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	<title>Philippines 2010 &#8211; Les voyages de Ninve</title>
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	<description>A travers mes yeux, vous voyagerez, vous découvrirez des endroits merveilleux et  je vous ferais partager des moments magiques avec des gens uniques.</description>
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	<title>Philippines 2010 &#8211; Les voyages de Ninve</title>
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	<item>
		<title>Halloween in Boracay</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/halloween-in-boracay-2/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2012 11:16:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines Album]]></category>
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		<item>
		<title>Album &#8211; Stay at Sea Winds, Part 2</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/album-sea-winds2/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines Album]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/album-1821087/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Our Last Few Days on Boracay]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Album &#8211; Stay at Sea Winds</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/album-sea-winds/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Oct 2010 15:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Album &#8211; Boracay Red Coconut</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/album-boracay-red-coconut/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines Album]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[3-Day Package Tour at Red Coconut]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Photo Album &#8211; Kalibo to Boracay Trip</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/album-trajet-kalibo-boracay/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[Last week of vacation&#8212;off to Boracay!]]></description>
		
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			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Last Days of Vacation</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/derniers-jours-de-vacances/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/article-derniers-jours-de-vacances-61796747/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[On Friday, still just the two of us, we set out to explore the island. From our hotel, the Sea Winds, we headed left, and after a few minutes&#8217; walk, we climbed up onto the rock to go around it, since the beach ended abruptly. Part of the path has been paved to allow us to safely go around this rock. We find ourselves on another beach, in a cove that&#8217;s practically private and unmaintained. This is where the Boracay Microhotel and a few other, even more luxurious hotels are located. On the small hill at the tip of the island, we see private homes, but we can&#8217;t get past them&#8212;what a shame&#8230; We decide to head inland instead. What a hassle&#8212;since we didn&#8217;t have a map, we asked for directions, and a very kind local worker guided us toward the &#8220;highway.&#8221; So we took the northwest road toward Puka Shell Beach, which lies across from Carabao Island. Magnificent&#8230; A beach with yellow sand that&#8217;s still untouched. Imagine: the jungle ends right at the beach&#8230; which has no hotels and just a single restaurant-bar and small kiosks selling necklaces, seashells, and other locally made goods. We cool off in the water, take a stroll, and discover quite a few nice spots. Tired and hungry, we take a tricycle back. In the evening, we stroll along the seawall and stop at a bar where we meet an American couple who come to Boracay every year to report on the island&#8217;s major festivals; They explained to us that Halloween and Christmas are the wildest parties on the island. After spending a good hour chatting with the bartender (Renaldo) and the American couple, We head back to Pito Huts, hoping to find our friends there. Laurent and Seb had stayed behind to relax at their place. The night before, they&#8217;d spent the whole night drinking at Ol&#233;, having a blast with the girls at the bar&#8212;all wearing masks&#8230; In the end, we went back there with them&#8230; and found out that at Summer Place (a disco-bar), there would be a huge Halloween party. On Saturday, we wanted to head to the other side of the island, across from White Beach. On the way, we stopped to take pictures of Willy&#8217;s Rock, that pile of big rocks featured on every postcard of the island. The weather was beautiful and dry&#8212;well, at least it hadn&#8217;t rained for two days&#8212;which allowed us to see White Beach&#8217;s true color and feel its ultra-fine, soft sand&#8230; What a joy! Once we arrived at D&#8217;Mall Plaza, a shopping street, we cut across the highway as close as possible to the large lake. Then we crossed the island toward Bulabog Beach&#8212;the kitesurfers&#8217; beach&#8212;where, by the way, the wind was blowing so hard that we were bothered