Our plane took off much faster and climbed much more steeply than on our previous flight together and it unnerved Lyn a little. After arriving in Kalibo on the island of Panay, we boarded the bus (a real bus this time) to take us on the two hour ride to the port of Katiclan. The road now was paved all the way. After the short "banca" (boat) ride over to Boracay, we were dropped off at the wrong spot on the island. We should have been taken straight to our beach front hotel, but instead we had to hire, first a "pedicab" (a bicycle with a sidecar attached to it), then a "tricycle" (a motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it) before finally arriving at Willy's Place. We dropped off our bags and raced off to sample the wonderful food that we remembered. To accompany a wonderful lunch, we each had a shake. These shakes, however, turned out to be smoothies, that is mainly fruit and ice liquified in a blender. They were delicious and we followed that up sharing a "mango melba", three scoops of rich home-made ice cream covered with mango slices and chocolate syrup.
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After lunch, as we were walking along reacquainting ourselves with beachfront. Every minute or so during the walk we would pass by a different restaurant, set of cottages, or tiny store. Most are still in a pleasant unmodernized state, but changes are taking place. Norrie and Lisa, our friends that we met in Boracay, had stayed 4 years ago in a resort called the "Red Coconut". It was a group of about 10 nipa huts. While each had a fairly modern bathroom (no hot water of course) and electricity, there were no screens on the windows and no way of locking the doors. Without concern, they dropped off their seven or so pieces of luggage, including a full set of golf clubs and left them in their security-less cottage.
Now, however, several of these resorts employ security guards. The cottage rooms are being updated to be more like regular hotel rooms: solid walls, tile floors, glass windows, air conditioning, hot water, televisions; all of which separate tend to separate you more from a real "paradise island" experience. While high rise hotels, haven't been built along the beachfront, there was a three story one being built by Koreans, seemingly in a style in total disharmony with the raw beauty of the island. On the other hand, the Red Coconut had been tastefully redone and were beautiful inside. Before about the only motorized vehicles present on the island were motorcycles which you could rent. Now, noisy tricycles served as taxis and made the roads hazardous to foot travel. Construction is occurring all over the island and the island's ecology is feeling the effects.
Recently, a Philippine government official had declared the waters around Boracay to be polluted. Rumor was it that this was merely because the official had ownership in a resort on another island and wanted to steer tourists his way. This doesn't make sense to me, because this tactic would tend to drive away foreign tourists in general. Whatever the purpose, the tourists were definitely driven away from Boracay. Jun, the grandson of the owner of Willy's Resort, told us that the resort had been vacant of tourist for 2 months, following the announcement. Fidel Ramos, president of the Philippines, saw the urgency and came down to swim in the waters and declare their purity. We were there during "high season" and I was suprised by the lack of crowds. One evening we watched a native dance/dinner theater called Titay's. The bill for a delicious buffet dinner and show was 150 pesos per person or less than $4. Of course, we tipped not only the waiter, but the dancers as well. Amazingly, the audience consisted of only 4 other tables of people.
This time, we had chosen the "modern experience", with the television, hot water, and air conditioning, because I was concerned about my health, that I might be forced to stay in the cottage. In fact, this turned out to be the case. That first evening, after a massage (150 pesos for 45 minutes) and an evening swim, I came down with a cold. Two days later I felt better and we went on a day long snorkeling/boat trip with Henning and Nida, a couple we had met at Titay's, and Jun, Willy's owners grandson. Two guides tended to the boat and provided us with a wonderful lunch. We ate in traditional Filipino style - with our hands. A barbequed blue marlin and squid topped with onions and pepper and some rice was spread out on a banana leaf. Seasonings were soy sauce and kalamansi, a tropical fruit tasting like a lemon. The guys climbed on coconut tree to get some "buko", young coconuts. The delicious coconut juice turned out to be our drinks after lunch.
At the beginning of the trip a solid ceiling of clouds helped to protect my tender skin. Knowing the extreme powers of the sun at this latitude, I don't know if I would have agreed to go on the trip without this cover. Additionally, I added a layer of protective sunscreen. The snorkeling was amazing as we explored this new world. Fantastic colors and shapes abounded. Schools of fish swam by and ate the bits of bread we tore off. The disposable underwater camera, smartly purchased by Lyn, the day before the trip, recorded all this. But the pictures will never do this world justice. Around lunch time, the sun came out and we tried snokeling near some rocks to shade me from the sun. Later on we went back to the main part of coral reef. That evening, though the sunscreen protected me from burns, I still suffered from exposure. My whole body was sore and again I had to rest a lot in bed. The next day Lyn went on another boat trip with the same people, but I stayed in the room and rested and watched television. Lyn said they went to Laurel Island, where we had visited 4 years ago. When she got back she said the waves were so rough it made her sea sick and we made a visit to a local pharmacy to prevent future mishaps. She climbed down the cave to the inlet where we had swam so peacefully before. This time, however, the waves were crashing against the rocks and prevented any swimming.
We did sample some wonderful restaurants, my favorite being the Mongolian barbeque (109 pesos, all you can eat). My choices of tomatoes, pineapple, sweet and sour souce, and garlic and oil sauce, flavored the meat and other vegetables I chose wonderfully. Lyn's favorite food was at Titay's. The shakes were probably the best at Willy's as our guide book said; these shakes, however, were true ice cream shakes and may have been my final undoing, because the more shakes we had the more my stomach went south. We were scheduled to leave on January 6, but I was feeling so bad that Jun rescheduled our flight for the 7th. He also arranged for an additional nights stay at Willy's at a discounted price. Just like the snorkeling/boat trip he arranged, there was no charge.
Dinners ranged from around 65 pesos (< $2) to 695 pesos (about $17) for a complete lobster dinner in a French restaurant. Generally we spent around 110 pesos for meals plus a shake (40 pesos) and a 10% tip. Service was quickest at the Mongolian Barbeque, about 10 minutes, but took as long as 40 to 45 minutes at some restaurants. Like the Philippines the operative words here are don't be in a hurry. Accomodations varied wildly in price. Our room at Willy's was quoted in American dollars and therefore, the peso's devaluation had no effect. We paid $625 for five nights, including breakfast each day, and bus and banca rides to and from the resort. We saw a room at one resort that was much nicer than ours at about half the price, probably because the price was quoted in pesos and it had recently been built. Nice simple nipa huts could be rented very inexpensively even during high season. When the peso's value regains some sanity, this place will be more expensive, but still extremely reasonable by American standards.
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One day we rented a motorcycle and toured the islands roads. It had been close to 20 years since I had ridden one and having a passenger, Lyn, and riding over poor roads increased the level of difficulty. I only stalled it one time though, at Puka Shell Beach where there were no people to enjoy its beauty. We passed through a lot of the island's rural areas seeing the locals in their nipa huts, pigs, carabao, chickens (back in Tubas they woke me up every morning), and small children along the road waving at us and yelling "hi!". Either our map was wrong or new construction had demolished some roads (the later, I think), because we couldn't make the loop we wanted. Instead we came across a huge construction project. A "world class" golf resort was being built. It looked like nine holes had been completed. Alongside luxury villas were being built and the whole thing was being surrounded by a tall cinderblock wall which not only prevented the average person from seeing the resort, but also prevented him from looking that way at all to the ocean below. A whole section of the island was being walled off. This was the most disappointing thing I saw on our trip.
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