There's no other way to say it, the trip from Puerto Princesa to Boracay was complete and utter HELL!! Without Adrian's help there is absolutely no way I would've made it. After no sleep and 16 straight hours of being sick every 10 minutes, facing two flights and a boat ride seemed like far too much to even phathom, however, we had made plans to meet our lovely friend Beatriz in the airport in Caticlan and board the boat to Boracay together. I had no option but to suck it up.
We made our way to the airport. Adrian hauled all his luggage and mine as well through the lines and throngs of people, up to the check in counter, while I propped my ghostly pale body against a wall in front of a fan. After finally passing through security, I found a heavenly piece of tiled floor in front of an air conditioner and laid there shamelessly sipping a Sprite, and waiting for the flight to board. Last call and it was time to get my sorry ass up, ugh. One last trip to the toilet, as the sprite wasn't interested in staying down and we boarded the plane. By some stroke of luck the plane was completely filled except for the seat next to Adrian and I. Within minutes I was curled up on the spare seat, a/c blowing on my face, wrapped in a blanket, and feeling pretty good, considering. Things were looking up!
The trip went off without incident and we had landed in Manila. It was to be a transfer, slight layover, flight, tricycle ride, boat ride, and another tricycle ride and boom home free.
We waited for the whole plane to de-board as I worked up the power to stand up. As we grabbed our bags and walked toward the exit the intense feeling of nausea overwhelmed me. I stepped out of the cool, air conditioned plane and was slapped in the face with hot, stuffy, humid air. I could feel the little blood in my face quickly retreat and the vision on the edges of my eyes blur. I looked down the steep, metal staircase that lead to the Tarmac and knew I needed to get down these stairs... Everything would be ok if I got down these stairs. As quickly and cautiously as possible I found my way to the bottom and shouted to Adrian in front of me. Once, twice, three times but he couldn't hear me over the blare of the plane engine. Finally just as the rest of my strength was giving way, Adrian turned around and pretty much caught me as my legs gave out and helped me to the ground. Just moments later I was helped up and into a wheelchair and whisked away into an air-conditioned van.
Now I'm not promoting taking advantage of the system, but I may have to try passing out on future flights, because it kind of ruled. I was wheelchaired through the entirety of the Manila airport. No queues, no airport fees, private elevators, and gate to gate service with a pitstop for water. Like I said, pretty damn sweet.
As we pulled up to the gate, I stepped out of the wheelchair, thanked the man for his help, and immediately met a rather confused-looking Beatriz.
We waited together through several delays as we caught up and I filled her in on the odd state of me. After 45 minutes or so of delays we boarded our separate planes and took of within minutes of each other.
A quick hour flight and we were left at the tiny Caticlan airport. We collected our bags, paid the boat fee, tricycle fee, environmental fee, terminal port fee, all of which had their own colorful ticket associated with it, and hopped on a slightly cramped tricycle.
We arrived at the port and exchanged more money for more colorful pieces of paper, and in a fury of confusion we found ourselves seated on a rickety old boat with a man placing a personal floatation device around our necks.
Within 15 minutes we had arrived at our destination. We made our way off the boat, paid the kind man who grabbed our bags and brought them ashore without our permission, and headed for the queue of tricycles equally keen to take a bit of money off our hands.
100 pesos got us to our drop off point at boat station #2. It was a bit of a maze on the paths around D'Mall, but within 15 minutes and some assistance from a local for the low, low price of 40 pesos, we found our hotel. We checked in, climbed the three flights of stairs to the top floor and proceeded to throw ourselves on to the bed with the world's biggest sigh/groan. Oh my f'ing God, I cannot believe I made it.
I had a feign interest in going to see the sunset or walking around our area, but in all seriousness I didn't want to budge from that bed. So was more than ok to have Adrian and B scope the scene for a bit. They arrived back 30-45 mins later with a big jug of water, gatorade, sprite, saltine crackers... The standard sick kid arsenal. After another couple of hours basking in the A/C and cable T.V. I figured it was probably best to take a walk and try and put something in my stomach that has now been empty for a good 28 hours.
I had been craving Mediterranean food for the last few weeks so I thought it might work to try some pita bread perhaps some hummus for my first at bat. We pulled up three chairs outside the Greek restaurant Cyma. B and Adrian ordered some delicious looking meals, but after a bite or two I quickly realized it may've been a bit premature and instead sipped my soda water in a quiet discomfort.
By 9:30... (that might even be a bit generous) I was well ready to call it a night. I felt terrible that I wasn't able to go BIG for my long awaited reunion with B, but I also felt like I was slowly dying inside, so instead we went back to our hotel and by 9:38 pm I was in a deep state of unconsciousness.
The next morning I was feeling better, but the weather was acting a bit funky. There had been a strong overnight storm and a cloudy overcast was hanging persistently over the island of Boracay. We did a bit of shopping in several of the island's many shops, and grabbed a couple of drinks in one of the island's MANY bars, as we watched New Orleans beat Detroit to advance further into the playoffs. The rest of the day was spent in a wandering, zombie-like state. For one I was floating in and out of bouts of nausea, and for two it's hard to know exactly what to do on an island paradise when the weather is crap and you're too ill to drink. We did take in a beautiful beachfront sunset washed down with two for one San Mig Lights and went back to the hotel to wash up for dinner.
