Mabuhay friends and family!

It's more fun in the Philippines, the slogan of the 7107 islands which make up the Republic of the Philippines, could not be more correct. We are in this beautiful country now for over a month and still enjoying every moment of it.

Entering the Philippines was less fun as we were forced to buy a return ticket at Bangkok airport to prove we were not going to live on some tropical island for the rest of our lives. 35 euros later we were allowed to board our plane to capital Manila, according to our Lonely Planet "the pearl of the orient".

As we are still trying to stay on a budget we decided to stay in the Malate area, a part of Manila known for its cheap guesthouses, Karaoke bars filled with prostitutes, people sleeping on the streets and a security guard with a shotgun and bulletproof vest in front of basically every shop imaginable (try to imagine an armed security guard in front of a Dutch supermarket, you will get the idea). The most memorable moment in this huge city was when we boarded a tricycle and were stranded in the biggest slum of Manila after a flat tire. Not the safest situation to be in but we survived! Another episode of Brothers on Tour - Seconds from Disaster happened on a midnight taxi ride in downtown Manila as our taxi driver made multiple stops including at some friends offering him a gun in case the customers were too hard to handle.. welcome to Manila..

As we still had some days before flying to Palawan island with our friends Rens and Evelyn from Breda, we decided to visit the Unesco World Heritage-listed Ifugao rice terraces in the North of Luzon. An amazing site with the biggest rice terraces we have seen so far on this trip!

After our adventures on Luzon we finally saw some beaches again (last beach was Cambodia in May) on Palawan island, together with Rens and Evelyn, our local Pinay tourguide! Great fun to share our adventures with some friends from back home. El Nido was the highlight of Palawan with days filled with beach bumming, visiting secret lagoons (they call them secret but basically every boat trip is visiting the lagoons..) and snorkeling between fishes and Korean package tourists.

After a short stop in Cebu City, including 2 nights in a dormroom with 95 beds (!!), me, Nils, Rens and Janne (another crazy friend flying halfway across the globe to join the brothers on tour) arrived in one of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines: Bohol. Bohol is not only famous for its pristine beaches and underwater life but also for the world's smallest primate: the Tarsier. It took us a full day on a motorbike to see the smallest monkey in the world sleeping in a tree.. At least we can say now that we have admired a living Tarsier for 5 minutes!

The way to see the real beauty of the Philippines is to join boat trips taking you to the smallest and most idyllic islands. As we joined a boat trip from Bohol we snorkeled with the biggest sea turtle we have ever seen (over 1,5 meter in length) and paid a visit to Virgin Island. Although the island is at his highest point half a meter under sealevel they even had a small stand selling coconuts. Obviously we could not resist buying some coconuts for taking photos with this tropical item in these crystal clear waters

After a small discussion about the safety of taking a small boat back to Cebu Island we arrived in Orslob where a dream came true: swimming with the world's biggest shark, the Whale Shark. We snorkeled around with about 7 Whale Sharks surrounding us, the biggest totaling 15 meters in length! Absolutely amazing!

Another day of travelling later we arrived in the Party Capital of the Philippines: Boracay. Besides the excellent nightlife opportunities (what happens in Boracay, stays in Boracay ..), Boracay also has great dive sites. Nils even tried to combine partying til 3AM, studying theory for an hour til 4AM and wake up few hours later to continue a PADI Open Water course. Living proof that San Miguel beer and scuba diving go together as few days later the Open Water certificate was in the pocket! To get a nice feel of what Boracay island is like, just listen to the official Boracay island song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91gyFAnZux0

With pain in our hearts we left the beautiful Boracay to fly back to Manila to send Rens back to Holland and continue with Janne to see the Taal Vulcano and Mindoro Island.

Mindoro Island, south of Luzon, is supposed to be one of the best islands for Scuba Diving but unfortunately also attracts other types of tourists. White Beach, as we found out, is filled with rich Manileños attracted by ladyboy entertainment. It is impossible to find a bar on White Beach without some ladyboys trying to sing and dance at the same time. Nils found his soulmate (an Australian sailor who wanted to armwrestle him within the first 5 minutes) and after a couple of bottles of Boracay Rum they were floating around in the sea admiring the stars above.

After 2 nights we decided to move to another bay called Sabang. Things did not really improve as this part of the island is filled with older Western guys (average age 60+, barely able to walk) dating 20 year old Philippinas. Anyway we came here for the diving and that is what we do! Dove a ship wreck today infested by fishes in every color imaginable and planning on more dives in the next couple of days before heading back to Manila to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur. After Kuala Lumpur Brothers on Tour go separate ways for a while as I will visit Nepal and Nils will head to Indonesia!