Philippine Travel Notes

On arrival from Siquijor, I headed back to Harold’s Mansion still thinking on what else might be a good way to spend the Sunday night in Dumaguete. I couldn’t anymore head outside the city since departure time was in the morning of the following day. Sorry Antulang… sorry Valencia… sorry Zamboanguita… I will just see you in another visit. I decided to hit the pillows for at least an hour or two and see afterwards what ever might seem interesting to do. It was nearly 7PM when BBC World Report roused me from the light slumber with some news that caught my full attention. After listening to it, I started out for dinner – the venue of which was still unknown. Got out of the hotel and took a trike down to corner of Silliman Avenue and Rizal Boulevard (again). Just glanced but was not interested this time to visit the “tempura row”. Walked by the boulevard constantly glancing at various establishments across the road till I get interested in any one of them. The number of people dining a...

So we were now circling the southern part of the island going east. And the descending road from Lazi had such a lovely view of the sea. Target destination this time was Salagdoong beach on the town of Maria. Yup, I decided to omit the Cambugahay Falls on this round as I was concerned we might not make it to my boat at 4PM. And I decided on that right after leaving the St. Isidore where the street corner bears a sign that said “this way to Cambugahay Falls”. You guessed it right Jo! The church in the town of Maria was also busy with a service when we drove in. Yes, there was also a dead dude to be buried. Three churches and three funerals, so far. Golly! So we headed straight to Salagdoong which is a bit distant from town. And the way going there (1.8km off the main road) is a good concrete (but narrow road) mostly canopied by young trees. Young trees at that and the road already seems to be cutting through a forest. This should be a fantastic (but eerie) forested road a few more yea...

Driving down the Siquijor roads was actually like being at the beach – not so many people to see! We moved on and by some Barangay called Campalanas my guide stopped at the road side and pointed me in the direction of a big big tree that it almost looked like a wall feted with a lot of vines. I was told this was a very old tree that has been standing there for centuries now. So, by my request, WE went near it. I did not feel quite alright getting near it alone hehe! It looked a bit eerie in an uninhabited forest plus Charlie told me it was a Balete Tree and considered “enkantado” by the locals. The more that I got a bit apprehensive hehe. A lone foreigner (but he looked like he was a resident in this island) in a motorbike also came and made the sign of the cross before approaching the tree. I just thought, OMG, what is this place? When we got near however, something else caught my attention. The guide pointed to a small fresh-water pond just by the foot of the tree and there were a ...

As has been said in many of my notes, I am more of the beach type than for the boondocks. Thus, I got naturally attracted to the kilometers of white sand that lined this part of Siquijor. And my tour guide obliged. First, we negotiated some kind of a walk path from the highway towards the water. Whoa! There we were on a stretch of white sandy beach with no nothing but just the sand, the sea, shrubberies, grass and trees. There were even no houses or any structures. I asked Charles if the place had an owner and the ready reply was “yes, foreigner”. Ahhh! I walked on this beach for a bit of stretch until Charles told me that we had to go. I thought it was actually bye bye time to this beach, but I was wrong! Coco Grove Leaving that secluded part did not mean leaving the beach when my tour guide said let’s go. I did not realize he was to bring me to Coco Grove Beach and Dive Resort – the most affluent of Siquijor’s resorts so far. The entrance by the road side is an imposing edifice ...

On with my tour around he island! Am not sure why I expected this, but the tour did go on a counter-clockwise run. My tour-guide-cum-driver Charles (though I preferred to and was allowed to call him Charlie) started explaining and pointing things as we moved along. Now I had proof I was not wrong in picking him. As we moved on, he would ask if I wanted to see this or that and I would readily respond. It had to be this way, since I was chopping off some destinations (even if important) so that I would catch my 4PM return ferry to Dumaguete – which I have already paid for. My informal rule was, let us stick to destinations near the main road. First stop, the town of San Juan On a Sunday, this town was eerily silent. I couldn’t even hear blaring radios or TVs amongst the houses we would pass by. As is expected, the tourist (that’s me) was brought to the town center for a closer view of their famous natural swimming pool with water coming from an underground spring. They officially ca...

Once the boat neared the shores of Siquijor (town), in Siquijor (island/province), I heard cameras started clicking. Whoa, the boat must have been full with tourists. And everyone seem to be excited to get out of the boat. Low tide… the views to the left or right of the pier was of inviting white sandy beaches wider than usual. Whoa! How I wanted to dip! But I was to tour the island. Oh well! This is another long walk by the way, which is probably 300 meters or so – from the boat to the exit gate of this long concrete pier. Remember to look either way and even back. It is quite an exhilarating view from here. You can see the tips of at least four islands namely Negros (where Dumaguete is), Cebu (its southern most tip – the town of Santander), Panglao Island that actually seems to be part of the 4th island which is the main island of Bohol. Very nice views! As you walk the pier towards the exit gate, some men would already be accosting you. Don’t worry, they’re calmer and observe de...

The pontoon’s waiting area seats are cooled by a number of electric fans continuously rotating by the ceiling and there are three boarding gates but only two are generally used (one at the left and one at the right)/ While there are no public address systems to call out on your boarding, never fret, the man’s voice and your co-passengers’ actions will be unmistakable. So board with them! It’s generally the same as at airports and other boat stations. You present your boarding pass to the gate crews and you trickle in to the boat and find your seat. Yep, in here, they’re rather strict with the seat numbers, as the small craft usually gets full. Its unlike the ferries to Cavite, Corregidor, Tagbilaran, Bacolod, Iloilo or Ormoc that you could get away with sitting just about anywhere since they’re usually not full to the brim. Hey, this is Dumaguete, a highly urbanized city and you’d think the waters by its pier are murky teeming with pollution. I was wrong here, so if you’ve got a ch...