Christmas in Boracay

After a few Christmas drinks after work on Friday I made my way home to finish packing for Boracay. Work had been very unproductive this whole week as the office reduced to just five of us. No one was responding to emails and my inbox was full of 'out of office' replies. It felt like the whole world had already begun their holiday.

I woke up early on Saturday morning. The excitement meant I was wide awake at 4am, going over all the exciting things that might happen over the next week. I was going on holiday, I was off work for a week, I was meeting my dear friend and heading to paradise! I was more excited on the morning of Boracay than I had been on Christmas morning for as long as I could remember.

My flight was a reasonable 10.40am. I jumped in a taxi which took me to the airport express. A twenty four minute ride on the train and I was at the airport. Thirty minutes from home to check in. Not bad. I wandered around the airport, had some breakfast and made my way to the gate. I had a two hour plane ride to Manila, a short wait there until boarding another plane to Kalibo. From Kalibo, a bus ride to Caticlan and then a boat over to the island of Boracay. My complete journey would include; a taxi, a train, a plane, another plane, a bus, a boat and a mini van. The whole trip would take twelve hours, door to door. I will fly direct to Caticlan if I return, it will reduce the travel time by four or so hours. I was very pleased to hear 'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas' on the flight. A white sandy beach was guaranteed for me.

Some people had shown some concern how unplanned I was for my trip. I find that you can over research travelling and it usually is more obvious in reality than it is when reading about it. I always think 'I'm not the first person to make this journey, so I'll be fine and I'll figure it out' as I did on Saturday. I arrived safe and sound at my accommodation at 8.00pm, just as I had predicted.

The bus journey was beautiful. I do like to travel across land as you really get a feel for the country. We drove for over an hour, the sun set and the Philippines was plunged in to darkness. I met some teachers from Korea on the bus and chatted to them about living in Asia. They are visiting Hong Kong so we exchanged email addresses and I'll send them over my 'Hong Kong in a day' tour.

I was greeted at Villa Paula, 'are you Sarah?' I was delighted to have found my way here with relative ease and to be greeted with such a friendly face. An hour or so later I heard the familiar voice of Kay coming down the path. Mission accomplished. Two girls from The Shire, reunited in Boracay.

We went for dinner, a beer and caught up. It had been four months since we had spent a few days adventuring around Hong Kong back in August.
Boracay is nothing like what I had imagined. It was much quieter and less touristy than I had thought. The main area lined the beach front, packed with restaurants and bars offering happy hour on cocktails all colours of the rainbow, all you can eat buffets with tables and chairs on the sand and restaurants fulfilling all your culinary desires ranging from average to expensive prices. It was more compact that I had imagined, I liked it immediately.

You could buy a beer from one of the little shops for 40 pesos, just under $10 and just under 90p. Converting everything three ways was not going to be easy. I convert less and less back to the pound now, but it's still what I base prices on. This in itself is a bit of a waste of time. Value and cost are different things and I long for a day where the cost is outweighed by the value. I will be working on value and rewards in 2013.

I like arriving at night, when you wake up in the morning you are presented with a whole new world. The sun was shining. I couldn't wait to go and explore my new surroundings.
We went in search of breakfast, heading away from the beach front and into the town. We came across markets selling fresh fruit, vegetables, miniature products, souvenirs, beach attire, alcohol and home supplies. We found a little place to enjoy an omelette and sat and watched the Boracay Sunday markets go by.

We headed to the beach on the opposite side of the island. It was famous for the kitesurfing and windsurfing, not surprising as the 'sea breeze' was more than blustery, more hurricane than anything. Kites filled the sky and we felt the wind and sand on our faces.

We wandered for another few hours, in the summer winter sun. Watching the blue of the sea turn into the blue of the sky and the sun beating down on our unprotected skin. We chose to head back as we felt the sun turn our cool pale skin warm and inevitable first day holiday burn set in.

We arrived back at the famous White Beach in time for the even more famous Boracay sunset. The sunset was just beginning and we were ready to watch it from start to end. We placed ourselves in front of the sea, in full view of the sun, which would set on the seas horizon. It was beautiful. The colours turned from the deepest oranges to the hue of blue. The temperature turned from a cool and comforting summers evening to the cool breeze of a summers night, in December. It was heaven.