For dinner we headed back seaside and had dinner of salads and Thai food. After dinner we partook in a fantastic Boracay pasttime, walking up and down the pedestrian strip people watching, browsing the endless stalls of souvenir crap to spend money on and assure the 277th person to ask me that, no I wasn't really interested in getting my hair braided or getting some sort of henna tattoo.
Night #2 and I had done myself proud. It was nearly 11:30pm before slyly suggested we head back to the hotel. After all, we had signed up for an all day tour and would be needing to be rested, and besides HBO was playing Crazy Heart, love that movie.
By 10 am we were up ready to roll, however, the tour company had other plans. Although, we had confirmed we were going the day before, the tour company had called the hotel earlier to confirm asking for Adrian, but as the room was under my name there was no confirmation and therefore no reservation. I got to hand it to him, Adrian did not take this news sitting down. As we have come to realize in most instances, confrontation in this area of the world does not result in any type of resolution. That being said, using his "stern and serious voice" Ball managed to get us on the tour the following day with a whopping 1,000 pesos off our total. Not bad, not bad at all.
I think it ended up being for the best. The sun was shining and the beach was looking mighty welcoming. I think a quality beach day is a good fall back plan. We spent the next few hours laying on the beach, swimming, chatting, drinking a couple San Migs, and doing some good old fashion sand burying. Perfect!
After we had our fill of sun, we sought a bit of shade under the canopy of a beachside massage stall. B and I enjoyed every minute of our $7 hour long massage. It actually was one of the best massages I ever had. As we got rubbed up, Adrian enjoyed a few more cold ones as he learned the finer points of the sunglasses business from a local entrepreneur. We grabbed another beer and some Filipino Mexican lunch and went for a long walk to the very end of the beach. By the time we got back to our area the sun was once again setting and happy hour was upon us. We were left with no other option, but to pull up a lounge chair order a few 2-4-1 San Migs and watch the sun dip below the South Pacific.
We took a pit stop back at the hotel for a shower and primp session and hit the mean streets of Boracay. Dinner tonight, all you can eat, do it yourself Mongolian BBQ. It was delish in our own customized way. We enjoyed a few beers and what was meant to be a Capirinha, but looked and tasted more rum and grapefruit. We chatted, drank, and had a laugh while listening to local musicians cover mostly American music. A great night indeed. By midnight or so we packed it in and made tracks back to the hotel and retired for the evening.
In the morning B and I rose early and went for a nice long walk down the beach. We returned with coffees and sandwiches. We quickly grabbed our things and were promptly picked up by our tour organizer. We jumped in a tricycle and were driven 10 minutes down the rode where we were boarding the boat to Ariel's point.
The tour to Ariel's point was pretty awesome. It was all you can drink for the three of us, lunch included, snorkeling, beach lounging, kayaking, and cliff jumping and of course a boat ride there and back. The best part was because of Adrian's keen negotiating skills the three of us went for only $25!
The weather wasn't behaving itself so instead of snorkeling and kayaking everyone on the tour congregated around the jumping platforms and stayed there for the majority if the afternoon.
The cliff jumping operation was definitely the most legitimate I've ever partaken in, but with all you can drink and 50ft plummets it was still a bit sketchy. Adrian took down all the big daddies, 17 ft, 27ft, and 50 ft, while Beatriz and I started slowly with 10ft, 13ft, and eventually working up to 17 and 27 ft. I definitely would've taken on the 50ft, it's just that we didn't have enough time, see... :)
We met a group of California kids during our lunch break. Matt, Janis, Nhy, and Shyam all from So Cal. This was pretty incredible as we haven't met any Americans here let alone Californians so that was pretty fun.
The post lunch cliff jumping was like a corporate team building exercise. A lot of nerves and a lot of back and forth on the platforms, but eventually going against better instincts and chucking ourselves off high heights.
By 4:30 we boarded the boat and pushed off and headed back to Boracay with 3 stiff Rum & Cokes to choke down. We exchanged email and said goodbye to our new California friends.
We decided to stop at what has become 'our place' for our new tradition of two-4-ones at sunset. After finishing up we went back to the hotel and cleaned up with a couple hotel beverages.
Out on the town, Our first stop a lovely little wine bar where we popped open a bottle of oddly enough a California Zin. We had a blast chatting and striking up convo with tourists while we waited for our dinner reservation. Finally, my appetite was somewhat intact and I was going to give the Mediterranean food another go. Although I wasn't able to eat as much as I would've liked, it was very delicious indeed. After dinner, we finished up some last minute gift purchasing and called it a night.
In the morning it was up early to get B to the boat and airport. It was so incredible to be able to spend time with that awesome girl in an island paradise. Thanks so much for coming B!
For us, it's about time to start heading north. Manila via Puerto Galera. Let's see what this is all about!