with a lovely breakfast at the Green Scent of Papaya served by super smiley people, then off to the beach for a swim followed by a nap in the sand. Once we are all too hot and probably a bit pink, time to cool off in the pool and read a book.

The evening comes and we go off to town for a traditional lechon (Suckling Pig) a tribal show and treat ourselves to a bottle of imported wine. All priced at about a quarter of the price of christmas day english roast with no entertainment or drinks.

We weren’t disappointed, we had a great time. Fireworks, all evening long show and a boogie with the locals to finish the evening.

Next day Nikki disappeared off to stay at Loboc river at Fox & The Firefly Cottages then meet us back at the airport in a couple of days. She spends her days paddle boarding the river up to a waterfall and waiting until night fall to paddle off to see the fireflys and lay on her board bobbing in the river watching the bright stars in the unpolluted black skys.

Meanwhile, Deb and Steve take the easy option and take a boat ride to another part of the island to go and find the fireflys… Beautiful, trees covered in sparkling, twinkling insects. Such a shame you can’t take photographs that are worth showing to anyone.

After an evening at the hotel where one of the staff does a parting gift of a great fire show, it’s time to get up and leave the lovely hotel and staff to continue onwards to our next stop over in Manila before Nikki flys back to Yangon to meet up with her boyfriend from the UK and we head off to Thailand.

Live Happy

Debs and Steve

Bouncing Around the Bays of El Nido, Philippines

Following our minibus ride from Puerto Princesa we arrive at El Nido feeling rather over jiggled and arrive at our guest house, it has a great view and a nice chill out bar but the rooms leave a bit to be desired, very average and the double bed was tiny, even for us! Talking to people in resort it seems it’s hard to get anywhere very good to stay.

Although El Nido is marketed as one of the top destinations in the world, 1st impressions aren’t that good. The beach is full of rubbish and a lot of broken glass, you can’t walk barefoot. Tricycles and motorbikes seem to use the best bit of the beach as a short cut.

Off we go to look for a place to eat. The food looks good and you really can eat right on the beach front. We started the night with happy hour before taking our spot in a seafood resturant. The fish and prawns were really fresh.

This place is the 1st time we’ve encountered kids begging. Throughout the Philippines the kids have just been happy to see you and wave at you, here they have learnt tourists mean money which is a real shame.

Next morning we are off on a boat trip, we didn’t book prior to arrival because if the weather is no good and you have already paid you don’t get a refund. We simply got up and grabbed one on the day. Lucky for us we ended up on a good boat with plenty of shade and a great crew, J and JR were our hosts. Get it wrong and you get an awfully small boat, no shade, no life jackets, rubbish food and have to tentivley skirt the rocks as it’s rather choppy and we noticed the small boats can’t cope with the swell.

We went on tour A, small lagoon, big lagoon, secret lagoon and should have gone to a snorkeling area but the water was too rough. You need to be happy on the water as just getting to the boat has you wading up to chest height, with your bag over your head and the waves are pulling you back and forth. Once on the trip you stop at various locations. You then understand why everyone rates El Nido!

7 Commandos Beach.
Pretty gorgeous beach. You get 45 mins to chill with a coconut drink or swim. #nofilter

Small Lagoon.
The rock formations and lagoon are simply beautiful. The sea really is this clear and blue. If you are not afraid of jelly fish stings you can swim in the lagoon but we saw alot floating about, tiny and bigger. You do have to pay an extra 400 PHP for a kayak for 3 but it’s worth it.

We also stopped here for a lovely lunch on the boat. Getting into the small lagoon is pretty congested as it only a small gap but it takes you into the tranquil lagoon, so mind your head!

Secret Lagoon.
This was a bit scary, the sea was rough and the boat struggled to get very close to the bay due to the swell and rocks in the cove. If you are not very confident it’s not a good idea to get off as the secret lagoon is a bit boring. It’s just a small opening in the rocks that you climb through that takes you into a murky pool.

It’s hard to get into and the waves push you into the rocks. Deb struggled to get through and couldn’t help but laugh and what a site the other passengers had to endure. Middle aged women, slightly chubby in a bikini trying to wedge herself through the hole in the rocks. No photos here!!  We had 5 minutes on the beach and then a super swim back to the boat.

Half way back on our swim to the boat, it gets tangled with another boat and we have to tread water and fight the waves whilst the crews move back and forth to try and release them. Ours has to pull back out towards the sea and we are left trying to swim against the tide.. Crew were brilliant and very conscientious. They helped pull the people in life jackets to the boat while the rest of us swam over.

