Philippines: Boracay | Day 1-4

Quite frankly, I didn't know a thing about the Philippines before I booked my tickets. I knew they existed and Manila is the capital city, but what I didn't know was how diverse this accumulation of about 7,000 islands really was. To be fair, I didn't experience the best weather while in Cebu City, mainly because I went during typhoon season and I missed each and every typhoon by exactly 12 hours (Okinawa, Cebu, Boracay, Hong Kong... man, I'm such a lucky duck), so Cebu's waterfront didn't look too appealing to me. Thus, I had to rub my eyes once or twice as soon as I touched down in Boracay: Hawai'i-worthy crystal clear waters, I could even see the sea stars at the bottom of the ocean, Boracay has some fantastic long sand banks, so you basically step into the water and it merely goes up to your calves and then all of a sudden you fall over the edge of the sand bank and land in the deep ocean.

There are two major ways to get to Boracay, which is an island so tiny, it doesn't even have its own airport. So the closest option is Caticlan airport on the nearby island, or Kalibo airport which is actually quite far from the jetty port. That's right, there's no other way than to get to Boracay on one of these and you will get your feet wet, no matter what. It didn't take long, but I was terribly afraid throughout the mini trip because the banca I was on was on the verge of dying - at least it looked like that.

Once the anchor was cast, I had to get on a tricycle to get to my hotel and boy, that island is crowded - and dirty due to the mass of locals who move to Boracay in hope they can have just a tiny slice of the big tourism cake. Boracay is SO overpopulated, it really isn't the pretty sight it once was. More and more people move there every year, more hotels are built despite the lack of space and the world's former #1 beach - White Beach - hardly looks anything like the Google image results.

It took me a whole day to get used to the island because it felt like I was trapped in a nightmare, it wasn't anything like I had pictured it, but yet the locals made up for it. Just when I thought I had met the nicest people in Cebu City, the 'Boracayans' came around the corner. And the beach became an amazing sight from the rooftops of cafés and hotels as well. It's much prettier from high above. I pretty much stuck to a routine the whole four days I was there: I slept in, worked out by the beach, got breakfast at the most amazing Starbucks in this world, sat there for up to four hours and listened to music or audio books, went jet-skiing, took a nap in my room and tried out various beach restaurants I had looked up prior to the trip. I had the best time.

Ever since coming back I wonder if I'd ever want to go back to Boracay and I really don't come to any conclusion. I'd go there for the coffee, the water sports, the workout options, but not for the beaches because that's all there is. Boracay doesn't have many cultural sights or monuments, tourism is all there really is and I would've loved to see more. I rode on motorbikes with locals I barely even knew, I did crazy stuff on water vehicles, I had live crabs in my room and American TV, I saw the world's shortest airport runway (and experienced it as well!), I ate dinner by myself and were joined by strangers, it was fun after all - it was the most social leg of my Asia tour.