From my negative tones in my Manila posts I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I was happy to be moving on.
I took a flight from Manila to Dumaguete and my plan was to stay one night in Dumaguette, then visit the island of Bohol and see some tarsier monkeys and then go on to Cebu. It didn't work out that way.
I looked online ahead of time for a place to stay in Dumaguete and there weren't many places. I've come to learn that in Asia it is often better to just show up and find lodging on the fly. I got more comfortable doing that in Indonesia, but when I fly into a place I prefer to at least have a place in mind because airports are generally outside of the town and I hate getting scammed on taxis. Though that's what happened in Dumaguete.
I took a risk booking with Islands Leisure Pad on Hostelworld because it was really cheap didn't have any reviews. Luckily it turned out nice. I a private room, which was nice, but I didn't really meet anyone because it was a hotel, not a hostel. No worries- it's good for me to be alone once in a while (even if I don't like it). I got really scammed on the taxi. I knew I was getting overcharged, but I didn't know by how much. When I found out I was outraged. If I didn't already have Filipino friends I would have lost a lot of respect for the people in general when I learned how much I was taken advantage of. Now, I could fill a book with all the stupid travel mistakes I've made and the financial losses I've suffered as a result- who knows, maybe I will- but it is still a little embarrassing to put pen to paper and admit all the ways I've muffed up. For now I will tell you that I paid the taxi driver 200 PHP and I should not have paid more than 20. Yeah, I was charged ten times the normal rate because I'm foreign. In US currency the cost was minimal- I paid about $4.60USD- but I'm not fussing about the cost; I'm upset at the principal of the matter. I'm sure I will rant about this in another post. Stay tuned!
I stayed in Dumaguete two nights, then went to the island of Siquijor. I wasn't planning on going to Siquijor, but Matt from Manila suggested it and it was on the way to Bohol. Dumaguete wasn't very exciting and it didn't have a swimming beach, but I didn't mind because at least it didn't have the same toxicity as Manila. I also still wasn't feeling very well and was happy to just relax. Well, I was able to relax until a giant cockroach crawled out from under my bed. I've seen plenty since then, and I am not as phased by them now, but this guy was my first cockroach experience.
I took a ferry to Siquijor. Matt had recommended that I stay at a guesthouse called JJ's. Looking to avoid a similar taxi experience as in Dumaguete I contacted JJ's ahead of time to ask how much it shoud cost to get from the pier to the guesthouse. I'm glad I did that because it gave me baraining power when I arrived.
At the pier I met a Dutch couple who was also going to JJ's. We were bombarded with tricycle (motorbike taxis) throwing really high prices our way. I told my new friend Lenny that we should be able to get there for 100PHP. As three drivers were all trying to get us up to 150 or 200PHP, one from the side piped up and said, "Yeah, OK. 100." Turns out it was cheaper because this driver lives along the way and we made a pitstop so he could pick up his wife and take her in to town.
JJ's was really nice. I new when I arrived that I wouldn't be going to Bohol. I wanted to just relax, and a gueshouse on the beach was a perfect place to do that. I chatted with the Dutch couple (Kristin and Lenny), and a German girl, Katrin, who had been there for a few days, and I decided to rent a moped the next day and try to find Laguna Beach- a nice swimming area.
The next day I not only did find Laguna Beach, but I also didn't find the motorbike rental place Katrin told me about. I walked for about thirty minutes when a trike driver picked me up and took me to his friend's shop to rent the bike. Siquijor is a small island- one can easily drive a motrobike around the circumference in about two hours. I got on my moped and just drove down the street exploring. Too bad I didn't pay much attention on where I rented the bike from becasue I had trouble finding the shop to return it later.
That night I went to an island disco. There were two women about my age who did pretty much everything at JJ's- Arlene and Ruth. They told me and some of the other guests about a disco down the road and said we should go. We went and it was reminiscent of ahighschool junior high school dance. The venue was an outdoor school gymnasium and the boys and girls were clumped around in groups around the "dance floor." Only a few guys were dancing, and everyone there looked to be about fourteen years old. There were even bleachers where the cool kids sat looking down on everyone. We stayed and drank some beer, but there's something about being hit on by a guy who looks like he could be friends with my thirteen-year-old brother that is a bit of a turn off. Most of us went back to JJ's, but Parker- and American- went to another disco.
In the morning Parker and I set off on our mopeds to find Cambugahay Falls- a beautiful waterfall in the mountains. We found it and swam around for a bit before going further in to the mountains in search of a shaman. There were about six or eight kids swimming and jumping off of the rocks. Most of them were naked. Parker and I agreed that Siquijor would be an amazing place to grow up.
After Cambugahay, we went to search for a shaman in the mountain town of San Antonio. On the way we stopped at a beach because there was a party going on. It was the day of Saint John the Baptist, so there was no school and most adults had the day off from work. To celebrate the baptist, everyone flocks to bathe in the sea on this day. At this stretch of beach families had picnics set up and, being the only foreigners there, I felt kind of like we were crashing a family reunion. Everyone stared at us as we walked by, but it was harmless staring. Honestly, we probably could have sat down with a family and they would have happily shared their meal, but we just wanted to see what was going on.