Large Lagoon
We pull up amongst loads of boats and it’s time to swim or kayak again. After the last stop people were a bit apprehensive. Some took kayaks but Deb, Steve and Nikki were heros and swam. In parts of the 2km swim you could stand in places until you got closer then it drops away to 20 meters deep. Snorkeling was good in the shallows but once inside it just became murky. Swimming in the lagoon was a challenge as smaller boats and kayakers were zooming all over the place so you really had to watch yourself.

Shimizu
We had to miss this place during to rough sea but it’s supposed to be great for snorkeling.

Suddenly it was 16:00 and time to go back.

On route back a guy told us about a great place for sunset. So we don’t miss it, still soaking wet we hop on a tricycle and go to Las Cabanas beach… WOW.. Amazing beach bar and view and cheaper drinks. We end up walking along the beach and staying for dinner at a nice restaurant looking like we have just been washed up on the shore from a ship wreak.. We know how to do style!

By the end of the evening we go back to our room and Steve goes on to fight a spider the size of your hand while Nikki continues to party at the El Nido Police station christmas party complete with police cars providing disco lights until 03:00 am

Next day and it’s back to Puerto Princesa to catch our flights out to Bohol for Christmas.

If your going to El Nido and your budget can take it, look to stay out of town and just go in to visit or catch boat trips. There are beautiful beaches and resorts along the coast and on private islands. If you’re backpacking, our daughter stayed in Spin hostel and had a great time. Free cocktail evenings, good atmosphere and breakfast. If they had a private room with ensuite we would have stayed here too!!

We missed Nacpan Beach but if you can fit it in one morning, do the hike up on the hill at the end of the beach as we have been told the views are spectacular but there is a strong rip tide/current if you want to swim so be careful out there. Have lunch in town then take a tricycle to Las Cabanas for the rest of the day and walk down the beach for sunset.You will find cheap happy hour along this beach and a super beach side bar.

Live Happy

Debs and Steve

 

Pondering Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines

We make it to Manila after having had our flight cancelled and the flight times changed twice. The Phillipines is a hard place to try and manage the logisitics from A to B. Half of our flights have been cancelled or moved to different times which causes knock on effects to connections, pick ups and hotels. Luckily for us Deb the super planner knew this could happen but not to the extent it has. Deb had tried to arrange flights with contingency to ensure that should this happen we should still be able to be put on a later flight and if early enough maybe squeeze on to the earlier ones.

We make it and our daughter Nikki makes it from Malaysia to get the connections to Palawan. We stay near the airport at Puerto Princesa, sounds like it should be lovely but it’s not! We need to stay over as we have a 6 hour bus journey ahead of us in the morning. Since we started our travel we keep an eye on the latest goverment travel websites and on 23rd Dec, the day after we left, the south of the island became pretty much a no go area as westerners are at risk of being kidnapped.

El Nido better be worth it!

We walk into town from our budget hotel, the Blue Lagoon. The hotel is just a cheap stop over and the town is not much to rave about, market stalls seem to mostly sell toy guns and BB guns that look pretty real, gun culture in kids seems to get promoted here and you’re not sure if the kids have real ones or fake.

Good news is you can get a magnum ice cream for 60 Pesos (£1) when in the UK you are looking at about £2.30 and donuts are just about everywhere!

We walk on down to city baywalk park…. Not a good place, pretty average really but the local kids are all happy enjoying it, smiling and asking us our names. It starts to rain so we take shelter with them, this is not like the rest of Asia we have heard about, none of the kids want anything and are just happy to share the shelter and show us the big christmas tree.

We stop at a bar for a drink as it’s super hot and we walked further than planned. Toilets become “local” a pan and a pot of water to flush it, reasonably clean but full of mosquitoes just as well we are mosquitoe repellent covered as we are in malaria/dengue territory now!

Not to be looking like over uncomfortable tourists we sit and have our drink next to the sign “deadly weapons not allowed” Gosh don’t we feel safe NOT! As we walk back you start to adjust and feel much better, then catch a tricycle back the rest of the way as it’s still raining.

Whilst Nikki pops off to a local bar for a mango shake, we eye up a resturant for the evening. Result, our chosen resturant, Ka Inato turns out to be rather good and cheap, they also employ some local deaf people, Deb has sizzling beef ribs, Nikki grilled chicken and Steve has a crocodile sisig.. Tasted good but no idea what was in it but it must be better than the green hulk burger on offer in the hotel 🤔?

06:00 am and up we get for our 6 hour journey.

 

After the most erratic 6 hour drive with a guy who couldn’t seem to drive for more than an hour without stopping to meet someone, we finally arrived. The drive is long and there is not much apart from jungle and paddy fields full of rice.

