Hard to Get To; Harder to Leave

Our adventure on Boracay Island was nearing an end, and it was time to head back to Manila where we would spend the night before flying back to Singapore. We expected that the return trip would the simple reversal of the trip we took to get to Boracay.

We were wrong.

The first part of the trip was to take a van down to the dock at the south end of the island. No problems. Next, we boarded a small boat that would take us (and our luggage) to the island of Panay and the city of Caticlan. Again no problems. Caticlan has an airport, but no direct flights to Manila. To fly to Manila, we would need to take a two hour bus trip to the Kalibo airport.

However, before boarding the bus, we had to check in at the Zest Air cargo counter . Once that was completed, we found out we had an hour to kill before the shuttle bus would take us to the Kalibo. Our preference would have been to leave immediately to Kalibo so we could get there in plenty of time. But by now we had learned the Filipino art of going with the flow, so we walked around the small town for about 45 minutes. Twice. The bus left 10 minutes late, but still in plenty of time for us to make our flight.

The Mercedes minivan hugged the tight corners as we made our way along the seashore. The road took us up and down a series of hills, passing through many small towns. At the top of a particularly long hill, the driver suddently pulled over and stopped the van. He got out and raised the hood. Not a good sign. A quick look at the instrument panel revealed the problem; the engine was overheating. The driver got some water from one of the houses along the side of the road and we were off again.

But not for long. The cooling system had a major leak and this bus wasn't going to get us to Kalibo. And the airline didn't have a backup. To his credit, the bus driver flagged down one of the local public transport vans that was making it's way to Kalibo. However, it wasn't going to fit all five of us. So he flagged down another vehicle. After what had to be an interesting series of negotiations, Steve and Kyle were in one bus and Karen, Raye and Paul were in the other -- with our luggage barely fitting in the back. The hatch opened up twice enroute, almost dumping our bags on the dusty highway. The people siting in the last row of the van held the hatch closed until the driver bothered to stop and reclose the hatch.

Cell phone coverage was spotty at best, but we managed to let both the airline and the other 3 couples (that had taken a private van provided by the hotel where the wedding was held) of our predicament. It looked like we would make it, but just in time.

That's when we came to the line of traffic caused by an accident further up the road. There was no telling what happened nor how long it would take for traffic to begin moving again. We waited, and waited, and waited. That's when the van driver got a creative. He backed up the van, and took us down a tiny unmarked unpaved road that bypassed the accident and the traffic.

We arrived at the Kalibo airport right at scheduled departure time. Miraculously, the plane was still there. Forget that "gates close 10 minutes before departure" story: we were rushed through check-in and security like VIPs. They closed the hatch and fired up the engines just as soon as we climbed up the stairs. It was a miracle we made the flight, the last one of the day to Manila. If we had to wait until the next flight in the morning, we would have missed our return flight to Singapore. That would have been bad.

But our day of travel surprises was not over yet. There was one more waiting for us in Manila: all of our luggage made the flight.