Philippines (6th-3th February 2025)

Planning for a holiday can be stressful. You invest so much money into the flights etc, and hope that nothing goes wrong in the days leading up to your travels. There were three things that added to my stress levels: firstly, Qatar was giving us a run around with regards to our 23-hour long layover in Dohar. We were told that because we had chosen the cheap tickets, we had to pay 75 dollars per person for a hotel. If you are an economy seat passenger you are not informed which hotel you will be assigned to. We were lucky in that we were allocated an expensive airport hotel in Dohar, but finding the transfer desk proved to be quite a mission. Secondly, Philippines is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where most of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Lastly, I was a member of the Travel to the Philippines Facebook group and they advised me that I should have spent an extra night in Cebu City on the day of my departure, as I was taking a ferry across from Panglao and a taxi to the airport. I was warned that things do not go according to plan in the Philippines. I tried to change the hotel bookings on the booking.com website but could not do so. The original plan was to spend 3 nights in Cebu City and 4 nights in Panglao, Bohol.  But things did go according to plan, as we left Panglao Island at around 7.30am. We bought the 9.30 ferry tickets, when the ferry arrived hubby intercepted a taxi driver who drove us to the airport at maximum speed. We arrived well before our 7.25pm departure time.

The flights were R17 950  per person. With Qatar there are different classes of tickets. The class of the ticket determines whether you get a free paid transit accommodation and  whether you can book your seats well in advance. We bought the tickets from One Stop Travel & Tours. Because we did an electronic transfer for the flights, it took a day or two to reflect in their accounts. Flight prices are valid for the day only, and this caused my stress levels to rise a bit. I think in future I would rather pay by credit card. The ferry tickets were 800 pesos per person. We paid 25 pesos for the terminal fee in Cebu City. From Tagbilaran we had to pay an extra 150 pesos for the baggage as we had 1 piece of main luggage and 1 carry on, and 30 pesos for the terminal fee.

Do not forget 72 hours before you enter the Philippines you have to do your etravel application. Thank you to the Travel to the Philippines Facebook group for this.  

I booked the transfer from the airport to the hotel with HRI Tours. We arrived to a rainy Cebu City. We stayed at the Hop Inn, a very basic and clean hotel. Hop Inn was R2 057 for 3 nights. The rooms did not have a kettle or fridge, but water dispensaries were found on every floor. The hotel was real value for money and was in a perfect location. We spent a day at the Ayala Mall, which is literally a maze, and is very difficult to navigate through, as it had many entrances and the shops were not well marked. We were grateful that there was a mall close by where we could do our shopping. I loved Metro supermarket, the DIY shop, the Daiso and No Brand store. We felt safe walking from the mall to our hotel at around 8pm.

Hop Inn

We visited Tops as it was one of the recommended things to do in Cebu City. We took a taxi to IT Park, that cost 150 pesos and explored the surroundings, thereafter waited for the bus to take us up to Tops which cost 200 pesos for the round trip and which also included the entrance fee to Tops. Apart from the view from the top, there was nothing much to do here. In hindsight the drive up there was the best part of the trip. 

Bus to Tops

In less than an hour we took the bus back to IT Park, and thereafter took the local bus to Ayala Mall.

Ayala Terraces

Soon it was time to pack and head off to Panglao. We took the ferry to Tagbilaran, then a taxi to Hotel Renate where we were to spend 4 nights. Hotel Renate was R3 228 for 4 nights. 

Taking the ferry from Cebu City to Tagbilaran

The initial taxi fare was 800 pesos, we brought it down to 700 pesos. The drive to the hotel took 45 minutes. The driver told us he will drop us off on the highway, much to our surprise, but he later explained that the hotel was only 2 seconds away from the highway. The highway is not what one conjures it up to be. The hotel was close to Alona Beach, and the walk to the beach especially at night proved to be quite hectic. This stretch of road is extremely busy, as it is part of the highway. Walking down this path proved to be very tricky as the pavements were either not smooth, or there was a complete lack of paving.

We took the joiner tour to the countryside, which included the Chocolate Hills, a visit to the Tarsier Sanctuary and the Loboc River cruise, which included a scrumptious lunch. We found this travel agent UGO Travel Services Office by chance and they were very efficient, as they helped us with the countryside tour and the transfer to the port, furthermore they were very reasonable. 

Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers and the Loboc river cruise

The following day we visited the South Farm, where we had a delicious lunch. we took a tuk-tuk there and we told the tuk-tuk driver to fetch us back at 2pm and he did. 

South Farm

The only problem in Panglao were the money-changers who refused to change an even slightly defaced dollar. As a result, we could not exchange 60 dollars. I was told I could do this at the bank. When I entered the bank, I was asked to produce an ID and passport, luckily, I carried my driver’s license. But then I was told that SA was grey listed.

For our long layover in Dohar, we were lucky to be assigned the Oryx Airport Hotel, which was close to our boarding gate. We paid 75 dollars each for the paid transit accommodation in Dohar.

Oryx Airport Hotel

We spent 5 days of the 11 days travelling to and from our destination, and with the time difference, and the cold planes, this took a toll on me. I developed a cold in the Philippines. When I arrived back home it took me a week to recover. In addition, I developed a terrible back ache. I suppose this comes with age. Also, on the flight to Cebu and on the flight back to Durban there were these annoying children who never stopped crying.

But it was a wonderful experience. Next time I will choose a destination closer to home.