2017 in PHILIPPINES - would it be ever enough to us to explore the world?..

Paulina
Nov 13, 2017
6 min read

Updated: Jul 24

Never.. :) It has been couple of days now since we came back home from a marvelous journey to Philippines. It is very big time difference compare to back home so its very hard to go back to routine. What can I say - never stop exploring the world. It was amazing experience that will stay in my heart forever.

Our trip started from Oslo. Once stop in London and then Hong Kong. The flight from London to Hong Kong was 12 hours long. We have met a very nice lady from Fiji, Mere. Now we would like to visit Fiji one day :)

After basically 24 hours trip, we have reached our destination. We have chosen to fly to Cebu, Mactan. Our trip in this beautiful island began with seeking for the transport to the first hotel. Well, people think that tourists are very rich, so the prices are out of any boundaries. Before you plan a trip to such a place, you need to do a research about every little thing. So after a few negotiations we came to our first place in Moalboal, Turtle Bay Dive Resort. A calm place with turtles in the water very close to the resort. We have spent just couple of days there, but we were lucky to see one turtle. Also we had a tour to Kawasan falls with a great tour guide Kenji Gonzales and first time in our lives tried canyoneering. I mean What???? I will look for such an adventure in every place I visit from now. It was 4 km long way in a water, with helmets and vests. We needed to jump from approx. 7 metres in very narrow spots between stones and big streams for many times. It was very exciting and brave activity, full of adrenaline. I fell in love with water even more. It was definitely a very crazy first day in Philippines.

Before leaving this resort, we have visited white beach. It is not so beautiful as we´ve seen in photos, maybe needs to be looked after a little better, but still... blue water, many different kind of fishes and beautiful corals.

Next destination was Oslob. We had a very funny transport from Moalboal to Oslob - no windows, 5 locals together(3 kids), 2 hours ride. This ride just makes me smile. On the way we stopped in one town to buy something to drink as it was a very long journey. It was kinda rude to buy drink just for myself so I have bought Pepsi for everyone. It really looked like I've made their day. They were smiling to the moon and back. Sometimes little things make people so happy. We have chosen a nice resort by the water not far away from Oslob. Over there is the place, were you can have a priceless experience in your life - swim with Whale sharks. That was just speechless. They are huge, nearly 8 meters long. We had a chance to be with them in the water for about 30 min. You need to come very early if you want to have a more productive time. We were at the place by 6 am and after 30min there horrendous amount of people/tourists queuing up.

Just after Whale sharks we drove straight to Tumalog falls. It is about 4 km in distance. We were so lucky to be there around 7 am. There were absolutely no people for about 20min. We had a chance to have a couple minutes of charming nature view in peace and of course made lots of fantastic photos.

Our resort “Granada beach” was between cities Oslob and Boljoon. One day we have visited Boljoon, as we were told that on Sundays it is possible to see cock fight there. It is very popular in Philippines. So that day we have seen the cock fight, which was more than interesting, with so many rules and traditions. With help of one local we won 500 pesos ( which is approx 10 euros). We also had a private tour in a very old church, it is the only extant church in the country that still has an almost intact enclosure. After that we had a tour to Eli Rock. I didn´t feel very well that day so it was hard for me to hike, but.'. I pushed myself as usual and the view paid off. The ocean in Philippines, those corals and colors, it just need to be seen in real life.

Next stop- Busuanga, Coron island. We had a flight from Cebu, Mactan Airport to Busuanga. First we needed to reach the airport from our last resort near Whale Sharks. It took us approx. 4 hours to drive 101km. This time the car had windows and very chatty person. Jeez people drive like crazy in Philippines. Seriously, the one and only rule I suppose is : Bigger car goes first :)

The flight was very short, the plane was very small. There were about 15 passengers on the plane and also the same number of staff. It felt a little like celebrity being looked after 1:1 ratio.

We happily reached the destination, took some tour brochures and the lovely driver took us to our next hotel. We have chosen “Funny lion” hotel for this island. We had a little bit of rain during our vacation, but its was still very hot, especially just before the rain started. At this island we had a plan to see Calauit Safari Park and explore the island with boats tours. The day of arrival we had a chance to explore Coron city. Life never stops there: music, shops, restaurants. My husband has tried “Balut”-popular food in Philippines - fertilised duck egg. Well that was a `tick' to his TO DO list. Crazy crazy crazy :") We also had dinner at the nice local grill restaurant with live music.

Next day we booked a boat tour to Barracuda lake, Twin lagoon to see massive and beautiful corals and to spend a lot of time in the water. We have reached our first destination of Barracuda lake. It is 70 proc fresh water. Swim in this water was fantastic experience. Although it wasn't very sunny, but still amazing time spent in about 40 metres deep water and in surroundings of sharp limestone cliffs. That was one of my favourite days, at all stops I was trying to swim, to look under water, really nice. The same day we had lunch just by the water in one of the islands between the lakes and lagoons: fresh fish, fruits, nice people and sweet animals :)

Next day after this trip was rainy, Safari was planned day after, so we thought we just are going to have a tour to the city. I began to research what we could see and found out that they have hot springs. The name of them is Maquinit. It is on the only few saltwater hot springs in the world. I thought it will be rather strange to be in such a warm water when it is so hot outside, but it was nice and relaxing. We met a couple from Lithuania there as well. They had a plan to take a ferry to other island but it was delayed. So instead we all had a great fun in the evening, with some drinks and non stoppable chat about all of us. It is always nice to see your natives so far away from home and we hope to meet again.

So after long and funny night, 5:30 am next day we had a tour to Calauit Safari park, created in 1970s, where we had a chance to feed giraffes. It is separate island just for animals. We've been told that there were 4 generations in there already. Zebras, Giraffes, turtles, monkeys, antelopes, etc. All of them have names and the staff that looks after them were very friendly. The day ended with swimming in Conception water falls. So 5 days just gone like few seconds with a big mark of wonderful experience and memories.

After Coron, we had a late flight back to Cebu, Mactan Airport. As our flight home was from this airport we spent the last few days in Mactan, Crimson resort, beautiful place just by the beach.

It was nice to have a rest after travelling all the time and busy tours every day. Just by the beach we could see so many fishes and corals again. I am so amazed of the water in Philippines. We had a spectacular fire show and fireworks in the evening which was pretty nice way to end our fantastic vacation.

This trip was a fresh, beautiful, enjoyable, extraordinary and so memorable. I hope to visit more islands of this incredible country.

> P.P.

"More I see, more I smile.."

Video of our journey.