Cebu and beyond

Well, I just read Nick's post - seems he gets more excited about fancy hotels and food than most anything else we have seen/done.

The Radisson was nice, and for me, a much needed good bed/sleep. The food was so-so in my opinion. Buffets are not really my thing. Since I have a gallbladder attack every time I eat something only slightly fatty, I could hardly find a thing to eat. So sushi for me for supper for the three nights we were there. I was very happy though to finally enjoy a decent glass of wine.

Not really much to see or do in Cebu City, so we took a taxi up the mountain to a place that had a rope adventure. A series of rope obstacles...I figured, hey, we need some activity, so lets do it! OMG! No one warned me these rope obstacles were hanging from cables high up in the trees! It was terrifying - and difficult. Even Nick struggled on some of the challenges, and at one point, as the challenges got higher and higher, I started to shake so bad I thought I would throw up. I was standing on a small round platform, hanging (hugging for dear life) onto the pole in the middle, afraid to let go and take another step. I ended up having to zip line through two of the obstacles cause i just couldn't bring myself to try them. Anyway, all in all, I was proud at myself for completing all but two of them.

Today, we left the comforts of our executive suite and find ourselves back in a very mediocre, low end beach resort that leaves much to be desired. I must say, I am not at all impressed with the low end resorts here...compared to hotels for the same money in Thailand or Vietnam, these paces are horrible. I was really expecting better. For $50-$90/night here, you get dirty, run down, bad beach, hot noisy places. In Vietnam, the same money buys you a palace. Even in Thailand, the $25 a night place Steph and I stayed at was far better that anything we have seen here. I think the best deals here are in the higher end resorts. Spend a $100 - $150 a night, and you get what you would get in Mexico for $300. But spend less than that and not so good.

There was one exception, one of the best places we have stayed at was in Puerto Princesa for $30!

Anyway, I have not had good luck picking out great places to stay. I usually rely on trip advisor to direct me - but have found the reviews for places here have not exactly been accurate. The place we are at right now is a good example. It is NOTHING like what the description and reviews say. We are stuck out in the middle of nowhere, no beach, no pool, bad, overpriced food, a room full of mosquitoes, and a VERY NOISY air conditioner...on the plus side, there are no roosters...only bleating goats.

I think it is possible I am just too old to enjoy roughing it anymore. This is my third trip around the world, and I have always enjoyed staying at locally run establishments, so either, I have changed, or the experience here is just not like it was in all those other countries I visited....not sure which it is.

Anyway, since there is nothing to do here at this place, and nowhere we can go, we have booked ourselves into two days of diving lessons...we are being picked up at 8:30 tomorrow. I am quite scared to do this, but really want to overcome my fear. We are close by to several marine reserves and some of the best diving in the world. I want to be able to see the beautiful things under the water with my own eyes. I bought an underwater camera yesterday, and hope to film the millions of sardines that swim near here. We also plan on diving with the whale sharks...so hopefully I will have some good pics to post in a few days.