What happens in Bantayan stays in Bantayan

I woke up to the roosters at 5am. Saturday morning. My heart skipped a beat and I was prepared to rise at their call. Today I would be heading to Bantayan Island on the north tip of the province of Cebu with a group of co-workers. It would be my first vacation since Thailand and Dengue and my first getaway since I went back to work. It had been a particularly stressful week and all I could think of was how nice it would be to get away, be part of nature, enjoy the sun and have fun. The van driving up to Hagnayan would take us from Mactan Island to the ferry in just 4 hours. I didn't want to miss that van at 6am, so I woke up Ky, got up, packed my bag and we headed off to join the gang.

There was a cool breeze that morning and I knew it was going to be a beautiful day. I looked around at everyone with sleepy, excited eyes. There were ten of us, tired but ready to enjoy whatever was to come. The group of us piled into the van and after picking up two stragglers, we were off on an adventure.

One portable iPod boom box pumping out tunes, mouthfuls of brownies and an hour later we were cruising past recognizable terrain and heading directly into the unknown. How beautiful the drive was, with rolling hills, blue skies, green trees that seemed to stretch out into the sky and span across the entire land. It was nice to finally be out of the city.

We stopped at a cute little market to get fruit, bread and snacks somewhere between the lush rows of palm and the curves of the mountainside. On-lookers stared as a group of foreigners passed through nonchalantly through their barangay. We bought banana-cue, apples, mangoes and a bag of fruits which resemble mangosteens on the inside. Then we were off again.

When we arrived at the pier, there were locals waiting to give us schedules, van pick-ups, etc. I really needed to pee, so I went to the C.R. (comfort room) and paid 2pesos for entry. Next time make sure you bring your own toilet paper. The group was getting ready to board the boat. We took the LCT ferry for about 140pesos. The aroma of familiar barbecue filled the air as we each purchased our ticket and excitedly got on board. Finally! The feeling of the boat leaving port to fill our hair with sea breeze and leave us staring at nothing but blue skies and ocean. What a dream.


 the middle of the ocean, leaving hagnaya to santa fe.

We were all restless and sleepy as the boat had no air-conditioning and few of us had really slept the night before. We sat together on benches with a fan behind us, our heads lolling to the sides and our bodies slumped against each other. I guess an hour can feel like a long time when you're waiting for a piece of island paradise. The moment we reached the port of Santa Fe, all of us poured out of the boat and walked along the pier to see where we had landed. Locals tried to get us to take their trikes or their vans to different beach resorts, but there was a different plan  brewing. Motorbikes! There were enough of us to double up and seek our own freedom. And freedom it was!

The motorbikes were 400pesos for a day. Some of us were only staying one night, so we went with it. Eagerly we climbed aboard, a few struggled a little with the start of it, but after a few moments were off! A few locals offered to bike around with us to be our guide, but we just wanted to find places on our own.

First stop: petrol. We made it to a little store not too far from the pier that sold liters of petrol in empty coca-cola bottles. You sure wouldn't want to drink those! The brightly coloured gas was emptied into each one of our tanks before we decided the next place to go. Would it be Kota Beach? Sugar Beach? Somewhere? All I knew was that the weather was perfect. One of us had in mind to take a banca boat to Virgin Island. Others just wanted to swim, and the rest of us didn't care either way. We were happy. We were free. Oh, except for one of us who managed to crash their motorbike with a lady on the back of it. Thankfully no one was hurt, but that poor girl did NOT want to get on the back of that bike again... so instead we asked for another driver. Oh well... I guess freedom for most of us then..... MORE TO COME. STAY TUNED.