.....grabbed a trike for the 10 min ride down the road from Oslob to the ferry port. With only 8 min to catch the departure time...our driver says no problem.....
.....needless to say, we zoomed along...Shayne sat in the back seat facing the rear...road roared along, at times felt like sitting backwards at the rear of a roller coaster... Yvonne kept yelling when a corner or bump was coming as they raced down the street...take a picture she says..."No way! I'm literally hanging on for dear life with my pack on my lap!"
...arrived at the ferry port in one piece, find the ferry would now be leaving at noon... So, racing like madmen on a trike with Shayne hanging on for dear life was not necessary after all!!
...noon arrived, we board, got settled, then...all passengers told to get off and get to another port...several minutes away up the coast...to another ferry...why?...who knows?
...so, off we go again, in a crowded trike loaded with 9 people and get to the next ferry...
We cross the stormy channel to Dumaguete and race (again) to book a 2 pm sailing for Siquijor... however, bad weather has cancelled all sailings until 6 pm...yep, just another road/water? day in the Philippines...
...after food, beer, finding a working ATM and hanging out with 2 other Canadian travelers, along with a Scots/South African fellow living on Siquijor, we all depart the dock at about 6:30 pm for the 90+min crossing...
...the crowded 3 level ferry plows along through the heavy, rolling seas and black night... People try to sleep, watch crackling, staticky TV and some don't fair too well, getting sick over the edge. We're lucky and do fine!
...we land on the opposite side from San Juan on Siquijor and still face an approx one hr ride to where we wanted to be.....
..... Thank goodness for new friends who have a van to transport us the hour down a lonely road... (We always try to arrive at a new destination before dark but this one could not be helped.)
...finally, after walking along a dark, coastal beach resort area and knocking on resort doors, we finally, we say finally, find a room for the night....that was a long day....up at 5 am to dive with whale sharks and now 10 pm settled, after the misadventures of delays!
The Island of Siquijor...
...after canyoning, sardine schools, cockfights and scuba with whale sharks, we look to spend several quiet days checking out beaches & water on the island that many locals claim is filled with spirits and demons. Many Filipinos refuse to even come to the island...
...we have moved on to some great digs - found these stand alone cottages, fully complete, quiet, clean, safe, with a 30 sec beach walk for $1000 pesos/night.....even the roosters are far away....
Shoreline scenery is gorgeous, unfortunately not suitable for swimming in front of our place as it is merely a mud flat where fishermen moor their boats.
Makes for magnificent sunsets though...
...we think we might rent scooters, so Shayne tries out one... within seconds, his erratic driving manages to take out the ONLY water source/pipe for a local Siquijor beach resort. ....while the bike is fine and Shayne's calf burn will heal nicely...the resort is not too happy, to put it mildly..."You must pay!" they say. "5000 pesos! Now!". We say that we will pay when we see the receipt. Maybe the spirits and demons are doing their work on us?!
...fearing jail time or worse??? We flee to a beach and will return later when things are calm to deal with the broken water main...find the bill owing is only a $1000 peso (abt $30 Can)...not a bad price for freedom! Glad we didn't pay in the heat of the moment! Thank you spirits for being on our side!
We spend several days snorkeling at an underwater preserve located at the Coco Grove Beach Resort...water clear, fish plenty, beers cold....
...soon it's time to leave Siquijor and head for the big island of Bohol....we hop on a fast ferry and arrive approx 3 hrs later in Tagbilaran, Bohol...hop on a trike and head to the rowdy, resort area of Alona Beach.
This is a party place several years behind Boracay...the beach OK......with fine white sand, beautiful sculptures, many bars and restaurants and lots of bangkas (boats) off shore.
We have to move 3x in 3 nights...2 nights as the rooms are booked the next night and 1x as the room is so crappy. The little joys of travel. However, we do have some good seafood meals on the beach!
We leave Alona Beach and head for the hills...the 'famous' Chocolate Hills of Bohol...however, the day we go it is monsooning down...the hills are rather green, wet and covered in mist....the rice fields seen everywhere in this area seem to glow in the rain.
Drying rice in front of their house...
Along the way to the famous bumps, we stop at several roadside attractions...
The world renowned python zoo...OK, the original Big Guy is long dead; now stuffed and mounted for display...his next in line will have to do for Shayne to hoist!
Then a short drive later we stop to visit the cuter than pie little guys, the tarsiers...several are huddled under leaves trying to stay dry...they seem to be the inspiration for the Ewoks, Yoda, or ET...you decide? These little guys are the size of your fist and are the smallest primate. Huh!
We pass on the butterfly exhibit, as we hear they are dead or sleeping in the wet weather. ha-ha!
Finally, we arrive at Bohol's main attraction... The Chocolate Hills....as you can see...not really that awe inspiring....in this weather!
On the road back to the river town of Loboc, where we will stay a night...we stop to cross the creaky, shakey bamboo bridge...
The bridges located over the Loboc River sit about 10 slippery, wet metres above the river...
Arrive in Loboc at the end of a rather hectic and pointless sightseeing day and hop on a river cruise up the Loboc... Nice jungle tour....feels like a journey through Apocalypse Now - minus the explosions..might need the hallucinogens to get through this...
Pass many sights....
Has a Disneyesque quality when we stop at Loboc's local Little River Ukulele Band..
Rock on... in honor of Don Ho...though kind of wierd
Eventually, we check into our river side digs, just a short walk from Loboc.
The Stefanie Grace Paradise Inn is located on a great spot of the river...right at water's edge it's a good place to watch the busy traffic go by...
Next day, we check out and head east to mysterious Anda Beach on the southeast side of Bohol
Anda Beach....after a few minutes of looking at several right-on-the beach places, we end up with this little cottage at Little Miami, steps from the beach, with cold beers close by, safe, clean....
....it will be the perfect chill place to walk, snorkel, laze about for the next few days. Only $1200 pesos.... ($36)
Anda Beach is everything Boracay, or even Alona Beach aren't.... quiet, clean, an easy 100 m walk through the shallows at low tide to snorkel in the deeper, clear waters....
...several good eating places, beer is cold...
...we spend almost our entire time in swimsuits and barefeet, hardly wear any clothes during our time here.... Shh!
...And hardly any tourists...OK....we see about 2 dozen over the several days on the beach...
...we snorkel several hours a day...see eels, sea snakes, a whole variety, shape, size of coral...
...many different spieces of fish.....
....at times hundreds in a school....
...we walk the nearly deserted beach, wade in shallows...
...on the weekend the beach fills with locals..families laugh and play in the ocean edge...
...young kids do what young kids do everywhere... chase each other, roll in the sand, throw it at one another, and generally, like everywhere else...have fun..
...locals outnumber travelers about 96 - 4...
...this is the poster-shot ideal, gem of a South Pacific paradise....great snorkeling, decent windsurfing and a nice chill ambiance that screams out....please, just walk the beach, grab a chair, or sit in the shallows and relax....bliss
..however, we are restless again to move forward...
...now, approximately half way through our journey, and, there's at least 6990 islands still left to explore...
Until next time...
Magandang Gabi...(Good night!)
Shayne & Yvonne
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