Fresh off the boat, all I wanted to do was nothing.  I checked into my room soaking wet from the weird rain between Cebu and Malapascua, changed, grabbed Shantaram (which is awesome, by the way), my towel, and headed out to the beach.

About ten minutes later it started raining.  I just brought the rain with me everywhere I went.  I went to my default activity, coffee.  And then I read about 150 pages of my book.  Solid first day.

Everyone said you could walk around Malapascua, not entirely around the edge, but most of it.  On my last full day I set out with my dear new friend and we started the trek, staring at the ground, searching for seashells.

My first full day my back got horribly sunburned and I’m cringing just thinking about how gross it was.  Wear sunscreen!  So after maybe 20 minutes walking, I had to put my scarf around my shoulders because yuck.  I won’t even get into it.  WEAR SUNSCREEN!  (Update 2020:  I still shiver in a horrible, grossed out way when I think about this sunburn and the peeling it caused.  I just did it again as I wrote that.)

We were able to walk along the beach a bit, go around some rocks to another beach, then had to venture inland, where we finished the journey.  Most of the beaches were small, Bounty Beach aside, and had the pristine white sand everyone dreams of.  Before I was even on my way home I already missed it.

Side note: if you decide to walk around the island, bring water.  And wear sunscreen!

I really enjoyed Malapascua, even though I’m not a diver.  I spent a week there, which was good for me.  I spent most of my time reading and drinking mango juice and coffee.  What more did I really need?  This is how I spent most of my time in the Philippines, actually.

Have you been to Malapascua?  What did you think of it?  Do you want to go?  Which picture is your favorite?