We pass all the other minibuses who had stopped at a rather nice midway stop to end up in a small tatty village in a small cafe, albeit a nice view of the sea but a bit of a smell of sewage. Nice!

We had booked our transfer via the hotel a while back as thought the hotel wouldn’t pick a rubbish transfer as they have a reputation to keep. We were sorely disappointed, anyone reading this who finds themselves going to El Nido, stay away from Lexus tours! Camarih are so much better. Of course, you also have the more local transport, Jeepneys. If you like the adventure, it takes longer and you have a good chance of being held up by bandits that pick on tourists 1st as they are easy rich pickings.

Mini bus costs return to Puerto Princesa -1000/1200 PHP

Local coach without A/C – 500, with A/C – 700 PHP

Jeepney- 200 PHP

Our advice would be to get yourselves out of Puerto Princesa as soon as you can. The locals we spoke to told us that Honda Bay was not worth the boat trip if we were off to El Nido as it’s much better there. You will also be pushed into trying the trip to the caves in Subterranean River National Park, although trip advisor rates it, we met people whose trips were cancelled due to choppy sea and had heard tales that for being hailed one of the new 7 wonders of the world, you could do better but the choice is yours. We chose to spend the money else where!

Off to check out El Nido town and what it has to offer.

Live Happy

Debs and Steve

 

Cruising to Carabao Island, Philippines.

1 Week into Asia and its off to Carabao Island.

This island is near Boracay just across the sea, it is a small island about mid Philippines. It only has a few hotels, electricity is only on between 14:00 until 06:00, no ATM’s, no one takes credit card and the internet is poor. Sounds idyllic and it was!

Prior to setting off Deb and Steve head off to go to the ATM and get some cash. Small problem?
It’s the weekend, Korean and Tiawainese had cleared the ATM out as you can only get 10, 000 PHP at a time, so they use multiple cards to get more, worth remembering should you want cash at the weekend.

Luckily for us the hotel in Bulabog takes PayPal and we still have the Monday morning before the speed boat comes to collect us from station 1.

We pack up and grab the 1st tricycle we see then head off to D’Mall to go cash hunting. This was an experience, we head off and then realise he had no tricycle number, the guy couldn’t have had a licence as he was blind but he slowly made his way down the alleyways and negotiated all the pot holes like he could see, it did the trick and we got close to the ATM. He had to drop us off close to the main road as he said he would get in trouble with the police if he went any further . As we pulled over and got out the local boys on motorbikes were having a good giggle. Deb turned to them and said were we brave or stupid and made them laugh even more! 😂😂😂

Out boat arrives at 12:00 and off we go.. It looked calm until you get in the open sea.. Turned out to be very wavy. Whilst Deb was enjoying being bounced around and zipping about, Steve really wasn’t so sure but the guy steering certainly new his stuff and negotiated the big swell well.

Within 25 minutes we arrive at Lana Beach and to our beach front apartment and an amazing view that looks just like a postcard! We sit and have a drink and a lovely lunch, prawn cocktails have never tasted so good that Deb decided to have the same for dinner but with the addition of rice. Meanwhile, Steve munches his way through Ronnies special Thai Curry and a beef stir fry. Before we know it it’s dark and we are into our third local beer and rum and coke….Well at £2.80 a round would be rude not to.

So what’s Carabao Island like? Some of the beaches are more coral than sand, much better for beachcombing and shell finding.. The sea is still as blue and clear and the corals are closer to the shore as the beach is not so shallow as Boracay. How many starfish were there, so many everywhere you look at a range of big to small and loads of colours. No product placement here, this was just as it was!

You can sit and watch the locals fishing from their small boats, go kayaking or snorkeling.We even saw the biggest pig on the beach being chased around as the guys try and load him on a boat to take him to market.

The main road is a small concrete path in some places and in others just a muddy track, you really are in the real Philippines.

10 mins walk and you are in rice fields, all the locals seem to own one carabao, a few chickens, goat and pig or wild boar.  Although we didn’t do an island tour, you can arrange to buzz around on the back of a motorbike with a local and go to the main town San Jose. We just did a lot of chilling 😎😎😎, swimming and wandering.

Everyone is so happy, they all say hello and the kids all wave at you.. It’s so lovely! We even got invited to join into the locals karaoke at their house. As Debs version of Tom Jones “My Delila” could burst the ear drums of anyone close by we thought it would be best not too..

