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Published: February 2nd 2009
Cloud 9 Cottages
our room was on the upper rightSo, it's time to play catch up! No excuses this time as to why we haven't written in months (literally!)-we've just been too busy travelling, that's all. We arrived in the Philippines December 14th, so we've been here about 7 weeks and have one more to go-the longest we've been in any country on our trip yet! Our original plan was to fly to Borneo the 22nd of January, but the Philippines has been so amazing and there are so many things to see that we extended our visa and changed our flights for Feb 7th.
The first 36 hours or so of travelling were a good insight into the travel ordeals we've dealt with the rest of our time here. Our plane left Kuala Lumpur over an hour late, got into Manila at dawn, left Manila late, and got into Cebu (in the Visayas) mid-morning. Our plan had been to hop on a ferry from Cebu to Surigao, but the next ferry wasn't leaving for two days and then it would take a full day to get there. So we started checking into flights. The flight to Surigao that day had already left and the one the next day
was outrageously expensive (surprising considering the flights here are dirt cheap!). So we found the next closest city-Butuan, and booked a flight there later that day. Upon arriving in Butuan we took a 3 hour bus ride to Surigao (one of the most gorgeous drives imaginable) and got into Surigao just at darkness. For the first time on our trip we felt genuinely creeped out by this city, which was scary considering it was our first taste of the Philippines. We must have been the only white people in the entire city and as we walked down the streets we could feel everyone's eyes following us. Our attempt to find dinner, which was desperately needed after 24 hours in airports, was unsucessful. So we quickly grabbed some fruit and retreated to our miniscule room in the shabbiest pension house we've ever seen. Luckily, things are always brighter the next morning and we easily found our way down to the port and onto the next ferry to Siargao-our final destination! (And every other city we've visited in this country since has been fantastic, welcoming and friendly!)
We spent our first week in the Philippines on the island of Siargao, which
is known for the famous Cloud-9 surf break. There is an annual world class surf competiton held here every year in October. We, however, hit it on the off season and the place was dead, which was perfect for a relaxing, low-key week. We randomly stumbled upon the Cloud-9 Cottages guesthouse, which had just re-opened for buisness the week before and was an absolute gem! We had views from our balcony of the Cloud-9 surf break (which due to stormy weather and it being the wrong time of year didn't actually resemble much of a wave, but was more just a 10-foot wall of whitewash barelling towards shore). The staff were so friendly and by the end of the week they felt like family! The owner, Anthony, shared beers, played pool and gave us travel tips for the rest of our trip. The Filipina girls who worked there cooked us fresh mahi-mahi for lunch and dinners, served family-style with all we could eat rice and salad.
My stepdad, Michael, joined us shortly after we arrived, and the focus of the week became SURFING!!! In actuality, the waves weren't that good because of the conditions (off season, windy and rainy),
Habal-Habal
the name of this type of motorbike, a habal-habal, translates to "pigs copulating" for obvious reasons as one can see from this picture... but we went out searching two days and they found some rideable waves and had a blast nonetheless. While the waves were pretty blown out, the setting was absolutely gorgeous. Not much can beat surfing in 80 degree water with beautiful corals beneath you and a palm tree-lined deserted beach in the distance. We also met some interesting characters on our surfing adventures (boating/sunbathing/snorkelling adventures for me). Our first day we went out with a Filipino surf-guide, Jing, and a bunch of his buddies (who tended to hog the waves). The favorite spot of the day was G-1/Paradise (noone could seem to agree on the name), with small, clean, consistent waves. Another day we went out with a slightly cooky American ex-pat living on Siargao with his Filipina wife and his boat captain. After a short surf-session, he took us out to Daku island, just offshore of Siargao to see a property he bought and is preparing to build a house on. The views were incredible, and he had his own personal surf break right out front.
The week was a great introduction to the Philippines. It was a pretty out of the way, un-touristy place, with a very
Cloud 9
The hut where they judge the surf competition from friendly, small-town feel. We took our first ride on a habal-habal (a motorbike with an extended seat which is meant to hold more than the 2 people that an average bike holds) and had ourselves laughing hysterically at the hilarity of being 4-deep on a motorbike, plus a surfboard, bodyboard and backpack. The roads flooded frequently and we ended up on various walks wading knee-deep through mud puddles and catching rides on the back of a truck. We had dinner at the Flying Fox restaurant and met the eccentric German-owner who hunted for treasure with Mel Fisher (who according to Victor, the owner, was a "real American red-neck"-said with an extremeley German accent!).
After 7 days there we still weren't ready to leave, but it was time to make our way over to Dumaguete for Christmas. We made our way back to Surigao City-still a creepy place even in the daylight-and then caught our first, of many, overnight ferry to Cebu.
For more info on visiting and surfing in Siargao, visit Surf Cloud Nine Siargo:
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Chloe
non-member comment
Dear Webmaster, My name is Chloe and I'd like to know if it is possible to do a link exchange with your site. Your link would be posted on our site: http://cloudninesurf.com/ If you are interested in some “link love,” please add my link on your website and send me an email to confirm - I will then do the same. Here’s our link details : URL: http://cloudninesurf.com/ Link text: Surf Cloud Nine Siargao Description: Cloud Nine Surf, Siargao Island, Philippines If you could also add us on facebook: http://cloudninesurf.com Thanks! Chloe