Weekly #8: In love with Siquijor island
In the week of 20 - 26 February we travelled from Cebu island to the islands of Siquijor and Bohol. It quickly became clear that every island in the Philippines is unique and that island hopping is very much worth the longer travel times between the islands. This week we fell in love with the relaxed atmosphere and enthusiastic locals in Siquijor and enjoyed the diverse countryside and dreamy sunsets in Bohol. Thanks so some rainy days in Bohol, we could also slow down a little and work on some projects.
Travel day to the paradise of Siquijor island
Thursday, 20 February 2020
There is only one direct ferry connection from Cebu to Siquijor per day, leaving at 10:00 AM from the Liloan pier in the south of Cebu island, which is about 67 km away from Moalboal. To get there, we had to take a tricycle to Moalboal bus station, a bus to Bato and another tricycle from Bato to the pier.
As you never know when the bus is coming in the Philippines, nor how long the journey will take, we wanted to play it safe and planned some extra time to get to the pier. 7:00 AM sharp we arrived with a tricycle at the bus stop in Moalboal. It took about 20 minutes until the first bus in southern direction came by. Together with some French and Swedish tourists we hopped on the bus, which was already filled with locals and school kids. Tickets can be bought on the bus from the ticket vendor (€2,20 p.p). We passed by beautiful coast lines and countless palm trees before we arrived in Bato, roughly one hour later. From Bato it is only a short ride with a tricycle to the port. We made it in time and the ferry left Cebu exactly on time at 10:00 AM. The ferry was huge, has multiple decks and even a section for cars and trucks. It wasn’t the quickest option (it took 3 hours for 45 km, longer than we expected) but there was noodle soup on board (a reliable live safer on our trips so far!) and we finally had some time again to catch up on listening to podcasts.
In Siquijor we checked in in one of the best accommodations we stayed at so far (Chekesh Casa)! A stunning room with a private terrace in a lush green garden. We explored the beach nearby, had dinner at Chekesh Restaurant and didn’t do much as the journey took a little longer than expected.
Beautiful Cambugahay Waterfalls
Friday, 21 February 2020
The island of Siquijor isn’t enormous, the roads are in very good condition and there is not much traffic. Perfect conditions to rent a scooter again! After driving for about 30 minutes from our stay, we arrived at the Cambugahay Falls, the most popular waterfalls on the island. Once again, I was blown away by the beauty of the waterfalls in the Philippines. Cambugahay Falls is most famous for its tiered levels and fresh water cascades that are surrounded by lush rainforest. When we arrived just before 10:00 AM, it was still relatively quiet and I absolutely loved swimming in the refreshing clear turquoise pools. After 10:00 AM, more tourists arrived and the locals started barbecuing their chicken skewers and selling waterproof bags. These waterfalls are definitely more touristic than the ones we visited in Cebu. I want the locals to profit from tourism but it is also little sad to see that the natural beauty of such a place is so commercialized. Nevertheless, the nature is still absolutely breathtaking and well worth a visit. We found a quiet spot at the bottom of the waterfalls to enjoy the view. We headed to Coco Grove Beach Resort for lunch with a view on the beach. When we just ordered our food, we saw Daniel and Jessi from Life to Go, some of our favorite travel bloggers, walking by on the beach. We had to say hello, take a picture and we exchanged our thoughts on the Philippines and traveling in general. Thanks for your time guys, it was a pleasure to meet you! They have been traveling for 4,5 years already and they are a great source of inspiration and information for us. The rest of the day we spent chilling at the beach until the sun went down.
Empty waterfalls and empty beaches
Saturday, 22 February 2020
Just 7 minutes from our accommodation, there is another waterfall and we decided to visit the Lugnason Falls just after breakfast. Our host and a local kid already told us, that there wouldn’t be much water in the waterfall, as the locals use it to water their rice fields. I was hoping that there would still be some water to swim but that was unfortunately not the case. The natural pools were completely dry and there were just some small concrete pools that had water in them but they were not even worth a picture. A little deception but the walk down there was still beautiful! Our next stop was Solangon Beach. A beautiful stretch of white sand beach and palm trees. It really looks like paradise here and I can’t believe there is hardly anybody here! I played Tarzan with ropes hanging in the palm trees and we enjoyed a refreshing mango shake on the beach. We had lunch at the restaurant called Monkey Business, which was an amazing spot and we had some of the best food in all of South East Asia here. Later in the day we met with an Austrian couple and had dinner on the beach together with amazing Mango Coladas.
The most beautiful beach on Siquijor and lots of Italian food
Sunday, 23 February 2020
We head to Paliton beach, which is what is said to be the most beautiful beach on the island. It is indeed stunning! Fine white sand, many palm threes along the shore and clear turquoise water. We find a nice spot in the shadow and chill in the water for some time. Many local families gather at the beach to chill, have lunch and enjoy some time together. Filipino kids play around in the sand, the moms cook rice and curries in huge pans and the guys want to be on every picture. It is a great atmosphere!
