Galati Travels: beach

While most people have heard of Boracay as the beach destination for Philippines, it tends to get very touristy and crowded. It also often requires a layover through Manilla, that many simply want to avoid. In that case, another option for a Philippine vacation is to do a trip to Cebu and Bohol.

Cebu is one of many island of Philippines and I mean many! There are in fact more than 7.000 islands in total. The best thing is that you can avoid going in the summer and can instead leave in your colder February months to enjoy the warm Philippines, where it is likely still going to be 30°C (86°F). There is rain during this time, but it isn't non-stop and usually losts for a few minutes of the day. In general though, May to October, it’s usually wet. From November to April you can expect dry months, although it can also rain sometimes. February is the month with the least amount of rain.

One of the reasons why I would suggest Cebu over Boracay is that you can get to have a range of experiences, from city life in Cebu, to whale shark watching in Oslob, diving in Moalboal and then spending the remainder of your holiday on Bohol, which is a paradise.

CEBU MAINLAND

The main island Cebu isn't too big - a length of 220 km (137 mi) and a width of 40 km (25 mi) but due to traffic and road conditions, it does take a while to get around. Still, its easy to navigate.

Day one, you are likely to land in Cebu city, which like most Asian cities, is crowded, dusty, old and loud. It also has nice parts with restaurants and malls, but in general, its dirty and grungy. However, we ended up staying a night there.

While in Cebu City we stayed at a hotel called Hotel Elizabeth, which is located in a safe and nice area, right next to Ayala mall, which is the largest mall in Cebu. If you didn't know, affluent areas are those around malls. The good thing about staying here is that you can take a bus or taxi easily from here to other parts of the city. You can also use an app called Grab, which works like Uber but is usually cheaper.

While we were in Cebu, we saw the old city and some important historic sites which are all close by. The Fort San Pedro, the Basilica del Santo Niño, and Magellan's Cross, are all in the same vicinity in an area called Plaza Independencia near the pier.

The Fort San Pedro is a military defense structure that was built by the Spanish under the command of Miguel López de Legazpi, first governor of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.

The Basilica is the oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, and was built on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú was found during the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi. The icon, a statuette of the Child Jesus, is the same one presented by Ferdinand Magellan to the chief consort of Rajah Humabon upon the royal couple's christening on April 14, 1521. When Pope Paul VI made the church a basilica in 1965, he declared it to be "the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines."

Magellan's Cross is housed right next to the Basilica and is a Christian cross planted by explorers of the Spanish expedition of the first circumnavigation of the world, leaded by Ferdinand Magellan, upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on April 21, 1521. Some people, however, believe that the original cross has been destroyed or disappeared after Magellan's death and the cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards . Who really knows?

There is also a museum close by known as the Casa Gorordo Museum that you can check out. Remember, all these areas are walking distance, so if you do enjoy history, you might as well explore this area.

The following day, we took a bus from Ayala mall to Moalboal where we stayed at this charming place called Savedra Dive Center. Moalboal is a lovely place and probably my favorite stay throughout this time. We enjoyed delicious sea food and then checked out the White beach, there. To get around, we had to get a scooter which was a lot of fun. The next day, we left for Kawasan falls in Badian. It’s a waterfall west of Cebu with divine turquoise water. You can swim, eat, and just sit there and watch the water falling. Especially when you’re early you might have a chance to be there all by yourself! You can also choose to do a canyoneering tour, but as I am not a swimmer, I didn't do this. You do have to be particularly careful.

After Kawasan, our next stop was Oslob to see the whale sharks. You only have the chance to see the whale sharks between six and eleven in the morning. So you have to get up particularly early to get to Oslob and see these. It does get VERY crowded and it is DEFINITELY a very touristy experience. This was of course all pre-COVID so I don't know how people will tolerate such crowds now.

The bus driver will know where to bring you and it is all pretty well organized. The driver dropped us off at a spot where we bought the tickets for the whale shark watching tours. We could book the tour right there – so no booking in advance was needed. The place in Oslob is very touristic and the whale sharks are fed all morning long to please the tourists. It brings the animals out of their usual environment which might be a problem for some. I’m sorry and I feel a bit of pity about those tourist attractions with animals. But we had the chance to do it and we took it since we always wanted to swim with them. And it was very impressive. Did you know that whale sharks can get a length of 13 m (42 ft)? They were so huge and it was definitely an experience that was worth it.

