Cebu- Moalboal: Driving to go diving

After I finally arrived on my final destination (cebu) I took a cab to my hotel.  When I checked in the sweet guy told me that ha had no private bathrooms but… I only ha to share my bathroom with 1 other room, and that room was free… So basically I had my own bathroom but it wasn’t ensuite.

I went up to my room, it was very basic but fine for one night. After a quick shower I wanted to check whether I could fina a motorbike for rent, and get some food! After the long trip I was exhausted but the only way to beat a jetlag is to stay up until it’s a local bedtime.

I kinda forgot how much I hate cities… and Cebu instantly reminded me of this fact… I walked up one street, but there really wasn’t a city centre nearby. I got some necessary supplies; water and something in case I would get jjet-lag induced midnight cravings. I passed some local places but my energy level was so low that I only wanted something I knew, so I settled for KFC. Yes, I’m one of those tourists J

After I got back to the dormitories I saw some kids playing volleyball. The place where I stayed is a school and there were still  classrooms but at the moment no students.  I settled on my bed and enjoyed the great Wifi. Trying to find a place to rent a motorbike, find a hotel for the next night an generally plan the next couple of days.

At around 8 I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I snuggeled in my cotton condom and read half a page in my book before I fell into a coma. The light was out and in the middle of the night I woke up… There was this great bang that my earplugs cou;dn’t soften. I was sure this was a bomb and my heart was pounding… I suddenly felt very very alone. After a few secons of silence there was another loud bang…. And then it started to rain like I have never seen before. It was the thunder from the storm. At least now my head understood what was going on… but my heart was still stressed. I maybe should have mentioned that just before I fell asleep (during the half page read) someone opened my room door, she didn’t even walk in and I shouted ‘ hey’ (because of course that will scare of any burglar). I think it wsa the lady from nextdoor wondering why the aircon was on when there weren’t any shoes outside. She apologised and left instantly… but the bang was the second thing that scared me to death. Even after a cigarette and some Valerian I couldn’t get back to sleep.

To make things worse, even my book was scary. After laying awake for 3 hours I finally fell asleep again and woke up whe my alarmclock was ringing.I packed my bags, today was going to be a good day I hoped, because I felt kinda lost so far. |it had to be, this country is supposedly amasing so I needed to get myself together and start exploring.

So I started packing and immediately discovered that I was going to have a problem. Remember me being so proud of my snuggly packed bag? Well… I wore a lot of clother on my flight, where should they fit? And my daypack was fully packed, but I really didn’t want to carry a fully packed bag with my laptop all the time. I came to a less then ideal solution. My flight bag surrounding my big backpack was way to big. So I took some stuff out of the bag and just stuffed them in there. At least my daypack was a little lighter.

I walked to a close bakery and got some bread. On the way there there were some kids begging, so ik got them some bread too… I don’t like giving money but food can’t hurt right?

After 2 taxi rides I got to a place that rents to tourists and handed in my passport (so I really do have to back to that place!) I got a nice automatic motorbike.. and was really gratefull that I brought some binders! So I got everything on my motorbike and drove off… into the big mess that’s called city traffic. It’s so noisy and smelly…. But I was so glad to be on the road.

On the way I saw a thousand things, a cockfight going on, little huts where people live, women doing laundry in the only water facility in town, breathtaking views, lovely kids hundreds of dogs walking loose, stuff being sold on the road… I loved it all. And then I finally saw the sea! I almost forgot that I was on an island. The only thing is that my dear bum is not used to riding for so long.. so it felt like I didn’t have any flesh left on my but. Oh well, it’s the price of being adventurous.

After I got off of the main road and into the mountains I took a break and enjoyed a lovely baku juice (coconut). It was divine! I also had some good company from a very good English speaking young man, they are all so nice! Sn hour later I approached Moalboal, the Macdonals signs welcomed me every kilometer starting at 15 km away… grr… please let this not be a tourist trap!

When I got into town I tried to find and ATM machine,  the first one was out of order and I got a little nervous. There a lot of sites which tell me that there are no ATM’s in Moalboal, but I really didn’t have any choice since I can only take out cash once a day. Luckily the 2^nd one worked and all my troubles were relieved. I checked in to a really nice hotel, booked a dive for the morning and took a shower.When I looked in the mirror there was a slight shock.. how could i’ve ben so stupid?  My skin was a lovely red colour except for where my shirt had been…I forgot to put sunscreen on… great, This can hardly be corrected So i liik like a total fool… oh well… nothing I cn do about that now.

When i had overcome the shock I walked to the lounge and saw an European guy from the UK, he had hurt his foot and couldn’t go into the water. We talked a bit and I decided to take a dive in the pool, take another shower and head back up to town (we’re on a very bumpy road about 4 km from Moalboal downtown). I wanted to try to be back before dark but needed to fill up gas and get some food. I just remembered that except for breakfast I hadn’t eaten anything.

In town I looked for the local place and asked the lady to advice me. It was lovely. While I was eating the rains started and it suddenly turned dark. I drove back down to the resort and am now enjoying my first beer. It’s so much better then I imagined, this is what traveling looks like to me!

Tomorrow I plan to dive and ride to the next village, then spend a ridiculous amount of money on a day trip Tuesday and head back to Cebu city on wendesday and hopefully go straight through to Malapascua (on a bus an boat). If that plan works… I got to see all I wanted before my dear friend arrives on Friday. Whoop whoop, I’m on a roll!