Blogs from Siquijor, Philippines, Asia - page 2

Mystery, magic, and magnificent beaches are amongst the highlights of this incredible island, and as like everywhere we have been so far in the Philippines, as soon as we arrived we knew that we would love it here. Siquijor (pronounced Si-Kee-Hor) is situated between the larger islands of Negros and Bohol, and known for its natural healers and old black magic traditions with Filipino people (some of whom are even afraid to step foot on this island), although locals are sceptical about the uses of such ‘herbal’ remedies, but we loved it for its picture postcard beaches, friendly people and chilled out vibe. It was quite a journey to get here, and as we were late arriving and had not expected to come to Siquijor today, we had nowhere booked, so we quickly phoned a local ... read more

I forgot to mention in the last blog that one of our big regrets was not hanging around longer to coincide with the whale shark snorkelling tour. But don’t worry we'll be sure to get back one day to tick that one off the list. Today was Suzanne's birthday, and was probably one to forget really as the entire day revolved around travelling from one place to the next, we caught the tricycle to Moalboal and from there a non-air conditioned bus down south to Bato. We then rode the ferry across to Dumaguete. We arrived at our accommodation for the night, and it wasn't at all pleasant. Although the good news was that there was no sign at all of the damage from the typhoon, and it didn't interrupt the tourist trail and infrastructure at ... read more

On friday morning I caught a motorbike trike with 11 locals (somehow we managed to fit in the small cab) to Bantayan to catch the pump boat to Sagay on the island of Negros. The boat was due to leave at 10.30am but by the time they loaded the cargo which mainly consisted of thousands of eggs we didn't leave until after 11am. It was a pleasant 2 and a half hour trip which I passed the time by talking to a couple of locals and listening to some music. I found listening to Jack Johnson quite suitable when you are traveling in a small boat passing all these small tropical islands. Once at the port they squeezed 6 of us into a small trike to take us to the bus terminal about 10kms away. There ... read more

Our early morning flight took us to Dumaguete, an island in the Visayas area of the Philippines. From there we took a ferry 1 hour to the island of Siquijor, our destination for the next 5 days. We stayed at Islander’s Paradise, a guesthouse with bungalows that were right on the water’s edge with a perfect view of sunset. For the majority of our stay we were the only people at the guesthouse (it’s low season right now and this island is relatively untouristed)! It was perfectly relaxing and just what we needed! We spent our days sleeping in, snorkeling, swimming, reading, riding motorbikes and playing cards. We could not have asked for a better place to recharge our batteries! By the time we arrived on the first day, it was the afternoon and tide was ... read more

Nuit beaucoup plus calme que la veille et réveil très agréable en ouvrant la porte sur la plage et la mer calmes, sous un ciel bien bleu. Du coup, nous partons faire plouf dans la mer, histoire de faire un bonjour matinal à nos amis à ouïes … jusqu’à ce que, dans une vague, la cuisse de Fabienne ne rencontre un rocher plusieurs fois d’affilée. Du coup, balafre sanguinolente, de quoi attirer les requins, rapides, eux… (c’est juste pour le jeu de mots … pas de requins en vue). En parlant de requins, nous partons ensuite sur une petite moto 125 à la découverte de l’île. Et nous nous rendons compte que c’est un très bon moyen de découvrir ce genre d’endroit, où il fait beau, et où les routes sont utilisées à 95% par ... read more