After ten days on the island, I began to notice that my routine was becoming monotonous. I usually start by getting some breakfast and then having a cup of coffee at a beachfront café. The rest of the day is spent working until lunch, finding a cheap place to eat, working again, and finishing the day by watching the magnificent Boracay sunset — with occasional dips in the sea thrown in for good measure.
One morning, I decided to rent a bicycle and explore the island's biking routes, particularly those located within the NewCoast township and leading to the Instagrammable Boracay Keyhole.
I woke up at my usual waking time of 5:30 am and by 6:15 a.m., I was in front of a bike rental shop near D-Mall. The female employee had just finished opening the shop and greeted me for being the first customer. I rented a mountain bike for 400 pesos for four hours, with the option to extend for an additional 100 pesos per hour.
By 6:30, I was off pedaling. Neither a Boracay loop nor pedaling many kilometers is on my agenda. I much rather take a leisurely ride and see the sights, perhaps stopping for a swim along the way. After thirty minutes, I arrived at the Boracay Keyhole. In the mornings, the place usually has a modest but lively crowd of people. As it turned out, I was the only one there that morning.
The wind was strong enough that I could hear it whistling. I sat on a chair from a weekend pop-up café set up by Belmont Hotel to enjoy the ocean breeze brushing my face even more.
Because it was a Saturday morning, a staff member from Belmont Hotel arrived a few minutes later and began setting up the pop-up café. I ordered a donut and a cup of fresh brewed coffee. Soon after, two tourist vans arrived, shattering my illusion of having the place to myself. After spending a blissful half an hour staring at the rock-formed keyhole, I didn't mind getting up and moving on with my day.
Morning
Coffee, Donut and Dip
Having stayed at Belmont several days earlier, I am already familiar with its beachfront shore that spans wide and almost deserted. True to form, I found myself alone on a long stretch of powdery white sand bordered by turquoise waters. I swear, I could go full monty to swim and nobody would notice. However, boxer shorts is as far as I can go.
I parked my bike near a plant box and hurriedly stripped down to my under boxers and dashed off to the water. I found it soothingly refreshing because I had avoided swimming on the beach for several days after transferring to Henann Crystal Sands in Station 2.
Concerned about my 4-hour bike rental, I intended to stay in the water for another 45 minutes, giving me another couple of hours to explore the island on two wheels. "Hell, I can extend and spend another 100 pesos," I told myself to keep myself from worrying too much. I then swam away my worries and temporarily forgot about time.
About an hour and a quarter later, I was still in the thick of practicing my stroke and prolonging my breath hold underwater. A few other people started arriving. After drying up under the sun, I rode my bike again and off I pedaled to my next stop.
Rejuvenated by my morning swim, I went a bit faster than 18kph and arrived at Puka Beach in under 20 minutes. The place was a little crowded as compared to when I first went here in 2016. I only spent a few minutes as I was getting hungry.
The biking path from Puka Beach is a couple of kilometers of moderate uphill. Soon after, my legs, which had already been battered by the uphill roads of NewCoast, tightened up, forcing me to struggle all the way back to D-Mall.
I returned at well almost 1:00 p.m., more than two hours after the end of my four-hour bike rental. I asked the lady staff how much I would be charged for the overtime. "It's okay, you don't have to pay anything, I'll just write it in as half-day rental (4 hours)," she tells me in Tagalog.
I thanked her profusely as I made my way back to my hotel. However, before I could shower and change to dry clothes, I figured I must satisfy my hunger first and off I walked towards Pares Hilton for some good ole Pinoy-style beef stew.
