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Published: March 19th 2009
Howdy again folks! Well, it's down to the final leg of my trip! Have had such an awesome time since my last update! I haven't done as much much biking as I thought because I found some really cool places and people to hang out in/with! I stayed at Driftwood resort on Sugar Beach in Sipalay(southwest coast of Negros) which is owned by a Swiis guy named Peter and his Filipina wife Daisy. It was by far the best lodging I've ever stayed at! The nipa huts were cool and there is a great layout with hammocks etc on the beach and a great little bar with pool table and foosball(sp?)and restaurant etc. Just a great place to chill on the beach, read a book, and if you're feeling energetic go snorkelling(there's a cool wreck that you can snorkel) or hiking to waterfalls etc. What really made the place is the staff though! Four of Daisy's sisters work there(Dina,Divine,Dorothy) as well 4 other girls and they were all AMAZING! Driftwood has a capacity of 30 guests or so(with new people coming and going daily) and the girls ALWAYS know EVERY guest's name and are just super friendly and happy-always smiling and laughing! I stayed a couple of extra days just because of them....when you leave you're sad to leave..it's like a big family! I am now officially addicted to Buko(young coconut) shakes as well! Anyway, after a sad departure where all the girls turned up early in the a.m on the beach to see me off at the boat(even Divine and Babe who had worked til 3a.m in the bar and got up not because it's their job but because they wanted to) I took a bus up to Bacolod so as not to repeat some previous riding and to save my saddle time for the north of Negros and Guimaras island. I biked across the island from Bacolod to San Carlos and then back across to Bacolod again but via Kanlaon and La Carlota. Some stunning riding with a mixture of sugar cane fields down low and then rice paddies and some serious hill climbing to get over the mountains and some stellar views of the coast before some wicked fast downhills!! After that, I headed to Iloilo on Panay island and hooked up Pol and the boys from Unibike shop and again stayed longer than planned-lol! I did a day of biking around Guimaras(it's a short 15min. boat ride...12pesos for me, 10 for the bike-for a total of about 75cents Cdn) on the roads stopping to check out the mango plantations and sample the four different types they have as well as eating lots of mango ice candy(basically freezies made with fresh mango!). After realizing that there was really fun trailriding to be had I fitted my bike up with a suspension fork, new wide bars and grips and some exc. off-road tires! I then went out for an all day adventure with Pol and a couple of the areas fastest xc riders doing about 50km-so awesome! Some good technical riding and beautiful views! We had so much fun that I decided to stick around for a large group Sunday ride with the local club members. Had a rest day to tune up the bike a little and then 18 of us headed out and did another 50+km day of trailriding! Great bunch of people-had a blast! I mailed home my old fork, my new tires etc. as well as my tent and a bunch of other excess weight so I'm travelling MUCH lighter now! Since my time was running short I again took a bus instead of riding to a place called Caticlan and then a ferry to Boracay island(15mins)to ensure that I'd have enough time to cycle to Manila. Surprise, surprise I again met up with some AWESOME people here in Boracay(I'm here now) and a one day stay has turned into 3! I've been hanging out with the awesome staff at Japuno restaurant. We chill at the restaurant and when some staff are off we do stuff together during the day and then after midnight when everybody is off we dance and party ALL night! Slept on the beach two nights in a row(only for an hour or so after 5a.m-lol!). One of the nights my new friends convinced me to enter a beer chugging contest in a local bar(Cocomangas) where the fastest to chug 3 bottles of San Miguel pilsen(decent beer!) wins, and go figure-I won!! I got a nice San Miguel golf shirt and even better we got 24 beers so we drank for free all night! I achieved something of a celebrity status by beating out the locals-lol! I had Korean tourists wanting to dance and take pics with me and then random people like trike drivers the next days congratulating me! Even though Boracay is a massive beach strip of resorts, bars and restaurants that I really wasn't expecting to like, I really have had a good time here...it's pretty tastefully done and of course it's about the people you meet too. The sand is like fine white powder and it has the sterotypical leaning palms everywhere. Seeing all the beautiful Filipina women everywhere isn't hard to take either-haha! I've been trying to leave for two days now...we'll see if I'm successful-lol! I really feel like I'm leaving family behind here too! The Phillipines has been awesome! This will probably be my last entry as I'll be in Manila soon, so thanks for tuning in folks! Some pics to follow! Til next year!
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jules
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Man, did you really chug all 24 bottles. Wish I could go there someday. I'm Filipino living here in LA and I envy guys who get to travel to different places. Cool blog. Keep it coming.