I had originally planned to visit Boracay first, then Cebu and Bohol however my body forced me to make some last minute amendments to my itinerary when I woke up the morning of my flight to Boracay sick with food poisoning. I was able to rebook a flight to Cebu and see 2 days of the Philippines.
Overall, I was stunned at the poverty level in the Philippines. Vietnam was a poor country but it seemed that most people in the big city had shelter and water. In the Philippines, it appears that the vast majority of the population of Cebu was living in poorly build clay, brick or wooden huts. Many sleeping on the streets. As we drove through some parts of the country, I would see a young boy walking a goat or cow down the side of the road, then a huge nice house or building, then a slum with little children everywhere. our hotel in Cebu had a 24 hour security guard and a barb wire fence around the wall surrounding the hotel. For $25usd a night I had a TV with several movie channels, aircon, shower and free toast with coffee in the morning. We were paying around US$5 for a 30minute cab ride and around $2 for a pizza. Prices were on the same level as Vietnam only the food wasn't as good.
After one day in Cebu we caught a 2 hour ferry to Bohol which was rumored to have beautiful beaches and interesting animals. The main animal they are famous for is the Tarsier, the worlds smallest monkey. my cab driver explained to me that I could buy one if I wanted one. After going to a zoo to see these monkeys, I went to the beach very briefly before taking the ferry back to Cebu to catch my flight. The beaches looked spectacular, white sand, palm trees everywhere, $6usd massage on the beach. I'll definitely have to make another trip back soon when I can spend some more time. There was also a strong Christian community in Bohol. Nearly every taxi had a biblical quote painted on the back.