I get a fresh coconut for 50 PHP (€ 0,90) and my life can’t be any better right now. Or can it? Maybe with some fresh tagliatelle? Our Austrian friends recommended an Italian restaurant just around the corner. Until now we had refused to eat Western food but we are craving Italian food so much, that we went to Dolce Amore. And what can we say? Their food made our perfect day even more perfect. It was soooo good that we made a reservation for dinner and so it happened we had Italian food twice on one day. The restaurant is run by an Italian couple and is really popular, for a good reason!
Philippine bureaucracy on the journey to Bohol island
Monday, 24 February 2020
It is the last time we enjoy waking up in our private garden on Siquijor island, with a view on the banana trees and the sound of the roosters. Our stay has been perfect here, we loved the accommodation and we loved the island. The atmosphere is just very relaxed, it is easy to get around by scooter, there are great food options, there is almost no trash, the local kids are waving and wishing us a good morning and it is overal not too touristy yet. On top of that the nature is beautiful! We can absolutely recommend Siquijor and staying in Chekesh Casa.
But it is time to move on to our next destination of Bohol! For such a short distance, it is an intense travel day again and it is the first time we get to know bureaucracy in the Philippines. First we queue 30 minutes for our ferry tickets (that were printed with the slowest printer in the world), then we queue another 10 minutes to get our seat numbers, we move on to the next queue to pay for harbour fee, we walk to the terminal building to queue to check-in our luggage until we can board the ferry. Thankfully we arrived at the harbour 2 hours before departure time and still had enough time to get our tickets, as there is only one boat from Siquijor to Bohol each day. We arrived in Tagbilaran Seaport after a bumpy journey of roughly 90 minutes. I’m so glad with my 3 packages of motion sickness pills in the Philippines, really need them here. From the harbour it is just another 30 minutes by van to get to our accommodation. After we have late lunch/early dinner, we do some computer stuff in the garden. We have to catch up on writing blogs, editing photos and planning some of our upcoming travels. I am also working on the fifth edition of ‘Mijn Berlijn’, my book about Berlin.
A working day without electricity
Tuesday, 25 February 2020
The weather is a bit unpredictable here in the Philippines and it is not uncommon to get a clear blue sky and a windy rain storm within one hour. Today is such a day. We decide to make no plans for today and to start the morning with a smoothie bowl and an iced latte for breakfast at Shaka again, the small Philipine cafe chain we already knew from Moalboal. While we enjoy our açaí bowls, we started working out our Australia itinerary and we booked some great looking Airbnb’s in Melbourne and Sydney. I am about four weeks behind with blogging and I’m trying to catch up with that. Sorting out all the photos we took takes a little more time than expected, but I love recalling all the beautiful memories we made. We had to make a break as there was an electricity fall out (common in the Philippines), so we went to town for lunch and a walk. The town where we are staying (Alona Beach) is very touristy and every 5 meters we are approached by people trying to convince us to book a tour, rent a motorbike or take a tricycle taxi. “Taxi, Mam, Sir?”, “Mam, Island Tour!”, “Good price for you, my friend!”. The good thing about it are the great options and between every 5 Western restaurants, you can find a little church, local barber shop or fruit stall. An interesting mix and it is a convenient place to stay for a couple of days.
Exploring the countryside of Bohol
Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Today is the only sunny day out of our 4 days in Bohol so we wanted to explore as much of the countryside of Bohol as possible. Just like us, most of the tourists stay around Alona Beach on Panglao island, but the main island of Bohol has a lot of stunning nature to offer as well! It is a 35 km ride and takes a little over an hour to get to the main attractions.
We made the following stops:
1) The Hanging Bridge
Not something worth riding all the way to Bohol for, but a nice break on the way to other landmarks. The hanging bridge is made of bamboo and offers some great views over the Loboc River. It is amazing to see how strong bamboo is. Even motorbikes cross these bridges!
2) Man Made Forest
The man-made mahogany forest stretches a two kilometer stretch of densely planted Mahogany trees, located in the border of Loboc and Bilar towns. Nice for a quick photo stop.
3) Tarsier Sanctuary
Bohols most famous animal is the Tarsier, the world’s smallest primate. Its size is no longer than an adult man’s hand and weigh only about 113 to 142 grams or four to five ounces. They sleep hanging in the threes with their big beautiful eyes wide open.
4) Chocolate Hills
The rounded shaped hills in Bohol are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, hence the name. The view over the hills from the view point is impressive! And can be best enjoyed with some banana chips from a local vendor. There are at least 1,260 hills but there may be as many as 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square km.
5) Loboc River
The surprise of the day! We joined a river cruise with buffet included. The food was okay-ish (still one of the best lunches we had on a tour) but the views were absolutely amazing! The green water, the green riverbanks, the waving palm threes. Absolutely worth it and it exceeded our expectations by far! There was even a live band on board. You hear local Philippines singing everywhere so that was part of the local experience.
Back in Panglao, we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets on our trip so far. The sky turned from yellow, to purple to deep blue. Picture perfect and the best end of a beautiful day and of this weekly review.
