A
true Island Paradise?...
They
say it's one of the top ten beaches in the world, and we agree, it is
just beautiful. But, I wonder for how much longer it will remain true
paradise...We went to Boracay on our first trip. 
As
you can see in the photo, it's a small-(7x1)km. island off the north
coast of Aklan. You fly into Caticlan, take a bus to Kalibo,
then a pump boat takes you to the western shore. There is no
pier, the boat beaches itself and you wade ashore like MacArthur. The
wide white place in the center is White Beach where most of the
resorts are. Kalibo is off to the upper right and Yapak
and Puka Shell Beach are on your left. We arrived at nine PM
without reservations. (not a good idea) - all we had was the name of a
hotel manager. When we landed the boat operator was very, very,
concerned and waited until we got a place to stay. 
We asked for "JUN" (did you know almost 95% of men in the
Phils are nicknamed "Jun"?) and a youngster ran off to get
him. Jun was the flamboyant, charming and openly gay manager of
Dalisay Village. Dalisay is one of the oldest and most
inexpensive resorts on the island. He put us up in a Bahay Kubo just
off the beach, the cost was around $19 (1997). A simple place with a
ceiling fan and two HUGE beds. No towels, soap, or toilet tissue.
We later found out we were the only foreigners at the village.
Dalisay is kind of a Filipino family resort, and you would bring your
own supplies. 
The next morning we were served pandesal, mangos and coffee on our
little verandah. The May heat/humidity was overwhelming, so during a
morning walk we met a boat owner and his son who offered to take
us on a tour around the island with a lunch stop at Puka Shell beach
on the north shore. The water is crystal clear the sand is a
white as sugar and you can see the bottom. Unfortunately, the Island
does not have a sewage system, and the bacteria leeching into the
ground has grown lots and lots of green algae alone the waters edge.
The beach water is not too safe and the well water is brackish and
undrinkable. 
We
landed at Puka Shell beach and the boatman took us to Yapak for lunch.
The open-air restaurant was owned by a character named "Bernock"
He brought us the menu, which was a ice chest, filled with fresh
squid, shrimp, fish, octopus and pork. Drinks were beer, soda or
buco water. I had the beer, Narcing ordered buco water and Bernock
sent a kid up the tree to cut a few coconuts. Two whacks of his bolo
knife and he cut a flat base and a hole in the top to put a straw. We
bought lunch for the boatman and his boy and continued our tour.
(lunch for 4 less than $8) After our sail around the island we walked
from the southern end of white beach to boat station 2 a little
more than half way up. Narcing went into each hotel and asked
for prices and to see the room. Narcing works for a travel
agency and gave them her card. I video taped each place and she
squeezed them on the rates. I was amazed at the disparity of the rates
and suggest you make reservations for what you can afford, then go
shopping. You may save enough to buy some pretty nice
pasaloubong.
Narcing fell in
love with a new hotel on White Beach called "Boracay
3-4-5"-- a real 5 star place. Since it was our honeymoon,
we moved . 3-4-5 sends us a Christmas card each year and if we
win the lottery we will stay there when we go back. This place
was awesome, teak floors, marble bath, towels as thick as a slice of
bread. they had cable TV and the local cable company had "Karoke
Request Shows" where people would call in and request "Frank
Sinatra, My way" or "Kuh Ledsema, Dito Ba" and in 15 or
30 minutes they would play the laser disc. The hotel
provided us with a 5 gallon water cooler, and in the morning called us
for breakfast asking if we would like to be served on our private
balcony or would we like to come down and eat on the deck at the
beach. 
For the most part Boracay is expensive, (by Philippine standards) and
will turn into Cancun in a few years A major hotel is planned
for the northern half of the Island and they intend to lay a pipeline
from Aklan just to water the golf course. Boracay was the only
place I wasn't stared at. I met a lot of Australians and
Europeans. Many of the signs are in German, French and Japanese.
At night the place comes alive. As you walk along White Beach, the
restaurants display their fresh fish, chicken and pork in front on
ice. You pick out your dinner and take a table while your dinner
is prepared. Later, after 9 or 10, the restaurants turn into
discos and the night life is incredible. As you walk in
front of the open air restaurants (no doors or walls) you can observe
the activities and join in when you feel like it. 
We went to a nice place that had a very economical buffet dinner and
traditional folk dance show. They drug my big butt up on stage
and attempted to teach me "tininkling" . Tininkling is the
dance with the two slapping bamboo poles that attempt to crush your
toes. The
evenings on Boracay are spectacular! I sat up on the Balcony of
3-4-5