We woke up on day two to the sound of rain. It was hitting our hotel rooftop with musical and soothing rhythm. We knew then, that the day would be spent reading and drinking tea. We headed back to the little cafe we had seen the day before and we nestled in while the rain fell. We chose to move on from the first place and found another shelter, this time offering more comfortable reading chairs and better tea. We settled in for the next few hours, drinking tea from large tea pots, listening to the rain hitting the palm tree leaf roof. We spoke to the owner of the Real Coffee cafe, who was preparing a turkey for the following day Christmas activities. They were baking fresh muffins and wrapping parents. I missed home suddenly and could smell Christmas. The rain passed and we headed back to our hotel. It was Christmas Eve and how the day had differed from any previous Christmas Eve. There was no midnight mass, no carols, no family and no chill in the air. I didn't miss the traditional Christmas, I received a text saying 'let the awkward family festivities begin'. It couldn't have confirmed my feelings towards Christmas a better way. It made me think about how busy and detached my past few Christmases have been. A spare part in other people's Christmas celebrations. My own family have moved on, and I had been nudged out of the nest, I was free to fly, and I flew. This year landing in paradise.

We woke up to bright sunshine, blue skies and the beach waiting. It was Christmas morning. We found somewhere to have a champagne breakfast. We sat on the beach front enjoying eggs and soldiers accompanied with sunshine and champagne. It was perfection in paradise.
We headed to the beach, found a spot for the day and went for a swim in the clear blue sea. As it was Christmas, we decide that there was surely only one thing to do, build a snowman.....from sand. We collected shells, seaweed and coral, clearly the children's programme, Art Attack had an impact on us both as we created a snowman from our surroundings. With our snowman complete, we sat back and enjoyed the sunshine. Passers by taking photos of our masterpiece, only encouraged more creative flare. We added to our beach art, deciding our A level art had not gone to waste after all. A Christmas tree was added, made from collected sea weed and twigs. We were, it must be said, very proud of our days work.

We made calls to our families, and found somewhere to eat. Christmas buffets being offered for 250 pesos ($45, £3.75). The buffet always seeming like a good idea, but in practice, too much will power needed and inevitably over indulging in more food than any human needs. It was Christmas after all. With our full bellies we went and enjoyed a drink at Charlh's Bar, a perfect beach side hut with a great relaxing vibe, friendly bar staff and live acoustic music. Ben the bar man and Charlhs made this bar complete.

On Boxing Day the heavens opened. It rained and it rained. No water sport activities were going to be participated in today, apart from avoiding getting drenched by the heavy rain, running from one place to another under an umbrella might be considered a water sport?
We had walked past a resort the previous night and decided to head back to the comfortable looking sofa to settle in for a day of tea and reading. We arrived at breakfast, and left after happy hour. We drank tea, and coffees, enjoyed pancakes, pizza and some cocktails. We read, played cards and drifted in and out of sleep. It was delightful, very relaxing and wasn't far off how I have spent most Boxing Days.

By morning the rain had passed and the sun was returned to us. With our last day in Boracay we wanted to get out on the water. We found a boat that would take us snorkelling around the island. Three hours out on the water, dropping us at different points along the White Beach where we dived in and explored under sea life. I love snorkelling, it is very peaceful and the perfect way to spend a day. The water was so clear and the life that inhabited below the surface was filled with colourful lights, coral and fish. The second place we anchored up was a beautiful secluded beach, filled with channels and passages formed from huge rocks in the water, sandy sea beds with the sun beams hitting the water surface and dancing on our warmed bodies.

We were dropped off back on the main beach. We sat in the sunshine with a cup of Earl Grey tea watching all the people enjoying themselves on the beach. Children playing in the sea, adults relaxing on the sand, everyone there was smiling, including us. At 4.15pm we made our way, once again to a boat that was to take us paragliding.

A speed boat took us from the beach to another boat, he kept looking round to check that neither of us had dropped off the back of the boat. On the previous boat, a slow, meandering vessel we were given life jackets, the speed boat, you just had to hold on tight. It was exciting. Once we arrived at the next boat, we were strapped up and clipped in. The parachute exploded off the back of the boat and we were attached, so up and up we went. We hovered in the wind, above the world and decided that this was definitely the perfect way to end our last day in Boracay.

Boracay is being developed, it is obvious the huge influence thousands of tourists have had on the little island. It is a beautiful, tropical paradise, but after speaking to our hotel carers, who have lived in Boracay for over ten years, saying that the large resorts going up all over the island, the concrete buildings and increased traffic have spoilt what it used to be. I hope that the inevitable tourism won't damage the heart of the island, and that the impending change can occur with consideration for the locals, being a top priority. The Philippines is a truly beautiful country, and the people are touched by a peaceful and loving character. They are spiritual and selfless. This will not be the last time I visit this remarkable place.

As my bus meandered back to Kalibo from the ferry jetty of Caticlan I watched the rural, luscious and totally untouched world of the Philippines whiz past my eyes. The huts that the people live in, the groups of children and families sitting watching the world go by, as I headed back to the busy and rampant streets of Hong Kong.

Each time you visit somewhere new, it opens your heart and mind. You realise that your chosen way of life isn't the only option. That your horizons have been changed and now that you have experienced something new, you will never be the same person again. This is what I love about travel. Endless possibility.