 |
| Apo Island |
Well my South East Asia experience is now over. I can’t believe that 4.5 months of travelling have now come and gone. Seems like only yesterday I arrived in Bangkok with no plan, no agenda and really no clue where to go and what to see. Now I have made my way through eight countries since then. I have had a blast and for the last 2 weeks I definitely saved the best for last: The Philippines and Songkran.
The Philippines is such a cool country. It has a little of everything and so much to see. I didn’t even scratch the surface for the two weeks that I was there. The Philippines is less touristy than the other SE Asia countries and that is really nice. It is also harder to get around since country of islands. I flew everywhere expect for taking a few buses. I arrived at Clark Airport which is about two hours outside of Manila and since my flight to Dumaguete on the island of Negros wasn’t until the next 
morning, I took a jeepney (an converted American army van used all over the Philippines), a local bus and a tricycle (a motorcylcle with a side car) across Manila to Nino Aquino airport. There is so much traffic in Manila but what surprised me the most was the amount of fast-food restaurants. There are Jollibees (Filipino fast-food chain), McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc on every street if not
 |
| Typical Filipino fast-food |
two on the same block. I didn’t spend any time in Manila proper as it is very large city with not the best reputation but I did spent lots of time in the airport. Every place you fly in the Philippines you have to fly through Manila as there are very limited direct flights in between the islands. From Dumaguete, I went to Apo Island which is one of the Philippines’ top 10 dive sites. It definitely is as the coral and sea life is so alive, colourful and abundant. Huge turtles, huge schools fish, large corals shelves, and just so much to see. The island has a population of 800 and everyone including the 30 tourists showed up at the basketball court one night as they held a Disco in honour of naming Miss Apo Lass. It was highly entertaining dancing with Filipinos of all ages and such a great event. It also meant that the power was on till midnight versus going off at 9:30 like it did all the other nights. It was also the end of the school year and in honour of that the resort t roasted a whole pig on a spit. I happened to be walking though the kitchen on my way to my dorm room when the pig was served so was invited to the delicious feast. The best part was the roast pig skin as it was so crunchy and tasty. The whole pig was gone in under 20 minutes. I spent three days on Apo diving and soaking up the sun before flying back to Manila and then taking a night bus to Donsol. Donsol is famous for snorkelling with whale sharks. It was so cool!! The visibility was only about one meter so you never
saw the whole shark (they average 5-12 m in length) at one time. They really live up to their name as gentle giants as they swim slowly and smoothly. Swimming by their head was the best as you could see their mouths open eating all the plankton in the water. I swam with about 10 sharks in total over two tours and each time it was a rush. I will never forget my first view of one which was a giant head and mouth swimming right at me. Amazing! From Legazpi, the main city closest to Donsol, I few to the island of Palawan where I met Alix, a French gals who is volunteering at an NGO in Manila, on the plane. We spent a night in Puerto Princessa as it was not possible to go to El Nido in the north of the island till the next morning. El Nido is an incredible place! It has the vibe of a sleepy fishing village and has beautiful beaches and lots to do. It was the touristiest place I went in the Philippines but there was maybe 150 tourists in El Nido at most. Alix and I did two island hopping tours (Tour A and Tour C). Both tours visited  |
| El Nido |
 |
| 7 Commandoes Beach |
I flew in Bangkok and thought that it had rained that night. It wasn’t rain, just water for the day’s water fight. It was Songkran, Thai New Year, which is a giant water fight. Basically every one, Thais and tourists, arm themselves with water guns, water bottles, buckets, and baby powder to have a huge giant fight in the streets. By 1pm Khao San and Rambuttri Roads were slammed full of people and it was a great time. When do you get the chance to act like a kid and soak random strangers with a water gun all day long? In the evening, the streets really kicked off with dance music and partying. For two days I was completely soaking wet and it was well worth it. I did do some shopping though at MBK mall but Khao San’s street vendors were all closed down so didn’t get some of the stuff I can scooped out my last trip through. Oh well, I am bringing back enough stuff as it is. If you ever get the chance to be in Bangkok or Thailand for Songkran I would definitely recommend it. Now the trip is over and all I can do is reflect on the great time and experience I had. It was amazing and I am so happy I chose to go on this trip. Everything about it was fantastic from the highs to the lows and I wouldn’t change anything about it. Loved it! Thanks you SE Asia for an amazing 4.5 months and I will see you again soon. xoxoox
No comments:
Post a Comment