Boracay Hills Hotel and Resort

Boracay Hills is where all the magic happened. A few months before we flew to the Philippines, Krista was scouring the internet for a good place to stay on Boracay Island. She emailed dozens of places and finally came across Boracay Hills. It was going to be the rainy season so we wanted to make sure there was a pool there just incase the weather was absolutely terrible for the duration of the trip. As it turns out, this place had the pool we needed for the first day and a half of rain! It was also great to have coffee by the pool every morning and a few beer there in the mid afternoon and evening.. and then there is the late dip before going to bed way past midnight.

Here is an what their website says about themselves:

This haven in the heart of Boracay provides the perfect location for a restful, relaxing and indulgent vacation.

The former home of the Swiss Ambassador to the Philippines has been lovingly re-born as a first class resort by the Clayton-Atanacio family who own and manage the hotel.

The Boracay Hills motto is "you may arrive as strangers but you will leave as friends". The managing family welcome guests as if into their own home and continue to provide the highest level of service and quality.

Boracay Hills is a small ten room resort, set in beautiful tropical gardens in the sleepy hamlet of Bantud. Its location away from the main hustle of Boracay ensures a quiet and peaceful retreat.

The resort has everything you need to never leave, but for those that do the complimentary shuttle service will have you on the famous white beach in a matter of minutes.

You can check out the website here or search Facebook for the group Boracay Hills Resort Vacationers.

Five of us split the cost of the hotel so it ended up being a pretty good price for the experience we all had. We enjoyed a table for 5 outside on the main floor that we used for breakfast, dinner and hanging out.

This is of the main house, we had the entire 2nd floor with the terrace.



This is the guest house with a few more rooms. Behind the guest house is another two-level complex with more rooms.



The master bedroom.



The 2nd bedroom - two single beds and one double.



Master bedroom.



Sink and shower.



Pool view from the upper terrace.



Another poolside view.



Krista chillin' out on the terrace.



This place was absolutely wonderful and the staff were amazing! We were able to get anything and everything we wanted. Room service, late night dinners, in room massages, manicures and pedicures. We had emailed Janes, the manager, numerous times before we arrived. She was so accommodating to everything we asked!

They also had a van that would take us in to D'Mall / White Beach anytime we needed. To get back to the hotel we took a tricycle (or tuk tuk in Thailand) back to the hotel for about 20 pesos per person ($.50).

One night a BBQ was organized with everyone staying at Boracay Hills, we invited all the staff as well for the drinks and dinner.













This was one of the best vacations ever! We would definitely stay here again and recommend anyone thinking about Boracay Island to give this place a try even for a few nights! Mention Jon and Krista next time you book with them!

Thanks again to everyone at Boracay Hills!!

Geomundo / Baekdo Trip

We originally had this trip booked for May 9th-May 12th, but due to weather in the south part of the country, the trip was cancelled.  It was rescheduled for June 5th-8th and as it turned out, the weather was absolutely perfect.

We booked through Adventure Korea www.adventurekorea.com - they have great tours for anyone that has a bit of time in Korea.  This includes trips to Temple Stays, trips to Jeju Island, Rafting trips (we are going June 29th!), trips to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone between North/South Korea and even trips to North Korea.  If you're visiting Korea, we highly recommend you check them out.  Their prices are pretty good too.

A group shot.

Geomundo (pronounced gaw-moon-doh) and Baekdo islands are located to the far South of the Korean peninsula, between Mainland and Jeju island.

The islands are famous in Korea for their breathtaking scenery and friendly people. Not many foreigners ever get the chance to visit this part of the country.

Geomundo Island is a 2 hour ferry ride from Yeosu city on the south coast of the peninsula and is a place where all Koreans want to visit in their lifetime. It is an island swamped in beauty and history, and it has a rugged, rocky coastline. 

We got to go swimming at the nearby beach as well, as a four hour trek with stunning views. 

We  also took a 3 hour ferry ride around Baekdo island (meaning 100 islands). The small islands come in a variety of strange shapes, the trip was very facsinating and scenic. The surroundings were very unique.

Near the end of the trip we also got to tour parts of the south of the mainland including Naganeupsung (folk village where people still live).  All in all, it turned out to be a wonderful trip.

This picture was taken on the ferry from the mainland to Geomundo.  Thankfully the clouds soon dispersed and we had amazing weather!

This was taken at the Geomundo wharf looking across to the other side of the island.

This is the bridge that connects each part of Geomundo.  We had to cross the bridge to get to the beach.

Squid boats that are taken out very late at night, they need the lights to attract the squid.

An alley way inside the town of Geomundo. 

Here you can see the bridge again and other parts of the island.

Another shot from the mainland looking towards various islands.

Near the beach of Geomundo.

This marks the start of our ferry around around the Baekdo Islands.  There was a tour guide on the ferry speaking to all the guests aboard telling the story about the different islands and their names.  However, the tour was in Korean... so at this point we couldn't tell you anything more than what the pictures can say for themselves... except that the views were stunning and the colour of the water was absolutely amazing.. enjoy!

Drinkin' the Hiteaaaahhh, feelin' alrightaaahhh... every nightaaah.. (more on this in another post later..:)

This was the view from the beach.

Although the water was fairly cold on this day, it was still very clear and refreshing.

A great shot of all the clam diggers bent over mooning us :) (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them).

On the second day of our trip we went on a 4 hour trek.  It was suppose to be an easy walk, but at times it was very scary especially with the large bees swarming the path! 

We did however spend a lot of time enjoying the scenic views of the South Sea.

As you can see, a group of us climbed a mountain peak in order to partake in some very stunning views.  You can also see the lighthouse which we hiked to afterwards as well (click on the picture to enlarge). When we saw our fellow trekkers on the rock we knew we had to go there as well, so we ditched our bag, but not that camera and headed for the rock!

The water was so blue!

There is Krista enjoying the fresh air off the water, and a bit scared to fall off!

Can you see where we left our bag with the other trekkers, who wouldn't climb the rock?

It was well worth it and not that scary of a climb up, the way down was much harder!

The beautiful Geomundo Lighthouse, built in 1905. Many of Korea's first lighthouses were built

at the behest of Japan.

And I threw in a night shot just for fun... (I'm still trying to learn how to use my new Canon DSLR camera :).

We will have more pics of our trip with Adventure Korea, stay tuned...............