After Oslob, we headed back to Cebu, so that we could head the following day to our next destination, Bohol. We did end up having to stay an extra day in Cebu due to turbulent waters but were able to get to Bohol safe and sound.

BOHOL

Bohol was lovely, although my husband fell sick which didn't make it as fun. Hotels are a bit pricey but we were able to stay at Wonderlagoon Resort, which was so so. However, the location was great and it was definitely lively and beachy, and very VERY clean.

There were a number of sights to check out so instead of navigating those myself, I booked a 35$ or so tour for myself that showed me a number of things. I was able to go around and see the Chocolate Hills, which are mounds of brown-coloured limestone formations, are the most popular attraction.

The formations can be seen by land (climbing the highest point) or by air via ultralight air tours. I also saw the Philippine tarsier, amongst the world's smallest primates, is indigenous to the island. The tour took us through some historic sites as well as a visit to an animal sanctuary where we saw all kinds of creepy crawlies.

After three days in Bohol, we were back in Cebu ready to fly back! Definitely a relaxing and fairly cheap vacation.

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Finally, we made it to Jeju! Yes, after two years in Korea, we decided to see what the ruckus was all about. Much to our pleasant surprise, Jeju exceeded our expectations by a large margin! A bit about Jeju. Well, for one, its an island that lies south of the mainland, in the Korea Strait. It is a volcanic island, which contains a number of natural World Heritage Sites, and some interesting landmarks. Many of these sites are free to visit, or have entrance fees as low as $2. The only sights with higher fees are indoor theme parks, many of those which can be avoided since they don't offer anything that Seoul can't.

How to get Around

There are a few ways to get around in Jeju. The best would be by car, but only if you get a cheap car rental $10/day) and can easily access a licence. If not (which was the case with us), you can very easily get around by bus. In many forums, you'll read that its impossible to see more than 2 sights each day, but that is entirely incorrect. We were able to see 4-6 sights each day, and could probably fit in more.

The caveat however is to be somewhat savvy in Kakao or Naver Maps to keep abreast of buses and timings. Second, always make sure you read the timetables at each stop, so that you know how much time you have in a particular destination until the next bus arrives. Not every timetable is available on Kakao and Naver, so you have to go old-fashioned. Since we are fairly handy on buses, this was a non-issue for us and we are able to take $1 buses to sight see the entire island.

A Bus Itinerary

Without much further ado, here's a lowdown on our five day itinerary with the buses to get you there.

Day 0: Jeju City

We arrived late in the city in the evening and spent the night at Yeha Goodstay Hotel. We had a separate room to ourselves (its mainly a hostel), but the stay was delightful! The place had character, and there's a downstairs lounge with lots of board games and reading material as well as a community kitchen (where you can help yourself to free breakfast the following day). If you're staying just a night in the city, this should be your bet. A bus goes directly from here to the guesthouse. To top it off, this place is right next to the Bus Terminal so you can pretty much get to anywhere from here.

The city does have a few places to visit, but don't spend more than half a day here, because there's much more to see in the island. If you want a base, I'd say choose Jungmun or Seogwipo which are 30-50 minutes from the airport. Some of the attractions to check out include:

Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum
Sarabong Peak
Dongmun Market
Gwandeokjeong Pavilion
Yongyeon Pond
Iho Tewoo Beach

Day 1: North East Jeju

We left around 10 am and took the coastal 201 bus to Gimyeong Beach. You could also decide to see the Hamdeok beach instead, but we decided on Gimnyeong due to its proximity to some of the other sites inland.

Both however, are similar in being strikingly beautiful, with clear blue water and yellow sand. I would add that Gimnyeong beach tends to also be less crowded than Hamdeok beach.

This area is known to be good for catching striped beakfish and spotty belly greenlings.

There, we spend a few hours, rested in a cafe, and then caught the next bus inland to Gimnyoung Maze. The bus 711-1 goes from the beach to the Maze Park (10 minutes) or you can take a taxi ($4). The maze was funded by an American Professor at Jeju National University, Frederic H. Dustin, who loved Jeju. The maze park contains plants from all over Asia. The maze is lots of fun and will take around 30 minutes to an hour to explore, but there are also skywalks and lots of photo opps.

