Asian Adventure: part 5

Cebu, Philippines:
The last leg of the trip was to Cebu, one of the over 7,000 islands that make up the Philippines. We met up with my friend Rebekah, who had been to a couple different islands before meeting up with us. We flew into the main city, Cebu city. We met up with a girl Rebekah had met and she helped us rent scooters!! Scooters round 2!!!

We didn't do too much planning about where we wanted to go, but just that we wanted to head to the southwest. We drove along the coast for a while and then through the mountains which had the most lush, green forests. As we passed the tons of little villages along the road, we were bombarded with greetings. As soon as anyone caught sight of us, 4 white girls doubled up on scooters driving through the middle of no where, all you could hear was shouting, "HELLOO!" They would jump up and down and wave. We later found out that half of the attention was because we were white, the other half is that it is VERY rare for women to drive scooters in the Philippines; apparently it's thought of as too dangerous for women ;)

We made our way down the west coast and while we were driving saw a sign for a waterfall, so we veered off. And wow, what a detour! It was less than a dollar to get into the area and there was no one there but us. The waterfalls were huge and the water was the most amazing blue color. We put on our swimsuits and jumped in to wash all the dust off of us. You may be able to see how dirty our faces are in the first photo...sunglass dust tans. At the big waterfall, the last picture, there was a bamboo raft waiting for us to play on. We look so little!

After playing, we drove a little longer and found Moalboal, a small town about 3 hours from the city on the southwest coastline. As we were driving we just happened upon a backpackers hostel and they flagged us down. Perfect! We ended up staying in Moalboal 2 nights before heading back to Cebu city. In Moalboal, there was an adventure tour company that did daily outdoor trips. We signed up for "River Climbing" up the Kawasan Falls thinking, "how do you climb a river?" Oh...My...God. That trip was by far the scariest thing I have ever done. It started out easy enough; walking along the river, swimming in the pools. But, what you don't see in these pictures is the intense part. I swear, if you did this trip any other place, you would have helmets on and be harnessed in. We climbed over rocks with raging rapids and climbed along rocky, wet ledges with nothing but rocks under us. I have always been scared of heights a little, but I try to push myself by doing things like bungee jumping and parasailing. But this was just me and nature and there were so many time I thought I couldn't do it. And well, at the end we had a big feast and I was glad it was over. It was tons of fun, but the scariest thing I have ever done.

Here are a few pictures from around Moalboal. Being in Moalboal was the closest I've ever felt to being a celebrity. After two days, everyone said hi to us as we walked by. We were known as, "The girls." The people in that town were so nice to us, none of us wanted to leave.

We came back to Cebu city with 2 days before our flight home. The drive back was an adventure in itself. It is monsoon season here, and it showed that day. We all had our ponchos on, had to take a break for a little while during the heaviest downpour, but we made it back safe and sound. Back in the city we met up with the girl who helped us rent the scooters and went out one night with her and her friends. Sarah also had a friend of a friend who lived in Cebu city that we met up with the following day. We did a spa day and I got my first pedicure ever!!($1.50) and a hair trim ($3). woo hoo!

I will definitely be coming back to the Philippines. It's just one of those paradise places, like Greece, or Thailand. I saw only one little island, but I can imagine how beautiful everywhere else must be. The thing that attracts me most though is the people. Though we all stood out and were noticed by all, it wasn't the uncomfortable kind of stares. It was mostly people smiling saying hello and just wanting to talk. Anytime we asked for helped, or even if we didn't ask, we'd have 5 people helping us. I love the Philippines!!