by the sand swirling around. In the meantime, we&#8217;d contacted our friends to ask them to come join us. We spent a few hours watching the kitesurfers until we got hungry. Later, we headed back to eat on our beach and take a walk to enjoy our first and last sunset in Boracay. Pure bliss&#8230; Sunday, our last day. Marlon and I contacted the boatman to arrange a few hours on a Buddy. The plan was to go exploring with a guide to discover an aviary and the hills of Boracay. Around 1 p.m., we set off by tricycle with the boatman toward the site where the Buddys and quads were located. As soon as we arrived, we were set up and headed out on a Buddy. Along the way, we discovered a dense forest and lush vegetation. We arrived at the aviary, where we found not only very colorful birds but also extraordinary plants, monkeys, very large bats, and the famous Tuco (a typical Philippine monitor lizard). Next, we headed toward the island&#8217;s highest peak, where a hotel is located. We found ourselves on the hotel&#8217;s rooftop, where we had a splendid view of all of Boracay. After a two-hour excursion, we returned for dinner. &#160; That evening, the long-awaited big night: the Halloween party. It&#8217;s raining&#8230; and getting heavier and heavier. That doesn&#8217;t stop us&#8212;we dress up with whatever we have and head out to meet our friends at Ol&#233;. The American couple from the other day had recommended a bar to us, the Jungle Bar, where a rooster is hanging out on the counter. We decide to check it out and head toward the end of Station 3 (where we&#8217;d heard there was a mafia too&#8230;). Despite the long walk we took, I have to admit we never found it&#8212;we walked all the way to the end of the beach, until we couldn&#8217;t go any further!!! Empty-handed, we headed back to Summer Place, where the vibe wasn&#8217;t the same as the night before and there was an entrance fee. We decided to take a tricycle with a monster for a driver and head to Guilly&#8217;s, the disco-bar&#8230; Along the way, we ran into monsters, headless people, wizards, and other Halloween characters, and we even stumbled upon a cemetery right on the beach&#8230; What a morbid atmosphere, hihihi, it was awesome&#8230; Once we arrived at the beach club, we settled in and the party began&#8212;even the tourists were in costume, mostly as the undead. We ran into Death, fairies, ogres, monsters, etc.&#8212;all set to great music and a fantastic DJ. The party went on until 2:30 a.m. for us, since we had to leave Boracay a few hours later. 5 a.m., up and about&#8212;we&#8217;re waiting for the minibus to take us back to the boat terminal; our flight to Kalibo is at 10:35 a.m. The trip back was very difficult. After an hour-long flight, we&#8217;re back in Manila, and by 2 p.m., we&#8217;re back in Laguna. Finally, some rest&#8230; But not for long&#8212;Marilyn told us that some of Modesta&#8217;s family would be arriving around midnight. But we were too exhausted to wait that long. The next day, I personally got sick&#8212;it was to be expected; all month long, I&#8217;d been struggling with the temperature changes between the 30-degree heat outside and the air conditioning in the car or at the shopping centers&#8230; With a fever and a cold, I had to stay in bed&#8230; really bad luck&#8230; The others spent their day at the pool having fun with the kids until late in the evening. &#160; On Wednesday, I was feeling much better, so I joined the others at the pool too. We&#8217;ve been lucky with the weather&#8212;it&#8217;s been sunny ever since we returned to Laguna, without a single drop of rain&#8230; So much so that even the kids got sunburned. On Wednesday evening, the family heads back to Modesta in the family Jeepney. It broke our hearts, because we&#8217;d grown attached to the kids, and we know we won&#8217;t see them again anytime soon. We stay with Meriem and her daughter Dream, Marilou, and Marilyn. Thursday, our last day&#8212;we pack our bags; since our flight leaves at midnight, we make the most of our final day&#8230; We pack kilos of fruits and vegetables that I&#8217;ve come to love (calamansi, okra, long beans, kangkong, kamatis, mangga hilaw, soybeans, talong, sayote, goyabano&#8230; and pandesal (traditional breakfast bread). I&#8217;ll explain soon what these vegetables really are. We enjoy the last moments of sunshine by the pool until sunset. We take off at midnight, heading for Abu Dhabi, then Zaventem, where we fly through a thick layer of clouds and rain. Welcome to the land of the little people!!! Welcome to Brussels&#8230;]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Makati and the First Few Days on Boracay Island</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/makati/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/article-makati-et-les-premiers-jours-a-boracay-island-60492713/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[On the way, we had a second run-in with the Pinoy police. Alan turned right onto the Skydive (a highway on a long bridge), drove over a white line, and