Swimming & Snorkling
What a great trip we're on! Yesterday, we traveled from San Jose to Sablayan (a small city on the west coast of Mindoro Island), and took a bancka (like a small boat), out to Pandan Island. What an paradise island! White beaches, palm trees and only one resort with bar and restaurant. The first 5 minutes on the island was kind of unhappy. They didn't have any rooms left for us, except one big family house with a price way to high for us to pay. And what we've heard before, to get out to the coral reef Apo Reef, we woul have to pay about 7000 pesos each = 1200 SEK. So we were all in a bad mood, but after another 5 minues we discovered they had a 2 persons room that we easily could share. Perfect! And it also turned out that is was a boat going to Apo Reef the following day, and we could go with them for 2000 pesos each! What a great deal! And Pandan Island was just sooo beutiful! We took a walk along the beach, collected some shells and went swimming in the ocean. After the beach we had a coctail in the bar, and then a dinner buffet. After a perfect day we all fell asleep with a smile on our lips. What a great adventure we're on!
The next day, we went up at sunrise (6am), had a quick oatmeal breakfast and went out with the boat at 7am. After 2 hours we had reached Apo Reef, one of the world biggest coral reef. So we spend the day snorkeling around and saw sharks, turtles, sword fish and an eel. We also swam through a fish shoal. It was so fun to swim around and explore the ocean. We had lunch on the boat, chicken and rice. After a whole day on the reef and several hours in the water, we went back with the baot to Pandan Island, and both Alice and I fell asleep on the way. Now we're back in Sablayan, are gonna have some noodles for dinner and get one nights sleep at our very cheap hotel cell.
The last 3 days have been really exciting, and we hope we will keep our luck for tomorrow when we'll continue our trip to Puerto Galera.
Paradise Beach
Our first stop was on the White Island, a tiny island, it would take us about 5 min to walk around the whole island. But as everything else in the Philippines, there is always an extra fee... so this time the owner of the island met us on the beach, telling us we would have to pay 50 pesos (about 8SEK / 1USD) just to get on the island. Well, 50 pesos for a small island was nothing for us, so we countinued our trip. We enjoyed the boatride and the Ilin Island that we were driving along was such a beutiful island. We found a really nice beach, that we could have just for ourself. It was sooo beutiful. It really felt like we were on the backpacking trip in Philippines we talked about a few days before. After an hour or two, we dicided to continue the trip, this time to Abulong Island, only one stone's throw away. We past a few beaches until we found one we really liked, and dicided to go there. When we got closer we found out we picked the perfect beach, it was just soooo beutifiul!! I just can't describe it, but when you'll see pictures you'll understand. So thats where we spend the afternoon, the 4 of us all alone on a small white beach on an unoccupied island in the Philippines. We had our picknick there, we had baught tuna, salad, red onion, tomatoes.. what a picknick! And fresh mango as desert, try to beat that! After our delicious picknick, we just relaxed at the beach and then walked along the beach looking for nice shells and as always, taking hundreds of pictures. We had such a perfect time together at the beach, it was defnetly worth the 2 days of traveling from Boracay.
After some more hours on our paradise beach, it was time for us to go back to San Jose. Tomorrow we're gonna continue our trip along the west coast of Mindoro Island. Next stop: Sablayan.
Adventure Trip...!
The next morning we went up at 5am, cooked some oatmeal for breakfast over a small fireplace, and then catched a bus to San Jose. It was a trip we will never forget. It was fun for the first hour, to see all the small villages and the countryside of Philippines, but the last 3 hours was just shaking.. the buss (if you even can call it that..) (with people sitting both inside and on the roof, and with several chickens(!) inside), was driving on a small road full with stones and sometimes we thought the bus would fell over.. but now when it's in the past, it's another memory we can laugh about..!
Here in San Jose, we quickly found a hotelroom and then went out to explore the city. It's really nothing to do here, so we just walked around in the small shops and are planning to go out to an island tomorrow.
So the first 2 days on our backpackingtrip in the Philippines haven't really been what we expected. It's really interesting to see a different side of the world, this undeveloped, dirty and poor but sometimes friendly, and really beutiful country. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day than today and yesterday.
Most important of all: Check out the pictures on facebook!
Birthday Night, Sunshine & Swimming
Today we realized we have to start to plan our trip in the Philippines.. we're leaving the island on Monday morning! We have 9 days to travel around to the island Mondoro and up to Manila. But internet was so slow, so after a long day in the sun and some swimming for me (about 1.5km, and running back!), I went to sleep for an hour before we went out for dinner on the beach.
