Cebu and Bohol


The first leg of my journey following a year teaching in Korea was the Philippines.  I knew I wanted to go to a warm country, and SE Asia had been the plan for some time.  I also figured that the Philippines would be a good country to travel before heading to Germany, because it is geographically separate from the mainland SE Asian countries I want to visit (Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam).

The Philippines is a collection of over 7,000 islands and 100 million people.  It is no surprise then that I wouldn't be able to see all of the country; I would have to select a few places to key in on for my travels.  The central region of the Philippine islands, known as the Visayas, was where I planned to start.  The largest city in the Visayas is Cebu City, appropriately on the island of Cebu.  It probably has over a million people in the metro area, but pales in comparison to the Manila capital region, a collection of cities that total over 20 million people.

The Philippines, a collection of over 7,000 islands!
The metropolis of Manila

My flight from Seoul to Cebu City had a layover in Manila and arrived in Cebu late in the afternoon.  I had arranged via Couch Surfing to stay with a Filipino living in the city.  I had his address and took a taxi from the airport, which was farther away from town than I realized.  Still, a 30+ minute taxi ride cost me less than $10.  I met up with my host, Kim, with little difficulty and was relieved to have a place settled for the first part of the trip.

There really aren't many good pics of Cebu city!

Over the next several days I explored Cebu City, which to be honest, does not have too much in terms of cultural or historical significance.  Much of the city was destroyed during WW2 and the only remaining noteworthy historical building is a Spanish Church in the center of town.  A cynic would say that Cebu has much of the drawbacks of a big city - traffic, pollution, slums - without many of the conveniences.  That being said, I still did enjoy my time there.  Kim was a great host and the newness of it all intrigued me.  I also met up with another Couch Surfer one evening who showed me his place and grabbed dinner with me.That night Kim was also hosting two English travelers, and we went out together for dinner and drinks.  Despite not sleeping much the night prior at Incheon Airport, I managed to stay out till dawn.  On the way home Kim felt too tired to drive, so I successfully guided us home - not exactly what I had expected to do on my first night out!

One of the few remaining colonial buildings from the Spanish era

I had planned on taking a ferry to the nearby island of Bohol on the 4th of December, but a 'super' typhoon was predicted to make landfall and the trips were cancelled.  As it happened the typhoon largely missed Cebu (although parts of Mindinao, the region south of the Visayas, were not so lucky).  The following afternoon the ferries were up and running again so I booked my trip.

I arrived in Tagbilaran, at just over 100,000 people, the largest city in Bohol.  I immediately got a bus to the opposite end of the island, to a town called Guindulman.  That is where Kim grew up and although his parents now live in Hawaii, they still have a house there.  Kim had generously offered to let me stay there.  I spend two nights in Guindulman, which was a nice break of pace from Cebu City.  The town was quiet, but not far from the beach and a good place to relax.

After the second night I visited the Chocolate Hills, a strange geological phenomenon of mound-shaped hills at the center of the island.  While there I met a traveler from France and we rode the bus together to Tagbilaran.  He already had a placed booked in town, but I ended up staying in Panglao, which has a white sand beach and is a 30 minute jeepney ride from Tagbilaran.  A note on jeepneys - instead of city buses, the Philippines uses retro-fitted WW2 era US army jeeps.  They are usually elaborately painted and decorated and cost a paltry 8 pesos in Cebu City (20 cents).  The price in Manila is steeper - a whooping 10 pesos (haha prices in Germany will take some adjusting to).

a pimped out Jeepney, the "Jeepney of Dreams" haha

The following afternoon I got a ferry back to Cebu City and spent another night with Kim.  On Sunday morning we went to his friend's place to watch the Manny Pacquiao fight.  There were several fights scheduled before the main event, and afterwards we sang karaoke and drank beers.

By the time we left the house to go home it was already dark.  The fight itself was exciting, with a stunning 6th round knockout.  Pacquiao seemed to be winning the fight (despite being knocked down earlier) and had broken Marquez's nose.  Then with one second left in the 6th he stepped into a massive punch to the jaw and was out cold.  The Fipinos were no doubt disappointed, but it didn't stop them from having a good time singing and drinking.

the fatal blow to Pacquiao

On Monday I finished up laundry, went to an Internet cafe, and prepared for my trip to an island called Siquijor.  I took an afternoon bus to the south of Cebu Island in hopes of catching a ferry to Siquijor that night; it didn't turn out that way but ended up fine nonetheless.

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