Island Hopping
Picture the perfect beach. Leave no tropical stone or cliché unturned: feel the soft, bone-white sand of a perfect, unspoiled strand beneath your toes –go on, wriggle them. Allow a warm breeze to stir both your hair and the palm fronds above you. Let limpid, turquoise waves lap your ankles; feel free to allow small, colourful, darting fish to enter this reverie.
In conjuring up this paradise, there is a strong chance that you may be channelling “The Beach”: that isolated idyll conjured up by Alex Garland in his 1996 novel.
Although the book, as well as the movie adaption, is set in Thailand, the odds of finding an unspoiled stretch of sand in this massively over-visited country are now next to nil. You will find something a lot closer to the mark in the Philippines – which was, in fact, where Alex Garland originally drew his inspiration.
This cluster of over 7000 islands does not lack for tropical locales. Steeped in centuries of Spanish maritime history, the cities are dotted with ancient churches, crumbling crenellations and rusted old cannons still vigilant along the old city walls. Where the cities end, the raw country begins: large cities are widely dispersed throughout the country, with huge stretches of wild mangroves, jungles and islands filling the gaps in between.
Some of the most spectacular natural scenery of the Philippines can be found in the isolated island province of Bohol, which is a short ferry-cruise away from Cebu City. During the day, the island of Panglao in Bohol is a quiet coastline of sleepy, palm-shaded coconut stands and restaurants — often with even sleepier restaurant owners napping outside — but at night the trees light up and the bars come to life. Small wooden tents are thrown up for on-the-beach massage parlours, and amiable mariners wander along the beachfront offering next-day boat tours to nearby islands. Meanwhile, restaurants of every conceivable cuisine throw out tables onto the beach itself.
Near Panglao is arguably the most famous landmark of Bohol, the Chocolate Hills –huge, bizarrely smooth knolls rolling into the horizon. A central viewing platform shows off unbelievable panoramic views of palm frond forests and a small portion of the 1,268 hills themselves. Many theories exist as to the Chocolate Hills’ origin: scientific suggestions include volcanic eruptions and karsts, while local legends include feuding giants, God’s tears and at least two myths involving the leavings of incontinent giants and buffalos.
Leaving the Chocolate Hills, a number of stops must be made on the return journey to Tagbilaran and Panglao. The Tarsier Conservation Area is home to numerous tiny, adorably goblin-like creatures clutching branches and staring huge-eyed at passers-by. Further down the road the Loboc River winds through the dense foliage, along which floating restaurants slowly drift downriver. A buffet of fresh fruit, seafood and Filipino cuisine is accompanied by live musicians, semi-Jurassic surroundings and dauntless young acrobats throwing themselves from rope-swings into the river to the general applause of the restaurant clientele.
A short flight from Tagbilaran will leave you, slightly dustier and better-travelled, at El Nido; a secluded beach town enclosed on all sides by towering cliffs, abuzz with life and tricycles at any time of day. Accessible only via a six-hour drive from the nearest capital, Puerto Princesa, El Nido is a coastal wilderness with a small, solitary town in its cove. Daytime wanderers can hitch a tricycle to the luxuriant Las Cabanas beach, or take up one of the many compulsory island-hopping tours; those of a more nocturnal persuasion could stay for a month and still not frequent every beachside restaurant, bar and cafe. Even for the locals, the town feels like somewhere people go to forget the outside world. It would be sacrilegious to visit El Nido without taking a boat tour of the islands, even for those of a less touristy inclination. Most businesses offer a number of routes to entirely different locations, and many include a freshly-prepared barbecue to be cooked on the boat and eaten on an isolated beach somewhere far out at sea. Destinations include an eerily abandoned monastery on Matinloc Island, snorkelling with clownfish and territorial fish and the opportunity to swim under a looming cliff face to discover the actual eponymous Beach which inspired Garland’s novel.
Life in the Philippines is a strange, wonderful and often nonsensical experience. Expect to see buses, pickup trucks and tricycles with passengers leaning out of the windows, hanging from rear doors and occasionally sitting atop the vehicle itself. Tables outside restaurants and convenience stores are rarely empty, usually crammed with loud, welcoming groups of the young and old. In the Philippines, if you smile at somebody on the street it is a safe bet that you will get a beaming response. It is a country where people know how to enjoy life and are not shy about sharing the experience with outsiders.