It was an early night for me and Alice, we're both not feeling good. It feels like I got some fever, so this saturday night didn't at all became that best-night-on-the-island as planned.. well, nothing to do about it, just gonna take care of myselt and get a long night sleep tonight.
Birthday Night, Sunshine & Swimming
Today we realized we have to start to plan our trip in the Philippines.. we're leaving the island on Monday morning! We have 9 days to travel around to the island Mondoro and up to Manila. But internet was so slow, so after a long day in the sun and some swimming for me (about 1.5km, and running back!), I went to sleep for an hour before we went out for dinner on the beach.
It was an early night for me and Alice, we're both not feeling good. It feels like I got some fever, so this saturday night didn't at all became that best-night-on-the-island as planned.. well, nothing to do about it, just gonna take care of myselt and get a long night sleep tonight.
Turning 20!
Vilket dygn det har varit! Det blev helt galet igår, en av de bästa kvällarna på ön! Vi började med mongloiskt buffe på Summerplace, och sedan satt vi på stranden och pimlade drinkar. De sjöng för mig vid tolvslaget, och sedan dansade vi i flera timmar i bakom DJ-båset. De spelade till och med en låt för mig! It's your birthday, och alla sjöng med och åh det var ett så härligt minne av kvällen! Det blev en sen kväll, och vi gick inte och la oss förän strax innan solen gick upp igen. Men man fyller bara 20 en gång.
På morgonen fick jag frukost, cornflakes och mjölk men det var tanken som värme. Öppnade mitt lilla kuvert av mamma, fick en middag med vännerna, och ett smycke. Tack mamma! Och på mobilen hade jag fått ett voicemail, mamma och Micke hade sjungit för mig och önskat mig grattis! Åh så glad jag blev. Det kändes verkligen som att de var här, och jag höll nästan på att börja prata med dem innan jag insåg att det bara var ett voicemail. Och så pratade jag med både mamma och pappa på skype nu ikväll. Och så hade jag massa grattis mail från vännerna hemma i Sverige.
Vi låg på stranen några timmar idag, och sedan suttit på våran altan och ätit en väldigt sen lunch. Nu har vi duschat och ska ut och äta om någon timme. Det är allt härligt att fira 20-års dagen på stranden. =)
FINALLY, I TURNED 20!
We had a great night together, we were celebrating on the beach together, and they were singing for me. After a few drinks we went up to the dance floor and danced all night. The DJ played a song for me; it's your birthday. Wonderful moment, dancing with friends on my b-day. It was a long night and we didn't fall asleep until the sun rised in the morning. But you only turn 20 once!
I talked to my family today, and also got a letter from my mom, I got a dinner with friends tonight! Not to mention all the backpacking equipment I got before I left. Thanks mom! I got a voicemail on my cellphone from my mom and Michael, they sang for me! I was close to start to talk to them before I realized it was only a voicemail. And my friends made me brakfast, and then we have been spending time on the beach today. Now we're almost ready to go out for the b-day dinner. I had a great night yesterday, and it feels good to be 20!
Living On The Beach
Paradise Island
Ok Michi, you´ll get this post in english ;)
Life on Boracay is sooo wonderful! We packed our stuff today and moved from our hostel to a hotel right on the beach.
Last week, we got to know the owner of Summerplace (the best bar/nightclub in Boracay), his name is Ben and we have been hanging out with him almost every day the last week. We had dinner last night at the beach with him and his cousin in law Carin. And today they took us out to an island 10 minutes from here. Ít was so beutiful! Imagine a small untouched beach with palm trees around... and still it was even more beutiful! Isabelle will upload some pictures on her blog, (bloggbyisa.blogg.se). On the island, we went on a small hiking trip up the hill to get an amazing view of the island and Boracay. It was really and adventures, and we took hundreds of pictures of the great view. Everything was perfect and we were waking in a paradise, but suddenly there were spiders!! (And you know how much I hate spiders..!) Yazzmine and I almost freaked out, and the worst thing was, it wasn´t one spider, it was 3!! So we had to walk under them where they were haging over the road where we were walking.. ugh. Now afterwards we´re just laughing about it, but there, it was like a nightmare. We survived, and went back down to the beach, where we had BBQed chicken for lunch in a luxury house that they are building on the beach.
We had a great day together, and went back in the boat after sunset.
I dont want this vacation to end! But next monday it´s time for us to continue our trip, and we´re gonna travel around in the Philippines up to Manila, where we´ll catch out flight down to Australia in the beginning of December.
