August 11th-14th: Siargao and entering China

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September 11 - Siargao Day 5 - Dia 82
Had to at least go surfing once at sunrise before leaving Siargao and thats exactly what I did today. Woke up at 5am with Evan and went to Cloud 9 just as the sun was rising. First time I have gone surfing at sunrise ?. What an incredible experience. The highlight was not catching waves but just watching the sun light up the sky  ?.
For the next part of the day we wanted to visit a famous touristy location around Siargao called Sugba Lagoon. Recognized for its clear blue waters.
Myself, Carlos, an Indian guy and a new friend named Arthur made up the group.
We first had to motorbike around an hour to reach the boat taking us to Sugba Lagoon.
With a completely exposed motor and no silencer the boats exploded to life. SOO loud! Arthur had the ingenuity to grab some newspaper and make some earplugs with it. I followed ?. Much better
The most beautiful part of the tour was the series of houses situated on the white beaches outside of the lagoon. It was incredibly beautiful. The feeling once the captain turned off the motor to peddle through the shallowest section of the ride... Utter Silence. You could only hear the adolescent men playing in the transparent water next to the beach. It was incredible. To retire and live there while not have the motorboats pass by all day would by a dream.
Once we passed this small houses we entered a channel leading us into Sugba Lagoon. A lagoon surrounded by a dense jungle of trees. ? Being dropped off in far end next to a lonely restaurant shack. We had been told it was going to to be crowded but luckily we didnt find it that way. And of course once we where dropped in the restaurant shack we spend barely any time there. Jumping in the water and swimming around the lagoon to explore and enjoy the clear and extremely warm water!
First stop was swimming to some good looking rock cliffs next to the water ? It was an overhanging wall with some big mushroom tufas. The first part of the climb was a bit dangerous since you could not fall but after maybe 2 meters of elevation you could take a safe fall into the water ?. Arthur and I gave it a try but could not make it too far, rock was SOO sharp and it became really overhang with no good holds. One of my footholds broke on the attempt so we decided to back out. Not giving up to easily we looked for another way up ? Finding another way was not too hard jajaja. Arthur gave it a try first and could not make it, having to jump into the water after maybe 3 meters. Carefully I went up and managed to make it to the top successfully. Incredible little climb. Finding a tree I jumped off from around 8 meters. Not giving up to easily Arthur gave it another go and with some huffing and puffing made it up as well ?.
With still some hours left before the boat could pick us up we decided to try and swim out of the lagoon and towards the sandy white beaches I had described earlier. They had really grabbed our attention ?
Swimming through the lagoon with complete natural silence apart from the ocassional birds chirping as they flew by. We took our time and maybe swam around 1km before reaching the channel leading out of the lagoon. Arthur and Carlos decided to not to go through the channel because the current picked up and heading back was going to be a pain. I went through. Picked up by the current I floated away and towards the shore of some manglares. Stopping there and enjoying the beautiful sound of some unseen birds. Figuring out that Arthur and Carlos were not going to come I decided to try and swim back. Getting close to the shoreline I kicked hard trying to make some ground against the current. Moving slowly I started seeing progression but not enough to get out. Fuck
Amazingly when I was struggling the hardest a small slim boat carrying around 7 Philippine locals started passing through the channel.
Taking the advantage I shouted and grabbed the boat. They didn't seem to have expected it. Readjusting myself to the back of the boat I grabbed the end and let myself by taken. Passing by Arthur and Carlos while waving goodbye as I was tugged all the way to the restaurant shack while gliding through the water. Loved it.

September 12 - Siargao Day 6 - Dia 83
Last day in Siargao before heading out to the Philippines. A super typhoon is coming so I was getting a bit nervous in being able to catch my flight tomorrow. Hopefully everything works out.
For my last day I was just planning on going surfing for the whole day. Due to the typhoon the waves where getting bigger and bigger as the day went by. At a certain point in the day they would be insurfable, at least for me. ?
Evan and I were thinking of surfing in a new place a bit farther away by boat. But once we arrived at the dock, to our surprise, they told us the waves were too small for it to be worthwhile. Confused because we though the waves were going to be big we changed plans and went for a good drip coffee overseeing the famous area of Cloud 9. ☕☕
Saying goodbye to Evan as he decided to motorbike to the north of the island and try surfing there for a couple of weeks, myself, hyped with the caffeine jumped into the water and swam towards Cloud 9 which looked prime.
Waves where much bigger then I though once I got there ?  Fot the first hour I actually mananaged to catch the biggest waves I have ever surfed. Unfortunately the size kept on growing and after a while I found myself to scared to catch anything. They were becoming monster size! At this time I just stayed aside and watched the experts do their magic. Got the opportunity of watching people go through the tunnels the waves create and exit successfully ?. The tide dragged me towards the waves and I found myself paddling for my life before the wave could crush on top of me. At one point I crossed between a surfer and the locals asked me to leave the area. With no excuses I went farther away to see the spectacle.
With low tide coming I decided to leave cloud 9 and try another area, The Cementry..thinking it was going to be more reasonable to surf there. HA was I SO wrong.
I found myself in the biggest waves I have ever seen in my life. The locals still called them small ?. I actually tried to catch a wave but after feeling its power by just bodysurfing it I decided to only watch the professionals. Here the waves came at you as a big wall stretching from both sides. It was a thrilling feeling to peddle towards the wave before it broke while managing to go over the lip and slide through its back as water got sprayed all over as if it was raining. ?? In the end it became too dangerous for my level to even be in the water. There were mostly locals surfing at this point. Deciding to retreat I walked to some shallow corals and sat on a rock to watch.

September 13 - Bye Philippines - Dia 84
A REALLY long day filled with plane rides. Took a total of 4 planes to be back in China in a city called Guiyang. I was lucky to have left the Philippines before the typhoon hit. My first flight out of Siargao kept on being delayed for bad weather and I honestly thought I was going to get stuck. But luck was on my side ?
I was back in China. Again in the country that nobody speaks English, werr traveling can be exhausting due to communication issues. Why had I jumped back in do you ask? Well I had left some world class climbing spots unexplored and I felt right now was the only chance I would get to climb them ?
First stop: Getu a small village in the middle of nowhere which has been highly commented by famous climbers as a relic for world class climbing. Especially at the famous Getu Arch. I had to see it for myself to believe them ?
Arriving at Guiyang at midnight I didn't bother in transferring myself to a Hostel to sleep. I just found a bench in the luggage pickup room and fell to sleep.

September 14th
I accidently deleted this days blog ?. Ahh and it was such a good one.
Quick summary: Arrived to getu after many buses, found out that the main arch which I wanted to climb is temporarily closed to the public ? due to construction. SOO much sad construction going on in the small village of Getu. It's going to change a lot. I finished the day by hiking to the Arch to at least see its greatness.. Seeing the arch made me feel warm inside. It's soooo massive! Never seen a stone arch with that magnitude before. Did not find a single soul to climb with around Getu Village

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