Saving the best for last, this is the final part of my backpacking adventure in Panay Island, Visayas, Philippines. I didn’t have a tour around Aklan, province known to its “Ati-Atihan Festival”. What I planned to do in Aklan was go to the famous white beach Boracay Island to rest all day and party all night. LOL!

Along The Way

Coming from Barangay Importante, Antique, I patiently waited for a bus or a van bound to Caticlan or Kalibo. Fortunately, a UV express van came first for a fare of Php120.00 up to Caticlan port. Some passengers stepped in and out of the van when we were in Culasi, Antique where Malalison Island is located. I then met Sir Dominic, experienced travel blogger. He visited Malalison Island at that time. See? I got one additional friend along the way. Upon arrival at the port, I purchased a ticket for Php25.00, paid Php100.00 for terminal fee and Php75.00 for environmental fee. Passenger’s data sheet to be given by the front desk must be filled up first before entering the pump boats going to Boracay Island. For about a 10 minutes ride, I finally arrived in the island of Boracay, checked in at my pre-booked hotel and had my lunch at Original Hawaiian Barbeque. This time, I told myself that I should not be compromising myself from anything especially when it comes to food. I ordered one of the best tasting baby back ribs. The small size ribs costs Php380.00 (serving is good for 4 persons and I’m just hungry LOL) and watermelon shake for Php100.00.

After eating, I went back to the hotel to have a rest and decided to go back to the beach later that night and have a massage for Php350.00 near the shore. Then, I started to party that night. I made 10 new friends (James, Jen, Faye, PJ, Raymond, Claire, Joseph, Kenneth, Rikki and Roi) already. Some of them are also backpackers and are members of DIY Philippines, a group in facebook. Isn’t that a goal? This is one of the reasons why I love travelling – meeting new friends along the way, especially those whom you can share the same interest. Beers usually costs Php50.00 per glass and hard liquor being sold for Php150.00. Special thanks to James, I entered two party venue with a VIP tickets for free.

I was able to go back to the hotel by 6 am so I didn’t have my breakfast and woke up lunchtime already. I had my lunch at a nearby carinderia and ordered sizzling adobo with rice for Php99.00 and calamansi juice for Php30.00. I went to the beach right after, had some walk, took some photos and registered to Pubcrawl. I forgot to mention that it was my second time in the island already so I decided not to try their land and water activities again. I was invited by my new set of friends to come and join them for an island hopping in which I wasn’t able to do so the last time. Unfortunately, I didn’t wake up early.

Again, I just stayed at the hotel until night time to attend Boracay Pubcrawl where we barhopped 4 bars and 1 club. I found some new friends again from Tacloban (Mike), Manila (Gnet), Nepal (Praj) and Davao (Joana, Wayne, Frank and Chin). It was the motto of the event, that is, to “turn strangers into friends”. As expected, registering and joining Pubcrawl was again one of the best night ever. Even right after the party, me and my newly found friends from Davao continued our drinking session by the shore and had small talks, sharing personal travel experiences.

I head back to the hotel by 6:30 am. I took a short sleep, woke up by 8:15 am and checked out of the hotel by 9am. I rushed in heading back to Caticlan port and to Kalibo airport for my flight by 12nn. Just exactly on time for my flight (thank GOD!), I arrived at Clark International Airport by 1:15 pm. Special thanks to Angela and Jeff, my friends at work who fetched me at the airport. We then directly went back to the office and had my duty hours for the day. Well, I need to save again for my future trips so I must work immediately. LOL! Until my next adventure. Thanks for reading.