Once you're done with the maze, you can head over to Manjanggul cave, which are a mere ten minute walk. The cave is part of a larger network of caves that are regarded as a UNESCO world heritage site since 2007. Personally, I did not find the cave sight to be amazing. It's very dark so you can hardly see much, and its also very wet and cold. I would recommend it in the heat though.

At the caves, we had some lunch and then took the same bus 711-1 to Bijarim Forest. Bijarim means nutmeg and the forest consists of about 2,800 nutmeg trees that are between 500 and 800 years old. This is the largest nutmeg tree forest in the world. There is a nice walkway through the forest that has been installed for visitors to enjoy a stroll through the wonderful forest.

Once we were done with Bijarim, we took the bus to Seongsan. This required taking two buses with a transfer but the buses run as often as ten minutes and as seldom as twenty minutes. Our wait time was 15 minutes, which certainly won't set you back by a lot. Still, we made it to Seongsan in 1 hour. There, we stayed at Golden Tulip Hotel. The hotel is a four star hotel, with a great bathroom and modern bt basic interiors. The staff was extremely kind, so on that end, we have no complaints, plus the price was quite low for a 4 star hotel. That being said, I'd prefer to stay in a pension, since this hotel lacked any character and the rooms were small. We did not get any view as such, and there's no lounge to enjoy yourself. When we went, the pool wasn't working either.

Since we arrived in the evening around sunset, we had dinner at Playce Camp, a really nice food court and then explored the canola fields below Seongsan Ilchulbang, the sight we left for the next day.

Day 2: East and South Jeju

We began our day quite early and walked over to the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. This is a peak that was a result of a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago. There is a huge crater at the top of the peak and many sharp rocks surrounding the crater that make it look like a crown.

After you enter, there is a bit of a climb. Most of the ascent is through stairs so make sure to bring water, and try to do this before it gets too hot. It takes around 30 to 40 minutes to climb with rests. Along the way, there is also the option of horse riding on the meadows.

Image result for seongsan ilchulbong peak

Although we went earlier, we still missed the sunrise which was around 4:30-5:00 am. However, if you are more adventurous, you can go earlier and see the sunrise from the crater.

From here, you can also see the haenyo or women's divers. This is unique to Jeju Island, where there is a community of older women, some aged in their 80s, which go diving under the sea to gather seafood for a living without the help of oxygen masks. With knowledge of the sea, these divers harvest for up to seven hours a day, 90 days of the year holding their breath for just one minute for every dive and making a unique verbal sound when resurfacing. Before a dive, divers pray to the goddess of the sea for safety and an abundant catch.

Along the side of Seongsan, you also get to see some beautiful cliffs overlooking the ocean, which makes for excellent time to relax and meditate, which is exactly what we did.

From Seongsan Ilchulbang, we went to Seopjikoji, which you can access through bus (10 minutes) or taxi (5 minutes). If you go by bus, you'd need to walk for around 15 minutes to get to the edge of the cliff. It's a pleasant walk, but there are no cafes or restaurants here. Instead, you walk along the island edge through canola fields that overlook the shores. Right next to the island where the Seopjikoji rests is the Hanwha aquarium, one of the largest in East Asia. It has more than 5000 ocean animals from Korea and abroad and here too, you can see the female divers in action.

From the east coast, we went South to Jungmun area where we stayed in a delightful pension called Hera Castle. I highly recommend it, and as you will see from Booking.com, hundred of other people agree with me.

Day 3: Seogwipo and Jungmun

The last day was spend enjoying beach and waterfalls in the southern part of Jeju. The next day, we first explored Cheonjeyeon waterfalls which were right next to our pension. Cheonjeyeon Falls, means "The Pond of God," and consists of 3 sections. Around the falls, a variety of plant life thrives, such as the rare ‘solimnan’ reeds. To the east, there is a cave where cold water pours from the ceiling to create the first waterfall. The water gathers into a pool and from there, falls two more times, creating the second and third waterfalls, which then flow into the sea.

