Boracay, Philippines Day 5 - Crafty's Rooftop Bar, Bite Club, Mount Luho, Illig Illigan Beach, Spider House at Diniwid Beach, Wahine, Exit Bar, Kolai Mangyan

This was our last day in Boracay and we wanted to make the most out of it. We started off the day bright and early by making a trip to Southwestern Tours to book our return boat and bus ride to Kalibo Airport the next day. Then we walked over to Crafty's Rooftop Bar which was highly recommended by Stef's dive instructor. It was a lovely bar situated on the rooftop of the Crafty's Department Store (this green building) and offered a fantastic view of both the White Beach on one side and the Bulabog Beach on the other. I ordered the San Miguel apple which tasted a lot like apple cider!

We sat at Crafty's Rooftop Bar for about an hour, writing stuff and drinking our beers. Stef was writing her postcards while I was trying to pen down my thoughts in my travel journal. As much as I love going about exploring new places and experiencing new things, I do enjoy the little moments when we sit down at some nice little place, order a drink, and start writing together in silence. We sip our booze, exchange a few words occasionally, enjoy the light breeze and the perfect scenery. It was therapeutic. 

We left when it was about lunchtime to grab a bite at D'Mall which was within walking distance. We decided to have burgers at Bite Club. The burger was good and the potato wedges were hot and crispy but it was the wrong choice of food for the weather. We felt so hot and heaty after finishing the burgers and the large basket of wedges!

We wanted to go to a couple of places next and wanted to secure a trike that was willing to take us to all these places at a reasonable price. After some bargaining, we decided to hop on a trike which agreed to take us to the post office (to post our postcards), Mount Luho, Illig Illigan Beach, and finally Spider House at Diniwid Beach for P700.

The ride to Mount Luho was interesting. It took us through the non-touristy part of Boracay where the locals lived in small simple houses. The trike took us to the entrance of the Mount Luho View Point where we paid an entrance fee of P120 each and climbed a flight of stone steps to reach the View Point. The view from the top of Mount Luho was amazing. We could see the whole Boracay surrounded by clear blue waters and mountains in the distance. 

It was really hot and sunny at the Mount Luho View Point and we definitely did not last long. After awhile, we returned back to the trike and asked the driver to take us to Illig Illigan Beach. We stopped by a small convenience store along the way to grab snacks and beers for our time on the beach. Illig Illigan Beach is everything White Beach is not. It is quiet, serene, and isolated. We saw no tourists at all and only a couple of locals who came over to chat with us when we were about to leave. There is something just so calming about sitting down on the white powdery sand, drinking beers, eating crisps and talking about nothing at all. After a while, we decided to go for a swim and waded into the clear blue waters and explored the rocks. The water was amazing cold on such a hot day. 

We were at Illig Illigan Beach for almost an hour and when it was almost evening, we hopped on the trike which took us to Spider House along Diniwid Beach. This beach is connected to Station 1 of White Beach and you just have to walk around a bunch of large rocks to reach Punta Rosa (which is the start of Station 1). If you intend to catch the sunset at Spider House, be sure to come here at about 4 pm to 5 pm to grab the tables facing the sunset. We reached around 530 pm and of course the good spots were all taken by then. But lo and behold, we spotted the people we sailed with yesterday sitting right there at the best seat in the house! So we bought our drinks, went over, settled down and had a great chat while watching the splendid sunset. 

If you are feeling adventurous, there is a wooden ladder that leads right into the sea and you can swim out to the floating platform (which you can see in the picture below). We felt adventurous only at night after the sun had set and the energy was seeping out of Spider House. So we climbed down the ladder and swam out to the floating platform. The water was cold and chilly, but laying down on the floating platform in the dark, looking up at a sky full of twinkling stars, feeling cold outside but extremely warm within, I felt happy. Or rather, I should say I felt contended. It was a beautiful moment, just me being there at that point in time. It is an inexplicable feeling but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

That moment slipped away when I decided to swim back to Spider House and... got stung by a jelly fish. Now this was the very first time I was stung by a jelly fish and I did not even realise I was stung. I just felt a sharp pain on my thigh and an incredible itch. Then my skin started to swell with little lumps forming one straight line on my thigh. Stef promptly diagnosed that it was a potential jelly fish sting and told me to wash it with vinegar. I was a bit disoriented by then because the itch was just so bad and I had to resist the urge to scratch because the wound hurt. I followed Stef to Wahine which was a beach restaurant beside Spider House. We settled down for dinner on bean bags along the beach and I asked for a cup of vinegar immediately. While I fussed around my stupid jellyfish sting, Stef helped to order pad thai and butter prawns. The food was delicious but I was so distracted by the itch that I could not enjoy the food properly :( I do remember that the prawns were really very fresh though. 

After our dinner, we took the relaxing stroll around the rocks back to Station 1 of the White Beach. While the path around the rocks was generally lit with small bulbs along the way, there were parts which were completely dark and Stef had to use the torch light in her phone to lead the way. It was very windy and cooling on the way back and before we know it, we are back at Punta Rosa. 

We took a quick shower before heading over to Exit Bar to meet Sarah and Rob. Exit Bar is popular with foreigners and it was packed when we reached. Thankfully Sarah and Rob secured a table at the front and we joined them for drinks. Drinks were cheap at Exit Bar so if you would like a place where you could meet new friends and have a drink, drop by Exit Bar. We had a nice chat with Sarah and Rob who were such awesome local hosts. As the night went on, Exit Bar became steadily more crowded and it felt like everyone here knew everybody else even though they were all foreigners. 

We left when we were hungry and found Kolai Mangyan along the road. It was a simple local deli filled with only locals and we decided that we just had to try this. We ordered a plate of fried noodles and slurped it up while listening to fantastic songs from the 1990s. 

It was a perfect end to an awesome trip! Boracay was beautiful and incredibly fun. Of course, a large part of the fun came from travelling together with Stef. Thank you for being the brave one, the one with the great sense of direction, the one who knows how to cure a jellyfish sting, the friendly one with strangers, the one who bears with my quirks, and of course, the one who runs along with me, and the one who wishes to see and experience the same things as I do. To many more trips in future!

For my posts on Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4!