Day 316: Welcome To Paradise

4 am came all too soon and it was time to get up and get our asses to the airport. We were all really sleepy yet totally excited for our trip, so we had more than enough energy to get ourselves to that airplane. It was completely fucking freezing outside in Ilsan, but we just kept reassuring ourselves that soon the cold air would be far, far behind us... We arrived at Incheon International Airport just before 6am and it made it through security and immigration and all that without any problems.

It's funny...going through Immigration (even just to the States from Canada) used to scare me, but not any more. I've gone though Immigration in and out of Korea so many times this year already that it's become normal. Wow - I board international flights and jump back and forth between foreign countries and that's become 'normal'?! How awesome is my life! Well, this year alone I've been able to add four new stamps to my passport - Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and now as of today the Philippines.

My excitement officially reached "stratospheric" level when I saw that our plane to Manila was a 747! Call me a geek (cause I am) but I've always wanted to ride a 747 - the largest commercial jetliner in the world! - all my life and now, finally, here was my chance! The four-hour flight to Manila was quick and comfortable and I slept though half of it. Upon landing we prepared to brace ourselves - Manila's Nino Alquino International Airport is notoriously infamous for being one of the world's most mangled and most chaotic airports. Yikes!

We took a step into the jetway and the three of us screeched out in glee when we were met with a *wave* of warm, moist, tropical air! YES!! We have, indeed, arrived in the Tropics!!! The airport turned out to be easier than we thought to navigate, and once again we had no problems with security or immigration. The fact that all our luggage for the trip was strictly carry-on sure helped us out too.

Our next flight to Caticlan (the closest airport to Boracay) was a small domestic flight so we had to take a taxi to the 'Old Domestic Terminal', wherever that was. Our ride there was fun and surreal - a speedy open-aired jeep racing through the crazy streets of crowded, dirty, very-tropical Manila. The ODT was indeed very old and very domestic. Security consisted of only one scan (instead of four like we had before getting on the first plane) and there was maybe like six or seven ticket booths in the whole place! We knew that our plane was going to be small, but it's tiny size was reconfirmed to us when not only our luggage but WE OURSELVES had to be WEIGHED before getting on the plane! That was definitely a first for me!

We had two hours to kill before we finally got on our tiny prop airplane. Wow it was small! We joked that it was like a little POLY school bus with wings! There couldn't have been more than 15 or 20 passengers, tops. I laughed cause in one day I had flown on the largest *and* the smallest airplanes that I've ever been on in my life.
Our noisy flight to Caticlan was scenic as flying at such a low altitude allowed us a some nice views of the sea and inbetween islands.

One hour later we descended - rather unstably - into the thick tropical jungles of Panay Island. Our plane landed on this 'runway' that was this barely paved strip of 'non-jungle' and had weeds growing out of it. Steep green hills full of lush thick tropical vegetation threatened to consume the runway at any given moment. I felt like I was landing in Jurassic Park or something! The airport 'terminal' consisted of a two-room decrepit (sp?) shack next to the runway. Wow! We retrieved our luggage (certainly no baggage carousel here!) and went to find out how to get to the ferry terminal to find a boat to take us to Boracay.

Our transportation to the ferry terminal was another experience in itself! A few minutes later we found ourselves riding on this motorized tricycle flying along these dirt roads filled with pot-holes past naked dirty children running around and chickens and goats and other farm life here and there. The town was all these little run-down shacks, with cars that looked like they haven't been run since the 1950's! Wow - we have certainly arrived in rural Philippines - and this definitely feels like a developing country. (Toto, we ain't in Kansas anymore!)

Finally, our last mode of transportation for the day - a short ferry-ride to Boracay. The ferry turned out to be this long, skinny, wooden boat - about twice as wide and four times as long as a canoe - with these bamboo poles on each side for stabilization. To get on the boat, we had to cross this skinny wooden gang-plank that was just slapped on down between the boat and dock - not the most stable structure! The seas were a bit rough so the plank was totally moving all over the place with the waves, and yet we had to navigate across the ten foot span with all our giant bags. I was okay with it and so was Katie, but Addie *hates* being suspended over water and was totally freaking out. We made it on the boat okay and cruised on towards Boracay.

Our arrival in Boracay was right out of a tropical paradise movie. There is no dock on Boracay. The boat literally just cruises up onto the beach and you jump off - right into the surf- and that is your arrival. Your first steps onto Boracay are out of the waves (hello wet pants!) and onto that perfect beautiful white sand. Boracay's famous White Beach is almost too surrealy perfect to describe. It is about 3.5 km. long and is the purest, whitest, softest, finest, sand that you can imagine. It's like a beach full of baby powder or talcum powder or something! I've never ever felt such soft sand on my feet. Giant swaying palm trees, interspersed with hammocks and beach chairs, line the beach, and behind those trees is what we came to call 'The Strip.'

'The Strip' is about 2 km. of restaurants and bars and resorts and bungalows and shops and scuba centres and discos and markets and everything else that you'd want - and expect - to find on what is commonly accepted as The World's Most Perfect Tropical Island. Boracay wins that title hands down. It was bloody fuckin' beautiful, is what is was I tell ya!!!

We found the place where we were staying - Frendz Resort. Frendz Resort is sorta tucked away in the back but is a real gem and a real bargain. It's this small collection of Filipino style nipa huts that are these simple yet cozy wood and reed(?) beachy bungalows. Our nipa nut was rather basic - two floors, four small beds, and a bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower (no hot water) - but really all that we needed. And for only $13 a night each, who can complain!

We changed and made our way down to the beach to watch the sun go down. Sailboats and the little skinny transport boats plied the waters as the crimson and orange sun sunk slowly beneath the calm waters of the Sulu Sea. It was heaven! We cruised The Strip and found a restaurant serving special Christmas Dinner. We ate there and dined on delicious turkey with potatoes and cranberries, veggies and rice, wine and cake - and enjoyed a few of the Happy Hour cocktails as well. It was a great dinner and we spent the rest of the evening wandering around The Strip before heading to bed fairly early. It had been a very long day - filled with just about every conceivable form of transport known to man (a taxi, a 747, a jeep, a tiny prop-plane, a motorized tricycle, and an elongated suped-up canoe with a motor - and we were definitely ready for sleep!

What an amazing - and very unusual - way to spend Christmas Day! What an adventure! Welcome to paradise!