Although the bus driver was an idiot throughout the journey, he did kindly drop us off right at the bus terminal which was a little out of his way. So it was in fact really easy!

We were also in luck that a bus was leaving for Batangus Pier as soon as we arrived so from one bus to another in a couple of minutes.

The journey wasn't too long, around 2 hours and it dropped us off just outside the pier, which reminded us more of an aiport with all its security and regulations.

The boat to Puerto Galera

There were many boats to choose from with twice as many sellers trying to infuence you which ticket to purchase. We took pot luck and selected the once with that was supposedly leaving first (which it didn't).

Us knackered on our last leg

On the boat

Once on the boat, all the locals put on life jackets that we thought to be unnecessary and annoying, but the journey was very choppy and a little scary with the engine breaking down on numerous occasions.

Unhappy about wearing life jackets

The Ferry dropped us off on White Beach which was hectic and very loud so after a drink we quickly caught a tricycle and escaped and found a secluded beach and resort a few Miles out of town.

written by  chrischarly on March 25, 2011 from Cabanatuan, Philippines
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...

Chillaxing reading a book

Today we decided to have a nice chilled out day doing some reading and relaxing. The reason why we chose this beach was due to it being a lot quieter than the beach 5km away.

Guess who Chris loves more??

However, then some other Brits checked in, Zack, Skippy and Shaun... We soon realised that peace and quiet were not on the agenda for them!So we hung out with them until the early hours at our hotel.

written by  chrischarly on March 26, 2011 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Skippy, Zack and Chris

Chris and I with our new friends

Chris dared me to get a tattoo with his name on my neck... so I did!

Showing everyone my new look

Chris loving my new tattoo

Chris a little tipsy

Chris unable to cope anymore

P.S...
It's only henna Mum. Don't worry!

written by  chrischarly on March 27, 2011 from Batangas, Philippines
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

The view from our place

This morning we both felt a little tender so we woke up early to say goodby to Zack and Skippy, (Shaun somehow went home last night??) and at 8am found them wide awake starting the day agin with a beer! How they do it we don't know!

Chris trying repeatedly to ring his mum to wish her a happy birthday

We went back to bed for a couple of hours, then watched a film before finally making it out of bed to get our pizza we were supposed to have 24 hours ago..

Eating authentic Filipino cusine

The day was pretty uneventful apart from that...

written by  chrischarly on March 28, 2011 from Puerto Galera, Philippines
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Happily taking a stroll

Today we went for a lovely walk along the 3 beaches around here.

A river crossing on the beach

Our beach

To get there we had to do a Little Rock climbing and running to avoid some big waves!

Some of the rocks we climbed over

Chris climbing on the rocks

Clambering over rocks

Upset that I just grazed my knee

It was a lovely but challenging at times walk.

A log that looks suspiciously like a crocodile

Walking along the beach

The view of white beach on the rocks

White Beach

When we got back to our resort they were amazed we made it, saying it was pretty dangerous, but we were blissfully unaware. Maybe the trekking and walking we've done recently has done us some good?! Chris' clothes hardly fit him anymore they are so big!

Wearing our head torces and a candle due to a power cut

Walking back quickly as rain looks on its way

As it is our last full day we decided to make it as productive as possible. It was really windy today so a perfect day for drying our clothes. We must've washed our whole, albeit small, wardrobe. Then Chris trained me on how to sew better, it's amazing how quickly our clothes etc. get ruined whilst you are away as you use them all the time.

Being all demesticated and sewing up our day bag

Then we went for a walk along the gorgeous beach one last time.

A dog swimming up to a boat desperate to get in

The dog safely on the boat

One last look back at Mindoro

One last look at where we were staying

This morning we woke up early, packed and had our last Filipino breakfast before taking a walk to the Ferry back to Batangus.

Our ferry to the mainland

It was a lot smaller than the one we caught over and the sea was pretty rough making us instantly regret breakfast.

Chris and Jiri on the ferry

Chris and I on the ferry

I forgot to say previously, that on the way over to Puerto Galera, there were loads of dolphins swimming next to our boat but they were far too quick for a photo unfortunately. Once we got to the pier, many locals advised us that there weren’t any more buses to go back to Manila for the rest of day. Usually Filipinos are trustworthy so we almost believed them and took an extortionate taxi, but refusing to pay the prices quoted to us, we decided to search for a bus ourselves and just around the corner, there must’ve been about 20 waiting to go. Why do people lie all the friggin’ time?! It’s so irritating, especially when you start trusting people! Anyway, so we got onto the bus and it was nice as it was almost empty. However, half way to Manila it broke down and our bus conductor had to stop another bus to take us.

Waiting for another bus to arrive

Our bus conductor flagging down another bus for us

Once we arrived in Manila, it was just a short taxi ride to the airport and a 4 hour wait for our flight back to Kuala-Lumpur at 9pm where we bizarrely bumped into a few people we know!..

written by  chrischarly on March 31, 2011 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Chris showing me where we are going

The view of Manila at night

Chris enjoying his extra leg room seats to himself

Me peeking through at Chris

Our flight left on time for KL and once there we had a 7 hour wait for our next flight to Johor Bahru near Singapore. Although the flights were really cheap it would’ve better in hindsight to just catch a bus as there would’ve been less waiting around as the flight was only 45 minutes long.

A very sleepy Chris and Charly on our 45min flight

Transport as usual was easy, we got straight onto one bus, which took us to another and then a Ferry across to Tioman Island.

Chris stood outside our bus in Johor Bhuru

The ferry we took from Mersing to Tioman Island

Our first sighting of Tioman off the ferry

We are amazed just how hot Malaysia is now as walking around finding accommodation was hard, sweaty work but we did find a bargain room for around £8 a night. Then after taking 2 ferries, 4 buses, 2 flights, 1 taxi and a great deal of walking we could finally relax and get a little sleep!

written by  chrischarly on April 1, 2011 from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Monkeys running away from us

Monkeys and one in the background drinking beer??

A very hairy monkey

A monkey climbing a palm tree

A monkey which looks like it's about to sneeze

Monkeys

a few water monitor lizards,

Monitor Lizard on the Beach

Monitor Lizard on the Beach eating something

Monitor Lizard in our Garden

A tiny baby monitor lizard

A litte monitor lizard

lots of birds, and there’s apparently 26 different species of snakes, which thankfully we haven’t come across yet.

written by  chrischarly on April 2, 2011 from Johor Bahru, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

ABC Beach

Yesterday we made a new friend called Rob who is a scuba diver instructor. Although neither Chris nor I quite have the courage for scuba, yet we went out snorkelling and Rob said he would show us around and come with us. It was great actually; as he spotted some things that, we would’ve never seen and taught us a lot about different species of fish and coral.

Tioman Beach

I wish we could remember everything we have seen, but here is some of the things, a huge parrot fish that was about the same size as me, 3 blue spotted stingrays, a dead shark, thousands of beautiful sea urchins, lots of nemo fish, bat fish, angel fish, loads of soft and hard corals, a couple of crisp packets, 1 plastic fork and a million other amazing creatures! We didn’t realise just how long we had been out, as when we came back I realised that my legs were pretty sore and burnt and it had been 4 ½ hours since we left the beach! A long swim but fantastic!

written by  chrischarly on April 3, 2011 from Mersing, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Send a Compliment

---

1 comment...