the police were already there. They asked us questions, and in the end, they extorted 200 pesos from us&#8212;they&#8217;re all corrupt! What a stress!!! Despite all that, it turned out okay. We finally arrived in Laguna and are resting up, since the next day, Alan and Marilyn will drive us to Makati, to the Asian Mansion II, where we&#8217;ve booked two rooms for two nights (October 23 and 24). Then they&#8217;ll head straight back to Modesta. We arrived there around 6 p.m. That evening, Marlon and I went to Balikbayan Handicraft, a shop selling traditional Filipino goods. Meanwhile, Laurent managed to set up a date with a girl he met on Facebook, Aisa, and the two of them went out for a drink on their own. Seb stayed at the hotel. A little later that evening, we met up on the hotel rooftop to chat. Then, the five of us headed out for a drink at the Icebar, a bar recommended by Aisa. A very nice girl, by the way&#8230; Around 10 p.m., the two of us went out to eat, while Laurent and Seb stayed with Aisa at the Icebar. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. We found out via a text from Aisa that our friends had also returned. &#160; On Sunday, Marlon and I headed out at 9 a.m. to Ayala Park, behind our hotel, for a walk. We waited for the malls to open, hung out for three hours at an internet caf&#233;, and then went shopping&#8230; Around 4 p.m., we went back to meet up with our friends. They told us that, as it turned out, they hadn&#8217;t gone back to the hotel after Aisa; they&#8217;d gone to a bar instead. Since they&#8217;d just had dinner, we chose a Thai restaurant at Greenbelt, where we enjoyed a delicious soup. We headed back early since we had to get up early the next day to catch our flight. &#160; We left at 9 a.m. for Kalibo Airport, which is two hours from Boracay Island&#8212;the famous white-sand island. We arrived in Kalibo at 10 a.m. and took a bus to Caticlan (68 km) to catch a boat to Boracay. The journey was interesting. We noticed that rice farming thrives on the island of Panay. The weather, which had been sunny up until then, turned cloudy. As we approached the mountain range near Nabas, it began to rain quite heavily. In Caticlan, we took a bancas. Unlike nine years ago, the boat transfer now takes place as close to Boracay as possible&#8212;at the southeastern tip of the island. It has become a small port nestled among the rocks; it was built in 2005. We take a van to Station 2, at the Red Coconut. The narrow road was built recently. I remember that nine years ago, there was no paved road, and there were no vans or cars. Just tricycles&#8212;which look like mini-jeepneys&#8212;and a few motorcycles. That year, we&#8217;d go straight down to Station 2 on a bancas, ending up with our feet in the water along with our luggage, right in front of the Red Coconut. Today, it&#8217;s become a well-oiled and highly regulated industry. As soon as we arrived, we went for a swim, and a little later, the big cloud we&#8217;d seen passing over the other island caught up with us. That evening, we went for a walk along the seawall&#8230; On our way back from the walk, we stopped at the Red Coconut bar for a drink. We had fun and met some people, like this guy who looked strangely like Antonio Banderas. He&#8217;s a Filipino-American from Chicago. &#160; It was a rough wake-up at the Red Coconut&#8212;the room smelled musty, and the AC was making a terrible racket. So we decided to start looking for a new hotel as soon as possible, since our package stay at the Red Coconut ends this Wednesday at noon. After visiting four or five hotels, Marlon and I set our sights on the Sea Winds, a charming beach resort with stilt houses nestled in a terraced jungle&#8212;it&#8217;s gorgeous, with two pools in the garden and one on the beach. It also has a bar and a restaurant. Our friends, for their part, found what they were looking for at Pito Huts&#8212;a cozy bahay kubo-style cottage also built on stilts. We met up at the hotel. Later that day, we all went to check out their chalet and made our reservations. And later on&#8230; It started to rain, and the thunder rumbled nonstop&#8212;so loud that it felt like it was right nearby. We had a few scares. On Wednesday morning, everyone checks into their new hotel. We relax and have dinner&#8230; FYI, we&#8217;re half an hour&#8217;s walk apart on the beach, which is 4 km long on an island that&#8217;s 7 km long and 4 km wide at its widest point. White Beach is divided into three sections; we&#8217;re at Section 1 and our friends are at Section 3. After dinner at the hotel, we met up with them for a drink at Hobbit&#8217;s House, where all the waiters look like Hobbits. On Thursday morning, we boarded a boat to go snorkeling at some beautiful coral sites, and the sun was shining brightly. At 1:00 p.m., we had lunch in a cove with the boatmen. That morning, Marlon had sent one of them to Palenque to do some shopping: fish (blue marlin), meat, talong, and mangoes. It was an unparalleled meal. We also came across an adorable one-armed macaque. We headed out to