We went into the mountains and overshot San Antonio and came out of the other side of the island. We rested in the town of Larena, had lunch, then asked for directions to San Antonio. When we got to the town Parker asked an old man if he knew where the shaman was and he offered to take us there. He hopped on the back of Parker's bike and we went to see the healer.
Parker went first and the woman performed a smoke ritual and massage to cleanse him of bad spirits. She gave me the same blessing. It was all a bit uncomfortable- to watch and to experience. I won't go into detail about it here because I am going to make a page dediated just to healers/psychics and I will write about it there. I will post a link here soon.
I took a flight from Manila to Dumaguete and my plan was to stay one night in Dumaguette, then visit the island of Bohol and see some tarsier monkeys and then go on to Cebu. It didn't work out that way.
I looked online ahead of time for a place to stay in Dumaguete and there weren't many places. I've come to learn that in Asia it is often better to just show up and find lodging on the fly. I got more comfortable doing that in Indonesia, but when I fly into a place I prefer to at least have a place in mind because airports are generally outside of the town and I hate getting scammed on taxis. Though that's what happened in Dumaguete.
I took a risk booking with Islands Leisure Pad on Hostelworld because it was really cheap didn't have any reviews. Luckily it turned out nice. I a private room, which was nice, but I didn't really meet anyone because it was a hotel, not a hostel. No worries- it's good for me to be alone once in a while (even if I don't like it). I got really scammed on the taxi. I knew I was getting overcharged, but I didn't know by how much. When I found out I was outraged. If I didn't already have Filipino friends I would have lost a lot of respect for the people in general when I learned how much I was taken advantage of. Now, I could fill a book with all the stupid travel mistakes I've made and the financial losses I've suffered as a result- who knows, maybe I will- but it is still a little embarrassing to put pen to paper and admit all the ways I've muffed up. For now I will tell you that I paid the taxi driver 200 PHP and I should not have paid more than 20. Yeah, I was charged ten times the normal rate because I'm foreign. In US currency the cost was minimal- I paid about $4.60USD- but I'm not fussing about the cost; I'm upset at the principal of the matter. I'm sure I will rant about this in another post. Stay tuned!
I stayed in Dumaguete two nights, then went to the island of Siquijor. I wasn't planning on going to Siquijor, but Matt from Manila suggested it and it was on the way to Bohol. Dumaguete wasn't very exciting and it didn't have a swimming beach, but I didn't mind because at least it didn't have the same toxicity as Manila. I also still wasn't feeling very well and was happy to just relax. Well, I was able to relax until a giant cockroach crawled out from under my bed. I've seen plenty since then, and I am not as phased by them now, but this guy was my first cockroach experience.
 |
| As if challenging my love for the contintent, he appeared as soon as I said "I love Asia." |
At the pier I met a Dutch couple who was also going to JJ's. We were bombarded with tricycle (motorbike taxis) throwing really high prices our way. I told my new friend Lenny that we should be able to get there for 100PHP. As three drivers were all trying to get us up to 150 or 200PHP, one from the side piped up and said, "Yeah, OK. 100." Turns out it was cheaper because this driver lives along the way and we made a pitstop so he could pick up his wife and take her in to town.
JJ's was really nice. I new when I arrived that I wouldn't be going to Bohol. I wanted to just relax, and a gueshouse on the beach was a perfect place to do that. I chatted with the Dutch couple (Kristin and Lenny), and a German girl, Katrin, who had been there for a few days, and I decided to rent a moped the next day and try to find Laguna Beach- a nice swimming area.
The next day I not only did find Laguna Beach, but I also didn't find the motorbike rental place Katrin told me about. I walked for about thirty minutes when a trike driver picked me up and took me to his friend's shop to rent the bike. Siquijor is a small island- one can easily drive a motrobike around the circumference in about two hours. I got on my moped and just drove down the street exploring. Too bad I didn't pay much attention on where I rented the bike from becasue I had trouble finding the shop to return it later.
That night I went to an island disco. There were two women about my age who did pretty much everything at JJ's- Arlene and Ruth. They told me and some of the other guests about a disco down the road and said we should go. We went and it was reminiscent of a
In the morning Parker and I set off on our mopeds to find Cambugahay Falls- a beautiful waterfall in the mountains. We found it and swam around for a bit before going further in to the mountains in search of a shaman. There were about six or eight kids swimming and jumping off of the rocks. Most of them were naked. Parker and I agreed that Siquijor would be an amazing place to grow up.
 |
| Cambugahay Falls, Siquijor, Philippines |
We went into the mountains and overshot San Antonio and came out of the other side of the island. We rested in the town of Larena, had lunch, then asked for directions to San Antonio. When we got to the town Parker asked an old man if he knew where the shaman was and he offered to take us there. He hopped on the back of Parker's bike and we went to see the healer.
Parker went first and the woman performed a smoke ritual and massage to cleanse him of bad spirits. She gave me the same blessing. It was all a bit uncomfortable- to watch and to experience. I won't go into detail about it here because I am going to make a page dediated just to healers/psychics and I will write about it there. I will post a link here soon.
 |
| Mountain view in Siquijor, Philippines |
No comments:
Post a Comment