Philippines - Boracay

I had heard of Boracay for years before finally getting the chance to visit.  It’s a real touristy island, but it’s touristy for a reason – it has one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  Three kilometers of nothing but white sand, palm trees, and blue waters. 

My first day was spent entirely at the beach.  Luckily, my hostel had a spot at the beach where we could claim reclining chairs for free. 

I roomed with 6 other people.  There were two Swedes, two Canadians, one Korean, and one other American.  The Swedes were absolutely insane and were bad influences on the rest of us.  Every day, they would essentially wake up and start drinking.  They would often drink one bottle of rum each throughout the day and THEN go out at night.

On the first night, everyone in our room decided to go on the beach and smoke shisha, which is a mostly harmless type of flavored tobacco that originally comes from the Middle East.  As we were relaxing with our shisha and cold beers, we were serenaded with the sounds of a the waves crashing over the beach, as well as the laidback island acoustic jamming going on on the stage close to us.  It was paradise!

On one night, one of the Swedes decided to drink an entire bottle of rum, and then he tried to do a 15 shot challenge.  He made it to about 11, and then from what I was told, basically passed out.  One of the Canadians staying with us had to carry him home.  The next day, the two Swedes, the Canadian, and I went on a boat booze cruise to some cliffs.  We were going to be given free booze the entire day, and a lunch buffet was also included in the same price.

While we were waiting to board the boat inside a bar/restaurant, the Swede that overdrank the night before made a run for the beach.  He puked in the sand and sat outside for a little while.  He came back inside and claimed that he felt better.  Then after we boarded the boat and started hitting the waves, he got up again and moved starboard side to puke again.  From our vantage point, we could see that an employee had offered him a bottle of water, but he refused to take it. 

As he was “recovering”, his friend explained to us, “In Sweden, we have a rule.  If someone offers you a beer, then you have to take it no matter what.  If the person refuses, you ask, ‘Are you SWEDISH?!’, and then they MUST take it.”  After explaining this, he walked out to talk to his puking friend.  When they came back inside, the puking Swede was holding a beer and he forlornly stated, “I hate this rule.”  It was easily the hardest I laughed during the entire month of traveling.

There were about 3 or 4 cliffs that were jumpable: one that was less than 5 meters, one that was 5 meters, one that was 10 meters, and one that was 15 meters.  I jumped off all of them!  I had to have a few beers to gain courage for the 15 meter one, but I still did it!  When I jumped it, it felt like I was in the air forever – as if you were never going to hit water.  Once I did, it made my feet sting slightly.  Fifteen meters is around 50 feet!

We met a lot of people on the booze cruise.  I spent most of the time talking to a Vietnamese/American guy who was traveling with two Japanese girls who were his co-workers at a bank in Japan.  After the booze cruise I met up with them and some other people to watch some fire jugglers, which was quite the show.  I stayed out a little too late and woke up haggard three hours later in order to catch my flight back to Manila!  I had a great time in Boracay, but there is a reason I don’t party like that anymore!

Once I got back to Manila, I went back to the hostel I stayed at there and just laid around the entire day.  I went to the airport to catch my flight at 4:00 a.m. to Taiwan.