another dive site and returned around 3 p.m. No sooner had we jumped into the water than it started raining, and we had to swim in the rain. Half an hour later, we split up and headed back to the hotel. That evening, my partner and I went for a walk on the beach; since Laurent had forgotten his cell phone, it was impossible to reach them. We ate at a very good restaurant with incredibly fresh ingredients, and then we headed back. To be continued&#8230;]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Bohol</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/bohol/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Oct 2010 05:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/article-bohol-59517840/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; &#160; We arrived in Bohol at 4:30 p.m. and headed for another island: Panglao, which is connected to Bohol by two bridges. The concrete road was very bumpy. The person who picked us up at the airport told us a little about the demographics, the population, and so on&#8230; &#160; The next day, Thursday, we set out on a tour in a van reserved exclusively for the four of us, with a driver named Loyloy and a guide named C&#233;cile, who showed us around the area, including the mahogany forests that were planted to stabilize the ground&#8212;where, every year, there used to be landslides&#8230; Mahogany trees are very sturdy and perfectly suited for this kind of work. The road was terrible and the driver was going too fast, so we all felt pretty rough. We discovered old churches and a tree so ancient that a legend surrounds it&#8212;the locals are afraid of it because there are ghosts there. A natural cave has been formed beneath it by the tree&#8217;s roots. But someone from Manila bought the land despite the stories and built a house right next to it.&#160; Then we climbed to the top of a mountain to see the Chocolate Hills&#8212;thousands of hills in the surrounding area that turn chocolate-brown during the dry season (March through May) due to the drought. It was impressive. There, we heard a legend about how these hills were formed: A giant landed on Bohol and fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped. The woman literally died of fear, and the giant burst into tears, which carved out these valleys. The scientific hypothesis: Bohol sits on a tectonic plate that rose out of the sea millions of years ago. Torrential rains and landslides created the Chocolate Hills, which have sparse vegetation; palm and coconut trees are rare there. Then, around 1:00 p.m., we headed down to the Green River to eat at a floating restaurant&#8212;it&#8217;s a boat&#8212;a magnificent spot. The locals sang and danced for all of us&#8212;a traditional local dance, using bamboo sticks to keep the beat. Finally, we arrived at the mini waterfall and turned back. &#160; After letting our food settle in the van&#8212;which was already driving more slowly&#8212;we saw the famous tarsiers in person for the first time. They&#8217;re tiny little animals that look like monkeys from a distance, with huge eyes and nocturnal habits. We took tons of photos there. Laurent made a friend&#8212;a little aggressive monkey that tried to snatch his phone. We also encountered two flying lemurs there. Extraordinary. On our way back from the expedition, we visited the second-oldest church in the Philippines (413 years old) and its museum. &#160; Back at the hotel, we cooled off in the pool&#8230; Last day, Friday. Since we were checking out of the hotel at 2:30 p.m. and our flight was at 5:00 p.m., around 9:00 a.m. we decided to take a short boat ride; the boat had a glass bottom so we could see the coral and the seabed. Marlon and Seb got seasick, but Laurent and I enjoyed it to the fullest. We saw some big starfish with spines&#8212;brrr. Afterward, we enjoyed the pool and the ocean, where we were stung by strange, transparent mollusks that looked like water worms; Laurent thought they were more like sea cucumbers&#8230; Later, Marlon got a call from his aunt Marilyn. News from Modesta: it hadn&#8217;t stopped raining, and apparently a second typhoon that was supposed to head toward Japan had veered slightly off course to bring us bad weather, but there weren&#8217;t any major problems. The plane was able to take off, and we arrived safely in Manila under a cloudy, dark sky. Back to Laguna with Marilyn and Alan. Meriem had to undergo emergency surgery for a stomach problem. It went well, and she&#8217;s doing just fine. To be continued Ninve]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>Modesta, weekend of the 16th–17th; 2 nights at Ate Meriem&#x27;s.