You can also see Seonimgyo Bridge (arch bridge with 7 nymphs carved on the side) and the octagonal Cheonjeru Pavilion. From Seonimgyo Bridge, you can exit into the Jungmum Tourist Complex. If you have time, you can also visit Yeomiji Botanical Garden and the Teddy Bear museum, but they can be missed if you are pressed on time

From there, we went to Jungmun beach which personally wasn't my favourite beach. It is very nice but a little more inaccessible by bus or walking. There are resorts all around it, and very few Korean restaurants to enjoy seafood. We were really hungry so we ate at the Cliff, a very nice Italian/American pub overlooking the beach, but there was no seafood on the menu. If you want to eat with a view, Seogwipo is better (will explain more later).

After lazing on the sofas next to the beach, we spent some time walking along the shore until we arrived at Jusangjeolli Cliff. These vertical cliffs are black rock pillars shaped either rectangular or hexagonal and are formed by lava!

After looking at kakaomap, we headed to the bus stop right near the beach. Its not so much as a bus stop as it is a sign (thats it). We stood there for around ten minutes and luckily got the 510 bus to to Seogwipo, which goes along the coast from Jungmun to Seogwipo and back. On the way, we passed by a number of theme parks like the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, Chocolate Land and others, but skipped those because you can see them elsewhere, and really, Jeju is about nature, not about indoor parks.

We got off near Cheongjeyeon Waterfall, and Jeongbang Waterfall. Both Cheonjiyeon and Jeongbang are located within walking distance from Seogwipo and don’t require a strenuous hike to get there. What's more is that they are right next to "Chilsimni Food Street," a designated eating zone that runs in a long loop west to east along the harbor, and contains various types of restaurants,but lots of seafood. It overlooks the ocean so instead of Jungmun, Seogwipo offers much more in terms of things to do and things to eat. That is why we loved Seogwipo and in retrospect, might have selected to stay here instead of Jungmun, but we loved staying at Hera Castle

Walking downhill from the main bus stop towards the sea the Cheonjiyeon waterfall is to the right, tucked round a bend where the stream meets the harbor. The Jeongbang waterfall is to the left after passing the food street.

Jeongbang Waterfall is the only waterfall in Asia to fall directly into the ocean so I was excited to check it out. Needless to say, it was a nice afternoon exploring Seogwipo and seeing what all the hype is about.

After the waterfalls, we headed back to Jungmun, where we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner, and got ready to sleep after a long day. The next morning, we took an early morning bus to the airport (bus 600 goes directly there and takens 30 minutes in the morning since Jeju is blessed with much less traffic than the rest of Korea).

A few takeaways for us were:

Stay in pensions/guesthouses instead of hotels
Spend more days in Seogwipo
No theme parks needed but some like the EcoPark with the monorail are worth a visit
Other forests besides Bijarim since nutmeg trees aren't the prettiest.
Skip the caves and spend more time on the beach

And that's pretty much how our three days in Jeju concluded!

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Once more, my work took me to Cambodia, this time to the quaint seaside village of Kep. As someone who is visited the better known Sihanoukville, I can guarantee you that Kep is one of the nicest beach towns to visit in Cambodia, and only some 30 km from Kampot. It can even be frequented over the weekend through a bus from Phnom Penh.

Interestingly, Kep used to be a bustling beach resort during the colonial times and loved by the French. Then followed the Cambodians who took a liking to it. This former glory was destroyed in the Khmer Rouge, and some bullet holes are still seen in the buildings.

My day was spent on the Kep beach where I stayed at a lovely place called Saravoan Hotel, which is just 10 m from Kep Beach. It is a beachfront hotel with an outdoor pool, a coffee shop, a bar and really good WiFi throughout the hotel.

Plus, it is within walking distances from the nearest seafood restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacy, ATM machine and bus station. The hotel offers tour bookings and motorbike/bicycle rentals. Be careful though of the monkeys! They are everywhere!

The best thing about Kep beach, is it's right in the centre of town and no vendors hassle you as you sunbathe. The water is shallow for a good bit out to sea so it's very safe to swim and the water is lovely and blue. The sand remains mostly empty. Instead, the Khmer families gather on nearby bamboo pavilions to laze in hammocks and enjoy picnic.