Strangely we come all the way over here from the UK to be staying on a little know Island and are met by Mark and Amanda from Brighton in the UK who run the hotel and Ronnie the German chef, the owner of the hotel is Norwegian, crazy hey?
The hotel is in a lovely setting, right on the beach front, the price is great (less than an average B&B in the UK) and the most amazing horizon for the sunset, just the place to chill and enjoy the natural local culture.

Off to the airport for another plane to Manila and meet our daughter to fly out to the next island Palawan.

Live Happy

Debs and  Steve

Bobbing About in Boracay, Philippines.

1st day in Boracay and it rains all day! Things flood alot!

This gives us the chance to catch up with ourselves after flying from the UK, Dubai, Manila, Caticlan, bus to the port, boat to Boracay and finally a minibus to Ralph’s Place where we are staying on Bulabog Beach.

Boracay is a small island in mid Philippines just 7km long, it has a very famous beach called White Beach. We are staying on the quiet more local side but this is still only a 15min walk from White Beach.

It really is an island of two sides.

White Beach.

Beautiful beach with more restaurants than you could ever need, everything is catered for from Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Fish Restaurants, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, BBQ, you name it you will find it.

There is even a place called the Hobbit Bar, Steve and Deb being rather short finally found a place that they were taller than the staff as it’s run by a group of Philippine midgets! There is D’Mall, where all the clothes shops, massage shops and loads more restaurants are. If you come down at sunset the beach is packed full of people, sellers of tourist tat, street entertainment, beach massages and men wanting to sell you boat rides etc..The beach is divided into stations.

Station 1 – There are some very nice restaurants and hotels in this area. It is also where all the watersports boats leave from. Nicest softest sand.
Station 2 – More mid range hotels and vendors selling tourist “stuff”. Crazy that it costs £17.00 for 2 sunbeds for the day when you can sit on super soft sand that doesn’t get too hot unlike the sand in Canary Islands.
Station 3 – Much more low key, you get much more for your money here and alot more local influence. The sand is not so soft here either but it’s much quieter.

Best time to hit the beach is the morning. We went about 10:00am as the party people are still asleep and the Japanese and Chinese don’t come out until later 😉

Bulabog Beach.

The beach is not pure and white and there is an amount of seaweed and, pending the weather, some debris could be washed up but don’t let this put you off, the sand is still soft and as we said you can walk to White Beach in 15 minutes or a 5 minute tricycle. You also have to remember that this is the local side, this is where real life happens, fishing boats are built, kids  play and dogs roam. It’s Deb’s photographing paradise 😉

The hotels are cheaper this side, it is windyer this side. Good thing when it’s plus 30° most of the time. There are windsurfing schools, kitesurfing and a good selection of chilled bars and restaurants full of the easy going traveller types. The local’s petrol station is here, pull up with your motorbike at the little shed and buy your liter of petrol out of a 1lt coke bottle.

Example of the price difference.
Local beer
Station 2  – 110 Pesos
Bulabog – 45 Pesos
Tricycle from Bulabog to White Beach – 60 to 70 Pesos for up to five people.
We will leave you to do the maths?

The Island has something for everyone’s budget.
Prices per day start from
Hostels – £5
3 Star Hotels – £30
Or you can go Super Luxury – £500

So where do you think Deb and Steve went, of course Bulabog, but if you’re a rich beach bunny glamorous type, stick to station one or somewhere like Shangri-La Hotel.

Where did we stay? Ralph’s Place, from the outside you can’t see much as you have to walk up a dirt track but inside it’s lovely, clean, has A/C, super shower and a bar and restaurant. The staff are great and very friendly and attentive. We paid £200.00 including breakfast for 5 nights. You can also get a selection of breakfasts here from Philippine specialities like, Debs favourite Tapsilog (beef, egg and rice) and Steve enjoyed his bacon and eggs. Bowls of fruit were huge and full of fresh mangos, pineapple, papaya and banana.

A short walk away is a tower that you can see the whole island from, it’s only a short walk but a mighty warm one! On route you will walk through the real Philippines, local houses made of just about anything you can find for free. The kids are running around happy and the people shy.

Did we feel safe here? Yes, the Phillipine people here are happy and kind. Even the street vendors only ask you once if you want to buy something and if you say no thank you, they just wander off. Next stop Carabao Island.

Live Happy

Debs and Steve

Counting the Days Until Asia🌴🌴😎🌴🌴

Planning Christmas in the Philippines and most probably the most boring blog post although it covers the answers to lots of peoples questions to us.

Flights booked, suppose we better figure out where we are going to stay and plan some stuff. Then there’s a knock at the door and the postman delivers a parcel for us. What could it be? It’s flowers and chocolates from Merlin the dog to say thank you for looking after him, what a lovely surprise!