</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/modesta/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Oct 2010 05:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/article-modesta-week-end-du-16-17-2-nuits-chez-ate-meriem-59517564/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We arrived in Modesta in the early afternoon; it was very cloudy. We met up with Marlon&#8217;s entire family: his grandmother, Great-Aunt Valing, his uncle, and all his aunts with their children. Marlon also reunited with many of his old friends&#8230; Meriem welcomed us into her new home, which she&#8217;s proud of but which isn&#8217;t quite finished yet. It was built recently because the old one had been swept away by torrential floodwaters last year due to a typhoon and the river overflowing&#8230;&#160;The water rose as high as 2 meters. Every year, the Philippines is ravaged by typhoons, rising waters, and landslides. In the past, torrential rains occurred during the peak of the rainy season&#8212;July and August, sometimes extending into September. But since global warming and deforestation, it has become impossible to truly predict this kind of threat. Super Typhoon Juan (international name Megi) was reported a few days earlier, 980 km east of Luzon. In the evening, it&#8217;s party time in the village&#8212;beer and alcohol are flowing freely, and karaoke keeps everyone entertained. Partly because Laurent had mentioned it, but also because the family loves it. In the end, it was Seb who sang all night long&#8212;in Tagalog, no less! We had a blast; I filmed the whole thing. On Sunday, it was impossible to get accurate information about the typhoon; the only news was that it was expected to arrive overnight from Sunday to Monday. Everyone in Modesta and everywhere else was on high alert. We spent our day in Riverside. So much has changed since our last visit 9 years ago&#8212;the place is cleaner and safer, with new buildings&#8230; In Modesta, too. We stayed there for two nights. At 5 a.m. on Monday, a friend of Meriem&#8217;s, Alan, dropped us off at the domestic airport. But it wasn&#8217;t the right one&#8212;there are three different terminals for inter-island travel. Since Alan and Meriem had already left, we took a taxi. Luckily, there weren&#8217;t any traffic jams yet. We finally arrived at Terminal 2 right on time. We were worried because we didn&#8217;t know if our flight would be canceled due to the typhoon. But the typhoon was running late&#8212;perhaps to let us go to Palawan. A long island at the southwestern tip of the country. The plane took off at 8:00 a.m. and arrived in Puerto Princesa at 9:20 a.m., with a lot of turbulence. We read in the newspapers that the typhoon had passed the Philippines and was stuck in the South China Sea, nearly 400 km away from us. That&#8217;s what brought us the bad weather, clouds, and rain. But the sun was still out. On the news, they reported that the typhoon might return to the Philippines even stronger and more intense. A total of 10 people died across Luzon. The Filipinos were very well prepared. The worst damage was in Banaue, where the rice harvest was due to take place in a week.. The Palawan airport is located right in the city center. It&#8217;s an old-fashioned city center, muddy, with barely cemented roads. There are many wooden houses and nipahat (traditional houses made of woven wooden panels). Our hotel, the Microhotel, is located 9 km from the center, a 30-minute van ride away. It&#8217;s situated on a marshy site full of mangroves. It&#8217;s a nice hotel, offering a different view from what we&#8217;ve seen so far. Calm, wave-free seawater from the Sulu Sea. The hotel offers a free van shuttle service to town at certain times of the day. We took the opportunity to go out for dinner in town that evening at the Tiki Restaurant, which had live music and very good food. We went back early because we were exhausted, except for Laurent, who went to check out another bar. The next day, we swam in the pool and then headed into town, where we had a huge and delicious lunch. Seb and Laurent stayed at that restaurant-bar. Marlon and I went for a walk and returned to the hotel so we could explore the mangrove swamp in daylight, where the water had receded almost entirely. There we discovered incredible flora and fauna: starfish and other oddities of nature. For example: large white tentacles sticking out of the rocks. We&#8217;ll never know what they were&#8230; In the evening, we tried another Kanabuche restaurant. We hailed a tricycle to head back, but after a kilometer, its tire blew out. We took another one back to the hotel. Last day in Palawan, 7 a.m., bright sunshine&#8212;the four of us have breakfast, then catch our flight to transit through Manila. At 3 p.m., we board another flight to Taglibiaran Airport in Bohol. Our hotel is the Bohol Beach Club&#8230;]]></description>
		
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		<title>Album &#8211; Makati Weekend</title>
		<link>https://journeyswithme.ninveth.be/en/album-makati-weekend/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ninve]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Oct 2010 10:43:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philippines 2010]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines Album]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[Makati before Bohol An evening at the Ice Bar and walks]]></description>
		
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