In terms of food, you cannot go to Kep and not sample the crab, it's everywhere from street stalls to buckets at the beach to the restaurants. The blue crab of Kep is famous across all Cambodia. And they want you to know that, so they put up a massive statue of a blue crab right in their harbor. But all the drama aside, the crab from Kep might just be one of the most delicious meals in Cambodia.

For crab, we can head down to the Crab Market to buy some crab fresh out of the ocean. There's tons of other food nearby!

If eating crab straight out of the sea in an open market isn’t your style, there are several restaurants perched on the edge of the sea just next to the market. There's also a really fancy bar to check out though overly priced.

Moreover, Kep also had to offer a National Park, which encompasses 53 square kilometers on the small mountain that rises out of the center of town. An 8 km road wraps around the mountain, making for a nice motorbike drive or mountain bike ride. From there, you'll get some great views of the city, and Kampot. To get further up the hill, you can hike up the narrow trails and explore all the way to the peak. There are several different trail options to choose from, each with their own benefits.

Once you're tired of Kep, head over to Rabbit Island, called Koh Tonsay in Khmer. Rabbit Island is unlike most other tropical islands in Southeast Asia, in that it is still truly off the tourist path. To get there, you can take a thirty-minute ferry!

Once on the island, find a small shack right on the beach to set down your bags and claim your bed. After the last boat of the day leaves, you’ll find yourself close to alone on a strip of tropical sand, with just a few other tourists and some local Cambodians. Its a great place to try the crab too!

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Another place to visit in Chungjeongnam-do is the Gaehwa Art Park and Boryeong Beach. Both are close to one another and make a great day trip from Seoul.

Boryeong is a city that most people know, for its Mud Festival. However, I ended up going there off-season, and found it equally fun and entertaining. There was no mud festival, but there were a lot of things to enjoy in the city. We began our tour of the city at the Gaehwa art park. It is a large, quirky park with some very random attraction.

For one, it has some nicely done up ponds with boating for children. The other thing is it has black stone statues all over the place. The founder of this park was Lim Hang-youl who was a quarrying business owner, and he wanted sculptors from all over the world. His dream is kind of true, and since then, a number of international artists have been invited, from sculptors and painters to artists to come to the park every year and produce works. In fact, even a Pakistani artist, Abdul Jabber Gull has exhibited his work there, and spent one month in Boryeong, where he carved out his sculpture from the black granite stone of the Boryeong Mountains.

Besides the international art, there is also a herbarium housed in the park. It is better known as "Herb Land" and consists of a large greenhouse, with a wide array of fruit trees, aquatic plants, and some fish and insects floating inside. Its not an aquarium, or a place where information will be widely available but makes for a pleasant walk.

Throughout the park, you will also see some random animals. Such as donkeys and sheep. They are just walking around. Its still pretty random, but they are super sweet.

A walking trail enveloping park, stretching over 2.5km, is flanked by endless monuments displaying famous Chinese poems. The park, in addition, offers various programs through which to make herbal soap, wooden crafts, or ceramics, ride a banana boat, or go rowing.

Then, we headed over to the Daecheon Beach. It has a nicely developed water front and I liked the beach more than the one in Busan. Needless to say, the view was beautiful. Would highly recommend a weekend here.

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We decided to do a 2 day trip to Busan, to see what the hype was all about. Fortunately, we stayed in a room with personal jacuzzis so that made our trip worthwhile. In short, I found Busan not to be as clean or exciting as Seoul, but hands down, people were more friendly, and the food was less sweeter than the Seoul food. That being said, I don't see myself making it a weekend getaway. It is certainly too far.The train to Busan takes a long while - even the KTX is at least 3 and a half hours with all transfers included. Mugunwha train takes forever. Tickets for train aren't cheap either so one just wonders, why not fly to Jeju? That being said, you could try to pre-book a tour either through Klook or Voyagin, that have really affordable deals.

We arrived by train late night and crashed. The next morning, we got ourselves metro day passes and then, headed to Gwangalli beach. We were lucky it didn't rain and the weather was glorious. The beach itself isn't a typically beautiful beach but had a number of activities to offer. The long stretch of sand is lined with lots of restaurants and cafés. We rented kayaks for 2 hours and eventually got very wet. Sadly, we didn't bring an extra pair of clothes so had to sit back in a bus all wet.