Where do you start, well we started a while ago.

Health.
Don’t under estimate travel vaccinations. Yes these are expensive but if there is one thing to spend your hard earned money on this has to be the one. If you’re in the UK don’t rely on getting the NHS injections done in time. Deb has had her appointments cancelled on various occasions to the point that it became too late to be fully covered as the appointment was 4 weeks too late. For peace of mind she ended up paying to go private.

Off we went to the local doctors recommended clinic in Southampton for a consultation. Well if there were nominations for the rudest, most intimidating travel nurse, Southampton Travel Clinic would surely win. Considering we have to pay a private charge just to see this women you would have expected at least some customer service. “What do you mean, you don’t know where you are travelling in Asia and you don’t know for how long, how can I do risk assessments based on this information.” Sorry, have you never met a backpacker, Lady? (Well that’s what we were thinking in our heads, goodness knows what would have happened if we would have said it out loud) Scary lady 😨

Deb sets to Googling and ends up finding Go Global who has a private clinic not far away from home. So refreshing, turns out to be a good call. You couldn’t wish for a better person. Andrea is really nice and welcoming. If your local to Chandler’s Ford, Southampton, UK area, she’s your travel lady.

Deb looks at all the countries on the wish list and Google searches the vaccinations then works out which country needs the most and if any are different to other areas.

Sorted! Prepare for Myanmar and confirm with Go Global.
Hepatitis A – Already covered
Hepatitis B – Some say it’s not needed but we wouldn’t go without it.
Japanese Encephalitis – Got to get
Typhiod – Already covered

Rabies – Another that some say not required but on our list to have. Some of these animals may look cute but you just never know if they have rabies. Steve foaming at the mouth wouldn’t be a good look.
Polio – Already covered
Tetnus – Already covered
Diptheria – Already covered
Malaria – Complicated but Andrea helped us sort it out and Asda supplied cheaper than anywhere else without the need of a prescription!

Total cost £1167
Yes it’s very expensive and some are only recommended but not essential but if you’re wise it’s better to have them rather than pay for it later. You can’t put a price on life, it’s priceless so why risk it? This is the cost without Dr Debs 1st Aid Kit, more about this later.

Next  – Check out the country, is it safe?

Get it in perspective..
Safe?
Check its not in a war zone or in a state of lawlessness.
Check you’re covered under your travel insurance.
Look at the latest government advice from the country you’re visiting.
Do you need any special cover, natural disaster recovery?
Look at the risk and measure against how safe your country is for a visitor from another country?

Example.
Lets look at the Phillipines.

In the UK media the president is shooting all drug dealers, it’s carnage. They have employed local people from the slums to assassinate their fellow neighbours if they are involved. People are saying to us is it safe for you to go there, won’t you get kidnapped?

A – Are you telling me that you are going to wander around the the dodgy parts of town? 🔫                                                               Check out the no go areas where you are going and don’t go there! 🚫
B – Are you going to be involved in drugs? 😲 If you have prescription medication to take or want to take your 1st aid supply of pills, take the instructions and get a letter from your doctor for prescription drugs. Remember that a drug may be legal in your country but not in the country you are going to. Example: Codeine is classed as an illegal narcotic. That means no migraine tablets for Deb.. Well only until landing in Philippines. They can come on the plane 🙄  Just not off it and it’s the long flight that gives her a migraine!
C – Are you really going to just book the 1st cheap hotel you see without checking out why it’s so cheap? 🛏

Check out on google the best area for tourists to stay, this may not always be the area you thought. In Manila it’s the financial district of Makati, right next to the red light district.. It wasn’t Debs 1st choice but after research and recommendations this is where we have booked.. Will let you know in January how it went.
D – Are you just going to jump in any old taxi you see? 🚕  You have the Internet, yes? Use it. Google how much is a taxi, best taxis to use. We land at 23:00hr and have pre booked a taxi, after a long journey we are happy to pay the extra to have a person standing there with our name ready to take us straight to the overnight hotel. This adds to the comfort of travel. Before you ask, yes of course we checked out the taxi company reviews  😉
E – Are you going to open your wallet full of cash in front of everyone, remember some of these countries are poor, what is only £10 to you is 4 days wages to someone else?

After a morning of rushing around, the time has suddenly come. Off to the train station we go. 6 minutes before the train arrives its cancelled! 2 trains, 4 taxi’s, 1 boat, 3 flights, various minibuses, overnight hotel in Manila and a coach later, we are in Boracay!

Live Happy

Debs and Steve