Blogs from Surigao City, Philippines, Asia

We said goodbye to our luxury and headed South to Surigao City. We jumped on a bus for 5 hours to Butuan then caught another bus for 3 hours to our destination. Surigao is nothing to write home about and offers little to do, we checked into a hotel that was close to the ferry port called The Tavern. The next morning we boarded the 11am ferry to Siargao Island which promises to be backpackers paradise "we shall see". As on most ferries we have been on, there was a tv to entertain the Filipinos (usually a DVD of some American pop singers concert) disappointed this time that we didn't get to experience another 3 hour ferry with the Filipinos singing along due to the NBA championship semi final ( Filipinos are crazy about basketball) We ... read more

After an amazing month of touring the Philippines (which was no way near long enough) I was so ready to go back to Siargao to see friends and get caught up in the competition excitement.....and I wasnt disappointed. Sooooo many people were there, 9bar was packed on most nights over the nationals and internationals and it was wicked to see some of my friends surfin in the competition. I stayed with Jing and Jazz again initially, then Rhi came and after about 1 week we split and stayed in Ocean 101 (for 2days) and then Siargao Inn (WICKED!!!) for the rest of our visit. An expensive choice but we wanted a bit of privacy and as much as it was cool living in a homestay, it was a bit awkward at times. Its safe to say ... read more

Mein Empfang in Surigao war aeusserst herzlich. Mit einer Willkommensflagge wurde ich vom Hafen abgeholt und nach Sta. Cruz gefahren, wo Pater Castro eine Messe gehalten hat und mich deswegen nicht abholen konnte. Vielleicht ein kleiner Exkurs, fuer diejenigen, die nicht wissen wer Castro ist. Meine Grundschullehrerin, Maria Hubensteiner, kennt Pater Castro, seinen Chef, Vizebischof Tirso Alcala und dessen Burder Edito Alcala - dessen Job die Verwaltung der Schulen im Bezirk ist - schon laenger. Als ich noch in der Grundschule war, haben wir eine Tombola veranstaltet, deren Erloes in die Finanzierung eines Schiffsmotors fuer ein Krankenschiff auf Pater Castros alter Insel gewandert ist. Meine Familie hat in den vergangenen Jahren alle drei eingeladen und sie waren mehrfach zu Gast. Pater Castro hat uns alle vor einigen Jahren durch Rom gefuehrt, wo er einige Zeit im ... read more