After the beach, our clothes were destroyed so we headed back to our hotel near Busan Station. We quickly changed in our hotel and then headed to Nampo Station. There, we followed the signs to Yongdusan Mountain, which is one of Busan's three famous mountains. It was originally called Songhyunsan Mountain, which means a mountain with a view of the sea through the dense pine tree forest. Later the name was changed to Yongdusan, as the mountain peak was shaped similar to a dragon's head (yongdu), protecting the area from foreign invaders coming from the sea. To get to the top, you can take stairs or elevators. Lazy us chose the latter.

The top of the mountain was the Busan Tower. The weather at the top was amazing and it was slightly foggy. The top of the tower is modeled after the baldaquin of Dabotap Pagoda in Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju. There was also a statue of the Great Admiral Yi Sun-sin.

There is a good spot to sit and look down into the city, as well as find photo opps with signs. For a good two hours, we did nothing but take photos and walk around in Yongdusan Park. And like always, we decided to forgo entering the Busan Tower and just admire it from the ground. I

There is an observatory deck on top the tower with entrance fee of KRW5,000 (RM18.50). We chose to skip the observatory deck as the scenery outside the tower were awesome enough. Instead, we went to the next door Twosome Place in the temple, where we enjoyed some Bingsu with Cheesecake.Yum!

Thereafer, we came down to find ourselves strolling around the BIFF Square.Based on the name itself, BIFF Square used to be where the Busan International Film Festival was held. Now, it’s a shopping street full of Korean cosmetic and fashion brands. Somewhat analogous to Myeongdong in Seoul but less plastic. I’m not sure if it’s the main place for shopping in Busan, but we decided to refrain from hoarding and just looked around.

It didnt end there. We went then to Seomyeon for nightlife. We searched for the "first street" as they call it. The street was bustling with life, full of cafes, dance lounges, bars and restaurants. In addition, there was a wide array of entertainment spots such as theaters and game arcades. We jumped into dancing a bit early, and the people there were super nice. We went to Harem, where they played top 40 and shamelessly, we started dancing as early as 8:30 pm! The people there loved us and served us snacks for free!!

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Sri Lanka was a place I had never much fantasized about, but I can certainly say it exceeded my expectations by a great degree. How I ended up going there was owing to my Pakistani passport, which restricted my chances to go for a weekend anywhere, with a week's notice! I applied for a Sri Lankan visa on a Wednesday online, got it Friday morning in mail.

Sri Lanka is one of few places in Asia where you can see elephants in the wild, and boy, did Kaudalla National Park deliver. Similar to Addo National Park in South Africa, this is just home to so many elephants.

One of my favorite place however was Bentota and Beruwala. We wanted to spend the last days in a beach and Bentota seemed to be the obvious choice. From Colombo, its a bus ride away, and I would suggest buses over any other form of transport. The two beach strips of Bentota and Beruwala are 15 minutes apart by Tuk Tuk. Beruwala is also a seaside town and after wandering around the town, we found there is a Kande Viharaya Temple, with its rather impressive Big Buddha. We didn't have time to do it, but I certainly suggest the readers to check it out.

We stayed at The Palm, and it was amazing. On the face of it, the resort seemed tiny, but once we went in, we discovered it had beautiful hallways and some excellent interiors. The hotel is located at the Beruwala beach which is less crowded, very clean and has lots of water sports. There, we ended up doing some rounds of jet-skiing for $80 but it is totally worth it.

The sky is beautiful and fresh juices are everywhere. That's one of the best things about Sri Lanka is the juice variety. I tried coconut, passion fruit and jack fruit juice while there.

What struck me again and again was how much Sri Lanka felt less like South Asia and more like Southeast Asia — In fact, I may like it more than Thailand or Malaysia, because it has greater ecology, better food and a sense of familiarity. There are discounts for Pakistanis too, AND English is widely spoken, which made it easy to have conversations with people. And if not conversations, everyone was quick with a smile.

The beaches are pristine, not at all touristy and I'd suggest this place over many beaches in the US, or Australia.

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