From Moalboal to Puerto Galera via Boracay

After we took off to Cebu the weather changed from typhoon to the finest sunshine. We were joking about the weather during our flight. What we would do if we also find rain in Cebu, but there was no reason to worry. We were welcomed by tropical heat and a sky without any clouds so that we could see the stars. I'm always wondering about the different view of the stars, if I'm in the Philippines. We took a taxi to CEBU-City by certificate, available on the airport counter. This is probably the best way to reach the town. The cost for the taxi from Mactan airport to Cebu City is around P170,-. I think it took a one hour ride to the Yasmin Pension house. They told us that no free room was available, but they did have a free room at their second pension house near the firehouse. Tomorrow we would be able to get another room. So we ended up by entering that last one together. We didn't want to change hotels, because the rooms at Yasmin are very comfortable at a low price. The other reason is that you find a friendly filipino atmosphere here. Afer having a shower we went out for some refreshments. It's seems that here in Cebu City the fast foot generation is predominate.You will miss nothing from Kentucky chicken to Dunkin Donuts, but we were looking for a nice restaurant. It's a pity that around Fuente Osmena no nice restaurant was found. Ok, let's go to disco. There are many to choose from. We headed straight to Club Circus. This place is highly recommended for all gentlemen which are sharing their rooms with other gentlemen. I was sitting at the bar and talked the whole evening with a girl about the international political situation by mentioning several times that I don't have my own room. Each time I was watching for my friend it seems that he talked about the world wide effect of economical crises in South East Asia. After Club Circus was closed we headed to the Kukuk's Nest for a last drink and fell a sleep by dawn. The time during that night was running as fast as you can imagine. The next day we planned to go diving. Our ticket to Cebu was only one way, because our aim for this tour was: to check out how you can reach Puerto Galera from Cebu via Boracay with overland and overseas trips by public vehicles. After looking at a map of Cebu island I decided to travel to Moalboal for our diving adventures. If I'm arriving at Moalboal I'm always noticing that nothing has changed since my trip before. The biggest event at this place is when a sack of rice falls down. Here you're allright if you like only to dive, eat and sleep. By the way, they serve an excellent fresh fried fish for a moderate price at some restaurants here. The diving on Pescador Island is always great and its worth it to come again, but we had to leave after a couple of days. Our next day was a real test for us, because we tried to travel from Moalboal to Boracay in one day only by using a plane. At first let me mention: the stations of this journey are: Moalboal-Toledo-San Carlos-Cadiz-Bacolod-Iloilo City-Roxas-Kalibo-Caticlan-Boracay. We began at 6.00 am with a van from Moalboal to Toledo. We took this van, because if you want to go by bus you have to change buses several times and maybe you'll end up missing the ferry to San Carlos. The price depends on your aptitude to negotiate, but for your first calculation you can plan P1000.I know for the same price you can go to Cebu City, but the driver knows that you have to reach your ferry at Toledo. Remember: A Filipino always wants to make some Piso ! Toledo is a typical port with all the pestering bag-carriers and nothing of special interest. This place isn't dangerous, but guard your luggage! The ferry impressed us with an adventurous appearance. This boat goes twice a day. The first at 8.30 am and the second sometime in the afternoon. The crossing from Toledo to San Carlos takes around two hours. During this trip I was wondering about the slanting position of the boat. I think they are not very attentive during the loading process and because of that,the boat tilted. It seems that nobody became worried about it as the sea was still on that day. After our arrival at San Carlos we had walked some minutes over the pier before we found the bus to Bacolod. This bus is waiting on the pier to catch some passengers and stops also at the regular bus terminal.This bus has no aircon. During the drive the heat will not be a problem but waiting inside for other passengers can be a real hard thing. During the journey to Bacolod we met lots of interesting people and they all were interested to talk with us. A Filipina who was coming home from Canada asked me: "Why aren't you scared by this dusty trip ?" I told her that I love it. I'm happy to feel and breathe this adventurous country. This is very different from all my experience at home and this is what we all need during our vacation. She told me all the details about the ship departure from Bacolod to Iloilo City. From an old man I learned all about sugar cane during this trip. This bus drive from San Carlos to Bacolod cost around P150. The conductor told me after I had paid P500,- that I get my change from the counter in Bacolod. I was angry about that because I saw that he had lots of smaller notes. The people inside the bus were helping me and talked with him. Many different ships are leaving to Iloilo City from Bacolod. Make sure that your taxi driver brings you to a pier where the express boat docks. This express boat needed only one to two hours. For a comfortable place with aircon and entertainment you pay a little bit more than P200,-. We passed all of the stations on our trip from Cebu until Iloilo without any waiting. This connection works really well. In Iloilo we took a van because it was around 5.00 pm now. A policeman was helping us to obtain an expensive van for P2500,-. We tried to negotiate, but the policeman received P1000,- from this dubious deal. After some minutes driving, the driver told me that he was tired from driving people to Boracay and back the whole day and that he wants to sleep now. In his opinion it was too late to reach the last boat going to Boracay at Caticlan. I told him that I've already paid and what the hell is going on: "You drive me to Boracay right now !" He had a coffee and drove us to Caticlan in more than five hours. As we arrived at Caticlan no boats, no lights, no restaurants or hotels were found. In the first moment I thought we would have to sleep in the van, but later we found a special ride for P800,-. If you're late and not able to catch a boat you can only purchase some drinks by waking up the salesman from the little kiosk next to the pier.

Pictures from Pescador Islands close to Moalboal