brief commentary on the Philippines...

Well, its been awhile since I went to the Philippines for New Years, but since I am leaving for Thailand on Friday, I figured I needed to record my experience from my last trip first, while its still fresh.

We left for the airport on Friday afternoon, December 28. Thus began the use of various modes of transportion needed to arrive at our final destination: Comotes Islands, Philippines. We caught a Taxi to the Highspeed Railway Station(HSR), followed by a train to Touyen, and a shuttle to the airport. Everything went relatively smoothly up until we got to the Philippines.

The plane arrived in Cebu, Phillipines at about 2am. We figured we would wait until the Port opened and take the earliest Ferry to Camotes Island. We made friends with a Police Officer and he was kind enough to call a legitimate, safe Taxi for us at 4am. Our Taxi driver, James, took us to the port, where we discovered that there were no tickets for the 6am ferry. James convinced us to let him drive us to the next closest port where there would be another ferry leaving in 40 minutes. He drove like a maniac, but we got there and paid some guys to get us on the livestock filled ferry even though we didn't have tickets. It was a beautiful boat ride...the sea was calm and we got to see a quite amazing sunrise.

We got to Camotes around 11, and as we were getting off, two guys came up and asked if we were going to the Santiago Bay resort. They charged us 50pesos each for a motorcycle ride(Habal-Habal) to the resort. Riding with a huge backpack on the back of a motorcycle is quite difficult, let me tell you.

Santiago Bay resort was more beautiful than the pictures. There is no picture that could do that place justice. The first day, my ears were ringing because it was so quiet. The whole time we were there, there were only about 5 other families. It was paradise. I almost don't want to tell anyone about it so it won't be ruined. For 5 days, Bethany and I explored the islands with the help of our Habal Habal drivers, Wendel and Freddy. We went through breathtaking caves, rode on a bamboo boat, discovered sea creatures we had never seen before, and watched amazing sunsets. It was the perfect vacation, and much needed after teaching Kindergartners for 4 months.

On the way back, we had just about the most frightening 4 hour illegal boat ride I could ever imagine. I can't say the most frightening I've ever had, because it was the first 4 hour illegal boat ride I've ever had. Bethany and I were forced to rent a small 8 person boat with some Filipinos after all the Ferry tickets were sold out. We had to catch a flight that day, so we had no choice. So, we hopped on a small motor boat in the pouring rain and ventured out into the open sea. It was no longer the calm sea we had experienced on the initial ferry ride, but it had turned into a tumultuous sea with 8 foot swells. Bethany and I were very afraid that we were not going to make it out of this...We kept asking a Filipino lady in front of us if she was scared, and she continually said no. It was only afterwards that she admitted to being scared and that she had been praying the whole time. Well no kidding, me too.

The boat finally made it to Cebu, but instead of landing in a normal port, we had to land on a small beach that happened to be someones backyard. Why, you might ask? Because we were not allowed to do this...no one but us and our Habal Habal drivers back on the Island knew we were on that boat. Smart thinking, going into a stormy sea in a small boat when the coast guard has no idea where you are....won't be doing that again.

Needless to say, we did make it out alive. We proceeded to pack all eight of us onto a rickshaw and then stuff ourselves into a bus with dozens of other people. Eventually, we made it to a taxi that took us to the airport. It was there that we discovered that every single article of clothing we had packed was entirely soaked. I'm not gonna say I wasn't a little frustrated. We eventually made it back to Hsinchu, where it was actually now cold(it hadn't been before we left), making the wet clothing even more terrible.

I've gotta say, it was worth it though. The beach, the sun, the people....if you ever get to go to the Philippines, I highly recommend it. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Now onto new adventures! Two weeks in Thailand will ensure lots of fun stories!

Notice

I'm going to try to get around to posting about the trip to the Philippines this weekend. In the meantime, there is a new link for my photos on the right--->

I don't have pics up on Picasa from the Philippines yet, but they can be found on Facebook here and here.

Enjoy...let me know what you think!