Bangkok🇹🇭 to Cebu🇵🇭

Another travel day ahead, this time internationally to our next country, the Philippines. Before heading to the airport we tried to find a currency exchange as we still had some Vietnamese Dong and Thai Baht. We had been trying to change our Dong for days but all the exchange stalls were offering terrible exchange rates. Google maps led us on a wild goose chase and we didn't find an exchange. We walked through an area of Bangkok which felt heavily influenced by Japanese culture, there were lots of Japanese bars and restaurants. We stopped for a coffee and breakfast, then went back to the hotel and headed to the airport. Goodbye Thailand, I'm sure we will be back.

We decided to try avoid staying in the capital of the Philippines, Manila, as we had heard a few negative things regarding safety and that generally it wasn't a very nice place to visit. Our flight to Manila was at 12.55pm and scheduled to take approx. 3 hours. In Manila we had a short wait where we changed terminals and get a flight to Cebu. The first flight was good, Thai Airlines service was excellent, very comfortable and we had a complimentary meal which was unexpected. The immigration process at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport however is a complete farce and takes far too long, in an area far too small for the number of people travelling.

Unfortunately, upon arrival in Manila, we saw that our flight to Cebu was delayed by 2 hrs. Less said about our layover in Manila the better. The airport is poor, everything was closed and looked like it had been closed for years. We were sat there for the best part of 5 hours. Highly frustrating.

We arrived in Cebu at around 1.30am and got a taxi to our hotel. The driver was super freindly considering the time and told us a bit about the city and pointed out a few points of interest on the way in. I felt bad for not being more engaged with him, but we were knackered. Our hotel in Cebu felt like going back in time and I was glad to only be there for a few hours. Despite this, the staff were great and very helpful - our first impressions of the Philippines were (perhaps unfairly) disappointing, although the people in general seem very welcoming and friendly.Read more