The moment I stepped foot in the Philippines the first time, I was in LOVE. I told my friends - I'm never leaving. I will marry a Filipino man, have the cutest babies and have a house on the beach. Seriously I was sold. Cheap food (especially fruit), the people were unbelievably friendly, the weather is warm, sunny, the plants are green and it has AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL WHITE BEACHES complete with amazing sunsets (and fake rocks, woa those look real). What's the movie? Name it!!
Getting there of course isn't the easiest. Because if you remember the Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands so of course Boracay is a small tiny island off of another island.
So I flew into Kalibo (a small town kind of near Boracay) and ended up meeting up with my Filipino friend, Taz, who I had made last time I was in the Philippines. So random that he ended up being in the same city that I was flying into! He was so nice and came to the airport to get me since it was later in the evening and I had NO idea where I was going! I honestly didn't know what my plan was if he wasn't there, probably sleep at the airport or find some nice looking people from my plane ride to tag along with. But he was there, phew! We hoped on a trike (a motorbike with a rigged up side cart) and headed into the city, found some food and met up with some of his friends. We finally found a place to stay, it was a very busy weekend in Kalibo for the Ati-Atihan Festival that weekend. So thankful they knew how to beg/bargain and speak Tagalog.
We got our hotel, and there were 2 beds and a bathroom - There were 5 of us. So we had to sleep sideways on the bed to all fit! After we got settled, soaked up some A/C, we decided to go take a walk around the city. Believe me I stayed REALLY close to my Filipino friends. I wasn't about to get lost in this random city. So we wondered and looked at shops and got a coconut water, you know the kind straight up from the inside of the coconut!
Kristen joins a drum line.
Then as we walked we heard some drums, so we walked over to check it out. There was a band of middle school and high school aged kids. They were actually pretty good just playing whatever (well I assume, but maybe they had music?). We followed and danced around with them for a bit. And then, then... my friend said something to one of the kids and soon enough I was wearing one of the drums, marching with the drummers around the streets of Kalibo. People were laughing and smiling and dancing and probably questioning why in the world a white woman was playing in their drum line. But I tell you what, it was awesome and I'm pretty sure I was laughing confused the ENTIRE time. It's something I will never forget!
We marched along for quite sometime until we realized we were probably following these kids to their home as most of them had stopped playing and had taken their drums off. I took mine off as well and handed it back to a kid, and we headed in the other direction. It all dissolved like nothing had happened.
The Ati-Atihan Festival Parade.
The next morning I woke up, watched a bit of the parade - which was super interesting. Lots of colorful and interesting costumes as well as bands and drums. There were quite a few foreigners, which was interesting. So I wasn't alone, well I was alone, but at least there were some more of my kind around!
This parade was so legit, Michael Jackson and a big baby decided to make an appearance.
Travel to Boracay.
After the parade, I grabbed my bags from the hotel. The nice lady who ran it took me to the bus stop to make sure I made it there! I caught the little mini bus down to the port, where I took a ferry to get to Boracay. Boracay is one of the most touristy places in the Philippines, which I wasn't too excited about, but honestly it was nice to just go to one place and chill THE WHOLE TIME.
What an adventure that ride was. It was pretty hot, stuffy and then our bus broke down a couple of times. But don't worry we made it, hoped on the boat, took a trike and I was finally at my hostel. I met a couple of girls on the ferry that I shared a trike with, which was really nice! It's good to not be all alone, or at least not seem like you are! I went out with them that night, they were quite nice and it was fun making some new friends.
Boracay, Philippines.
My typical day for the 10 days I was in Boracay went something like this - wake-up when I wake-up, go get some breakfast upstairs on the balcony, FaceTime the boy, check the internet, nap in the hammock at the hostel, get some lunch, go to the beach, lay on the beach, take photos, buy some fresh fruit on the way home (from some sweet kids who were super excited to talk to Americans), go back and look at the beautiful white sandy beaches, watch the sunset, eat dinner with friends, take some more photos of the beach, go out, go to bed and repeat. It was great. So chill that I never wanted to leave! And some of my friends hadn't, they stayed there for a MONTH, or more. So jealous.
I highly recommend MNL hostel. It was one of the best places I have ever stayed. The staff was lovely, there was a small free breakfast, it was clean, it was a great place to meet people and had a lovely roof to hang out on and hammocks to snooze in. Seriously, stay here! It's a joy staying in a hostel. I made great friends with the hostel workers (which I highly recommend because they will give you things or make exceptions for you!) as well as the other foreigners staying there.My favorite worker was a guy named, Red, he called me his girlfriend and was quite the little jokester. Then I met some guys -- one from America, one from England who was living in Australia and another from Sweden. And I met up with my friend who I knew from Cheongju, Kirsty and some of her friends - Jackie was such a sweetie and we hit it off instantly. So we hung out most of the time!
These guys tried balot (a developed embryo that is boiled). No thank you. After they did it they got a little tattoo of a chicken coming out of an egg.
Boat Tour/Snorkeling/Spelunking Day.
We continued on and went snorkeling for a bit in a couple of different places. The creatures, fish and sea life you see when snorkeling is unbelievable. It's one of the coolest things I've done. I love just watching and looking and trying to find interesting things.
I was exhausted by the end of the tour. The sun, waves and salt water really take it out of you. But this tour was so worth it!
Kite Surfers.
A night on the town.
Consisted of eating out, some men in small panties throwing/swinging chains with balls of fire, and then playing some pool.
Spider House and Diniwid Beach.
We took a walk along the beach one evening to get to Spider House, a restaurant and resort near Diniwid Beach. It was one of the most beautiful walks. It wasn't crowded. It was peaceful and perfect. I trailed behind the group, taking a million photos. I just couldn't get over the beauty of this place!
Kirsty and Jackie went parasailing and I went along for the ride and to take pictures. It was really cool to watch them! And fun to talk to the guys running the operation. They were pretty entertaining.
I can't wait to go back to the Philippines (hopefully) in the near future!