But we enjoy every single day here in the paradise. Yesterday we went to another beach, and then played beach volleyboll in the sunset. W're meeting peole from all over the world, got to know some sweedes, philippines and australians. People here are so friendly and we meet new people every night at the bars. I dont really know how, but somehow we ended up inside the bar a few nights ago, mixing drinks for ourselfs and even helpt the bartenders serving drinks to costumers. Soo much fun! We dont even pay for the drinks anymore, we're just walk into the bar and make whatever we want to have ;)
Yesterday night was such a perfect night. We went to Carins bar and sat in on the beach (ON the beach, with the ocean 1 meter away from us!), under the palm trees and the stars. Talk about a wonderful moment!
Beach Volleyboll
Stranderna ar langa och kritvita och livet har ar helt underbart.
Igar seglade vi runt hela on med en liten segelbat, akte till jattefina strander och snorklade. Helt underbar dag.
Annars ar det sol, bad, beach volleyboll, frunktshakes, och fest hela dagarna ( och natterna). Dygnsrutm vet vi inte ens vad det ar langre. Fotterna i sanden och en drink i handen, det ar livet det. Igar stannade vi ute till 5 pa morgonen innan vi drog oss hemat, sa dagen idag blev bara en slapp dag i skuggan pa stranden, men nu har bakfyllan gatt over sa nu ska vi snart ut igen!
Vi har haft varan forsta vecka pa resan nu, och allt har gatt bra an sa lange, vi har jattekul vi 4, nu 8, ihop. Och vi ska forsoka ta oss till en annan o i narheten nagra dagar, 3 veckor pa samma o kanns lite lange. Men vi trivs bra har och har lart kanna massa svenskar som ar har, (tank att nar man aker till en liten o tusen mil hemmifran ar det fortfarande sa mycket svenskar har!). Vi bor litet och trangt med massa smakryp, men det ar lite charmigt.
Vi har det sa bra har att man glommer av att langta hem... vi lever i ett riktigt paradis har. Isabelle ska lagga upp lite bilder pa sin blogg, kolla in dem!
Dags att gora sig i ording for nasta utgang snart igen! Njuter sa av livet har, det ar helt underbart!
And for my friends and family from Minneapolis...
Life is wonderful, we're relaxing in the sun, playing volleyboll on the beach, drinking fruitshakes, and swimming in the ocean all day long, and partying in the night. Now we're 8 girls traveling together, and we're having so much fun together. Life is so great right now!
The Day Turned Into Night...
Is it so beutiful it's hard to believe we're really here! It took a long time to get here, first 4 flights and then 1,5 hour in a van, driving through the Phillippines. It felt like we were in another world.. we saw the people working on the rice fields.. and now we're here and people look at us like we're millonairs.. and I guess we are in their eyes. Seriosly, people ask us on the street to take pictures of us!
We had a great day yesterday at the beach, relaxing in the sun and swimming in the ocean.
Our hostel is a joke.. we're sharing a room 4x3 meters, 2 small beds and thats all! But it's kind of charming and we're living close to were the Phillippines lives themselfs, and not far from the beach.
Today by the way, something unbelievable happend. We went to bed at 4am after partying the whole night.. and slept until 8pm!! Haha. First we couldn't believe it at all.. we were still kind of waiting for the sun to rise, but it really was night, again. We slept the whole day.. and missed a day at the beach! Well, I guess we were really tiered after the long flights and the time difference. But still!
Anyway, we're having a great time together! It's so nice to be here the 4 of us, and the island is just soooo beutiful! We're not gonna believe the pictures you're gonna see from here!
Dont forget to visit isabelles blog: bloggbyisa.blogg.se
On My Way!!
This is the day I have been dreaming about for sooo long time, and now it´s finally here.
Now I´m leaving for THE PHILLIPPINES and AUSTRALIA! This is gonna be the so amazing!
Excited!
After the Phillippines we´re gonna continue down to Perth in Australia for a short stop, just 2 days. And then finally down to Melbourne. After 2-3 months there, we´re gonna rent a van and have a big raodtrip along the east coast of Australia. It´s gonna be such an amazing trip, I´m so excited!
Now, with about 65 hours before take off, I´m in the middle of packing.. which is a challenge just by itself. 15 kg and a small carry-on is all I can bring..!! I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E. Well on the other hand, it´s really gonna be a backpacking trip, bringing everything with me in 1 (!) backpack ;)
So now when I´m writing in english, all of you will be able to follow me. I´ll try to update my blog when I get the chance to let you know I´m still alive.
Life in Sweden is good, but I miss my life in MN and you guys from there are always on my mind. Now when I have unpacked my bags from USA, and packed my bag for Phillippines & Australia, I´m ready to go!
