Blogs from Dumaguete, Negros, Philippines, Asia

Following on from MoalBoal our next scheduled destination was a few days away for Xmas. To fill in the time I planned a side trip down to an island called Siquijor. I had read that it had some of the best snorkelling around the area. To get there was a bit of a mission. Step 1. Take a tricycle to the main road. These tricycles are a smallish bike, our first one was a Honda 125, with a side car which could squeeze 4 people in so just enough room for Shelley and I. Step 2. Catch a bus to a bus station close to the port at the south of the island. Our first bus journey the previous day was a disaster. We had chosen seats at the front which I physically couldn’t fit in ... read more

Day 1: To be honest I thought the APO Island Tour package was too pricey. We basically paid 2200/each for a 45ish minutes boat ride and for the snorkelling gears. We had to separately pay for our lunch too. There's really not much of competition around since there were no commuter boats, one would have to hire a private boat anyhow. Now on the brighter side...it felt totally amazing swimming with huge sea turtles! They were feeding on dead corals (algae) and seaweeds and seemed pretty used to swimming along with people. They won't budge unless you invade their space. I wasn't expecting they'd really be huge and plenty. We saw groups of them, it was a great snorkel experience. Just a shame some of the tourists kept holding them, the guides had to constantly remind ... read more

We opted for Harold’s again on our return to Dumaguete and instantly fell in love with the huge air con room we were allocated (P800). It was a real treat to have wardrobes, a massive window and air con for less than we were paying in Siquijor.. ok it didn’t have the beach views but we were still happy! It’s the little things that matter! First on the list was trying to find someone to help with Dale’s camera. We didn’t really want to take it to a random electronic repair place so headed over to Robinson’s Mall in the hope that someone in a shiny shop might be our saviour, and they were! We were checking out prices in the first place we came to - we didn’t want to fork out for a new ... read more

Samstag, 24. März 2012 Nach einer nicht sehr erholsamen Nacht wurden wir um 07:30 überflüssigerweise vom Wecker ermahnt, aufzustehen. Um 08:00 wurden wir von Jimmy Boyd abgeholt. Jimmy ist nebst den zahlreichen Bordellen in Angeles so ziemlich alles, was von der 1991 aufgegebenen Basis der US Air Force in Clark noch übrig geblieben ist. Er ist ehemaliger Starfighter-Pilot und durch und durch Amerikaner. Wir schätzten ihn auf ca. achtzig Lenzen, er war aber immer noch rüstig und mit einem imposanten Schnauzer ausgestattet. Mit seinem schwarzen Willys-Jeep fuhr er uns uns und unser Gepäck in gemächlichem Tempo zur Airbase, wo er letzteres durch ein simples „Howdy; got some bags back there!“ problemlos an der Security vorbei brachte. Beim Hangar angekommen, zog er seine Flugzeug trotz seines Alters problemlos von Hand aus dem Hangar. Die Ryan Navionair ist ... read more

We got up at 4:45 which was really early for us, but we had to catch the ferry at 6. We were lucky to get a room at Harolds Mansion which is a very popular backpacker place there. We had to pay 500 pesos for a room, which included breakfast and 30 minutes of internet a day. We had some breakfast and packed out. After this we went to CENTROP ZOO. Here we were lucky to meet a guide - it was his day off, so he showed us around for free, I guess he didn't have anything to do. We only payed 10 pesos at the entrance. He was very proud of his job, he was in charge of the worms and rats which they used for feeding the animals, so he was breeding them ... read more