After a rather exciting week of a wedding we went to the Philippines for our honeymoon!
Since our resort was on a small Island it meant that we had a night in Manila first. I guess we hadn't done our research very well because Manila came as quite a shock to us. The Philippines are actually very poor, and almost everyone we met warned us to keep our belongings close. We stayed in a hotel that was pretty near the airport but it was quite hard work. It was very hot and there was no window, also the shower water was very brown, I don't think we would have minded too much, but since we were on our honeymoon I guess we we're feeling a bit on edge after a rough start.
But the next day we took a plane to Busuanga Island and everything changed, the island topography looked more like what I would expect Africa to look like rather than southeast Asia, except for giant mole-hill looking hills that were distinct in the landscape, I think they are called chocolate hills in some parts of the Philippines. We took a minibus ride for about 30 minutes though the countryside before arriving at a little mangrove river where we jumped into a traditional filipino style yacht along with our luggage.
The river was fantastic, we had come from cold Korea into a warm tropical climate and now we were cruising down a beautiful river with hardly any man made structures in sight, save for a couple of river side settlements or river houses on stilts. The river then opened out to the estuary where we travelled a little way out to sea, just as the sun was setting all the way to our tiny little island. The Island is called 'Dimakya' and your could easily swim all the way around it if you wanted. There is only one resort on the island and it's called 'Club Paradise'. We we're welcomed with a little band on the beach singing the Club Paradise theme song (very catchy, I wish I recorded it). All in all it was a fantastic turn around and introduction to our honeymoon resort.
The resort was fantastic, we had a cottage on the beach only a few metres from the sea, all the staff were so friendly, we hardly met any other guests except for during meal times, and it was in such a stunning and well preserved location. One of the best things was the food, it was full board and everyday the buffet was full of exciting new dishes to try. Me and Eun-mi would often look forward to the evening meal and enjoy taking our time eating as much as we could fit in our stomachs. One evening they moved all the restaurant tables out on to the beach so that we could eat by fire and moonlight on the white sand.
Another cool thing about the island was that every night thousands of fruit bats would come from the caves and trees and fill the sky. it was a truly spectacular sight to see each evening as the sun was setting in front of our house.
We often went snorkelling, as there was so much to sea on the house reef, but somedays there were just too many jellyfish. We also went on a banana boat, and played tennis, table tennis, pool, and darts. We swam in the pool we went for walks, then we decided to go scuba diving!
Scuba diving usually requires a license so we had to go through the training before we could go for a proper dive. The instructor was a very friendly dutch man who luckily had a version of the explanation video in Korean, so we watched it and I understood just about enough haha, then we had practical training in the swimming pool. We had to do various exercises underwater like retrieving your mouth piece if it falls out or how to clear your goggles of water when you're under water. Anyway in the end we both passed, but I think Eunmi was feeling a little nervous.
Then we went for a real dive on the house reef. I thought it was excellent, you just breathe underwater and get to look at the world beneath the surface. We saw lots of beautiful things I don't know the name of but then at the end we met a couple of sea turtles! and we got to touch them and feed them. pretty amazing really.
The next day we went out on a safari tour, this meant that we got to go back down the mangrove river and head toward another part of the main Island Busuanga. This time, however, we were on a small 6 man speed boat. At one point the driver seemed to slow down and begin navigating a path even though it just looked like open water, but when i took a closer look at the water I realised it was only about 2 feet deep, so I guess he knew what he was doing. The safari was good fun, it was just me, Eunmi and another couple and we saw Zebras, Giraffes, warthogs, snakes, crocodiles, and a few other animals. The highlight was being able to feed and touch a giraffe from the roof of our land rover.
So all in all it was a fantastic honeymoon, I hope that one day we can go back for another adventure, as well as a happy trip down memory lane.
Since our resort was on a small Island it meant that we had a night in Manila first. I guess we hadn't done our research very well because Manila came as quite a shock to us. The Philippines are actually very poor, and almost everyone we met warned us to keep our belongings close. We stayed in a hotel that was pretty near the airport but it was quite hard work. It was very hot and there was no window, also the shower water was very brown, I don't think we would have minded too much, but since we were on our honeymoon I guess we we're feeling a bit on edge after a rough start.But the next day we took a plane to Busuanga Island and everything changed, the island topography looked more like what I would expect Africa to look like rather than southeast Asia, except for giant mole-hill looking hills that were distinct in the landscape, I think they are called chocolate hills in some parts of the Philippines. We took a minibus ride for about 30 minutes though the countryside before arriving at a little mangrove river where we jumped into a traditional filipino style yacht along with our luggage.
The river was fantastic, we had come from cold Korea into a warm tropical climate and now we were cruising down a beautiful river with hardly any man made structures in sight, save for a couple of river side settlements or river houses on stilts. The river then opened out to the estuary where we travelled a little way out to sea, just as the sun was setting all the way to our tiny little island. The Island is called 'Dimakya' and your could easily swim all the way around it if you wanted. There is only one resort on the island and it's called 'Club Paradise'. We we're welcomed with a little band on the beach singing the Club Paradise theme song (very catchy, I wish I recorded it). All in all it was a fantastic turn around and introduction to our honeymoon resort.
The resort was fantastic, we had a cottage on the beach only a few metres from the sea, all the staff were so friendly, we hardly met any other guests except for during meal times, and it was in such a stunning and well preserved location. One of the best things was the food, it was full board and everyday the buffet was full of exciting new dishes to try. Me and Eun-mi would often look forward to the evening meal and enjoy taking our time eating as much as we could fit in our stomachs. One evening they moved all the restaurant tables out on to the beach so that we could eat by fire and moonlight on the white sand.
Another cool thing about the island was that every night thousands of fruit bats would come from the caves and trees and fill the sky. it was a truly spectacular sight to see each evening as the sun was setting in front of our house.
We often went snorkelling, as there was so much to sea on the house reef, but somedays there were just too many jellyfish. We also went on a banana boat, and played tennis, table tennis, pool, and darts. We swam in the pool we went for walks, then we decided to go scuba diving!
Scuba diving usually requires a license so we had to go through the training before we could go for a proper dive. The instructor was a very friendly dutch man who luckily had a version of the explanation video in Korean, so we watched it and I understood just about enough haha, then we had practical training in the swimming pool. We had to do various exercises underwater like retrieving your mouth piece if it falls out or how to clear your goggles of water when you're under water. Anyway in the end we both passed, but I think Eunmi was feeling a little nervous.Then we went for a real dive on the house reef. I thought it was excellent, you just breathe underwater and get to look at the world beneath the surface. We saw lots of beautiful things I don't know the name of but then at the end we met a couple of sea turtles! and we got to touch them and feed them. pretty amazing really.
The next day we went out on a safari tour, this meant that we got to go back down the mangrove river and head toward another part of the main Island Busuanga. This time, however, we were on a small 6 man speed boat. At one point the driver seemed to slow down and begin navigating a path even though it just looked like open water, but when i took a closer look at the water I realised it was only about 2 feet deep, so I guess he knew what he was doing. The safari was good fun, it was just me, Eunmi and another couple and we saw Zebras, Giraffes, warthogs, snakes, crocodiles, and a few other animals. The highlight was being able to feed and touch a giraffe from the roof of our land rover.
So all in all it was a fantastic honeymoon, I hope that one day we can go back for another adventure, as well as a happy trip down memory lane.
No comments:
Post a Comment