I just got back from the most amazing vacation! My partner and I travelled to the Philippines to spend 2 weeks on the beaches and underwater exploring the reefs.
The flight was LONG, but at least the plane was somewhat comfortable - well.. as comfortable as it can be when you have a 12 hour flight!
We first landed at Manila International Airport (there is basically only one large runway that is shared between the international airport, the domestic airport and the air force).... we then took a taxi about 3 km to the other side of that runway where the domestic airport entrance sits. After what seemed like the entire day, we finally boarded a flight to Cebu City. In Cebu we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. The distance was only about
35 km, but with the heavy traffic, the nutso traffic control and the hundreds of people walking in the streets the travel time was over an hour. We had plans to spend one night in the big city before transfering to one of the thousands of small, quiet islands that house the most beautiful resorts. The fact that we knew we were going to be trading in luxery for beauty, we decided to spend our one night at the Marriott Hotel - in hopes of enjoying the hot showers, steady electricity and simple food options. As Murphy's law goes, this experience was far from normal!!
Before our taxi was even allowed in the parking lot of the Marriott Cebu it was searched by 3 security personnel (barring rifles and shotguns) for bombs and other security breaches. Once we passed the inspection the car was allowed to enter the property. Our driver took us up the driveway to the main entrance where we were greeted by the hotel staff. They immediately assisted in bringing all of our baggage inside. At first we figured they were all just trying to earn tips (the airport experience was something else with the begging and pleading of people asking to assist us for only $1 US)..... but quickly we realized that they were not actually helping us but instead they were attempting to speed up part two of the security check!! To enter the Marriott you have to walk through a metal detector, hold up your arms and let them scan you. Then they take all of your bags, place them on a table just on the inside of the big glass doors and open them all up - IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER GUESTS AND HOTEL STAFF! Lucky for us, our underwear, bra's and a big box of tampons were on top of the first suitcase. yay. :thud:
So they opened all the bags, checked them again for bombs and then thanked us for cooperating. They then carried our luggage to the front desk where we were "permitted" to check in to the hotel and where we were told that we were not to leave the hotel during our stay with any baggage that we didn't want inspected by 6 men with long metal probes. NO IDEA why they hadn't thought to warn us of this process BEFORE we checked in.... I was thinking that the email confirmation I received in February could easily have included a short sentence at the end that reflected something like "what bra size are you? Don't know? Don't worry, we'll all be able to tell you at check-in!" LOL!
Besides the check-in procedure the stay at the Marriott was wonderful! The hotel is exactly what you would expect of the Marriott chain and the only difference between the North American and Cebu City locations is the temperature outside the front doors.
The next morning we were picked up by another taxi that drove us to a small town called Argao. This was a two hour drive south of Cebu City. In Argao we boarded a boat for a 1 hour ride accross the Cebu Straight - headed directly for the perfect "Polaris Beach & Dive Resort" on Cabilao Island.
What a perfect boat ride! We saw flying fish that could leap literally 60' + across the surface of the water!
The resort itself was also amazing! It is tiny yet beautiful. There were only 8 or 9 other couples/families/groups and the scenery was just amazing! Our room was about 30' from the waters edge... once in the water it was only about 100' to the edge of the house reef! Amazing reef!!
Well... my laptop batteries are flashing and I only have 6 minutes left so I'll just post my flickr link and come back later to fill in more of the details of the trip! Including the information about the marine fauna exporter I visited while in Cebu.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/decz/sets/72057594137227676/
Hope the link works!
_Decz.
The flight was LONG, but at least the plane was somewhat comfortable - well.. as comfortable as it can be when you have a 12 hour flight!
We first landed at Manila International Airport (there is basically only one large runway that is shared between the international airport, the domestic airport and the air force).... we then took a taxi about 3 km to the other side of that runway where the domestic airport entrance sits. After what seemed like the entire day, we finally boarded a flight to Cebu City. In Cebu we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. The distance was only about
35 km, but with the heavy traffic, the nutso traffic control and the hundreds of people walking in the streets the travel time was over an hour. We had plans to spend one night in the big city before transfering to one of the thousands of small, quiet islands that house the most beautiful resorts. The fact that we knew we were going to be trading in luxery for beauty, we decided to spend our one night at the Marriott Hotel - in hopes of enjoying the hot showers, steady electricity and simple food options. As Murphy's law goes, this experience was far from normal!!
Before our taxi was even allowed in the parking lot of the Marriott Cebu it was searched by 3 security personnel (barring rifles and shotguns) for bombs and other security breaches. Once we passed the inspection the car was allowed to enter the property. Our driver took us up the driveway to the main entrance where we were greeted by the hotel staff. They immediately assisted in bringing all of our baggage inside. At first we figured they were all just trying to earn tips (the airport experience was something else with the begging and pleading of people asking to assist us for only $1 US)..... but quickly we realized that they were not actually helping us but instead they were attempting to speed up part two of the security check!! To enter the Marriott you have to walk through a metal detector, hold up your arms and let them scan you. Then they take all of your bags, place them on a table just on the inside of the big glass doors and open them all up - IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER GUESTS AND HOTEL STAFF! Lucky for us, our underwear, bra's and a big box of tampons were on top of the first suitcase. yay. :thud:
So they opened all the bags, checked them again for bombs and then thanked us for cooperating. They then carried our luggage to the front desk where we were "permitted" to check in to the hotel and where we were told that we were not to leave the hotel during our stay with any baggage that we didn't want inspected by 6 men with long metal probes. NO IDEA why they hadn't thought to warn us of this process BEFORE we checked in.... I was thinking that the email confirmation I received in February could easily have included a short sentence at the end that reflected something like "what bra size are you? Don't know? Don't worry, we'll all be able to tell you at check-in!" LOL!
Besides the check-in procedure the stay at the Marriott was wonderful! The hotel is exactly what you would expect of the Marriott chain and the only difference between the North American and Cebu City locations is the temperature outside the front doors.
The next morning we were picked up by another taxi that drove us to a small town called Argao. This was a two hour drive south of Cebu City. In Argao we boarded a boat for a 1 hour ride accross the Cebu Straight - headed directly for the perfect "Polaris Beach & Dive Resort" on Cabilao Island.
What a perfect boat ride! We saw flying fish that could leap literally 60' + across the surface of the water!
The resort itself was also amazing! It is tiny yet beautiful. There were only 8 or 9 other couples/families/groups and the scenery was just amazing! Our room was about 30' from the waters edge... once in the water it was only about 100' to the edge of the house reef! Amazing reef!!
Well... my laptop batteries are flashing and I only have 6 minutes left so I'll just post my flickr link and come back later to fill in more of the details of the trip! Including the information about the marine fauna exporter I visited while in Cebu.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/decz/sets/72057594137227676/
Hope the link works!
_Decz.
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