Travelling the Philippines and falling in Love

No, no, no, no it’s not what you think …. I need to disappoint you ….. I didn’t fall in love with the man of my live, ‚The One‘  is still out there hahahahaha, at least I hope so. :)

The first three weeks of my travels I simply fell in love with the Philippines, for many reasons.

I fell in Love with Siargao, this beautiful island, just an one hour flight southeast of Cebu city. The island and especially all the people I met there, made it very easy to have a great start to my journey. Everybody was so friendly, always a smile on the face, always a shout „Hi :) Kumústa ka?“ (How are you?), always happy to talk to me as a stranger … I wish I could be back again at this beautiful little spot on earth with this lush greenery (coconut palms, mango trees, mangroves, rice fields) and amazing beaches and the best surf spots of the Philippines right at your door step.

I also ‚fell in love‘ with this amazing woman, Sanne a Swedish girl, who decided to stay there forever after she found the love of her life. 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/337548/reeltime/a-foreigners-dream-to-be-a-filipino

I stayed at her hostel (www.paglaomhostel.com)

And it turned out to be the best decision ever … because she gave me the opportunity to help her with doing something good for the kids at the local orphanage (www.athousandsmiles.com). Also check their Facebook: Nature kids of Siargao. We did dental check up’s together at one day (check the video sequence :)

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/337548/reeltime/a-foreigners-dream-to-be-a-filipino

And at another we went together with some more volunteers to pick up the kids and have an afternoon at the beach, where we collected waste, played with them and just turned into kids again ourselves with loads of laughs and smiles. And of course as a rewards we all had some chocolate ice-cream later :))))

And in-between the Tooth Fairy learned surfing :) without her wings, check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QeIMNYg4SM

So I flew out to Cebu City and stayed there for one night with a couchsurfing-friend :) thanks Alieth. But I wanted to get out of the city with its noise and dust and stress as soon as possible.

So I took the bus to Moalboal the next day … hahahah what an adventure for me as a German, this was totally new to me… a non-air conditioned bus with open windows and open doors :) (would never be possible back in Germany). But here it’s pretty normal and quite practical at the same time. Vendors can jump in and out to sell their snacks :)

In Moalboal I checked into the next hostel (Backpackers Lounge) and met a great group of Malaysians :) and a Philippine lady Lannah :). The next day we rented a boat together and went on a snorkeling trip to Piscador Island, swam with a swarm of sardines wow :)

Near Moalboal are the Khawasan Falls .. check them out if you will be there at some point :) really beautiful and if you are more adventurous do some canyoning.

Or go for an very relaxed sunset at White Beach :)

The next what was on my must-do list, was snorkeling with the whale sharks in Oslob. Those gentle giants I needed to see from up close.

For my taste a bit too touristy and too commercialized and I am convinced it would have been a much better choice to do it in Donsol, because from what I have heard there, they don’t feed the whale-sharks!!!!

Together with an Austrian girl which I met in Oslob and her friend, we also visited the very impressive Tumalog Falls.

We went to Argao to catch the ferry to Bohol the next day. Actually, the ferry went from Taloot and not Argao as written in every travel guide book!!!!

We had booked a room in ‚Nuts Huts‘. The driver of the tricycle dropped us right at the street and said it’s another 500m walk down here. That shouldn’t be a big problem even when carrying a backpack on your back and a smaller, but also heavy one in the front. hahahahaha WRONG! it turned out to be a very muddy, stony way and it wasn’t only 500m. It was more like 1.5 km, followed by what seemed to be a thousand steps down stairs.  I survived :) hardly lol, but got rewarded with a tranquil place in the middle of the jungle. The same evening my Philippine friend Lannah joined us again :).

Nuts Huts lies directly at the Loboc River … just perfect to do some Kayaking the next morning.

And in the afternoon we got a lift from an ambulance, yeah you heard right, an ambulance lol to the chocolate hills .. fun ride but maybe not a good omen, because the next few days I was sick with fever and chills and all :(

But the Tarsiers I need to see as well :)

I fell in love with the country, with the very welcoming warmhearted people, with their spirit, with their positivity and i fell in love with their the nature.

I know this has been only a tiny part of the Philippines, but i will for sure come back!

For now I am off to Mindanao to work for German Doctors (www.german-doctors.de) for the next 6 weeks… so stay tuned what the Tooth Fairy will experience there … for sure it’s gonna be tough!

Don’t forget to also check on my upcoming challenge – ‚Truth or Fairy‘ on my blog.

Stay happy and healthy my friends out there.

Yours truly

the Tooth Fairy

Winnie