Philippines

1/25-2/17: Philippines (Manila, Cebu, El Nido & Coron)

After spending 5 chilly weeks bundled in my warmest clothes, it was finally time to experience the long awaited SE Asia warmth. The Philippines was the real backpacking that I had been craving and it did not disappoint. Joined by my travel buddy/ex-roomie/brother, Chris Lee (check out his blog) we explored sweeping rice terraces, snorkeled with blimp-sized whale sharks, scuba penetrated old WW2 battleships and island hopped the remote islands of Coron. Here's a few more highlights... and you can't forget the lowlights.

Highlights:

• Chilling on the incredible white-sand beaches of El Nido and Coron. I'm convinced that no beach can ever top these. ever.
• Receiving our PADI Openwater certification in Cebu (even though it put us back $450)
• Feeling the suction of whale sharks on your shoulder as they ninja'd behind you in Oslob 
• Penetrating sunken WW2 battleships w/o our Advanced Scuba certification - Nothing like having your first dive post-certified being a 37M wreck dive!
• Balancing on top of moving buses with views of Banaue's rice terraces
• Sailing the abandoned islands surrounding Coron for 5 days
• Jollibee Peach Mango pies. Yum.
• Mango smoothies. Mango smoothies. Mango smoothies.
• Meeting some of the most interesting characters in the world. Learning their stories have forever changed my perspectives on how to live life.

Lowlights:

• Spending Valentines day night in an oven-like tent on a humid, mosquito infested island. To make things even more romantic, our tent flooded with rain in the middle of the night.
• Lost 10lbs from the ridiculously small portion sizes. (I found out they weigh you before you board propeller planes o_o)
• Sunburns on sunburns. Aloe is a gift from the gods and my new best friend.
• Waking up everyday with exciting new bug bites (mosquito, fleas & bedbugs)
• Cold showers with no water pressure for all of Philippines
• Constant food poisoning and sketchy toilets
  • It's oddly stressful doing your business knowing there are cockroaches and geckos watching you frmo every crevice of the bathroom.
• Bus rides and ferry rides from hell. Imagine being on a boat for 9 turbulent hours, with 20% of the boat throwing up and evil surprise waves waiting for you to fall asleep to splash you in the face.

Regardless of all the above lowlights, I highly recommend the Philippines for those who want an adventure and don't mind escaping western comforts. Although we spent a month aggressively backpacking, we only explored a handful of the 7,000+ islands in the Philippines. Makes you really realize just how much is out there...