the sun doesn't shine on tv

i have a friend who owns a travel agency in manila. she's not only a friend but someone very special to me. we share problems and try to solve and find solutions and sometimes do private prayer meetings (hahahahahaha) i miss you diane! and we always hang out together and eventually i worked for the travel agency as a part time tour guide and she became my boss :D

 

but before that, she offered me a tour package for 3 days and 2 nights at boracay for only 300+ dollars flight inclusive for 2 including breakfast! - and i said yes! :D

 

ok, boracay was only discovered in the mid-80s and suddenly it boomed and named the best beach in the world in 1989 by forbes magazine.  with its powdery sands which you can even walk barefoot in the dead heat of the sun  because the sands are pure corals. the stretch of beach is about 4kms and the island is 1 km wide. it belongs to the province of aklan central visayan islands in the philippines.

 

now, the package was organised by asian spirit airlines, so naturally we had to board it :D from manila domestic airport we flew to caticlan domestic airport in aklan, it serves all airlines flying to boracay. and from caticlan a small motorboat ferries across the sulu sea for 40-45 minutes to any station depending on your choice:

 

1. station 1 - where the expensive hotels are, wide stretch of sand, lesser people and small boats and more space to swim.

2. station 2 - its where the action is! sailing, clubs, bars, souvenir shops, average rate hotels and every activities you can do in the small island.

3. station 3 - it has the narrowest stretch of sand, cheap hotels and a little bit rocky shores.

 

of course my friend from the travel agency arranged for us to be in station 2! our hotel was called red coconut, it has a patio, swimming pool, bar and restaurant.  i had to laugh again at my friend from the agency - she really is a genius hen it comes to arranging travel packages - our room - no it was not a room but a suite - 2 storeys high, 4 rooms, a kitchen, a veranda, cable tv, 2 airconditioned rooms, 3 toilets and baths - the biggest suite they have at red coconut (at that time) hahahahaha im not coming with a family but with a friend also :D.

 

so me and my friend were excited! we explored the island, and luck of all lucks - i saw my former client in manila who married a french which i am fond of talking (i was working in a business center before i was a tour guide) - and now she owns a small room for rent in station 2 also called isla gecko. she was so excited too, and we chatted about so on and so on and then she offered me a tour around the island with a small boat for less than 10 dollars all day! so we agreed to meet tomorrow at her place and with the boatman.

 

it was a cute boat, small only 2-4 people can fit inside, but strong and sturdy - and the boatman - i can still remmber his name "mang sammy" was a local and i can speak a little of the dialekt there and we got along fine, i bought drinks and lunch for him while he parked the boat and me and my friend explored the island, i have not taken so much pics because i dont want to be distracted by the moment.

 

we went to an island with a cave in it and i waded through the waist high water inside the cave, crocodile island (i dont know but they named it like that) and the most beautiful part of all (the pictures) was puka beach.   untouched part of boracay, no shops, no hotels, no people but only the beach! (because it was not accesible by foot only boats can go there, but i dont know if this time they made it accesible)

 

it was really beautiful - the sea in that side if the island is called sulu sea. its so blue reflecting the blue sky and it was so clear that youre almost looking in a mirror.

 

the boatman was really nice he gave us an extra hour on what we could do, so i said just circle the island more and he did, after that i gave him a tip more that the whole payment for the entire trip :D

 

everynight, me and my friend were trying different restos and bars there, frequent café hey jude. because the sister of my friend who owns rental rooms works there as a waitress.   nice ambiante, they dont play mainstream music but bossanova and the mood was cooling the hot temperature.

 

it was an unforgetable experience for me. i never expected some things but it happened. i can still feel and hear the waves pounding at the shores of puka beach.