Spentitall Travelling

May 11th – Today is a travel day, checked out of the condo in Manila and headed to the airport for a flight to Catlican on Panay Island. This was my first experience of internal island hoping flights, courtesy of Cebu Pacific Airlines. I was warned the process could take a long time and that I should arrive 3 hour before the flight.

I typically travel with just carry-on, but on the way to the Philippines, I had to pass through security three times, in Calagry, Vancouver and Korea. Each time they decided one of my carry-on liquids was not permitted and thrown out. By the time I arrived, I was with-out toothpaste, face sunscreen and hair cream. These were replaced in Manila, so I decided to just pay the $20 and check a bag for the flight to Catlican.

Thus, I had to endure the 30 minute line to check-in and print my baggage tag. The line to check the bag was probably another hour, but I observed other passengers skipping over to a self bag drop and decided to follow. This turned out perfect, an agent was there and it seemed like the same service with-out the line. Security was a breeze and an hour after arriving at the airport I was ready to go.

Once through the gate, I was surprised to be loaded onto a bus. We were then driven out onto the runway to board the plane. The flight was quick, we literally flew to 32000ft and then came back down, all in under an hour. One thing I observed was that no-one would put anything on the floor under the seat in front of them, they wanted everything in the over headbins, including jackets & purses. The plane was also a case of musical chairs, with some people moving seats several times, which seemed normal to the crew.

I paid $20 for transfer from the airport to my hostel on Boracay through an app called Klook, which was recommened on a Youtube channel I watch. The process was flawless, the instructions they sent were very specific and easy to follow. Our group was transported by van from the airport to the ferry terminal, escorted onto a ferry, then driven to our hotels once on Boracay.

I decided to stay at the Happiness Hostel in Boracay. It was $100 CAD for 7 nights. The place and staff are great. Each room consists of four twin sleeping pods and a shared bathroom. Vincent from Texas, who delivers RV’s across the US and Canada is my only other room-mate so far.