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  • Day 35

    Cebu day 1

    April 20, 2018 on the Philippines ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Up at 4am ready for our flight to Cebu. This trip was with Emma, Hannah and Lisa (who I’m going to the village with next week). We got our taxi to the airport and checked in. I was feeling quite sick again so I had a nap while the others got food. Got to the plane to find another propeller plane. Slept the whole way there so it was completely fine. Landed in Cebu and got a taxi to our hostel which is called Le Village guesthouse. When we arrived it was only about 8am and check in wasn’t until 2pm. We got changed into our bikinis and left our bags behind reception.
    Got a Grab taxi (kind of like uber) and went to a place up in the mountains just outside the city called Mountain View Nature’s Park. The taxi dropped us off and told us we had to walk the rest of the way up a very steep looking hill. We started hiking and it was really hard work! Eventually we reached the first part of the resort which was the swimming pool. It looked a bit like everything needed a paint job but it had amazing views over the city. I needed to grab a pot noodle type of thing as I hadn’t eaten yet and was starting to feel light headed. Whilst we were waiting for that a bunch of kittens appeared with their momma so that kept us entertained for a while.
    Once I had eaten we went to the pool. Half of it was similar to the outside, in need of some renovation, but the other half had recently been done up and was an infinity pool with an incredible view from the mountaintop down to the city. It was a bit cloudy at this point and so the pool was pretty cold. We took a few photos and then did a bit of sunbathing, although we had to lie on the floor as there were no sun loungers. I think we all must have fallen asleep for a while as we all ended up quite burnt even though it was cloudy!
    After this we walked up the dreaded hill some more to try and find some lunch. The restaurant at the top had an even more impressive view. We were pretty sure that no westerners really go to this place as all the staff in the restaurant seemed fascinated by us. I had Thai sizzling squid and a mojito which was delicious. After this we tried to figure out how to get back to the hostel. We managed to get hold of the taxi driver that brought us here and he came to pick us up from where he had left us, although we had to wait a fair while for him to get there. Got back to the hostel and checked in. We had a 4 bed dorm room to ourselves which actually had air-con which we weren’t expecting for £6 each a night! Had showers and got ready and then went into town. Walking down the roads in Cebu was pretty scary. There was a big group of kids who I think were basically trying to rob us who all mobbed around us but we all kept hold of our bags and walked as quickly as we could away from them. After that experience we decided we didn’t really feel safe here and that we would get taxis everywhere. We made it to the centre unharmed though! We went to a hotel where there is an edge coaster that goes around the top of it on the 38th floor. I was very unsure about it as it tipped up to 55 degrees so you basically had no choice but to look down. I eventually decided that I should just go for it with everyone else and so we all went to the top floor platform. Emma and Hannah went first and so me and Lisa took their bags and things and walked round the edge to take pictures of them. At this point it was sunset and so the views were spectacular. Emma seemed pretty terrified and so this put me off even more. It was then our turn. Got into the carriage and was strapped in. The guy told us that it tips automatically to 50 degrees around the first corner and then after that you can control it so I only had to deal with the first corner. I did it and I survived and I didn’t cry so overall I was quite proud of myself. Wouldn’t go as far as to say I enjoyed it but the views were nice. Got off and went to view the professional photos. They were pretty cool and so we got a usb stick with them on to take home. After this we went to Robinson’s mall to get aftersun for our burns and grab some dinner. I had sweet and sour pork and rice which was nice. We then got a taxi back to the hostel and went to bed ready for an early start the next day.
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