Uh, no you don’t. I went to Cebu a few years ago. They have an airport you can directly fly to.
Well I couldn’t find any direct to Boracay and Cebu direct is $200 usd more.
uh, so yeah like um uh uh something to uh think about hey uh
As you can in Taiwan. Most can’t even tell the difference.
But uh uh uh did you ah uh see uh this uh?
Go to Palawan island in Phillipines …it’s absolutely stunning. I’ve travelled all over Asia and have never seen a place as serene and beautiful as Palawan. Pure untouched paradise.
There are great island hopping tours available where you can visit iconic spots such as Big Lagoon, The underground river (now one of the new 7 wonders of the world) and much more. I also highly recommend El Nido & it’s many stunning beaches.
People who go to Phillipines for the cities are just wasting their time in my opinion. It’s one of- if not the most, beautiful islands in the world. If it’s economy and society was stronger it’d be paradise.
Stay away from Boracay island, even when it reopens. Even locals can’t stand that place as its once natural beauty has been overrun by tourists and greedy business owners with nefarious pollution tactics.
Palawan is the place to be in Phillipines. Google it and you’ll see its mentioned in countless articles as the most beautiful island in the world.
So I had better go there soon, before it gets trashed!
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Therein lies the rub. If you can ignore the fact that the place is run by Filipinos - which is really, really hard to do - then yes it’s a nice place. It’s only a matter of time before there’s a cholera epidemic or something up North because of the complete lack of sanitation in the tourist areas (a rerun of Boracay, basically). The food is also very poor - or at least hard to find somewhere that serves anything superior to bian dang grub - because of a total lack of local food suppliers/growers and trained chefs. Last I heard the El Nido resort owners were making regular runs to Puerto Princesa to buy supplies from the supermarkets.
The “best island in the world” thing was apparently achieved by means of armies of paid voters. Definitely worth a visit, but personally I’d head for Thailand instead.
Anyway … as others have said, don’t bother going to Manila for shopping. Reason is that the trade policy in the Philippines is pure 18th-century protectionism. Anything made abroad has run the gauntlet of customs bribery/taxation/duties, so is relatively expensive once it hits the shelves. Most of the stuff that’s genuinely cheap is just made-in-China rubbish that’s cheaper in, uh, China.
Where do you like to go in Thailand that isn’t overly crowded with tourists?
Krabi island was nice.
Ko Kut is amazing and not overrun
You mean railae island ?
I went there twenty years ago and last year.
Krabi beach itself was a commercialised mess compared to 20 years ago. A lot of Chinese tourists now as it’s on the ‘map’ and they fly directly from China to Krabi airport.
Railae island was still nice but semi ruined by the endless drone of longtail boats coming up to the beach all day.
The beach itself and hinterland are still stunning though. The original 'paradise on earth ’ tropical beach photo. If you go very early or stay on Railae beach itself overnight you can get a nice swim in before and after the hordes turn up.
I also spent time on koh lanta which is also relatively less developed as there is no bridge to the mainland …Yet…Si not easy for Chinese tour buses to get there… The whole vibe is pretty relaxed there and cheaper than other parts of Thailand (Thailand is significantly more expensive than the Phil or Vietnam ). Koh lanta has well preserved mangrove forests and plenty of wildlife still.
In general Thailand is overwhelmed with tourists. That is the main problem.
I have been to boracay, the island is stunning, the western restaurants actually very good but I saw the sewage pollution on the other side of the island.
Also there were a lot of touts on the beaches.
I have also been to bohol and it’s really a lovely place and still very rural looking, kids running around with happy faces, beautiful seas and diving. Kind of like going back in time.
Another island that is nice , clean and very civilised and safe is langkawi in Malaysia. Island hopping is good from there too and it’s duty free unlike the mainland.
Sabah area…similar…With lots of great island hopping…But not duty free of course.
I cannot wait to try Palawan it does look awesome. Its relatively large so looks like a lot of options in terms of places to go and stay.
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There is no direct to Boracay, Boracay has no airport! What they call ‘Boracay’ airport is actually Caticlan. Boracay sounds better. Seems like they extended and improved Carticlan airport tho.
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Yep all part of the ‘experience’ of visiting Boracay.
On satellite it looks like if you land early you end up in the water, if you overshoot your voyage ends up in the water, nice! There used to be domestic flights to Kalibo or Caticlan, Caticlan was done by small aircraft. Kalibo needed if I remember correctly a several hours bus trip (2 hours) to Caticlan ‘harbor’, just the beach where you could catch a boat to Boracay.
The old boaracy shakedown from the customs and the boat after landing in the airport.
.Yep it’s pretty weird.
Traveling to Boracay was a small adventure. And leaving it even more, flights canceled, delayed, no seats. They used to worst planes I’ve ever seen and taken.
Caticlan (MPH) has been enlarged. 10 minute bus from plane to terminal, and 5 minute bus from terminal harbor. Kalibo is still a 2-hour, dangerous to me, ride.
I still love Boracay even with the crowds. The pollution, not so much. I many days don’t even swim because of it.
Back in the days the landing in Kalibo was weird, land and slam the brakes, the runway was a little short.
Last time I’ve been there was like early 2000, there was no sewage treatment, water was from drilled wells mostly, the golf course owners installed some water pipes that they promised if they got a license to build the golf resort. Sewage septic tanks or just pipes underground.