Looking back, looking forward
Yesterday was my first full day in Boracay and the first day in the Philippines where I was actually well rested, so I went exploring.
I explored the resort itself first. It's something like 17 hectares, so I can't say I've seen it all yet, but I did find the spa with its Koi pond, the tree top restaurant, and walked along most of the buggy paths. I could have said that was enough for one day and spent the rest of my time hiding in a shady spot reading, but decided to take the free shuttle to the D'Mall area instead.
The drive there was interesting. I was probably most fascinated by the infrastructure: sidewalks are either narrow or non-existant, power poles often have huge numbers of cables going from them in all directions that end up looking like a spider web, and usage meters often are collected in a single location so there are five or six water meters stacked on top of each other or a power pole with 10 or more meters. The shuttle was too crowded to get pictures of that though.
The D'Mall area itself is full of tiny little shops that seem aimed mostly at tourists. T-shirts, hats, and lots of places to eat. It is also adjacent to the main beach. The resort I'm at is further away and has a semi-private beach so there aren't many people there. The main beach is much larger and busier and has lots of restaurants and shops along it. I walked up and down the beach, stopped once to try some Philippine bread and drink a coke, but mostly just looked around. Tther thing I noticed walking along the beach was that there were a lot of places offering massages or probably "massages". I was not really looking for a massage or a "massage" though.
By the time I was done walking, I was hot, tired, and craving salt so I had a pizza that had black olives and feta cheese on it. Delicious!
After that, I headed to the location to catch the shuttle back to the resort. I was too early and no one was there yet, so I walked down the street to see if there was anything else interesting in the area. This is a narrow part of the island, so I actually ended up crossing the whole island and seeing the beach on the other side. There is more algae, there are large black tubes running along it, and there are fewer hotels.
As I walked back to the shuttle pick up point, I took this picture:
A street vendor selling grilled meat, her daughter looking at me wondering what I'm doing, the dog taking care of himself, and the hotel area is off in the background. I'm not sure why, but it seems to capture my mood for the day.
The trip back to the resort was by a different, more rural route, so I got to see chickens in yards and more trees and hills. The driver was also going far faster than I'd like and on a couple of occasions I thought he was going to hit someone. By the time I got back to my room, jet lag got the better of me and I went to bed early.
Today, the bride and groom arrive and the wedding related stuff gets underway.
