Just One Big Multicolored Fish Tank

By Hmakwana - Found in www.traveljournals.net

Arriving in Manila having heard horrific stories about the taxi drivers, getting to the hotel was a relief. The old lady who owned the hotel, Victoria, was very nice, and advised us not to go anywhere. However, we have found the Filipinos to be really friendly, courteous and helpful. Naturally, we are in traveler mode anywhere (don’t really trust anyone), but we are really at ease here, virtually everywhere we go.

On the 2nd night, we found ourselves listening to the crashing of the waves from a Nipa Hut on the beach with forest as our garden. This was on the island of Mindoro, not far from Manila. It felt great to be back in the water after such a long time. We were taken snorkeling by a really nice boatman to a lush coral garden, where we realized that the Philippines is just One Big Multicolored Fish Tank.

We then flew to Cebu City, in the middle of the island group known as the Visayas. Being just a big dirty and polluted city, we dumped our warm weather gear and tent in a hotel, and got onto a boat the following day to the island of Leyte. Traveling in the Philippines usually involves some form of boat transport along the way. Whether a huge ferry capable of holding 1000s of people and their house, or a little Filipino Bangka, which sways in the tiniest ripples this is a great way of traveling for us.

Huge palm trees and massive banana leaves, coconuts falling everywhere. Lush, thick greeness surrounds us practically wherever we go. Sheetal became a Pop Idol by snatching the microphone from a poor Filipino and singing "La Isla Bonita" (amongst many others)! Everyone in the bar got up and started boogying! The Filipinos absolutely love Karaoke and we hear it day and night everywhere! Most are really good singers (not as good as Sheetal, though). Karaoke is such a serious business here, that people have murdered arguing over who was the better vocalist!

The Island of Bohol is famous for its Chocolate Hills, which is a group of endless hills all the same shape and size resembling drops of chocolate. In the summer they are actually brown instead of green. This is where Sheetal spent half of her Birthday, riding on the back of a motorbike through this amazing scenery. Then the same day we traveled to Panglao which is a white beach famous for it's off shore dive sites. We went snorkeling that afternoon in the warm ocean and had dinner by candlelit on the beach. It was an amazing day!

We did a few dives there which were not as great as we thought they would be due to low visibility.

On leaving Panglao we took various different forms of transport (tricycle, boat, taxi) to arrive at the rainy student town of Dumagette. A very pleasant place. Just opposite us was an Indian shop! We naturally asked them to point us in the right direction for food and we ended up in a great place called "Persian Palate" where we had, somosas, kidney beans and rice, and mung bhaat, papad and Masala Chai for me!!! (Sheetal) Suddenly we didn't care about the rain or anything else.

The next day we had arranged to go to Apo Island to do some diving. This is meant to be one of the famous dive locations in the world. It truly was!! The sea was crystal clear and we could sea fish and the reef from the little boat we were sat on and had got completely soaked on, on the way there. As soon as we entered the water it was like a different world full of bright colors all running into one another. The soft coral slowly waving from side to side, millions of multicolored fish facing one direction but the current moving them slowly in another direction in rhythm with the coral. Then i noticed something big ahead, and it was a huge turtle feeding on some coral. We were so near, I was able to stroke its shell!! Then we saw it gracely glid away slowly. Amazing beautiful to watch. We came across several turtles, frog fish and various other habitants of the magical deep.

A friendly little Island called Siquijor is where we spent our last few days in the Philippines. We hired a scooter for a couple of days and explored the Island with the warm sea breeze rushing through our T-shirts and hair, cooling us down. People recognized us as being foreign and having not seen that many foreigners there, they shouted "Hey" as we went by and waved. It was a great rush and we enjoyed the festival like atmosphere that was created by the people. The mountainous centre of the Island was as scenic as the coastal route. Rolling hills, surrounded by lush green palm trees, rice terraces and small villages. Diving there was also fantastic, with an amazing coral wall that had so much to see on there. As it was a very quiet place with no noisy bars, evenings were spent lazing in a hammock overlooking the magnificent sunsets. Everyday was different but as breathtaking.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Philippines and i believe that's it not only due to the beauty of the Islands, but also of the people here. They are very friendly and accommodating wherever you go. They bring a smile to your face as they sing the days away happily.

Have you found a wonderful place that hardly anyone else knows about? Have you have experienced things on your travel that only can happen in the Philippines? In short, if you have your very your own Philippine Travel Story, please share it with us and send your story and pictures to travelstories@phrs.com.ph. We will be happy to post your story too!

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