Leaving Santo Domingo Orchards was both
a sad and happy affair. We were starting another leg of our journey.
The night before we left was spent in town with Mr. P, along with an
awesome dinner. At dinner there was his family. The next morning we
had some breakfast and were helped to the bus terminal. He is a very
amazing guy and I'd like to thank him once more.
We took a bus for an hour or so to
catch a ferry to an island, and then we caught another ferry to the
main island of Cebu. From the last ferry we needed to go another 20
or so kilometers. We arrived a little later in the evening, a lot of
the transportation options were very expensive. We did find, after
talking them down, a motorcycle for 500 P. We all packed on and set
off. The driver wore Meg's bag in front of him, Meg was in the
middle, and I was holding on for dear life mostly the back seat. I
had the metal rack behind me so I wasn't going to slip off but it was
very uncomfortable. The whole ride was about an hour long. I was so
thankful to get off of the motorcycle and let my legs feel solid
land. Arriving late at night we still needed one more ferry or water
taxi to get to Malapascua. It was late at night and everyone wanted
an arm and a leg for the ride to the Malapascua. We looked around and
debated prices of getting a room and waiting for the normal ferry,
which was only 80 P per person. We struck gold and found someone
that had to return that night and found our way across for 500 P for
the both of us. The boat ride at night, no massive city near by, and
combined with a full moon was magical. I had an amazing 30 minutes
ride. One of the guys on the boat was nice enough to offer help in
find a place to stay. We settled in after looking into a few places
and found one that met our price needs.
Photos from along the way to
Malapascua:
The next day we staked out all of the
hotels and found one that had backpacker rooms for only 500 P a
night. Getting around on the island wasn't a problem but there are
only a few places that we had found to be reasonably priced for the
Philippines. We ended up staying extra days because we were loving it
there so much. The summary of the days events were laying by the
beach, laying by the pool, playing ping-pong, eating, walking around
the island (only 3 Km around), and scuba diving.
One of the days while walking around we
were invited to a hotel's new wing opening. At the opening we were
given a full dinner and lots of treats. I've been told it is very
common in the Philippines for any new business venture to include a
feast for good luck and they will often invite just about anyone.
I had never been scuba diving but I
found it claustrophobic the first time when I was out of the pool and
deeper in the ocean. Once I got over my small panic attack, it was an
amazing time. I found it much more enjoyable than skydiving. I don't
have any photos from that experience, sadly. On one of the last days
we also went snorkeling, because the diving trip was already fully
booked.
Photos from around and on Malapascua:
We took a boat back to the main island,
which was the boats maiden voyage, so it came with some food and
soda. The boat almost capsized when coming into port, so yeah, that
was fun. We made it back to Cebu island a little more tan and with a
lot of smiles. Now we were on our way to Bohol for some more
Philippine magic.
Tip Of The Day: Take a ride on a boat
at night...especially if it is both a warm night and a full
moon...you'll probably not regret it. You're welcome.
