Brilliant but barmy Borocay

Many of the seasoned travelers we have met have a hard core attitude to long journeys, namely if you book your bus / train / plane journey overnight, then you get to save on accommodation costs, and days aren't wasted with boring journeys.

Using the above principal, we travelled from Malaysia to Caticlan airport (via Manila), arriving with what seemed an alarming emergency stop with very little of the short runway left. Whilst the Uber expensive resort complexes on the island sent representatives to the airport in a combination of new taxis and fast speedboats, the backpackers like us ended up taking the more entertaining combination of motorcycle based tricycles, Jeepneys (WW2 american jeeps converted into taxis) and wooden "Banca" boats. All the assistants and staff were very welcoming, but everything was more than a little chaotic, with the Caticlan ferry port in particular being a seething mass of random boats, resulting in ropes wrapped around propellers and collisions made audible by the sound of cracking bamboo outriggers. Needless to say we arrived very hot and bothered.

Wooden Banca 

Jeepney "Worldwide Lover!"

Motorcycle Tricycle - many with up to 6 locals on board

Borocay is a brilliant place for a stay, so we decided to book in for three weeks, as much as anything to allow us to stay a while and unpack. I'd recommend it for any traveler, as despite being only 7km by 1km, there is a huge range of places to stay and eat. It is also possibly the ultimate in beautiful tropical islands, and although much of the development is excessive and a bit messy, there are still places which are incredibly picturesque.

The other benefit of an extended stay was to allow us to catch up some exercise. Ursh practised yoga regularly at the centre run by the "True Yoga" center. Backed up by the excellent assistance from instructors Louise and Nicole, she got back in the groove, completing advanced moves including headstand variations that I'm confident would have me in hospital were I to try and copy.

Borocay is a well known centre for Wind and Kite surfing, as at this time of year it is one of only a handful of worldwide destinations that are reliably windy. The windstats indicate that for 96% of the time, the wind reaches F4 or more for 4 hours a day.

Mike on a marginal day - it got a LOT windier than this

I have to admit to taking a while to get completely into the venue. After windsurfing in Maui, the lagoon that seems to be the only venue available was very flat and incredibly crowded, requiring some careful route choices to avoid the multiple hazards including students and instructors, downed kites everywhere and endless coconuts and windfallen bamboo. There are also rumours of raw sewage in the water, although I didn't get ill unlike some others.

I did improve a lot however, and could quickly feel some strength and fitness returning which I had lost over the past couple of months. Although the wind didn't match the stats, there were a few days that were nuclear or better, with 40Knot gusts on the water. On the windiest day, I managed to arrive too late to pick one of the 3.7sq m sails, so ended up sailing massively overpowered on a 4.5, which was hairy but great fun.

Arwin from reef riders just about holding down a 2.8sq m on a nuclear day

The kit available was Starboard boards and Severne sails, and I spent most of the time on the freestyle kit, using the "Flare" boards especially. I have used these before and really liked them - shame they are so pricey. Chris the instructor at Reef Riders was an excellent coach, and I bought a couple of lessons practising vulcan freestyle moves, which I've yet to pull off, but at least now I have an idea of what to do!

After my previous lessons kite surfing, I was keen to see if I could do more. Despite excellent tuition from Lenny and Nicos at the Ocean republic kite surfing centre, I didn't seem to get any better during the two lessons I had, which I think was probably down to being knackered from the windsurfing (a hangover on one day didn't help either!)

Other than Yoga and Windsurfing, we spent most of our time wandering around relaxing, as well as going for swims off the perfectly named white beach.

Can't take any credit for this unfortunately

Sailing Banca

Borocay is an entertainingly manic place, where you get used to the unexpected. It really pays to keep your eyes open, as there are often electrical cables hanging at head height, and there are holes in the pavements everywhere. Road safety is a completely alien concept, with the tricycles being used to transport everything from 10m lengths of bamboo to the proverbial kitchen sink

How else would you get the fridge home?

We thought without the sleep deprivation the trip back was going to be easier. We hadn't however counted on some last minute drama at Caticlan airport however, as the welders renovating the area above the departures room managed to cover the area below in sparks (which came through the gaps between the lights and the ceiling). Unsurprisingly all the westerners jumped up and rushed to the doors (locked of course), whilst the locals looked on in amusement.